Artificial Muscles Give Soft Robots Superpowers

The field of soft robotics has made leaps and bounds over the last decade as researchers worldwide have experimented with different materials and designs to allow once rigid, jerky machines to bend and flex in ways that mimic and can interact more naturally with living organisms. However, increased flexibility and dexterity has a trade-off of reduced strength, as softer materials are generally not as strong or resilient as inflexible ones, which limits their use.