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
Specialized robots that can both fly and drive typically touch down on land before attempting to transform and drive away. But when the landing terrain is rough, these robots sometimes get stuck and are unable to continue ...
May 28, 2025
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Robotics
In the ocean sciences, robots provide views of the unexplored and can navigate environments not safely accessible to humans. Such dangerous settings make up the majority of Earth's oceans.
May 28, 2025
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Robotics
Scientists have created the first soft robots that can walk straight out of the machines that make them.
May 28, 2025
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Electronics & Semiconductors
Unlike fish, jellyfish lack bones and possess a sole rudimentary nerve net, yet they can travel considerable distances with minimal energy expenditure. A jellyfish's seemingly effortless glide through the water is thanks ...
May 26, 2025
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Robotics
A Korean research team has developed a light-powered artificial muscle that operates freely underwater, paving the way for next-generation soft robotics.
May 21, 2025
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Engineering
Underwater or aerial vehicles with dimples like golf balls could be more efficient and maneuverable, a new prototype developed at the University of Michigan has demonstrated.
May 19, 2025
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Robotics
Soft robots are known for their flexibility and adaptability, but most still rely on rigid electronic components for control and timing. A recent publication from researchers at Georgia Tech challenges that paradigm.
May 19, 2025
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Robotics
Scientists inspired by the octopus's nervous system have developed a robot that can decide how to move or grip objects by sensing its environment.
May 14, 2025
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Robotics
At less than one and a half inches tall, roughly the same height as a LEGO minifigure, the world's smallest self-contained bipedal robot can self-start from standstill, walk faster than a half mile per hour, turn, skip, and ...
May 13, 2025
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Engineering
When you pull something—like a rubber band—you expect it to get longer. But what if it did the opposite? What if it suddenly shrank instead? In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers ...
May 12, 2025
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