The Amazing World of Soft Robotics

Soft robots can do many things that rigid robots never could.
Loukia Papadopoulos

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Soft robotics is a growing field and it brings many impressive agile and capable machines. Indeed, not all robots are rigid. Some are malleable and soft, meaning they can achieve tasks and go to locations that rigid robots never could.

Soft robots can perform a variety of tasks such as picking up different objects using suction cups, swimming among real fish in coral reefs to monitor aquatic life without disturbing the fishes’ natural habitat, walking, and changing colors to blend in with their surroundings. They can mimic natural hand movements with a touch that is soft enough to handle fragile objects. There is even a robot that can bend, flex, expand and move depending on the amount of air in its chambers. It is this last robot that NASA hopes to send to space someday.

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