Advanced Soft Robotics with Miniaturized and Flexible Designs

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "A:Physics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 113

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Soft Robotics Laboratory, ETH Zurich, Tannenstrasse 3, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
Interests: tissue engineering; bio-hybrid robotics; regenerative medicine; magnetic systems; magnetic nanoparticles; iron oxide nanoparticles; SPIO; theranostics; tissue regeneration; stem cells; soft robotics; biohybrid robotics; micromachines; remote control; drug delivery; microrobots; neuromodulation
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soft robotics, inspired by natural organisms’ flexibility and adaptive motion, leverages soft materials to enable compliant contact, dexterity, and agility in complex environments. Soft robots aim to outperform rigid machines and replicate biological abilities, especially in locomotion and manipulation. As a groundbreaking frontier in robotics, soft manufacturing unlocks unparalleled adaptability and fluid motion by harnessing the pliability of soft materials and providing opportunities to achieve feats of agility, precision, and human-like interaction that were once deemed impossible. However, challenges such as control over infinite degrees of freedom and power constraints persist.

Small-scale robotics, spanning from nano- to centimeter-sized machines, has gained significant momentum due to advancements in fabrication, materials science, and control algorithms. These diminutive robots hold immense potential in biomedicine, environmental monitoring, manufacturing, and exploration, offering enhanced maneuverability, scalability, and integration into constrained environments. Research has focused on biomimetic designs, autonomous navigation, and swarm intelligence, with continued progress in miniaturization and energy-efficient control strategies promising to further the field.

The combination of soft materials and miniaturization represents a transformative frontier in robotics with the potential to revolutionize healthcare, environmental monitoring, and human–robot interaction. Innovative research will unlock dynamic, lightweight, and energy-efficient systems by addressing technical and ethical challenges. This Special Issue seeks contributions exploring advances in small-scale and soft robotics, including actuators, sensing technologies, medical devices, and real-world applications, emphasizing the convergence of these two groundbreaking domains.

All scholars in the community are encouraged to submit original articles, critical reviews, and perspectives on topics including, but not limited to, the following:

  • soft robotics;
  • small-scale robotics;
  • micro-robotics;
  • soft materials;
  • medical robots.

We look forward to receiving your submission.

Dr. Miriam Filippi
Guest Editor

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. Micromachines 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 2100 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
  • small-scale robotics
  • micro-robotics
  • soft materials
  • medical robots

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Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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