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Biomimetics
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Bioinspired Structures for Soft Actuators: 2nd Edition
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Bioinspired Structures for Soft Actuators: 2nd Edition

A special issue of Biomimetics (ISSN 2313-7673). This special issue belongs to the section "Locomotion and Bioinspired Robotics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 5498

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Benliang Zhu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Guangdong Key Laboratory of Precision Equipment and Manufacturing Technology, School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
Interests: compliant mechanisms; precision engineering; soft robotics; machine version
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Hai Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Precision Equipment and Manufacture Technology, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
Interests: vision-based precision measurement & servo control; micro-/nano positioning and manipulation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Biomimetics has been extensively studied as one of the principal ways of designing soft actuators. Recently, great efforts have been made to mimic living creatures to design the structures of soft robots, such as jellyfish-like swimmers, snake- and worm-inspired robots, octopuses’ grippers, and millipede-inspired soft robots. These bionic design structures can achieve specific functionalities. However, many challenges still exist with regard to devising bioinspired actuators, including more compact yet more powerful actuators with simple structures and multi-modal movements.

This Special Issue, titled “Bioinspired Structures for Soft Actuators”, will collect outstanding contributions from different laboratories working on biomimetic soft actuators.

Taking advantage of the journal’s open-access format, this collection of papers aims to exemplify the effectiveness of biomimetic approaches in uncovering novel research pathways and pioneering solutions within the realm of structural design methods.

Submissions are welcomed for topics for this Special Issue, including (but not limited to) bioinspired structure designs, biomimicry design methods, and biomimetic robotics in industry and medical technology. This undertaking will address a crucial void in the field of biomimetic structural mechanics and engineering applications.

Prof. Dr. Benliang Zhu
Dr. Hai Li
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Biomimetics 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 2200 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
  • compliant structure
  • mechanical design
  • bioinspired structure
  • simulation and experimentation
  • bio-inspired robots
  • the application of soft actuators

