Soft.robots - Merging nature with the future [Control Biomaterials]

"LOOK DEEP INTO nature, and then you will understand everything better," once said famous physicist Albert Einstein. He probably wasn't thinking about robots, but his maxim is particularly apt for an exciting, cutting-edge blend of engineering, technology and the natural world - soft robotics. Taking ideas from biological systems, soft robots are made of deformable structures that can deal with uncertain and dynamic tasks, offering benefits over the rigid, linear and constraining motions and abilities of traditional robots. They are brought to life thanks to recent developments in materials science, sensor technology and biologicallyinspired actuators. Controlling them are innovative systems and algorithms that make these soft robots aware of and responsive to their environment.