Soft Robotics

When it comes to soft-bodied robotic devices, there are ones that are squishy like rubber, or that fold like origami. The latter could soon be much lighter, hardier and capable, thanks to an electrically-conductive folding metallic material.

Taking a little inspiration from the slimy world of slugs and snails and mixing it some modern-day robotics, scientists at the University of Bristol have built a small, stretchy machine that can shuffle across surfaces and be stuffed into a pocket.

This week, roboticists at MIT have demonstrated a new robot with an extending limb that grows a bit like a plant. The appendage can weave its way through confined spaces before lifting a heavy load.

We've watched with interest as subsequent developments have allowed RoboBee to fly, swim, hover, perch and lose its tether. Now it's become the first microrobot to achieve controlled flight using soft artificial muscles.

Scientists at the University of Illinois have come up with a biohybrid robot that can be propelled by a mix of motor neurons, muscular tissue and light.

Researchers have developed ultra-gentle robotic grippers that can grasp and release jellyfish and other very soft marine animals without harming them.

If you build a soft robot, you don't want to put rigid actuators inside. With that in mind, scientists have created pliable artificial muscles.

By turning advanced cameras to capture legless larvae in action, scientists have gained a new understanding of their ability to leap through the air, including an ability to form what they call a "transient leg."​

​We’ve seen robots that can respond to touch and voice commands, but what about a robot with a sense of taste? A new experimental device is built to explore this possibility, and in its current form can already perform a little taste test to see if its bathwater has been contaminated.​​

​Although we've seen a lot of robots designed to deliver packages to people's homes, most of those bots are stymied by houses' front steps. Tokyo-based Amoeba Energy is developing a solution, in the form of a tracked robot that uses soft foam to easily climb up stairs and over other obstacles.

Last year, a Harvard team revealed a snake-inspired soft robot that harnessed the ancient Japanese art of kirigami to create pop-up scales that allowed the robot propel itself along as it stretches and contracts. Now some tweaks have given the robot boosts in both speed and precision.

​​From green blobs to boa constrictors, scientists have taken inspiration from some interesting sources in pursuit of robotic arms that can delicately lift heavy items. The latest solution from MIT resembles a venus flytrap in the way its snatches up objects many times its own weight.