A team of Michigan State University researchers has built flexible hybrid pneumatic actuator, which could enable safer human-machine interaction with safer robot end effectors.
Robotic textiles developed at Wyss Institute could enable mechanotherapies
A new smart fabric that can be inflated and deflated by temperature-dependent liquid-vapor phase changes could enable a new range of mechanotherapeutic and industrial applications.
UC San Diego developing flexible feet to help robots walk faster
UC San Diego is developing flexible feet that allow robots to walk faster and grip better because of a mechanism called granular jamming.
MIT gives soft robotic gripper better sense of touch and perception
MIT researchers built a soft robotic gripper that uses embedded cameras and deep learning to enable tactile sensing and awareness of its positions and movements.
Flexible medical robots get low-cost, highly accurate guidance at UC San Diego
Roboticists at UC San Diego have developed a method using magnetic localization and a neural network to more cheaply and accurately track flexible medical robots than conventional radiation-based methods.
Cheetahs inspire NC State robots that can move faster, grasp more precisely
NC State University researchers have developed a soft robot inspired by cheetahs that can move faster on solid surfaces or in the water than previous generations of soft robots.
How soft robots could be remotely controlled via magnetic fields
Soft materials, such as rubber or polymers that can endure drastic changes to their shape, are promising for applications where flexibility and shapeshifting abilities are paramount. For example, these materials can be used to create soft robots suited for specialized tasks, ranging from medical devices that could navigate around inside the body to robots for…
OnRobot Soft Gripper is designed for picking challenges, food handling
The new OnRobot Soft Gripper is designed to work without an external air supply. The end effector comes in three configurations, is FDA-certified, and works with the One System Solution.
Stanford developing tetherless soft robot that changes shape
Advances in soft robotics could someday allow robots to work alongside humans, helping them lift heavy objects or carrying them out of danger. As a step toward that future, Stanford University researchers have developed a new kind of soft robot that, by borrowing features from traditional robotics, is safe while still retaining the ability to…
‘Sensorized’ skin enables soft robotic arm to feel its own way at MIT
A ‘sensorized’ soft robotic arm combines soft sensors and machine learning to know where it is in a 3D environment.
Soft robot sweats autonomously to prevent overheating
Just when it seemed like robots couldn’t get any cooler, Cornell University researchers have created a soft robot muscle that can regulate its temperature through sweating. This form of thermal management is a basic building block for enabling untethered, high-powered robots to operate for long periods of time without overheating, according to the Rob Shepherd,…
Sea anemone inspires robotic grippers in Chinese research
Chinese researchers recently demonstrated a robotic gripper mechanism that mimics how a sea anemone catches its prey. The bionic torus captures and releases objects by crimping its skin.
Soft Robotics raises Series B funding with participation from FANUC
Robotic manipulation innovator Soft Robotics has raised $23 million in an “oversubscribed” Series B round, with participation from FANUC.
Xenobots use repurposed frog cells for living robots
University of Vermont scientists have reassembled frog cells into xenobots, a programmable organism or organic robot that can move.
mGrip from Soft Robotics now available through FANUC channels
Soft Robotics has announced that its new mGrip soft robotic grippers will be available worldwide through FANUC’s distribution network. They will also be integrated with FANUC’s products.
Stretchy robots get new MIT model to optimize design, controls
Because they can move in multiple dimensions, optimizing soft robots to perform complex tasks is a huge computational challenge, but a new MIT model can help
‘Learning-in-the-loop’ method optimizes control of soft robots
MIT researchers have invented a way to efficiently optimize the control and design of soft robots for target tasks, which has traditionally been a monumental undertaking in computation. Soft robots have springy, flexible, stretchy bodies that can essentially move an infinite number of ways at any given moment. Computationally, this represents a highly complex “state…
RoboBee becomes more resilient with soft muscles
Harvard University researchers have found a way to make soft actuators powerful enough to enable a RoboBee to fly and collide.
Soft Robotics’ new coDrive enables untethered pneumatic cobot manipulation
Soft Robotics has made its pneumatic grippers portable with the new coDrive technology, enabling a range of collaborative robotics applications.
Robot Block Party in Boston kicks off Massachusetts STEM Week
MassRobotics hosted its third annual Robot Block Party in Boston, showcasing local robotics companies and giving people of all ages a chance to see robots up close.
Electrically controlled soft actuators could make soft robots less bulky
Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a way to build soft robots that are compact, portable and multifunctional. The advance was made possible by creating soft, tubular actuators whose movements are electrically controlled, which makes them easy to integrate with small electronic components. As a proof of concept, engineers used these…
Electrothermal actuators propel small robot like an inchworm
Researchers at the University of Toronto have created a small robot that can crawl like an inchworm. Electrothermal actuators could one day transform industries from aviation to smart wearables.