Announcements
- IEEE Soft Robotics Conference 2020 will be held in a hybrid in-person/online format on 4-8 April at Edinburgh, UK (Conference & Registration link)
- Oct & Dec issues of Soft Robotics Journal are available at (Link)
- Embodied Intelligence Conference 2022: Call for participation
- Frontiers Special issues:
- Online Archive for The Seminar Series in Physical Artificial Intelligence (PAI)
Vacancies
- Post-Doc position in soft robotics at Université de Technologie de Compiègne (UTC) France (Link)
- Recruitment for the fourth cohort of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Agri-Food Robotics: AgriFoRwArdS commences on October 1st 2021, for enrolment in October 2022. (Link)
- Two PhD studentships are available at the Centre for Advanced Robotics @ Queen Mary (ARQ) (Link)
- Scientist (Robotics and Autonomous Systems), I2R, Singapore (Email: Dr. Liang Wenyu)
- Postdoc Opportunity in the PAI Lab
- Post Doc in Soft Robotics Engineer at IIT
- CSIRO Postdoctoral Fellowship in Soft Robotic Design
- PhD positions at U Oxford: A clinically relevant musculoskeletal humanoid shoulder for biomedical applications
Featured Videos
- Extendable Soft Robotic Finger (Youtube, Jan 2022)
- Stretchy electronics go wireless (Nature Video, Dec 2021)
- JMR Development of Topology Optimized Bending Twisting Soft Finger (Youtube, NOV 2021)
- Electroadhesion soft gripper make it possible to grasps delicate fruit without damaging it (Youtube, Jan 2022)
- Lending a Hand (MIT Youtube, Sep 2021)
- Recordings for the IEEE RAS Seasonal School on Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies based on Soft Robotics-Michael Tolley – Design, Fabrication and Control for Biologically Inspired Soft Robots (IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Youtube, Oct 2021) Video1, Video2
- Lateral undulation of the bendable body of a gecko-inspired robot (NEUTRON LAB Youtube, Nov 2021)
- Soft Robots Aiding the Elderly and People with Physical Impairments (Wyss Institute, Nov 2021)
- ICRA 2021 Plenary Talk — Robert Wood : Soft Robotics for Delicate and Dexterous Manipulation (IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, Sep 2021)
- New videos from Soft Robotics Inc Youtube channel (Video1, Video2, Video3, Video4)
Featured Articles
Views and Reviews
- A comparative review of artificial muscles for microsystem applications (Nature, Nov 2021)
- Popping, locking robots (Nature, Nov 2021)
- Shaping the future of robotics through materials innovation (Nature, Nov 2021)
- Soft actuators for real-world applications (Nature, Nov 2021)
- The Material Turn in the Study of Form: From Bio-Inspired Robots to Robotics-Inspired Morphology (MIT Press, Okt 2021)
- Soft Robots for Ocean Exploration and Offshore Operations: A Perspective (SoRo Journal, Dec 2021)
- Fluid Mechanics of Pneumatic Soft Robots (SoRo Journal, Oct 2021)
- From Theoretical Work to Clinical Translation: Progress in Concentric Tube Robots (Annual Rev, Oct 2021)
- Stimuli-Responsive Polymers for Soft Robotics (Annual Rev, Nov 2021)
- A Data-Driven Review of Soft Robotics (Adv Intel Sys, Dec 2021)
- Soft Actuators and Robotic Devices for Rehabilitation and Assistance (Adv Intel Sys, Nov 2021)
- From Bioinspiration to Computer Generation: Developments in Autonomous Soft Robot Design (Adv Intel Sys, Oct 2021)
- Tensegrity Robotics (SoRo, Oct 2021)
New Materials, Actuators & Stiffening Methods
- A Simple Free-Fold Test to Measure Bending Stiffness of Slender Soft Actuators (IEEE RA-L, Oct 2021)
- Pneumatic Artificial Muscle With Large Stroke Based on a Contraction Ratio Amplification Mechanism and Self-Contained Sensing (IEEE RA-L, Oct 2021)
- Thin Piezoelectric Mobile Robot Using Curved Tail Oscillation (IEEE Access, Oct 2021)
