Manufacturing techniques for soft robotic structures

Abstract

In the developing field of soft robotics, flexible and deformable materials rather than rigid or stiffer ones are used to build soft robots. These soft robots can safely interact with people and handle challenging surroundings because they are developed to perform the motions and functions of biological organisms. The manufacturing of soft robots with exceptional capabilities is made possible by the manufacturing processes used in soft robotics, such as casting and molding, 3D printing, textile-based, origami-inspired folding techniques, lamination, and fiber-reinforcement composites. This work provides a review of different manufacturing techniques used for the manufacturing of soft robots, along with their applications in the real world, including human–robot interaction, exploration, search and rescue, medical, rehabilitation, wearable assistance, gripping, and manipulation. However, the manufacturing of soft robotics may adopt multi-material and hybrid techniques, such as self-healing (under progress) and self-assembling capabilities, scalability, mass manufacturing, and in situ fabrication in the future. These developments can revolutionize industries, change the way of interaction with robotics in the future, and further enhance the capabilities and applications of soft robots.