Volume 58, Issue 33 pp. 11182-11204
Review

Bio-inspired Design and Additive Manufacturing of Soft Materials, Machines, Robots, and Haptic Interfaces

Shuo Li

Shuo Li

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, USA

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Hedan Bai

Hedan Bai

Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, USA

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Prof. Robert F. Shepherd

Corresponding Author

Prof. Robert F. Shepherd

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, USA

Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, USA

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Prof. Huichan Zhao

Corresponding Author

Prof. Huichan Zhao

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, China

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First published: 01 February 2019
Citations: 166

Graphical Abstract

The soft side of robots: This Review gives an overview of current advances in materials with intrinsic softness as well as soft machines, robots, and haptic interfaces. The focus lies on two specific topics: bio-inspired design and additive manufacturing.

Abstract

Soft materials possess several distinctive characteristics, such as controllable deformation, infinite degrees of freedom, and self-assembly, which make them promising candidates for building soft machines, robots, and haptic interfaces. In this Review, we give an overview of recent advances in these areas, with an emphasis on two specific topics: bio-inspired design and additive manufacturing. Biology is an abundant source of inspiration for functional materials and systems that mimic the function or mechanism of biological tissues, agents, and behaviors. Additive manufacturing has enabled the fabrication of materials and structures prevalent in biology, thereby leading to more-capable soft robots and machines. We believe that bio-inspired design and additive manufacturing have been, and will continue to be, important tools for the design of soft robots.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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