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 16693 KiB  
Article
Analyzing and Assisting Finger Motions for Spoon Scooping
by Yuto Tanizaki, Pablo E. Tortós-Vinocour, Fuko Matsunaga, Naoki Kamijo, Koki Yoshida, Shota Kokubu, Jose Gomez-Tames and Wenwei Yu
Biomimetics 2025, 10(2), 116; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics10020116 - 17 Feb 2025
Viewed by 580
Abstract
Assisting patients with weakened hand and wrist strength during meals is essential. While various feeding devices have been developed, many do not utilize patients’ residual finger functions, leading to an increase in the risk of disuse syndrome and loss of joy in life. [...] Read more.
Assisting patients with weakened hand and wrist strength during meals is essential. While various feeding devices have been developed, many do not utilize patients’ residual finger functions, leading to an increase in the risk of disuse syndrome and loss of joy in life. Recently, assist-as-needed support for spoon grasping by soft hand rehabilitation devices has been studied. Moreover, in our previous study, we investigated finger motions for the required scooping angle and verified them with a dummy hand driven by soft actuators. However, eating with a spoon requires not only spoon grasping and rotating but also plunging the spoon into food and lifting it afterward. The goal of this study is to achieve self-feeding with spoons using soft actuators for individuals with partial finger disabilities. To address this, we measured scooping movements using inertial measurement units, identified feasible finger motions for spoon plunging and lifting, and verified our findings through experiments with a dummy hand driven by soft actuators. As a result, we found a way to achieve the two motions by regulating the moment applied to the spoon. These results highlight the potential of soft actuators for assisting scooping movements. This study marks an important step toward feeding assistance that leverages patients’ residual finger functions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioinspired Structures for Soft Actuators: 2nd Edition)
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23 pages, 6106 KiB  
Article
Design of an Adaptive Fixed-Time Fast Terminal Sliding Mode Controller for Multi-Link Robots Actuated by Pneumatic Artificial Muscles
by Hesam Khajehsaeid, Ali Soltani and Vahid Azimirad
Biomimetics 2025, 10(1), 37; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics10010037 - 8 Jan 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 833
Abstract
Pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) are flexible actuators that can be contracted or expanded by applying air pressure. They are used in robotics, prosthetics, and other applications requiring flexible and compliant actuation. PAMs are basically designed to mimic the function of biological muscles, providing [...] Read more.
Pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) are flexible actuators that can be contracted or expanded by applying air pressure. They are used in robotics, prosthetics, and other applications requiring flexible and compliant actuation. PAMs are basically designed to mimic the function of biological muscles, providing a high force-to-weight ratio and smooth, lifelike movement. Inflation and deflation of these muscles can be controlled rapidly, allowing for fast actuation. In this work, a continuum mechanics-based model is developed to predict the output parameters of PAMs, like actuation force. Comparison of the model results with experimental data shows that the model efficiently predicts the mechanical behaviour of PAMs. Using the actuation force–air pressure–contraction relation provided by the proposed mechanical model, a dynamic model is derived for a multi-link PAM-actuated robot manipulator. An adaptive fixed-time fast terminal sliding mode control is proposed to track the desired joint position trajectories despite the model uncertainties and external disturbances with unknown magnitude bounds. Furthermore, the performance of the proposed controller is compared with an adaptive backstepping fast terminal sliding mode controller through numerical simulations. The simulations show faster convergence and more precise tracking for the proposed controller. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioinspired Structures for Soft Actuators: 2nd Edition)
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16 pages, 6556 KiB  
Article
Origami-Inspired Vacuum-Actuated Foldable Actuator Enabled Biomimetic Worm-like Soft Crawling Robot
by Qiping Xu, Kehang Zhang, Chenhang Ying, Huiyu Xie, Jinxin Chen and Shiju E
Biomimetics 2024, 9(9), 541; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics9090541 - 6 Sep 2024
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1934
Abstract
The development of a soft crawling robot (SCR) capable of quick folding and recovery has important application value in the field of biomimetic engineering. This article proposes an origami-inspired vacuum-actuated foldable soft crawling robot (OVFSCR), which is composed of entirely soft foldable mirrored [...] Read more.
The development of a soft crawling robot (SCR) capable of quick folding and recovery has important application value in the field of biomimetic engineering. This article proposes an origami-inspired vacuum-actuated foldable soft crawling robot (OVFSCR), which is composed of entirely soft foldable mirrored origami actuators with a Kresling crease pattern, and possesses capabilities of realizing multimodal locomotion incorporating crawling, climbing, and turning movements. The OVFSCR is characterized by producing periodically foldable and restorable body deformation, and its asymmetric structural design of low front and high rear hexahedral feet creates a friction difference between the two feet and contact surface to enable unidirectional movement. Combining an actuation control sequence with an asymmetrical structural design, the body deformation and feet in contact with ground can be coordinated to realize quick continuous forward crawling locomotion. Furthermore, an efficient dynamic model is developed to characterize the OVFSCR’s motion capability. The robot demonstrates multifunctional characteristics, including crawling on a flat surface at an average speed of 11.9 mm/s, climbing a slope of 3°, carrying a certain payload, navigating inside straight and curved round tubes, removing obstacles, and traversing different media. It is revealed that the OVFSCR can imitate contractile deformation and crawling mode exhibited by soft biological worms. Our study contributes to paving avenues for practical applications in adaptive navigation, exploration, and inspection of soft robots in some uncharted territory. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioinspired Structures for Soft Actuators: 2nd Edition)
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17 pages, 8054 KiB  
Article
Soft Gripping Fingers Made of Multi-Stacked Dielectric Elastomer Actuators with Backbone Strategy
by Armin Jamali, Robert Knoerlein, Dushyant Bhagwan Mishra, Seyed Alireza Sheikholeslami, Peter Woias and Frank Goldschmidtboeing
Biomimetics 2024, 9(8), 505; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics9080505 - 21 Aug 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1433
Abstract
Soft grippers, a rapidly growing subfield of soft robotics, utilize compliant and flexible materials capable of conforming to various shapes. This feature enables them to exert gentle yet, if required, strong gripping forces. In this study, we elaborate on the material selection and [...] Read more.
Soft grippers, a rapidly growing subfield of soft robotics, utilize compliant and flexible materials capable of conforming to various shapes. This feature enables them to exert gentle yet, if required, strong gripping forces. In this study, we elaborate on the material selection and fabrication process of gripping fingers based on the dielectric elastomer actuation technique. We study the effects of mixing the silicone elastomer with a silicone thinner on the performance of the actuators. Inspired by nature, where the motion of end-effectors such as soft limbs or fingers is, in many cases, directed by a stiff skeleton, we utilize backbones for translating the planar actuation into a bending motion. Thus, the finger does not need any rigid frame or pre-stretch, as in many other DEA approaches. The idea and function of the backbone strategy are demonstrated by finite element method simulations with COMSOL Multiphysics® 6.5. The paper describes the full methodology from material choice and characterization, design, and simulation to characterization to enable future developments based on our approach. Finally, we present the performance of these actuators in a gripper demonstrator setup. The developed actuators bend up to 68.3° against gravity, and the gripper fingers hold up to 10.3 g against gravity under an actuation voltage of 8 kV. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioinspired Structures for Soft Actuators: 2nd Edition)
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