Advanced Soft Robotics with Miniaturized and Flexible Designs

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

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