Design of Soft Robots: A Review of Methods and Future Opportunities for Research

Behzad Hasanshahi, Lin Cao, Ki Young Song, Wenjun Zhang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

Soft robots present resilient and adaptable systems characterized by deformable bodies inspired by biological systems. In this paper, we comprehensively review existing design methods for soft robots. One unique feature of our review is that we first formulate criteria, which enables us to derive knowledge gaps and suggest future research directions to close these gaps and go further. Another distinctive feature of our review is that we pivot on the general engineering design process for soft robots. As such, we consider three criteria: (1) the availability of design requirements to start with the design of soft robots, (2) the availability of the so-called concept design or architecture design for soft robots, and (3) the systematic process that leads to the final design of soft robots. The review is conducted systematically, especially when searching for and selecting relevant publications in the literature. The main contribution of this review includes (i) identifying knowledge gaps and (ii) suggesting future research directions to close these gaps and go further.

Original languageEnglish
Article number527
JournalMachines
Volume12
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2024

Keywords

  • bio-inspired design
  • design methodology
  • evolutionary design
  • soft actuator
  • soft body
  • soft machine
  • soft robot
  • topology optimization

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