Soft Robotics

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Overview

Soft robotics investigates how deformable machines can move, manipulate objects, and assist people while adapting to contact and irregular surroundings. Common designs use pneumatic or hydraulic chambers, tendons, dielectric elastomers, and magnetic or shape-changing structures; models range from Cosserat rods and finite-element methods to learned dynamics. Control approaches include model-predictive control, reinforcement learning, visual servoing, and tactile or proprioceptive feedback, evaluated in tasks such as grasping, locomotion, wearable assistance, and medical navigation. A central challenge is balancing accurate, efficient modeling and control with the changing shapes, hysteresis, manufacturing variation, and sim-to-real gaps that make soft robots adaptable in the first place.

Latest papers

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231 papers14 papers in the last four weeks, down 53% on the four weeks before. 0.1% of all new papers.

  1. From Biological Curves to Soft Modular Robots: Learning-Based Inverse Design with Uncertainty-Guided Refinement

    Oct 27, 2026Dixiang Wang, Minghao Zha, Arifur Rahman +6Soft RoboticsModular Robotics

  2. Adaptive Bendpoint Formation in Octopus-Inspired Soft Continuum Arms

    Oct 18, 2026Jessica Gumowski, Julian Finn, Krishna Manaswi Digumarti +1Continuum Robot DesignSoft Robotics

    Centre for Robotics, Queensland University of Technology, Brisane, 4000 QLD, Australia. · School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics, Queensland University of Technology, Brisane, 4000 QLD, Australia. · CSIRO Robotics, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Pullenvale, QLD 4069, Australia. +1

  3. CROPS: Cosserat-Rod-Based Co-Design of Soft Slender Programmable Material Systems for Biomedical Applications

    Oct 16, 2026Aaditya Chandrasekhar, Dex Doksoo Lee, Hyunwoo Kwon +2Cosserat Rod ModelingSoft Robotics

    Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

  4. Anticipatory Textile MMG-Strain Sensing for Confirm-Then-Assist Soft Knee Exosuits

    Oct 11, 2026Zheng Ma, Xiao Jin, Zhenhua YuWearable SensingSoft Robotics

    Department of Computing Science, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, U.K. · Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College London, London, U.K.

  5. Modeling and Control of a Rigid-soft Hybrid-link Humanoid Robot

    Oct 10, 2026Zewen He, Taiki Ishigaki, Ko YamamotoHumanoid Robot ControlRobotic Control

    Department of Mechano-informatics, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo Bunkyo-ku, 113-8656, Tokyo, Japan

  6. PC7 Model: Dynamics of Expanding and Contracting Soft Robots using Piece-wise Constant 7D Deformation Based on Similarity Transformation Group

    Oct 10, 2026Yamato Kudo, Taiki Ishigaki, Ko Ayusawa +1Soft RoboticsRobotics Simulation

  7. FallGown: A Soft Pneumatic Wearable Device for Fall Prevention

    Oct 8, 2026Megan C. Coram, Haoran Lei, Steven H. Collins +4Pneumatic ActuationAssistive Robotics

    Department of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA. · General Robotics, Automation, Sensing & Perception (GRASP) Lab, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.

  8. Image-Based Path-Planning for Navigation of Soft-Growing Robots in the Spinal Sub-Arachnoid Space

    Oct 8, 2026George Dimas, Panagiotis G. Kalozoumis, Panagiotis Vartholomeos +1Robot Motion PlanningSafe Robot Navigation

    Dept. of Computer Science and Biomedical Informatics, School of Science, University of Thessaly, Lamia, Greece

  9. A Reconfigurable Fabric Based Pneumatic Actuator with Button Fastened Constraint Modules for Multi Mode Actuation

    Oct 8, 2026Kentaro Kimura, Hiroki Ishizuka, Yusuke Sakaue +2Soft Pneumatic ActuatorsSoft Robotics

    Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Osaka 560-0043, Japan

  10. Nine Trials to Recover: A Reproducible Benchmark for Repertoire-Free Soft-Robot Damage Adaptation

    Oct 6, 2026Siyuan ZhangRobot Policy AdaptationBayesian Optimization

    Robotics Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

  11. An End-to-End Framework for Modelling Pneumatic Soft Robots Based on Differentiable Finite Element Methods

    Oct 3, 2026Shaohong Zhong, Yao Yao, Perla Maiolino +1Soft RoboticsRobot Dynamics Identification

    Oxford Robotics Institute, Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, OX1 3PJ Oxford, U.K

  12. Learning a Resolution-Consistent Jacobian Field for Bio-Inspired Rigid-Soft Finger

    Oct 1, 2026Tianyou Liang, Haisen Zeng, Shanjun Chen +3Robot Dynamics LearningSoft Robotics

    College of Intelligence Science and Technology, National University of Defense Technology,, Changsha, 410073, China · National Key Laboratory of Equipment State Sensing and Smart Support, National University of Defense Technology,, Changsha, 410073, China

  13. Magnetic based In-situ Self 3D Pose Estimation for a Modular Soft Tendon-Driven Continuum Robot via IMU-Fusion

    Sep 30, 2026Zheng Cao, Guo Ning Sue, Xiangyun Bu +3Continuum Robot ControlRobot State Estimation

    Carnegie Mellon University

  14. TO-mdiSPAs: Topology Optimization of multi-directional Soft Pneumatic Actuators

    Sep 30, 2026Swagatam Islam Sarkar, Prabhat KumarTopology OptimizationSoft Pneumatic Actuators

    Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad Telangana-502284, India

  15. All You Need Is Low Fidelity: Zero-Shot Sim-to-Real of Learned Robotic Fish Control

    Sep 29, 2026Liam Maloney, Simon Ramchandani, Mike Y. Michelis +2Robotic ControlRobotics Simulation

    Soft Robotics Lab, ETH Zurich, Switzerland · ETH AI Center, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

  16. Observability-Informed Optimal Sensor Placement for Soft Robots

    Sep 27, 2026Samuel Smocot, James Richard Forbes, Audrey SedalSoft Robotics

    Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. · Mila – Québec AI Institute, Montreal, Canada.

  17. Active 3D weaves for load-bearing and damage-resilient locomotion

    Sep 26, 2026Guowei Wayne Tu, Evgueni T. FilipovRoboticsSoft Robotics

    Mechanics and Materials of Bio-Integrated Electronics Laboratory, Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA · Reconfigurable, Architected, and Regenerative Structures Laboratory, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA · Reconfigurable, Architected, and Regenerative Structures Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

  18. Learning-Based Pressure Predictive Control of a Vertebraic Soft Robotic Tail

    Sep 24, 2026Wenjian Yang, Nan Huang, Yukang Nie +4Soft RoboticsContinuum Robot Control

  19. Anthropomimetic Soft Robotic Forearm with Independently Articulated Carpal Bones Enabling Human-Like Adaptive Stiffness Modulability

    Sep 24, 2026Yoshinobu Obata, Yinlai Jiang, Hiroshi Yokoi +1Robotic Hand DesignRobotics

    Department of Mechanical and Intelligent Systems Engineering, The University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo, Japan · Center for Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, The University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo, Japan

  20. A Tendon-Driven Robotic Jellyfish with Constrained Soft Actuation and Depth Control via Reinforcement Learning

    Sep 24, 2026Jiarui Peng, Yutong Wu, Zelong Wang +5Underwater RoboticsTendon-Driven Actuation

    Hong Kong Embodied AI Lab, Hong Kong SAR, China · The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China · The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR, China

  21. Collocated Shape Regulation for Soft Robots

    Sep 23, 2026Pietro Pustina, Ebrahim Shahabi, Daniel Feliu-Talegon +2Continuum Robot ControlSoft Robotics

    Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy · Department of Cognitive Robotics, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CN Delft, The Netherlands · Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, German Aerospace Center (DLR), 82234 Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany

  22. AeRSoM: An Aerial Rigid-Soft Integrated Manipulator for Contact-Rich Manipulation

    Sep 22, 2026Jiacheng Liang, Hang Zhong, Yaonan Wang +5Aerial ManipulationContact-Rich Robotic Manipulation

    School of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China and also with the National Engineering Research Center for Robot Visual Perception and Control Technology, Changsha 410082, China · School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China

  23. Optimize, Learn, Refine: Whole-Body Grasping and Pick-and-Throw with a Spiral Soft Robot

    Sep 22, 2026Marwah Basuhai, Tingcong Liu, Ibrahim Alsarraj +2Robotic GraspingWhole-Body Robotic Manipulation

  24. History-Conditioned Flow Matching for Probabilistic Dynamics of Tendon-Driven Continuum Robots

    Sep 22, 2026Hang Yang, Tingcong Liu, Junjie Xiong +2Flow MatchingRobot Dynamics Learning

  25. Cosserat Modeling of Trimmed Helicoid Soft Arms with a Separated-Section Constitutive Law

    Sep 21, 2026Zhihang Qin, Linxin Hou, Zeyu Zhong +10Structural MechanicsContinuum Robot Control

    Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore · Advanced Robotics Centre, National University of Singapore, Singapore · Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore +1

  26. A Monolithic Force-Proprioception Soft Acutuator Enabled by Single-Material 3D printing

    Sep 21, 2026Nan Huang, Lele Liu, Junfeng Lu +3Soft RoboticsRobotic Perception

    Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China · Sino-German College of Intelligent Manufacturing, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen, China

  27. Tip Manipulation in Soft Everting Robots via Wall Retraction and Deployable Fingers

    Sep 19, 2026Nelson Badillo Perez, Niccolo Pagliarani, Matteo Cianchetti +1Soft RoboticsRobotic Manipulation

    John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA · The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy

  28. Embodied Snap: Octopus-Inspired Distributed Reach-and-Attach with a Speed-Limited Soft Arm

    Sep 19, 2026Linxin Hou, Zhihang Qin, Heyang Zou +5Robotic ControlSoft Robotics

    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore · Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore · Department of Computer Science, National University of Singapore, Singapore +3

  29. Diverse and Adaptable Arm Coordination for Octopus-Crawling via Diffusion-Based Uncertainty-Aware Optimization

    Sep 17, 2026Seung Hyun Kim, Heng-Sheng Chang, Kimia Kazemi +2Robotic ControlRobot Locomotion

    Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · Coordinated Science Laboratory, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign +1

  30. Graph-Based Design of Soft Grippers with Multi-Objective Quality-Diversity Optimisation

    Sep 17, 2026Andre Farinha, Ge Shi, Harry Bowman +3Robotic GraspingRobotic Gripper Design

    CSIRO Robotics, Australia