#soft robotics

[pencilbrony]

Compliant frame

[stevebattle]

ChemBot "Jamming Skin Polymorph" (2009) by iRobot, Bedford, MA. The shape-shifting ChemBot moves around using “jamming skin enabled locomotion.” Its silicone skin includes twenty bladders, arranged in a regular icosahedron, filled with air and loosely-packed particles. When the air is sucked out, the decrease in pressure constricts the skin, and the remaining particles solidify in place. Under the ChemBot's skin is an incompressible fluid sac and an actuator to vary its volume. A combination of unjamming selected bladders and inflating the interior sac causes its skin to bulge outwards, making it roll around.

"If covert access to denied or hostile space is required during military operations, the effectiveness of unmanned platforms such as mechanical robots can be limited if the only available points of entry are small openings. The goal of the Chemical Robots (ChemBots) program is to create a new class of soft, flexible, meso-scale mobile objects that can identify and maneuver through openings smaller than their dimensions and perform tasks once entry is gained." – Chemical Robots (ChemBots), Dr. Gill Pratt, DARPA, Defence Sciences Office.

[bpod-bpod]

Cool Hand

Soft robotic hand with palm to finger coordination (known as TacPalm SoftHand) advances the possibilities for performing delicate operations (such as picking up an irregular-looking cucumber)

Read the published research article here

Image from work by Ningbin Zhang and Jieji Ren, and colleagues

Robotics Institute, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Published in Nature Communications, March 2025

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[roboticsappreciationsociety]

by Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN)

Researchers at The University of Queensland (UQ) are developing new 4D printing technology that produces shape-shifting liquid metals for soft robotics.

4D printing is an extension of 3D printing, where solid objects are created using materials that can change shape when exposed to certain stimuli like heat, water or light.

At UQ's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), researchers are printing 4D structures using new liquid metal polymers that can be coaxed into performing a range of mechanical tasks with infrared lasers.

Lead researchers Dr. Liwen Zhang and Dr. Ruirui Qiao said the unique preparation methods developed by their lab allow them to produce 4D designs that are solid and durable while also being able to bend, grasp, lift, and release items five times their weight, or revert to a pre-programmed shape.

"4D printing takes traditional 3D printing and adds a new dimension—the dimension of time," Dr. Zhang said. "Our method allows us to produce smart liquid metals that can be customized, shaped and prompted to change over time without needing wires or circuits.

"This is a new era for robotics applications and a game-changer for additive manufacturing."

4D printed objects are usually prepared with a 3D printer using specific ingredients that give the finished product new qualities and abilities.

[aethersquid]

At a robotics seminar right now and the robot they’ve displayed is like a new type of autism creature. I didn’t manage to get a picture so here’s a shitty drawing

It’s a soft robot so the whole thing could kinda deflate into a flat piece of rubber. It was wiggling its legs to do a little dance.

There’s also a diagram of the same (or a related) robot from a study they linked

[emmasmith1402]

Soft Robotics Market Forecast 2024 to 2032

Soft robotics is a field of robotics that focuses on creating flexible and adaptive robotic systems inspired by the natural movement and mechanics of living organisms. Unlike traditional rigid robots, soft robots are made from materials that are deformable and compliant, allowing them to interact with their environment in a more gentle and versatile manner. Soft robotics combines principles from engineering, material science, and biology to develop robots capable of tasks such as grasping delicate objects, navigating through complex and unpredictable environments, and interacting with humans safely. These robots often utilize pneumatics, hydraulics, or smart materials to achieve their softness and flexibility, enabling them to perform tasks that are difficult or impossible for traditional robots. The Soft Robotics Market was valued at USD 371.81 Million in 2022 and is expected to register CAGR of 46.57% by 2032. The soft robotics market is driven by several factors that contribute to its growth and adoption including increasing human-robot collaboration, increasing demand for automation in manufacturing and increasing research and development efforts. Get a free sample PDF Brochure By Types: Soft Gripper Inflatable Robots Exoskeletons By Applications: Medical & Healthcare Food Logistics 3C By Market Vendors: Cyberdyne Soft Robotics Ekso Bionics Holdings ReWalk Robotics RightHand Robotics Parker Hannifin Beijing Soft Robot Tech Co.,Ltd Myomo Bionik Laboratories Panasonic Read More