- Pneumatic Artificial Muscle With Large Stroke Based on a Contraction Ratio Amplification Mechanism and Self-Contained Sensing (IEEE RA-L, Sep 2021)
- Design, modeling and evaluation of a millimeter-scale SMA bending actuator with variable length (Sage Journals, Sep 2021)
- The Sounds of Softness. Designing Sound for Human-Soft Robot Interaction (Frontiers, Oct 2021)
- Reprogrammable soft actuation and shape-shifting via tensile jamming (Science, Oct 2021)
- Ionic covalent organic framework based electrolyte for fast-response ultra-low voltage electrochemical actuators (Nature, Jan 2022)
- Legless soft robots capable of rapid, continuous, and steered jumping (Nature, Dec 2021)
- Learning to control active matter (Physical Review, Sep 2021)
- Photodriven Self-Excited Hydrogel Oscillators (Physical Review, Jan 2022)
- Variable Rigidity Module with a Flexible Thermoelectric Device for Bidirectional Temperature Control (SoRo Journal, Dec 2021)
- A Shapeshifting Ferrofluidic Robot (SoRo Journal, Dec 2021)
- A Novel Inflatable Actuator Based on Simultaneous Eversion Retraction (SoRo Journal, Dec 2021)
- Performance Enhancement of Soft Nanotextured Thermopneumatic Actuator by Incorporating Silver Nanowires into Elastomer Body (SoRo Journal, Dec 2021)
- Rapid Soft Material Actuation Through Droplet Evaporation (SoRo Journal, Oct 2021)
- An Air Recirculation System Based on Bioinspired Soft Re-Air Valve for Highly Efficient Pneumatic Actuation (SoRo Journal, Oct 2021)
- Processing of Self-Healing Polymers for Soft Robotics (Adv Matt, Oct 2021)
- Biohybrid Variable-Stiffness Soft Actuators that Self-Create Bone (Adv Mat, Dec 2021)
- Reprogrammable Soft Robot Actuation by Synergistic Magnetic and Light Fields (Adv Func Mat, Dec 2021)
- Cooling-Accelerated Nanowire-Nitinol Hybrid Muscle for Versatile Prosthetic Hand and Biomimetic Retractable Claw (Adv Func Mat, Dec 2021)
- Optically Controlled Latching and Launching in Soft Actuators (Adv Func Mat, Dec 2021)
- Reconfigurable shape-morphing flexible surfaces realized by individually addressable photoactuator arrays (Smart Mat Struct, Nov 2021)
- Influence of electric field, temperature, humidity, elastomer material, and encapsulation on the lifetime of dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) under DC actuation (Smart Mat Struct, Nov 2021)
- Individual deformability compensation of soft hydraulic actuators through iterative learning-based neural network (Bioinsp Biomim, Nov 2021)
- An enhanced flexoelectric dielectric elastomer actuator with stretchable electret (Smart Mat Struct, Oct 2021)
- Bio-inspired soft bistable actuator with dual actuations (Smart Mat Struct, Oct 2021)
- MotorSkins—a bio-inspired design approach towards an interactive soft-robotic exosuit (Bioinsp Biomim, Oct 2021)
- Pop-up cookie molds: self-folding elastomer sheets using thermal expansion of embedded air chambers (Smart Mat Struct, Oct 2021)
- A Dual-Origami Design that Enables the Quasisequential Deployment and Bending Motion of Soft Robots and Grippers (Adv Intell Sys, Dec 2021)
- Thermo- and Mechanochromic Camouflage and Self-Healing in Biomimetic Soft Actuators Based on Liquid Crystal Elastomers (Angewandte Chemie, Dec 2021)
- Transparent Soft Electrothermal Actuators with Integrated Cu Nanowire Heater for Soft Robotics (Macro Mat Eng, Dec 2021)
- Stretchable Zn-Ion Hybrid Battery with Reconfigurable V2CTx and Ti3C2Tx MXene Electrodes as a Magnetically Actuated Soft Robot (Adv Energy Mat, Dec 2021)
- Thermoset Shape Memory Polymer Variable Stiffness 4D Robotic Catheters (Adv Sci, Oct 2021)
- Light-Fueled Climbing of Monolithic Torsional Soft Robots via Molecular Engineering (Adv Intel Sys, Oct 2021)
- Stretchable Zn-Ion Hybrid Battery with Reconfigurable V2CTx and Ti3C2Tx MXene Electrodes as a Magnetically Actuated Soft Robot (Adv Energy Mat, Oct 2021)
