Harvard University labs has launched a toolkit that will supply robotics enthusiasts and researchers with the tools they need to design, build and operate soft robots. Michelle Starr is CNET's science ...

Could the future of rescue missions and exploration lie in the hands—or rather, the flexible movements—of a swarm of ...

While there are many potential uses for soft-bodied robots, the things are still typically only built in small experimental batches. Scottish scientists are out to change that, with a ...

Soft robotics is an emerging field in the robotic world with promising adaptability in navigating unstructured environments.

A kirigami-skinned soft robot powered by pneumatic muscles achieves crawling, steering and obstacle avoidance, advancing ...

Today's robots may not be the hospitable humanoids or shape-shifting Autobots of past imagination, but engineers are well on their way to producing machines that can walk, swim, crawl and climb as ...

Inspired by invertebrate organisms like jellyfish and earthworm, the research of soft robotics as alternatives to traditional rigid robots has made tremendous progress in recent years. Scientists are ...

Soft-bodied robots have numerous desirable qualities, such as the ability to squeeze through gaps, or survive being stepped on. And so far, they've typically been manually assembled on a one-off basis ...

In a laboratory in Connecticut, a palm-sized silicone robot scrunches up its body to inch forward in a caterpillar-like motion. A brick tips over onto its leg, trapping it as it struggles to move on.

The field of soft robotics has exploded in the past decade, as ever more researchers seek to make real the potential of these pliant, flexible automata in a variety of realms, including search and ...

A new type of soft robot can crawl like a worm, climb cables, and suddenly snap into a completely different shape to move in a new direction—all controlled by a single air input. This breakthrough, ...