Skip to main content
Log in

Robotics

Generation soft

  • News & Views
  • Published:

From Nature

View current issue Submit your manuscript

Meet the octobot, the first robot to be made entirely from soft materials. Powered by a chemical reaction and controlled by a fluidic logic circuit, it heralds a generation of soft robots that might surpass conventional machines. See Letter p.451

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Figure 1: The octobot.

L. K. Sanders, R. Truby, M. Wehner, R. Wood & J. Lewis/Harvard Univ.

Notes

  1. See all news & views

References

  1. Pfeifer, R., Lungarella, M. & Iida, F. Science 318, 1088–1093 (2007).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Rus, D. & Tolley, M. T. Nature 521, 467–475 (2015).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Wehner, M. et al. Nature 536, 451–455 (2016).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Mazzolai, B., Margheri, L., Cianchetti, M., Dario, P. & Lasch, C. Bioinspir. Biomim. 7, 025005 (2012).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Lin, H.-T., Leisk, G. G. & Trimmer, B. Bioinspir. Biomim. 6, 026007 (2011).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Shepherd, R. F. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 108, 20400–20403 (2011).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Heckele, M. & Schomburg, W. K. J. Micromech. Microeng. 14, R1–R14 (2004)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Qin, D., Xia, Y. & Whitesides, G. M. Nature Protocols 5, 491–502 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Wu, W., DeConinck, A. & Lewis, J. A. Adv. Mater. 23, H178–H183 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Paul, C. Robot. Auton. Syst. 54, 619–630 (2006).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Ranzani, T., Gerboni, G., Cianchetti, M. & Menciassi, A. Bioinspir. Biomim. 10, 035008 (2015).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Park, Y.-L. et al. Bioinspir. Biomim. 9, 016007 (2014).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Barbara Mazzolai.

Related links

Related links

Related links in Nature Research

Artificial intelligence: Robots with instincts

Biomimetics: Flying like a fly

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mazzolai, B., Mattoli, V. Generation soft. Nature 536, 400–401 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/536400a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/536400a

  • Springer Nature Limited

This article is cited by

Navigation