Toward Self-Modifying Bio-Soft Robots

Abstract

Soft robotics can dramatically increase the affinity between machines and biological systems. Designing the machine/device to be soft and deformable allows the biological system to interact with the robotic system(s) mechanically, electronically, and chemically. This advantage is evident from the rapid growth of collaborative robotics, where a robot can be mechanically guided by an operator to learn motions from them without the need for coding. This letter introduces a method for combining a soft robotic system with a biological system, demonstrated through a series of case studies of ongoing research projects. These various projects have a common purpose in creating self-modifying bio-soft robots.