- Vertebraic Soft Robotic Joint Design With Twisting and Antagonism (IEEE RA-L, Nov 2021)
- Fin Ray Crossbeam Angles for Efficient Foot Design for Energy-Efficient Robot Locomotion (Adv Intel Sys, Oct 2021)
- Development of Topology Optimized Bending-Twisting Soft Finger (ASME J Mech Robot, Dec 2021)
- 3D-printed omnidirectional soft pneumatic actuators: Design, modeling and characterization (Sensor Actuators A: Physical, Dec 2021)
- Peeling in electroadhesion soft grippers (Extreme Mech Lett, Jan 2022)
Sensing, Flexible Electronic & Skins
- A DIY Fabrication Approach of Stretchable Sensors Using Carbon Nano Tube Powder for Wearable Device (Frontiers, Nov 2021)
- A stretchable and strain-unperturbed pressure sensor for motion interference–free tactile monitoring on skins (Science, Nov 2021)
- Soft robotic shell with active thermal display (Nature, Okt 2021)
- Miniaturized Circuitry for Capacitive Self-Sensing and Closed-Loop Control of Soft Electrostatic Transducers (SoRo Journal, Dec 2021)
- Surface Actuation and Sensing of a Tensegrity Structure Using Robotic Skins (SoRo Journal, Oct 2021)
- Texture Discrimination with a Soft Biomimetic Finger Using a Flexible Neuromorphic Tactile Sensor Array That Provides Sensory Feedback (SoRo Journal, Oct 2021)
- Tactile Model O: Fabrication and Testing of a 3D-Printed, Three-Fingered Tactile Robot Hand (SoRo Journal, Oct 2021)
- Flexible Electronics and Devices as Human-Machine Interfaces for Medical Robotics (Adv Mat, Dec 2021)
- Modelling dielectric elastomer circuit networks for soft biomimetics (Bioinsp Biomim, Oct 2021)
- Curvature sensing of a soft robot based on conductive foam (PAMM, Dec 2021)
- 3D Printed Skin-Inspired Flexible Pressure Sensor with Gradient Porous Structure for Tunable High Sensitivity and Wide Linearity Range (Adv Mat Tech, Dec 2021)
- The Integration of Sensing and Actuating based on a Simple Design Fiber Actuator towards Intelligent Soft Robots (Adv Mat Tech, Nov 2021)
Fabrication Techniques & Hardware Toolkits
- Monolithic processing of a layered flexible robotic actuator film for kinetic electronics (Nature, Oct 2021)
- Compact reconfigurable kirigami (Physical Review, Oct 2021)
- Role of Fiber Orientations in the Mechanics of Bioinspired Fiber-Reinforced Elastomers (SoRo Journal, Dec 2021)
- Increased Longevity and Pumping Performance of an Injection Molded Soft Total Artificial Heart (SoRo Journal, Oct 2021)
- Injection Molding of Soft Robots (Adv Mat Tech, Oct 2021)
- Freeform Liquid 3D Printing of Soft Functional Components for Soft Robotics (ACS Appl Mater Interface, Dec 2021)
Locomotion, Swimming & Flying
- Electrically Activated Soft Robots: Speed Up by Rolling (SoRo Journal, Oct 2021)
- Novel shape-lockable self-propelling robot with a helical mechanism and tactile sensing for inspecting the large intestine (Smart Mat Struct, Nov 2021)
- Design and fabrication of a crawling robot based on a soft actuator (Smart Mat Struct, Nov 2021)
- Free swimming of a squid-inspired axisymmetric system through jet propulsion (Bioinp Biomim, Nov 2021)
- Hopscotching jellyfish: combining different duty cycle kinematics can lead to enhanced swimming performance (Bioinsp Biomim, Oct 2021)
- A biomimetic fish finlet with a liquid metal soft sensor for proprioception and underwater sensing (Bioinsp Biomim, Oct 2021)
- Design improvement by a simulative investigation of the locomotion of a snake-like soft robot (PAMM, Dec 2021)
- AUV Buoyancy Control With Hard and Soft Actuators (IEEE Cont Sys Lett, Dec 2021)
- Inchworm Inspired Multimodal Soft Robots With Crawling, Climbing, and Transitioning Locomotion (IEEE T-RO, Oct 2021)
Manipulation & Grasping
- Sensor Embedded Soft Fingertip for Precise Manipulation and Softness Recognition (IEEE RA-L, Sep 2021)
- Proprioceptive Soft Pneumatic Gripper for Extreme Environments Using Hybrid Optical Fibers (IEEE RA-L, Oct 2021)
