This book presents the technological basics and applications of small-scale (mm to sub-mm in length-scales) soft robots and devices, written for researchers in both academia and industry. Author Jaeyoun Kim presents technological motivations, enabling factors, and examples in an inter-linked fashion, making it easy for readers to understand and explore how microscale soft robots are a solution to researchers in search of technological platforms for safe, human-friendly biomedical devices. A compact and timely introduction, this book summarizes not only the enabling factors for soft robots and MEMS devices, but also provides a survey of progress in the field and looks to the future in terms of the material, design, and application aspects this technology demonstrates.

Offers a comprehensive review of the research and development of mechanically responsive materials and their applications in soft robots Mechanically Responsive Materials for Soft Robotics offers an authoritative guide to the current state of mechanically responsive materials for the development of soft robotics. With contributions from an international panel of experts, the book examines existing mechanically responsive materials such as crystals, polymers, gels, and composites that are stimulated by light and heat. The book also explores the application of mechanical materials to soft robotics. The authors describe the many excellent mechanical crystals developed in recent years that show the ability to bend, twist, rotate, jump, self-heal, and shape memory. Mechanical polymer materials are described for evolution into artificial muscles, photomobile materials, bioinspired soft actuators, inorganic-organic hybrid materials, multi-responsive composite materials, and strain sensor materials. The application of mechanical materials to soft robots is just the beginning. This book reviews the many challenging and versatile applications, such as soft microrobots made from photoresponsive elastomers, four-dimensional printing for assembling soft robots, self-growing of soft robots like plants, and biohybrid robots using muscle tissue. This important book: -Explores recent developments in the use of soft smart materials in robotic systems -Covers the full scope of mechanically responsive materials: polymers, crystals, gels, and nanocomposites -Deals with an interdisciplinary topic of advanced smart materials research -Contains extensive descriptions of current and future applications in soft robotics Written for materials scientists, polymer chemists, photochemists, physical chemists, solid state chemists, inorganic chemists, and robotics engineers, Mechanically Responsive Materials for Soft Robotics offers a comprehensive and timely review of the most recent research on mechanically responsive materials and the manufacture of soft robotics.

Microbiorobotics: Biologically Inspired Microscale Robotic Systems, Second Edition presents information on a new engineering discipline that takes a multidisciplinary approach to accomplish precise manipulation of microscale spaces. Microorganisms have evolved various mechanisms to thrive in microscale environments and are therefore a useful tool for use in many applications, ranging from micromanufacturing techniques, to cellular manipulation. In the context of microrobotics, biological microrobots can directly harness the microorganisms for propulsive and sensing power and synthetic microrobots can mimic the microorganisms' motions for effective locomotion. This second edition covers new advances and insights that have emerged in recent years. Several new chapters have been added on important new research areas, with existing chapters thoroughly revised. In particular, increased coverage is given to fluid dynamics of microswimmers in nature. - Gives the reader an understanding of the fundamental changes in dynamics and fabrication techniques in the microenvironment - Offers a unique two-pronged approach to microrobotics from a biological perspective, i.e. bioinspired engineering design of biological systems to accomplish engineering tasks - Introduces an interdisciplinary readership to the toolkit that micro-organisms offer to micro-engineering

This book offers a comprehensive, timely snapshot of current research, technologies and applications of soft robotics. The different chapters, written by international experts across multiple fields of soft robotics, cover innovative systems and technologies for soft robot legged locomotion, soft robot manipulation, underwater soft robotics, biomimetic soft robotic platforms, plant-inspired soft robots, flying soft robots, soft robotics in surgery, as well as methods for their modeling and control. Based on the results of the second edition of the Soft Robotics Week, held on April 25 – 30, 2016, in Livorno, Italy, the book reports on the major research lines and novel technologies presented and discussed during the event.

The research areas as well as the knowledge gained for the practical use of robots are growing and expanding beyond manufacturing and industrial automation, making inroads in sectors such as health care and terrain sensing, as well as general assistive systems working in close interaction with humans. In a situation like this, it is necessary for future robot systems to become less stiff and more specialized by taking inspiration from the mechanical compliance and versatility found in natural materials and organisms. At present, a new discipline is emerging in this area, called »Soft Robotics«. It particularly challenges the traditional thinking of engineers, as the confluence of technologies, ranging from new materials, sensors, actuators and production techniques to new design tools, will make it possible to create new systems whose structures are almost completely made of soft materials, which bring about entirely new functions and behaviors, similar in many ways to natural systems. These Proceedings focus on four main topics: • Soft Actuators and Control • Soft Interactions • Soft Robot Assistants: Potential and Challenges • Human-centered »Soft Robotics«.

Soft Robotics aims at providing state of art on research and potential approaches of soft robotics. It particularly challenges the traditional thinking of engineers, as the confluence of technologies, ranging from new materials, sensors, actuators and production techniques to new design tools, will make it possible to create new systems whose structures are almost completely made of soft materials, which bring about entirely new functions and behaviors, similar in many ways to natural systems. This is a huge research topic, "hot and with a huge potential due to new possibilities offered by these systems to cope with problems that cannot be addressed by robots built from rigid bodies. - Chemical engineering can take part to the emerging field of soft robotics - Soft and polymer materials can be used in sensing applications - Soft robotics can solve many industrial issues and challenges