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
For the first time, researchers at Leipzig University have shown that tiny synthetic microswimmers can perceive their surroundings directly through their own body shape and autonomously adapt to rapidly changing fluid flows. ...
Mar 17, 2026
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Robotics
A joint research team led by Dr. Dong-Gyun Kim of the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Professor Jeong Jae Wie of Hanyang University, and Professor Yong Seok Kim of Sejong University report the world's ...
Mar 16, 2026
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Robotics
Experienced human cyclists can perform a wide range of maneuvers and acrobatics while riding their bicycle, from balancing in place to riding on a single wheel or hopping over obstacles. Reproducing these agile maneuvers ...
Robotics
RMIT University engineers in Australia have built a remote-controlled minibot that hoovers up oil spills using an innovative filtering system inspired by sea urchins. Oil spills are still a serious problem around the world. ...
Mar 9, 2026
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Robotics
Engineers at Oxford University have developed a rapid, ultra-low-cost method for manufacturing soft robots using common lab equipment. The method has been published in Advanced Science. The new technique enables researchers ...
Mar 8, 2026
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Machine learning & AI
Northwestern University engineers have developed the first modular robots with athletic intelligence. They can be combined and recombined in the wild, recover from injury and keep moving no matter what's thrown at them.
Mar 7, 2026
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Robotics
Robots are becoming increasingly capable in vision and movement, yet touch remains one of their major weaknesses. Now, researchers have developed a miniature tactile sensor that could give robots something much closer to ...
Mar 5, 2026
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Robotics
Coordinating groups of underwater robots is difficult because communication below the surface is slow and unreliable. GPS signals do not work underwater, and radio waves fade rapidly in seawater. Most underwater communication ...
Robotics
With the speed at which technology advances, there is little room for suboptimal performance and out-of-date tech. Precise positioning is a field where advancement is needed, as many conventional applications feature tools ...
Mar 3, 2026
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Robotics
Robot vision could soon get a boost thanks to the development of a bioinspired eye that can automatically adjust its pupil size in response to changing light levels. Robots, self-driving cars and drones often struggle with ...