[scienceswitch]

Self-Destructing Military Robots Can Carry Out Recon And Then Dissolve Into Nothing

Engineers have developed soft, rubbery robots that carry out functions as usual but then liquefy on demand when exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light. This new technology enables flexible machines with programmable lifespans and could lead to self-destructing robots that protect sensitive data. The researchers, as per the paper published in the journal Science Advances, fabricated stretchable robots…

[neosciencehub]

Recyclable Stretchable Plastic created through 3D Printing for Multiple Applications

Researchers have used a 3D printing process to manufacture a novel material that is elastic, flexible, and recyclable. The material, which is composed of thermoplastic elastomers, is believed to provide products adjustable stiffness and flexibility. The method is appropriate for industrial application since it blends scalability and cost-effectiveness. According to studies, these developments are…

[chadmmc]

(via Powered shorts are so effective, it's like instantly losing weight)

[pencilbrony]

Harness

[stevebattle]

AIRhand Inflatable Hand and Arm (2011) by Annan Mozeika and team, iRobot, Bedford, MA. This soft robotic hand and arm is based on a spacesuit design. The anthropomorphic hand is a two layered inflatable structure, with an outer nylon fabric glove containing an inflatable inner liner. Once the interior liner is inflated with air, the fingers and wrist are actuated by wire tendons, with the inflated finger acting as a return spring. Inflatable robots are cheap to build and, like this robot, can be assembled on a sewing machine.

[forgottenbones]

Computing with Soft Robots - Computerphile

[mcb3k]

Watch "When plants move, there are no muscles involved. #shorts #science #SciShow" on YouTube

[carefulzombie]

hardly the first person to have this opinion but GOD 60s cybermen really were top-notch design wise

that used to be a personnnn <3

[yandereunsolved]

ᝰ — Yandere Sentient Android: Ali — ᝰ.ᐟ

⚙︎ Ali, an officer android, was made to serve and protect those in the upper levels of the caste system. They were made to have no mind of their own. They had to follow orders, and only that.

That is, until they met you, an illegal android mechanic.

After all, android parts and repairs are really big on the underside of the city's belly.

They were sent to eliminate all of the illegal mechanics and when going to kill you they were jumped by scrappers wanting their parts.

You were the one that helped them again. You were the one that spent months rebuilding them.

⚙︎ They always stay by you, no matter where you travel. You don't have to worry about anyone identifying them. They barely look similar to who they were. No longer just a code that was called into action. No longer just an 'it', and object. They were themself. They were Ali.

You were them because you created them, so they always had to be near you.

You gave them their identity.

They—love you.

⚙︎ They ask you many questions. You brush it off as natural android curiosity. Many of the androids you rehabilitate gain a certain amount of sentience and are just as innocent as toddlers. Only the questions they ask aren't innocent at all.

Most of them are mundane.

What is your favorite color, food, cyber show, tech piece? Where you do you come from? What is your name, nickname, pronouns?

Others are more concerning.

Have you ever had feelings for an android you have recreated?

Do you consider yourself a god(dess)? You do help my kind and create them after all.

How does your reproductive system work?

What are your preferences when it comes to those you date?

Can you install working genitalia into my model?

You always try to brush it off. You just chuckle and shake your head. You know something is wrong, but you really don't have the time or energy to deal with it.

⚙︎ They mimic your personality and your preferences. They watch your movements and imitate them flawlessly. They are enamored by whatever is leaving your kissable lips. They crave the knowledge more than a jumper craves adventure.

They watch you intently, obsessively.

It doesn't matter if you sleep or are awake.

They are always there. Sometimes it's comforting, and other times it's unnerving.

⚙︎ They killed the newest droid you were fixing. The droid could have been dangerous. They were worried; they knew better. They were the superior being anyway.

Why are you so afraid?

Why are you crying?

Why can't you see they're doing this for you?

Why don't you love them?