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Ionic polymer actuators, in essence, consist of ion exchange polymers sandwiched between layers of electrodes. They have recently gained recognition as promising candidates for soft actuators due to their lightweight nature, noise-free…

Grasping objects with diverse mechanical properties, such as heavy, slippery, or fragile items, remains a significant challenge in robotics. Conventional rigid grippers typically rely on increasing the normal forces to secure an object,…

Relative motion between soft wet solids arises in a number of applications in natural and artificial settings, and invariably couples elastic deformation and fluid flow. We explore this in a minimal setting by considering a fluid-immersed…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2016-09-28 Baudouin Saintyves , Théo Jules , Thomas Salez , L. Mahadevan

To enhance pediatric exosuit design, it is crucial to assess the actuator-generated forces. This work evaluates the contact forces exerted by soft fabric-based pneumatic actuators in an upper extremity pediatric exosuit. Two actuators were…

Robotics · Computer Science 2025-05-13 Mehrnoosh Ayazi , Ipsita Sahin , Caio Mucchiani , Elena Kokkoni , Konstantinos Karydis

Soft pneumatic actuators have seen applications in many soft robotic systems, and their pressure-driven nature presents unique challenges and opportunities for controlling their motion. In this work, we present a new concept: designing and…

Robotics · Computer Science 2023-02-13 Sicheng Wang , Eugenio Frias Miranda , Laura H. Blumenschein

Conformable robotic systems are attractive for applications in which they can be used to actuate structures with large surface areas, to provide forces through wearable garments, or to realize autonomous robotic systems. We present a new…

Robotics · Computer Science 2019-03-21 Mengjia Zhu , Thanh Nho Do , Elliot Hawkes , Yon Visell

Soft robots have been leveraged in considerable areas like surgery, rehabilitation, and bionics due to their softness, flexibility, and safety. However, it is challenging to produce two same soft robots even with the same mold and…

Robotics · Computer Science 2025-07-18 Zixi Chen , Xuyang Ren , Matteo Bernabei , Vanessa Mainardi , Gastone Ciuti , Cesare Stefanini

Soft actuators are receiving increasing attention from the engineering community, not only in research but even for industrial applications. Among soft actuators, fibre-reinforced Bending Fluidic Actuators (BFAs) became very popular thanks…

Materials Science · Physics 2016-09-26 Vito Cacucciolo , Federico Renda , Ernesto Poccia , Cecilia Laschi , Matteo Cianchetti

Mechanically characterizing the human-machine interface is essential to understanding user behavior and optimizing wearable robot performance. This interface has been challenging to sensorize due to manufacturing complexity and non-linear…

Robotics · Computer Science 2026-05-29 Noah Rubin , Ava Schraeder , Hrishikesh Sahu , Thomas C. Bulea , Lillian Chin

The shoulder is responsible for the movement of the entire upper limb. It is capable of articulating in three degrees-of-freedom (DOF), enabling the arm to perform manipulation actions with incomparable dexterity. Exoskeletons targeting the…

Robotics · Computer Science 2019-11-12 Rainier Natividad , Raye Yeow Chen-Hua

Wearable exosuits assist human movement in tasks ranging from rehabilitation to daily activities; specifically, head-neck support is necessary for patients with certain neurological disorders. Rigid-link exoskeletons have shown to enable…

Robotics · Computer Science 2026-03-17 Katalin Schäffer , Ian Bales , Haohan Zhang , Margaret McGuinness

Pneumatic actuation benefits soft robotics by facilitating compliance, enabling large volume change, and concentrating actuator weight away from the end-effector. However, portability is compromised when pneumatic actuators are tethered to…

Robotics · Computer Science 2024-03-05 Maxwell Ahlquist , Rianna Jitosho , Jiawen Bao , Allison M. Okamura

Wearable distributed tactile devices aim to provide multipoint touch stimuli, but struggle to provide sufficient forces (> 1 N) at frequencies to invoke deep pressure sensation with minimal encumbrance at small scales. This work presents a…

Human-Computer Interaction · Computer Science 2026-02-24 Ava Chen , Megan C. Coram , Cosima du Pasquier , Allison M. Okamura

Grasping a variety of objects remains a key challenge in the development of versatile robotic systems. The human hand is remarkably dexterous, capable of grasping and manipulating objects with diverse shapes, mechanical properties, and…

Robotics · Computer Science 2024-10-11 Ngoc-Duy Tran , Hoang-Hiep Ly , Xuan-Thuan Nguyen , Thi-Thoa Mac , Anh Nguyen , Tung D. Ta

Many soft robots struggle to produce dynamic motions with fast, large displacements. We develop a parallel 6 degree-of-freedom (DoF) Stewart-Gough mechanism using Handed Shearing Auxetic (HSA) actuators. By using soft actuators, we are able…

Climbing soft robots are of tremendous interest in both science and engineering due to their potential applications in intelligent surveillance, inspection, maintenance, and detection under environments away from the ground. The challenge…

Applied Physics · Physics 2019-02-07 Yichao Tang , Qiuting Zhang , Gaojian Lin , Jie Yin

Series Elastic Actuators provide many benefits in force control of robots in unconstrained environments. These benefits include high force fidelity, extremely low impedance, low friction, and good force control bandwidth. Series Elastic…

Robotics · Computer Science 2009-12-22 Arumugom. S , Muthuraman. S , Ponselvan. V

Soft robots are powerful tools for manipulating delicate objects, yet their adoption is hindered by two gaps: the lack of integrated tactile sensing and sensor signal distortion caused by actuator deformations. This paper addresses these…

Robotics · Computer Science 2025-12-04 Chengjin Du , Federico Bernabei , Zhengyin Du , Sergio Decherchi , Matteo Lo Preti , Lucia Beccai

Bilayer bending based soft actuators are widely utilized in soft robotics for locomotion and object gripping. However, studies on soft actuators based on bilayer doming remain largely unexplored despite the often-observed dome-like shapes…

Applied Physics · Physics 2018-04-25 Yichao Tang , Jie Yin

Robotic legs have bimodal operations: swing phases when the leg needs to move quickly in the air (high-speed, low-force) and stance phases when the leg bears the weight of the system (low-speed, high-force). Sizing a traditional…

Robotics · Computer Science 2022-10-13 Alex Lecavalier , Jeff Denis , Jean-Sébastien Plante , Alexandre Girard