About this Research Topic
Bionic soft actuators, sensors, and robots have attracted much attention over recent years. Soft sensors are measurement modules that can bend, stretch, or change shape and are mainly used to measure force, displacement, pressure, temperature, chemical, and light under mechanical deformations. Initially, research focused on developing tactile sensors before expanding to displacement sensors, temperature sensors, and light sensors. In the early research stages, most of the polymer materials were used in combination with electrically variable materials. Now, various types of sensors have been developed in conjunction with advances in nanotechnology and materials technology and, in recent years, this field of research has even branched out towards sensors that are transparent or wearable.
Regarding soft actuators, in the late 1980s and early 2000s, researchers began studying dielectric elastomers, forthcoming the engineering of several artificial muscles using polymer materials. Recently, pneumatic actuators have been developed in the field of soft robots, and magnetic field actuators combined with magnetic fields have also been actively researched. Moreover, robots based on changes in gas pressure have been engineered using polymer materials and chemical catalysts. Actuators using 3D printers have also been actively studied. Following the research of polymer-based robot fingers and insect-like robots, soft robots have been carrying out various modifications such as origami/girigami methods. In recent years, researchers have studied soft robot hands that can hold a variety of objects, taking into further consideration the "practicality" of robots. The reason why soft robots have attracted significant interest over recent years is that they are expected to offer 'safe' and 'diverse' alternatives to existing robots, primarily due to their compliancy, and it is expected that they will have diverse applications for industry and biomedicine.
The main challenge in bionic soft electronics is the needs for the collaboration between different fields and engineering applications. This collection is intended to make an open platform for an ongoing interdisciplinary dialogue among researchers from different fields (chemistry, physics, material science, mechanical engineering, robotics, and biomedical engineering etc.) and to provide an overview on their potential applications in smart textile, sports and healthcare engineering, biomedical and robotics fields. With enthusiastic interest from all over the world, we are expecting that many papers will be submitted to this collection.
The aim of this Research Topic is to share high-level articles covering the state of the art research on “bionic soft electronics”, in conjunction with the 4th International Conference on Active Materials and Soft Mechatronics. This collection will mainly cover electroactive soft actuators, stimuli-responsive polymers, soft sensors, textile electronics and soft robotics based on soft, stretchable and flexible functional materials. Also, more specially, energy harvesting and energy storage devices can be included based on soft materials or bioinspired structures in this special collection.
Regarding soft actuators, in the late 1980s and early 2000s, researchers began studying dielectric elastomers, forthcoming the engineering of several artificial muscles using polymer materials. Recently, pneumatic actuators have been developed in the field of soft robots, and magnetic field actuators combined with magnetic fields have also been actively researched. Moreover, robots based on changes in gas pressure have been engineered using polymer materials and chemical catalysts. Actuators using 3D printers have also been actively studied. Following the research of polymer-based robot fingers and insect-like robots, soft robots have been carrying out various modifications such as origami/girigami methods. In recent years, researchers have studied soft robot hands that can hold a variety of objects, taking into further consideration the "practicality" of robots. The reason why soft robots have attracted significant interest over recent years is that they are expected to offer 'safe' and 'diverse' alternatives to existing robots, primarily due to their compliancy, and it is expected that they will have diverse applications for industry and biomedicine.
The main challenge in bionic soft electronics is the needs for the collaboration between different fields and engineering applications. This collection is intended to make an open platform for an ongoing interdisciplinary dialogue among researchers from different fields (chemistry, physics, material science, mechanical engineering, robotics, and biomedical engineering etc.) and to provide an overview on their potential applications in smart textile, sports and healthcare engineering, biomedical and robotics fields. With enthusiastic interest from all over the world, we are expecting that many papers will be submitted to this collection.
The aim of this Research Topic is to share high-level articles covering the state of the art research on “bionic soft electronics”, in conjunction with the 4th International Conference on Active Materials and Soft Mechatronics. This collection will mainly cover electroactive soft actuators, stimuli-responsive polymers, soft sensors, textile electronics and soft robotics based on soft, stretchable and flexible functional materials. Also, more specially, energy harvesting and energy storage devices can be included based on soft materials or bioinspired structures in this special collection.
Keywords: Bionics, Sensors, Actuators, Energy Harvesting, Robots
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
