Bioinspired soft robotics investigates compliant robotic systems that emulate the mechanics, morphology, and control strategies of animals and other biological organisms. The field develops artificial muscles, soft actuators, and mechanical metamaterials using polymers, hydrogels, liquid crystal elastomers, and textile or origami-based structures to achieve muscle-like motion, shape morphing, and adaptive stiffness. It spans scales from sub-millimeter microrobots to larger soft-bodied platforms, integrating sensing, flexible electronics, and biohybrid components for autonomous locomotion, manipulation, and interaction in complex environments, particularly in aquatic and terrestrial settings.
Robotics
Cyborg insects have long been studied as bio-hybrid systems that combine living organisms with small electronic devices. These systems may one day support tasks such as disaster search and rescue, environmental monitoring, ...
May 28, 2026
0
5
Robotics
Engineers have invented an ingenious liquid-metal pump that could make future soft robotics and wearable devices much more portable and agile. The innovation, led by the University of Bristol and published in the journal ...
May 27, 2026
0
17
Robotics
Symmetry is everywhere in nature, from the bilateral form of vertebrates to the radial geometry of starfish. For decades, roboticists have tried to copy these shapes and their abilities with bodies that look like humans, ...
May 27, 2026
0
67
Engineering
Researchers have drawn inspiration from armadillos to create a protective structure that responds to external threats by curling into a protective ball to protect electronic devices or other payloads. The structure is designed ...
May 27, 2026
0
8
Robotics
Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a tiny seed-sized robot that can navigate across soft and uneven surfaces to perform five surgical functions wirelessly, paving the ...
May 26, 2026
0
17
Robotics
Soft robotics—machines made of flexible, muscle-like materials—can bend and stretch in fluid ways that put the rigid robots of old sci-fi movies to shame. But the flexibility that lets them pick ripe tomatoes or navigate ...
May 22, 2026
0
20
Robotics
Cornell engineers have developed a robotic collective that behaves less like a machine and more like a material that flows, reshapes, and adapts to its environment without centralized control. The system, called the Cross-Link ...
May 21, 2026
0
8
Robotics
A research team has developed an "intelligent artificial muscle" capable of simultaneously performing sensing and actuation functions, inspired by biological muscle–tendon complexes. This artificial muscle, which embeds liquid ...
May 10, 2026
0
19
Robotics
Conventional soft actuators are often limited by weak force, small displacement, and slow response. To overcome these limitations, researchers have developed a new mechanical system that can amplify motion and remember external ...
May 8, 2026
0
14
Electronics & Semiconductors
Contemporary artificial intelligence (AI) systems, such as the models underpinning the functioning of ChatGPT, image generators and AI-powered creative tools, draw inspiration from the human brain's functions and organization. ...
