Why do these kept getting made? I feel like I see some new soft robot every few months or so. Are they used to infiltrate past grates in a sewer security system and slide under lasers or something what is up with these???
> With their ability to shapeshift and manipulate delicate objects, soft robots could work as medical implants, deliver drugs inside the body and help explore dangerous environments.
I'm not sure that's a big strike against it yet. Kinda the whole point of engineering in academia is to work on hard things that are far from commercialization.
You can't mix really strong robots with humans without barriers separating them. That's one reason humanoid robots won't sell. They're dangerous. Real robots in real factories that make real stuff can juggle car engines. And they can tear you limb from limb. So they work behind barriers and intrusion detection systems.
Yes, sometimes that's all it takes.
> A broad variety of serpentine and continuum robots have been developed for minimally invasive surgical applications.
Soft robotic grippers are also interesting because they allow you to grasp objects without complex touch/force sensors.
https://joaobuzzatto.com/kirigami-grippers/
> With their ability to shapeshift and manipulate delicate objects, soft robots could work as medical implants, deliver drugs inside the body and help explore dangerous environments.
Hence soft robots. They're safe. Also useless.
It's a pretty cool concept and might have interesting albeit niche applications.
[0] https://www.youtube.com/@soiboisoft