About this Research Topic
This Research Topic specifically aims at designing and modeling of novel soft mechanisms, such as stiffening, bistable, auxetic/metamaterials, tensegrity, and other ingenious mechanisms, to develop more reliable, yet rigid-free robots for various medical applications such as surgical devices, assistive/rehab wearable devices, haptics/interactive devices, etc. Stress-strain, power density, energy efficiency are mostly analysed for soft robots; however, precision, accuracy, repeatability, and force transfer are yet to be tackled. The design and manufacturing principles for meso- and micro-scale soft robots with sufficient dexterity, which can potentially improve surgical procedures and outcome are yet to be fully developed. The scalability, modularity, portability of soft mechanisms are also key factors to consider, such as the fluid-structure interaction between fluid and compliant systems in the next generation of robotic devices. Another aspect included in this Research Topic is the analysis of the symbiotic interaction between soft and rigid robot parts which could be underlined for further robotic artefacts. Compliant mechanisms are an open challenge to conceive the next generation of sensors and actuators for innovations in medicine. This research topic will also analyse this aspect.
This Research Topic includes, but is not limited to, the following:
-) Soft Wearable Technologies;
-) Soft Surgical Robots and Tools;
-) Compliant Exoskeletons;
-) Soft Sensors and Actuators;
-) Compliant Mechanisms;
-) Compliant Micromachines;
-) Flexible Multibody Systems;
-) Soft-Rigid Hand;
-) Compliant Human-Robot Interaction;
-) Soft-Rigid Interaction.
-) Fluid-Structure Interaction
-) Micro-Fluidic
Keywords: soft actuator design, control, actuator, soft robot, modeling, soft wearable, medical robot
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.