Advances in Soft Actuation: From Principles to Applications
A Special Issue of Actuators (ISSN 2076-0825) belonging to the section "Actuators for Robotics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 January 2027 | Viewed by 220
Editors
Interests: robotics; mechatronics; artificial intelligence
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Soft actuators—devices that generate motion and force through the deformation of compliant, flexible, or stretchable materials—have become a cornerstone of modern robotics, biomechanics, and biomedical engineering. Driven by growing demands for systems that can safely interact with humans, navigate unstructured environments, and interface seamlessly with biological tissues, research in this field has expanded rapidly over the past decade. Electroactive polymers, pneumatically and hydraulically driven elastomeric networks, magnetically responsive composites, thermally actuated structures, and light-driven materials each offer distinctive combinations of compliance, energy efficiency, and biocompatibility that rigid actuators cannot replicate. Despite remarkable progress, key challenges remain in achieving predictable and controllable behavior, scalable fabrication, and robust long-term performance in real-world conditions.
This Special Issue aims to present and disseminate the most recent advances in soft actuation, spanning fundamental principles through to practical applications. We welcome contributions that bridge the gap between materials innovation and engineering deployment, including novel actuator design and fabrication strategies, physics-based and data-driven modeling, closed-loop control, and integration into robotic, wearable, and biomedical systems.
In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Novel soft actuator materials, architectures, and fabrication methods (including 3D/4D printing);
- Electroactive polymers, dielectric elastomers, and ionic actuators;
- Pneumatic, hydraulic, and tendon-driven soft systems;
- Thermally and magnetically responsive soft actuators;
- Light-driven and optically controlled actuation;
- Modeling, simulation, and closed-loop control of soft actuators;
- Soft actuators for wearable, rehabilitation, and surgical applications;
- Bio-inspired and biomimetic actuation mechanisms;
- Human–robot interaction and physical human–robot collaboration;
- Scalable manufacturing and system integration.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Dimuthu D.K. Arachchige
Dr. Anura Rathnayake
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Actuators is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- soft robotics
- soft actuators
- bio-inspired actuation
- 4D printing and smart manufacturing
- electroactive polymers
- pneumatic and hydraulic actuation
- magnetically responsive materials
- light-driven actuators
- wearable and biomedical devices
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