Announcements
- IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics Focused Section on Compliant Mechanisms for Mechatronics (Paper Submission : 1 March, 2023)
- A special issue of Polymers “Stimuli-Responsive Polymer Materials for Soft Robotic Applications”
- Frontiers in Robotics and AI Research Topic on Bio-Inspired Soft Locomotion.
Vacancies
Featured Videos
- Sweet potato packing is surprisingly complex! (IEEE Spectrum, Jul 2022)
- Soft devices containing algae that glow in the dark (IEEE Spectrum, Jul 2022)
- Soft robot hugs for everyone! (IEEE Spectrum, Sep 2022)
- Assatec Sweet Potato Automation Solution with Soft Robotics mGrip (Soft Robot Inc, Jul 2022)
- Algae-powered devices glow in the dark when squished, stretched (JacobsSchoolNews, Sep 2022)
- Biologically Inspired Mobile oft Robots (Maryland Robotics Center, Sep 2022)
- Punyo-1: Soft tactile-sensing upper-body robot for large object manipulation and pHRI (Toyota research Int., Sep 2022)
Featured Articles
Views and Reviews
- Soft Robotic Grippers for Crop Handling or Harvesting: A Review (IEEE Access, Jul 2022)
- Smart materials for four-dimensional printing: An overview (Sage, Aug 2022)
- Progress, Challenges, and Prospects of Soft Robotics for Space Applications (Adv Intel Sys, Jun 2022)
- Roadmap on soft robotics: multifunctionality, adaptability and growth without borders (Multifunc Mater, Aug 2022)
New Materials, Actuators & Stiffening Methods
- Fabric muscle with a cooling acceleration structure for upper limb assistance soft exosuits (Nature, July 2022)
- A fluidic relaxation oscillator for reprogrammable sequential actuation in soft robots (Mater, Jul 2022) – Video
- A Tensegrity-Based Inchworm-Like Robot for Crawling in Pipes With Varying Diameters (IEEE RA-L, Sep 2022)
- Design of Wearable Hand Rehabilitation Glove With Bionic Fiber-Reinforced Actuator (IEEE Journal, Aug 2022)
- Soft Robotic Fabric Actuator With Elastic Bands for High Force and Bending Performance in Hand Exoskeletons (IEEE RA-L, Jul 2022)
- RoboHeart: A Bi-Directional Zipping Actuator (IEEE RA-L, Jul 2022)
- Bioinspired Soft Bendable Peristaltic Pump Exploiting Ballooning for High Volume Throughput (IEEE Transactions, Jul 2022)
- Soft Fluidic Actuator for Locomotion in Multi-Phase Environments (IEEE RA-L, Jul 2022)
- E-Morph as a New Adaptive Actuator for Soft Robotics (IEEE RA-L, Jul 2022)
- Reconfigurable Self-Sensing Pneumatic Artificial Muscle With Locking Ability Based on Modular Multi-Chamber Soft Actuator (IEEE RA-L, Jul 2022)
- Power-efficient adaptive behavior through a shape-changing elastic robot (Sage, Aug 2022)
- Programmed shape-morphing into complex target shapes using architected dielectric elastomer actuators (Science, Jul 2022)
- Ultrafast small-scale soft electromagnetic robots (Nature, Aug 2022)
- Compact Multilayer Extension Actuators for Reconfigurable Soft Robots (SoRo Journal, Aug 2022)
- Topology and Morphology Design of Spherically Reconfigurable Homogeneous Modular Soft Robots (SoRo Journal, Jul 2022)
- Buckling suppression of a thin-walled Miura-origami patterned tube (PLoS One, Jul 2022)
- Ingestible Functional Magnetic Robot with Localized Flexibility (MR-LF) (Adv Intel Sys, Sep 2022)
- High-Gain Microfluidic Amplifiers: The Bridge between Microfluidic Controllers and Fluidic Soft Actuators (Adv Intel Sys, Sep 2022)
- Shaping A Soft Future: Patterning Liquid Metals (Adv Mater, Aug 2022)
- Wireless Miniature Magnetic Phase-Change Soft Actuators (Adv Mater, Aug 2022)
- Soft Magneto-Responsive Shape Memory Foam Composite Actuators (Macro Mat Eng, Aug 2022)
- The Fabrication and Applications of Bioinspired Hydrogel Actuators (Smart Stimuli-Responsive Polymers, Films, and Gels, Aug 2022)
- Structure–Property Relationships of Self-Healing Polymer Networks Based on Reversible Diels–Alder Chemistry (Macromolecules, Jun 2022)
- Programmable soft valves for digital and analog control (PNAS, Sep 2022) (Video)
Sensing, Flexible Electronic & Skins
