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Related papers: Soft Robots for Extreme Environments: Removing Ele…

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Designing soft robots poses considerable challenges: automated design approaches may be particularly appealing in this field, as they promise to optimize complex multi-material machines with very little or no human intervention.…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2017-11-20 Francesco Corucci , Nick Cheney , Francesco Giorgio-Serchi , Josh Bongard , Cecilia Laschi

We present an open-source untethered quadrupedal soft robot platform for dynamic locomotion (e.g., high-speed running and backflipping). The robot is mostly soft (80 vol.%) while driven by four geared servo motors. The robot's soft body and…

Robotics · Computer Science 2025-03-17 Boxi Xia , Jiaming Fu , Hongbo Zhu , Zhicheng Song , Yibo Jiang , Hod Lipson

Continuum soft robots are mechanical systems entirely made of continuously deformable elements. This design solution aims to bring robots closer to invertebrate animals and soft appendices of vertebrate animals (e.g., an elephant's trunk, a…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2023-09-06 Cosimo Della Santina , Christian Duriez , Daniela Rus

Bio-inspired soft robots have already shown the ability to handle uncertainty and adapt to unstructured environments. However, their availability is partially restricted by time-consuming, costly and highly supervised design-fabrication…

Robotics · Computer Science 2025-04-28 Afonso Silva , Diogo Fonseca , Diogo M. Neto , Mihail Babcinschi , Pedro Neto

Legged robots constructed from soft materials are commonly claimed to demonstrate safer, more robust environmental interactions than their rigid counterparts. However, this motivating feature of soft robots requires more rigorous…

Soft robots offer more flexibility, compliance, and adaptability than traditional rigid robots. They are also typically lighter and cheaper to manufacture. However, their use in real-world applications is limited due to modeling challenges…

Robots built from soft materials can alter their shape and size in a particular profile. This shape-changing ability could be extremely helpful for rescue robots and those operating in unknown terrains and environments. In changing shape,…

Robotics · Computer Science 2016-05-13 Vishesh Vikas , Eliad Cohen , Rob Grassi , Canberk Sozer , Barry Trimmer

Fluid-based soft actuators are an attractive option for lightweight and human-safe robots. These actuators, combined with fluid pressure force feedback, are in principle a form of series-elastic actuation (SEA), in which nearly all…

Robotics · Computer Science 2020-04-07 Chunpeng Wang , John P. Whitney

This paper underscores the importance of environmental monitoring, and specifically of freshwater ecosystems, which play a critical role in sustaining life and global economy. Despite their importance, insufficient data availability…

Robotics · Computer Science 2024-11-01 Andrea Giordano , Luca Romanello , Diego Perez Gonzalez , Mirko Kovac , Sophie F. Armanini

Soft materials have many important roles in animal locomotion and object manipulation. In robotic applications soft materials can store and release energy, absorb impacts, increase compliance and increase the range of possible shape…

Robotics · Computer Science 2015-09-28 Vishesh Vikas , Paul Templeton , Barry Trimmer

Autonomous Robotics Systems are inherently safety-critical and have complex safety issues to consider (for example, a safety failure can lead to a safety failure). Before they are deployed, these systems of have to show evidence that they…

Computers and Society · Computer Science 2020-07-17 Matt Luckcuck , Marie Farrell

Robotic arms are essential to modern industries, however, their adaptability to unstructured environments remains limited. Soft robotic arms, particularly those actuated pneumatically, offer greater adaptability in unstructured environments…

Robotics · Computer Science 2025-12-15 Runze Zuo , Dong Heon Han , Richard Li , Saima Jamal , Daniel Bruder

Soft robots have the ability to adapt to their environment, which makes them suitable for use in disaster areas and agricultural fields, where their mobility is constrained by complex terrain. One of the main challenges in developing soft…

Robotics · Computer Science 2023-04-11 Abu Nayem Md. Asraf Siddiquee , Benjamin Colfer , Yasemin Ozkan-Aydin

Miniature locomotion robots with the ability to navigate confined environments show great promise for a wide range of tasks, including search and rescue operations. Soft miniature locomotion robots, as a burgeoning field, have attracted…

Robotics · Computer Science 2023-09-21 Quan Xiong , Xuanyi Zhou , Jonathan William Ambrose , Raye Chen-Hua Yeow

Modern robots embody power and precision control. Yet, as robots undertake tasks that apply forces on humans, this power brings risk of injury. Soft robotic actuators use deformation to produce smooth, continuous motions and conform to…

Robotics · Computer Science 2026-04-06 Gregory M. Campbell

Soft robots show compliance and have infinite degrees of freedom. Thanks to these properties, such robots can be leveraged for surgery, rehabilitation, biomimetics, unstructured environment exploring, and industrial grippers. In this case,…

Soft robotics has emerged as a promising technology that holds great potential for various application areas. This is due to soft materials unique properties, including flexibility, safety, and shock absorption, among others. Despite many…

Robotics · Computer Science 2024-08-12 Andrija Milojevic , Kyrre Glette

Soft robotics has advanced rapidly, yet its control methods remain fragmented: different morphologies and actuation schemes still require task-specific controllers, hindering theoretical integration and large-scale deployment. A generic…

Integrating Brain-Machine Interfaces into non-clinical applications like robot motion control remains difficult - despite remarkable advancements in clinical settings. Specifically, EEG-based motor imagery systems are still error-prone,…

Until recently, the concept of soft robot safety was an informal notion, often attributed solely to the fact that soft robots are less likely to damage their operating environment than rigid robots. As the field moves toward feedback…

Robotics · Computer Science 2025-09-30 Nicholas Pagliocca , Behrad Koohbor , Mitja Trkov