Smart Materials in Robotics and Actuators

Dear Colleagues,

Smart actuator materials, including magnetorheological fluid (MRF), magnetorheological elastomer (MRE), piezoelectric material (PM), shape memory alloy (SMA), shape memory polymer (SMP), dielectric elastomer (DE), etc., have high application potential in soft mechatronics and robotics, such as soft grippers, artificial muscles, wearables, haptics equipment, and biomedical devices. The adaptability, design flexibility, reconfigurability, and versatility of smart soft materials enable applications that are not possible with traditional rigid robots and actuators.

This Special Issue aims to describe various smart actuator materials technologies, provide insight into the latest scientific research in smart materials, and discuss how they are related to actuation and robotic application. We encourage submissions of papers presenting original research findings or novel reviews that could summarize the current state of the art on the topic.

Extended versions of presentations given at the 4D Materials Design and Additive Manufacturing Conference 2023 are also encouraged for this issue. The editors of "Smart Materials in Robotics and Actuators" have extended an invitation to the presenters at 4DMDA 2023 to submit an extended article for peer review and publication in Actuators. You are invited to send your work to this Special Issue dedicated to the 4DMDA2023 conference.

Dr. Ali Zolfagharian
Dr. Mahdi Bodaghi
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-blind 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.