The impact of development and application of soft material and novel actuators in soft robotics technology on future biomedical engineering

Abstract

The goal of the robotics industry has been to build devices that mirror the remarkable powers of the human body ever since it was founded. In an attempt to emulate the compliance and deformability of genuine biological tissue, efforts have been made to construct actuators and electronics out of elastomers, textiles, and other soft materials as early as the 1940s. Since then, the field of soft robotics has advanced extraordinarily, with recent work concentrating on actuation, sensing, and application. In this review, recent advancement in the soft robotically field from the perspective of soft actuators, soft material, and biomedical application is highlighted. Soft actuators had gone decent development along with different advantages and setbacks. The need for chemistry and material science has been increasingly large in recent years and the material for 4D printing manufacturing is a major focus. Biomedical applications can be advanced by introducing soft robotics combined with existing technology. The biocompatibility issue is a major challenge to be faced, and perspectives on such regard will be discussed.