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Literature Review of Soft Robotics

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# robotics
# soft robotics
# literature review
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Possible directions: Thermoelectric skin for soft robots

Literature Review

Soft Robots

C. Aygül, C. Güven, S. A. Frunzi, B. J. Katz, and M. P. Nemitz, “A framework for soft mechanism driven robots,” Nat Commun, vol. 16, no. 1, p. 1426, Feb. 2025, doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-56025-3.

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  • Superior Impact Resistance & Elastic Recovery: The hybrid robot exhibits excellent impact resilience, undergoing elastic deformation under compression (~30 kN force) and fully recovering its shape, whereas a rigid counterpart suffers plastic deformation and fracture.
  • Terrain-Adaptive Locomotion: The quadruped robot operates effectively on sand, soil, gravel, rocks, and carpet. Different mechanism syntheses enable task-specific adaptation; e.g., a “vertical step” linkage successfully climbs steep slopes.
  • High Durability and Battery-Powered Operation: The printed structures withstand >10,000 cycles in fatigue tests. With a 2000 mAh battery, the robot traveled ~250 meters (2500 body lengths) untethered, demonstrating practical endurance.

D. Yang et al., “Soft multifunctional bistable fabric mechanism for electronics-free autonomous robots,” Sci. Adv., vol. 11, no. 5, p. eads8734, Jan. 2025, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.ads8734.

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  • Fast & High-Performance Actuation: The BFM achieves rapid bending (>1166°/s) and snap-through motion, enabling quick responses suitable for dynamic tasks like catching a fast-moving object.

  • Multi-State Pneumatic Control: BFMs can be configured as multi-way, multi-state pneumatic switches, including proportional control for continuous pressure regulation—enabling precise interaction and motion control.

  • Environmental Robustness: As an electronics-free system, it is suitable for environments where electronics fail (e.g., underwater, high radiation, or EMI-prone settings).

C. Xu, J. Ma, L. Fu, X. Liu, L. Zhang, and Y. Chen, “An Ultra-Fast Rolling Double-Helical Robot Driven by Constant Humidity,” Advanced Science, vol. 12, no. 23, p. 2500577, 2025, doi: 10.1002/advs.202500577.

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  • Ultra-Fast Rolling Speed: The optimized Dualicallbot achieves a remarkable speed of 5.8 body lengths per second (BL s⁻¹)—4.8 times faster than the previous fastest constant-environment-driven soft robot, and competitive with many modulated-stimuli robots.
  • Lightweight and High Payload Capacity: Weighing only 29.5 mg, the robot can carry a payload up to 100% of its own weight while maintaining a speed of 3.4 BL s⁻¹, demonstrating strong power-to-weight performance.

A. D. Marchese, R. K. Katzschmann, and D. Rus, “A Recipe for Soft Fluidic Elastomer Robots,” Soft Robotics, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 7–25, Mar. 2015, doi: 10.1089/soro.2014.0022.

This work provides approaches to designing and fabricating soft fluidic elastomer robots. That is, three viable actuator morphologies composed entirely from soft silicone rubber are explored, and these morphologies are differentiated by their internal channel structure, namely, ribbed, cylindrical, and pleated.

Open source products

B. Finio, “Air-Powered Soft Robotic Gripper,” Instructables. Accessed: Dec. 01, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.instructables.com/Air-Powered-Soft-Robotic-Gripper/

3D-printed mold:

Pour EcoFlex into the mold:

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Inflate the soft robotic gripper: