Soft Robotics [TC Spotlight]

Abstract

The use of soft and deformable materials in robotic systems has increasingly gained interest in recent years. Because of its potential to deal with uncertain and unstructured task environments, soft-body robotic systems are expected to be able to accomplish tasks such as grasping and manipulation of unknown objects, locomotion in rough terrains, and performing flexible interactions between robots and living cells or human bodies. In addition, soft robotics pushes the boundary of visionary research topics such as growing, self-repairing, and self-replicating robots. Examples of the recent major achievements in soft robotics are shown in Figure 1.