Seeing robots made with soft, flexible parts in action appears to lower people's anxiety about working with them or even being replaced by them. A study found that watching videos of a soft robot ...

Scientists have made a soft robotic lens that has no electric or rigid parts, is more powerful than the human eye, and is ...

Bipedal (two-legged) robots are sophisticated machines, but they are not the most graceful when things go wrong. A simple ...

Unlike traditional robots, which rely on rigid motors, gears, and pumps, soft robots use pliable materials that allow them to bend, stretch, and interact safely with humans and delicate environments.

Roboticists have been motivated by a long-standing goal to make robots safer. The new actuator could be used to develop inexpensive, soft, flexible robots which are safer and more practical for ...

This dual cross-linking design lets the muscle switch stiffness on demand. In lab tests, its stiffness jumps from about 213 ...

Advances in robot design, actuation, and control have benefitted from biological inspiration, which has perhaps most influenced the soft robotics community. Furthermore, many scientists interested in ...

The 2004 sci-fi action flick I, Robot (streaming now on Peacock) features Will Smith as Del Spooner, a Chicago detective in the year 2035. It’s a loose adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s robot stories, ...

Empa researcher Frank Clemens and his team develop soft and intelligent sensors materials based on ceramic particles. Most people think of coffee cups, bathroom tiles or flower pots when they hear the ...