Advanced Mechanism Design and Sensing for Soft Robotics

A special issue of Actuators (ISSN 2076-0825). This special issue belongs to the section "Control Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2025) | Viewed by 753

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, 56025 Pontedera, Italy
Interests: biorobotics; soft robotics; textile sensors; flexible sensors; stretchable electronics
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to bring together a collection of research articles focused on the integration of advanced mechanism design with innovative sensorization techniques, emphasizing key factors to enhance the performance and control of soft robots in complex environments. Soft robotics, an emerging field inspired by biological organisms, seeks to develop flexible and adaptable robotic systems.

This Special Issue will showcase novel approaches to mechanism design, highlighting lightweight, deformable structures that provide increased dexterity and compliance in soft robotic systems. These advances are complemented by state-of-the-art sensorization strategies, which incorporate diverse sensors to monitor deformation, force, and environmental interactions in real-time. The seamless integration of sensors not only improves the robots’ ability to interact with their surroundings but also enhances their autonomy and adaptability by offering more accurate feedback for control algorithms.

Critical applications of these technologies span from medical robotics, where soft robots operate safely in delicate environments, to industrial automation, where flexibility and safety are essential. This collection of articles will bridge the gap between design and functionality, offering a comprehensive framework for developing next-generation soft robotic systems capable of complex and sophisticated interactions.

Original research articles and reviews are welcome in this Special Issue. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Soft robotics technologies;
  • Advanced mechanism design;
  • Sensing technologies;
  • Deformable structures;
  • Real-time monitoring;
  • Control algorithms;
  • Autonomy and adaptability;
  • Soft robotic performance optimization.

Dr. Martina Maselli
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • soft robotics technologies
  • advanced mechanism design
  • sensing technologies
  • deformable structures
  • real-time monitoring
  • control algorithms
  • autonomy and adaptability
  • soft robotic performance optimization

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 5324 KiB  
Article
Development of Tendon-Driven Continuum Robot with Visual Posture Sensing for Object Grasping
by Ryo Onose and Hideyuki Sawada
Actuators 2025, 14(3), 140; https://doi.org/10.3390/act14030140 - 13 Mar 2025
Viewed by 444
Abstract
Inspired by the characteristics of living organisms with soft bodies and flexibility, continuum robots, which bend their robotic bodies and adapt to different shapes, have been widely introduced. Such robots can be used as manipulators to handle objects by wrapping themselves around them, [...] Read more.
Inspired by the characteristics of living organisms with soft bodies and flexibility, continuum robots, which bend their robotic bodies and adapt to different shapes, have been widely introduced. Such robots can be used as manipulators to handle objects by wrapping themselves around them, and they are expected to have high grasping performance. However, their infinite degrees of freedom and soft structure make modeling and controlling difficult. In this study, we develop a tendon-driven continuum robot system with color-based posture sensing. The robot is driven by dividing the continuum body into two parts, enabling it to grasp objects by flexible motions. For posture sensing, each joint is painted in a different color, and the 3D coordinates of each joint are detected by a stereo camera for estimating the 3D shape of the robotic body. By taking a video of the robot in actuation and using image processing to detect joint positions, we succeeded in obtaining the posture of the entire robot in experiments. We also robustly demonstrate the grasping manipulation of an object using the redundant structure of the continuum body. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Mechanism Design and Sensing for Soft Robotics)
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