- A Soft Barometric Tactile Sensor to Simultaneously Localize Contact and Estimate Normal Force With Validation to Detect Slip in a Robotic Gripper (IEEE RA-L Sep 2022)
- A Spring-Based Inductive Sensor for Soft and Flexible Robots (IEEE Sensors, Aug 2022)
- Elastic Tactile Sensor Skin on Double-Curved Surfaces for Robots and Wearables (IEEE Access, Aug 2022)
- Vision-Based Sensing for Electrically-Driven Soft Actuators (IEEE RA-L, Aug 2022)
- Trends on Carbon Nanotube-Based Flexible and Wearable Sensors via Electrochemical and Mechanical Stimuli: A Review (IEEE Sensors, Aug 2022)
- Transferable Shape Estimation of Soft Pneumatic Actuators Based on Active Vibroacoustic Sensing (IEEE RA-L, Jul 2022)
- Shape Reconstruction of Soft Manipulators Using Vision and IMU Feedback (IEEE RA-L, Jul 2022)
- Liquid-metal micro-networks with strain-induced conductivity for soft electronics and robotic skin (Nature, Sep 2022)
- Touchless interactive teaching of soft robots through flexible bimodal sensory interfaces (Nature, Aug 2022)
- Speckle-based high-resolution multimodal soft sensing (Nature, Jul 2022)
- Flexible Electronic Skin for Monitoring of Grasping State During Robotic Manipulation (SoRo Journal, Aug 2022)
- Whisker Sensing by Force and Moment Measurements at the Whisker Base (SoRo Journal, Aug 2022)
- A Wearable Textile-Embedded Dielectric Elastomer Actuator Haptic Display (SoRo Journal, Jul 2022)
- Hydrogel-Based Flexible Electronics (Adv Mater, Aug 2022)
- Logic-enabled textiles (PNAS, Aug 2022) (Video) (News Article)
- A wearable textile-based pneumatic energy harvesting system for assistive robotics (Sci Adv, Aug 2022) (Video)
Fabrication Techniques & Hardware Toolkits
- ASTRE: Prototyping Technique for Modular Soft Robots With Variable Stiffness (IEEE Access, Jul 2022)
- Integrated 3D printing of flexible electroluminescent devices and soft robots (Nature, Aug 2022)
- High-throughput fabrication of soft magneto-origami machines (Nature, Jul 2022)
- A Method for 3D Printing and Rapid Prototyping of Fieldable Untethered Soft Robots (SoRo Journal, Jul 2022)
Locomotion, Swimming & Flying
- Deformation-Driven Closed-Chain Soft Mobile Robot Aimed for Rolling and Climbing Locomotion (IEEE RA-L, Jul 2022)
- Locomotion via Active Suction in a Sea Star-Inspired Soft Robot (IEEE RA-L, Jul 2022)
- Insect-Scale SMAW-Based Soft Robot With Crawling, Jumping, and Loading Locomotion (IEEE RA-L, Jul 2022)
- Adaptive wireless millirobotic locomotion into distal vasculature (Nature, Aug 2022)
- Locomotion of an untethered, worm-inspired soft robot driven by a shape-memory alloy skeleton (Nature, Jul 2022)
- Design and Closed-Loop Motion Planning of an Untethered Swimming Soft Robot Using 2D Discrete Elastic Rods Simulations (Adv Intel Sys, Sep 2022)
- Morphologically Adaptive Crash Landing on a Wall: Soft-Bodied Models of Gliding Geckos with Varying Material Stiffnesses (Adv Intel Sys, Aug 2022)
Manipulation & Grasping
- A Two-Finger Soft Gripper Based on Bistable Mechanism (IEEE RA-L, Aug 2022)
- Automated Design of Embedded Constraints for Soft Hands Enabling New Grasp Strategies (IEEE RA-L, Oct 2022)
- Optimizing Out-of-Plane Stiffness for Soft Grippers (IEEE RA-L, Jul 2022)
- Resonant Pneumatic Tactile Sensing for Soft Grippers (IEEE RA-L, Jul 2022)
- GSG: A Granary-Shaped Soft Gripper With Mechanical Sensing via Snap-Through Structure (IEEE RA-L, Jul 2022)
- Versatile Adhesion-Based Gripping via an Unstructured Variable Stiffness Membrane (SoRo Journal, Jul 2022)
- Soft Microdenticles on Artificial Octopus Sucker Enable Extraordinary Adaptability and Wet Adhesion on Diverse Nonflat Surfaces (Adv Sci, Aug 2022)
Biomimicry & Bioinspiration
- 3D-printed biomimetic artificial muscles using soft actuators that contract and elongate (Science, Jul 2022)
- Octopus-inspired adhesive skins for intelligent and rapidly switchable underwater adhesion (Science, Jul 2022)
- A soft robot that mimics aortic stenosis (Nature, Sep 2022)
