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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…
Soft Robots distinguish themselves from traditional robots by embracing flexible kinematics. Because of their recent emergence, there exist numerous uncharted territories, including novel actuators, manufacturing processes, and advanced…
Three-dimensional (3D) printing has emerged as a powerful tool for material, food, and life science research and development, where the technology democratization necessitates the advancement of open-source platforms. Herein, we developed a…
Self-folding origami, structures that are engineered flat to fold into targeted, three-dimensional shapes, have many potential engineering applications. Though significant effort in recent years has been devoted to designing fold patterns…
Via numerical simulation and experimental assessment, this study examines the use of origami folding to develop robotic jumping mechanisms with tailored nonlinear stiffness to improve dynamic performance. Specifically, we use Tachi-Miura…
Liquid crystal elastomers represent a novel class of programmable shape-transforming materials whose shape change trajectory is encoded in the material's nematic director field. Using three-dimensional nonlinear finite element…
Kirigami, the traditional paper-cutting craft, holds immense potential for revolutionizing robotics by providing multifunctional, lightweight, and adaptable solutions. Kirigami structures, characterized by their bending-dominated…
The ability to engineer metamaterials with tunable nonlinear optical properties is crucial for nonlinear optics. Traditionally, metals have been employed to enhance nonlinear optical interactions through field localization. Here, inspired…
In recent years, a range of reconfigurable metamaterials controlled with thermal, electric, magnetic and optical signals have been developed for dynamically manipulating the intensity, phase and wave-front of electromagnetic radiation…
Machines that mimic humans have inspired scientists for centuries. Bio-inspired soft robotic hands are a good example of such an endeavor, featuring intrinsic material compliance and continuous motion to deal with uncertainty and adapt to…
Building AI systems that can plan, act, and create in the physical world requires more than pattern recognition. Such systems must understand the causal mechanisms and constraints governing physical processes in order to guide sequential…
Functional magnetic composites capable of large deformation, load bearing, and multifunctional motion are essential for next-generation adaptive soft robots. Here, we present muscle-inspired magnetic actuators (MMA), additively manufactured…
Performing long-term experimentation or large-scale data collection for machine learning in the field of soft robotics is challenging, due to the hardware robustness and experimental flexibility required. In this work, we propose a modular…
Twisting sheets as a strategy to form functional yarns relies on millennia of human practice in making catguts and fabric wearables, but still lacks overarching principles to guide their intricate architectures. We show that twisted…
Origami principles are used to create strong, lightweight structures with complex mechanical response. However, identifying the fundamental physical principles that determine a sheet's behavior remains a challenge. We introduce a new…
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…
Fish locomotion is enabled by fin rays-actively deformable boney rods, which manipulate the fin to facilitate complex interaction with surrounding water and enable propulsion. Replicating the performance and kinematics of the biological fin…
This study proposes a reconfigurable modular building system that assembles multistable curved-crease origami blocks. Curved-crease origami is designed with even-vertex polygonal trajectories and an elastica curvature profile. We then…
People are constantly in touch with surfaces in their lives, such as a sofa, armrest, and table, making them natural tactile interfaces. Despite the recent advancements in shape-changing surfaces, current available solutions are often…
While the grasping capability of robotic grippers has shown significant development, the ability to manipulate objects within the hand is still limited. One explanation for this limitation is the lack of controlled contact variation between…