Highlighted News
* Inaugural issue of Soft Robotics published; complimentary access to the entire issue is available at: www.liebertpub.com/SoRo
* Press Release: Robotic Fish Designed to Perform Escape Maneuvers Described in Soft Robotics Journal
* First International Conference on Soft Robotics in Germany (June 23-24, Stuttgart, Germany)
* First RoboSoft Coordination Action Plenary Meeting:
On March 31 and April 1, 2014 the RoboSoft Coordination Action has organized the first Plenary Meeting of the soft robotics community in Pisa (Italy) at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. The event has involved members of the RoboSoft Community, representative scientists and researchers of different disciplines, and young students. Plenary talks, teaser and poster presentations by students, and working group consultations have been organized during the two days. Documents of the meeting, pictures and presentations are available at: http://www.robosoftca.eu/events/first-plenary-meeting.
Published Journal Articles
* Soft manipulation:
- Grasping deformable planar objects: Squeeze, stick/slip analysis, and energy-based optimalities (Int. J. Robot. Res., February 2014)
- Actuation Torque Reduction in Parallel Robots Using Joint Compliance (J. Mechanisms Robotics, March 2014)
- Model-based shape estimation for soft robotic manipulators: The planar case (J. Mechanisms Robotics, March 2014)
* Soft sensing, artificial skin, electronic skin:
- Soft microfluidic assemblies of sensors, circuits, and radios for the skin (Science, April 2014)
- Hand shape classification with a wrist contour sensor: analysis of feature types, resemblance between subjects and data variation with pronation angle (Int. J. Robot. Res., February 2014)
* Soft human-robot interactions:
- A new hybrid actuation scheme with artificial pneumatic muscles and a magnetic particle brake for safe human-robot collaboration (Int. J. Robot. Res., February 2014)
* Growing robot:
- A novel growing device inspired by plant root soil penetration behaviors (PLoS ONE, February 2014)
* Soft actuator, flexible actuator, compliant actuator:
- Artificial muscles from fishing line and sewing thread (Science, February 2014)
- Piecewise affine modeling and constraint optimal control for a pneumatic artificial muscle (IEEE T. Ind. Electron., February 2014)
- Thermoplastic variable stiffness composites with embedded, networked sensing, actuation, and control (J. Compos. Mater., March 2014)
* Soft robotics application:
- Robotic catheter cardiac ablation combining ultrasound guidance and force control (Int. J. Robot. Res., February 2014)
- Targeted delivery: An integrated microrobotic platform for on-demand, targeted therapeutic interventions (Adv. Mater., February 2014)
- Development and characterisation of a new bioink for additive tissue manufacturing (J. Mater. Chem. B., February 2014)
* Biological studies:
- Models for elastic shells with incompatible strains (Proc. R. Soc. A, March 2014)
- In vivo time-resolved microtomography reveals the mechanics of the blowfly flight motor (PLoS Biology, March 2014)
- How insect flight steering muscles work (PLoS Biology, March 2014)
Popular Article
- Robots with a soft shell (ETH News, February 2014)
- Fishing line makes for superhuman artificial muscles (IEEE Spectrum, February 2014)
- ‘Electronic skin’ equipped with memory (Nature News, March 2014)
- Putting electronics in people (IEEE Spectrum, March 2014)
- Festo’s newest robot is a hopping bionic kangaroo (IEEE Spectrum, April 2014)