- Circular Shell Gripper for Handling Food Products (SoRo Journal, Oct 2021)
- Gripe-Needle: A Sticky Suction Cup Gripper Equipped Needle for Targeted Therapeutics Delivery (Front Rob AI, Nov 21)
- Modeling of a bio-inspired soft arm with semicircular cross section for underwater grasping (Smart Mat & Struct, Nov 2021)
- Flexible and stable grasping by multi-jointed pneumatic actuator mimicking the human finger-impacts of structural parameters on performance (Smart Mat Struct, Nov 2021)
- Enhancing interaction performance of soft pneumatic-networks grippers by skeleton topology optimization (Science China Technological Sciences, Nov 2021)
Biomimicry & Bioinspiration
- Tele-Operated Oropharyngeal Swab (TOOS) Robot Enabled by TSS Soft Hand for Safe and Effective Sampling (IEEE Transactions, Oct 2021)
- Ultrasound-activated ciliary bands for microrobotic systems inspired by starfish (Nature, Nov 2021)
- MagWorm: A Biomimetic Magnet Embedded Worm-Like Soft Robot (SoRo Journal, Oct 2021)
Soft Robot Applications
- A Layer Jamming Soft Glove for Hand Tremor Suppression (IEEE Transactions, Dec 2021)
- Design and Control of a Reconfigurable Upper Limb Rehabilitation Exoskeleton With Soft Modular Joints (IEEE Access, Dec 2021)
Theory: Learning, Modeling, & Control
- Guided Soft Actor Critic: A Guided Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach for Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes (IEEE Access, Nov 2021)
- MOOSE-Based Finite Element Hyperelastic Modeling for Soft Robot Simulations (IEEE Access, Oct 2021)
- Delay Time Fractional-Order Model for the Soft Exoskeleton Glove Control (IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems, Dec 2021)
- Task space adaptation via the learning of gait controllers of magnetic soft millirobots (Sage Robotics, Dec 2021)
- Motion planning of a fish-like piezoelectric actuated robot using model-based predictive control (Sage Journals, Oct 2021)
- A Semilinear Parameter-Varying Observer Method for Fabric-Reinforced Soft Robots (Frontiers, Nov 2021)
- Asymptotic softness of a laterally confined sheet in a pressurized chamber (Physical Review, Nov 2021)
- Modeling and Optimization of Electrostatic Film Actuators Based on the Method of Moments (SoRo Journal, Dec 2021)
- Energy-Based Abstraction for Soft Robotic System Development (Adv Intel Sys, Oct 2021)
- Adaptive Control of Soft Robots Based on an Enhanced 3D Augmented Rigid Robot Matching (IEEE Sys Lett, Dec 2021)
- FEA-Based Inverse Kinematic Control: Hyperelastic Material Characterization of Self-Healing Soft Robots (IEEE RA-L, Dec 2021)
- Geometric Solutions for General Actuator Routing on Inflated-Beam Soft Growing Robots (IEEE T-RO, Oct 2021)
- Extended Hamilton’s principle applied to geometrically exact Kirchhoff sliding rods (J Sound Vib, Jan 2022)
- DNN-Based Predictive Model for a Batoid-Inspired Soft Robot (IEEE RA-L, Dec 2021)
Embodied Intelligence & Morphological Computation
- Morphological Computation in Plant Seeds for a New Generation of Self-Burial and Flying Soft Robots (Front Rob AI, Nov 2021)
Featured News Articles
- This Robotic Inchworm Just Made It to Higher Ground (IEEE Spectrum, Dec 2021)
- Algorithm Uses Evolution To Design Robots (IEEE Spectrum, Dec 2021)
- Why Facebook (Or Meta) Is Making Tactile Sensors for Robots (IEEE Spectrum, Nov 2021)
- An Octopus-Inspired Soft Robot Uses Origami Principles (ASME, Nov 2021)
- Biomechanics of Pellet-Carrying Honeybees (ASME, Nov 2021)
- Advanced Materials Technologies Hot Topics: Robotics
- This Robotic Inchworm Just Made It to Higher Ground (IEEE Spectrum, Dec 2021)
- Algorithm Uses Evolution To Design Robots (IEEE Spectrum, Dec 2021)
- Why Facebook (Or Meta) Is Making Tactile Sensors for Robots (IEEE Spectrum, Nov 2021)