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Soft Actuators for Small‐Scale Robotics
Author(s) -
Hines Lindsey,
Petersen Kirstin,
Lum Guo Zhan,
Sitti Metin
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.201603483
Subject(s) - actuator , soft robotics , robot , robotics , soft materials , scale (ratio) , computer science , artificial intelligence , implementation , materials science , nanotechnology , control engineering , engineering , software engineering , physics , quantum mechanics
This review comprises a detailed survey of ongoing methodologies for soft actuators, highlighting approaches suitable for nanometer‐ to centimeter‐scale robotic applications. Soft robots present a special design challenge in that their actuation and sensing mechanisms are often highly integrated with the robot body and overall functionality. When less than a centimeter, they belong to an even more special subcategory of robots or devices, in that they often lack on‐board power, sensing, computation, and control. Soft, active materials are particularly well suited for this task, with a wide range of stimulants and a number of impressive examples, demonstrating large deformations, high motion complexities, and varied multifunctionality. Recent research includes both the development of new materials and composites, as well as novel implementations leveraging the unique properties of soft materials.