- Design, Analysis, and Real-Time Simulation of a 3D Soft Robotic Snake (SoRo Journal, Aug 2022)
- Necrobotics: Biotic Materials as Ready-to-Use Actuators (Adv Sci, Jul 2022) (Video 1) (Video 2)
Soft Robot Applications
- Biomechanical and Physiological Evaluation of Biologically-Inspired Hip Assistance With Belt-Type Soft Exosuits (IEEE Transactions, Sep 2022)
- Adaptable Poly-Articulated Bionic Hands EnhanceBoth Performance and User’s Perception in Bilateral Amputation: A Case Study (IEEE Transactions, Aug 2022)
- SOPHIE: Soft and Flexible Aerial Vehicle for Physical Interaction With the Environment (IEEE RA-L, Aug 2022)
- Ring-pull Type Soft Wearable Robotic Glove for Hand Strength Assistance (IEEE RA-L, Jul 2022)
- Magnetic Soft Continuum Robots With Braided Reinforcement (IEEE RA-L, Jul 2022)
- A Wearable Smart Glove and Its Application of Pose and Gesture Detection to Sign Language Classification (IEEE RA-L, Jul 2022)
- Magnetic soft robotic bladder for assisted urination (Science, Aug 2022)
- Fabric muscle with a cooling acceleration structure for upper limb assistance soft exosuits (Nature, Jul 2022)
- SpringWorm: A Soft Crawling Robot with a Large-Range Omnidirectional Deformable Rectangular Spring for Control Rod Drive Mechanism Inspection (SoRo Journal, Aug 2022)
- A cable-driven soft robotic end-effector actuator for probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy: Development and preclinical validation (Trans Biophotonics, Aug 2022)
- Aerial additive manufacturing with multiple autonomous robots (Nature, Sep 2022)
Theory: Learning, Modeling, & Control
- Shape Estimation of a 3D Printed Soft Sensor Using Multi-Hypothesis Extended Kalman Filter (IEEE RA-L, July 2022)
- On the Use of Magnets to Robustify the Motion Control of Soft Hands (IEEE RA-L, Sep 2022)
- Deep Learning-Based 3D Pose Reconstruction of an Underwater Soft Robotic Hand and Its Biomimetic Evaluation (IEEE RA-L, Aug 2022)
- Research on the Inverse Kinematics Prediction of a Soft Biomimetic Actuator via BP Neural Network (IEEE Access, Jul 2022)
- An Experimental Validation of the Polynomial Curvature Model: Identification and Optimal Control of a Soft Underwater Tentacle (IEEE RA-L, Jul 2022)
- Using R-Functions to Control the Shape of Soft Robots (IEEE RA-L, Jul 2022)
- Robust and Decoupled Position and Stiffness Control for Electrically-Driven Articulated Soft Robots (IEEE RA-L, Jul 2022)
- Shape Estimation of a 3D Printed Soft Sensor Using Multi-Hypothesis Extended Kalman Filter (IEEE RA-L, Jul 2022)
- Cosserat modeling for deformation configuration of shape memory alloy unimorph actuators (Sage, Aug 2022)
- System norm regularization methods for Koopman operator approximation (Proc Royal Soc A, Sep 2022)
- SoRoSim: A MATLAB Toolbox for Hybrid Rigid-Soft Robots Based on the Geometric Variable-Strain Approach (IEEE Rob Aut Mag, Sep 2022)
- Proxy-based sliding-mode tracking control of dielectric elastomer actuators through eliminating rate-dependent viscoelasticity (Smart Mater, Sep 2022)
Embodied Intelligence & Morphological Computation
- Evolving Modularity in Soft Robots Through an Embodied and Self-Organizing Neural Controller (MIT Press, July 2022)
- A concise guide to modelling the physics of embodied intelligence in soft robotics (Nature, Aug 2022)
- Evolving Modularity in Soft Robots Through an Embodied and Self-Organizing Neural Controller (MIT Press, Aug 2022)
- Tactile Resilience of Sensory Whisker by Adaptive Morphology (IEEE Access, Sep 2022)
Featured News Articles
- Artificial Muscles Woven Into Smart Textiles Could Make Clothing Hyperfunctional (IEEE Spectrum, Jul 2022)
- 3D printing drones work like bees to build and repair structures while flying (Imperial College London, Sep 2022)
- Lab manipulates dead spiders’ legs with a puff of air to serve as grabbers (Sciencedaily, Sep 2022)
- Berry Picking Today, Robotic Surgery Tomorrow (ASME, Aug 2022)
- Tiny robots made of “galinstan” can run faster than a (scaled down) cheetah (ARS Technica, Sep 2022)