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Designing Soft Robots as Robotic Materials

Ryan L. Truby*

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■ INTRODUCTION
The differences between built and biological machines are
robotic materials for soft robotics, robotic materials can be
designed from any class of material and for any artificial
innumerable. For example, robots struggle to adapt to and machine.
engage with real-world environments, whereas living organisms Design and Fabrication
effortlessly do so. Unlike the multifunctional behaviors of living Figure 1a provides a materials science and engineering-inspired
organisms, robots’ capabilities possess limited versatility. Living
paradigm for robotic materials. It highlights the interrelation-
organisms source energy from their environment, while robots
ships between the key elements of robotic functionality:
face nontrivial power and computational challenges that
actuation, perception, power, and control. A robotic materials
complicate their remote deployment. The stark performance
approach to soft robotics motivates codesign strategies where
gap between living organisms and artificial machines arises from
compatible actuators, power supplies, sensors, and controllers
their bodies’ different material compositions and physicochem-
are made to synergistically work together without limiting the
ical behaviors.1 Living organisms bypass many shortcomings of
final agent’s capabilities. Examples of simple robotic materials
modern robots due to their soft matter construction and the
include sensorized5,6 (actuation-perception) and chemically
distributed nature and complexity of biological sensorimotor
systems.2 Following these lessons from biology, the field of soft powered7,8 (actuation-power) artificial muscles, self-powered
robotics has made significant strides in bringing bioinspired sensors9 (perception-power), and soft electro-chemotactic
capabilities to machines by employing soft materials/structures hardware10 (power-control). Ideal robotic materials exhibit all
in robotics design.3 robotic functionalities in a single material system. A holy grail
Roboticists have historically focused on advancing the demonstration would be a truly cognitive, autonomous
computational, or cognitive, side of machine intelligence. composite that behaves much like a simple artificial organism.
Intelligence in living organisms, however, emerges both Robotic functions for target applications are attained by
cognitively and physically.1,2 Soft robotics represents a new, aligning the requisite material properties, structures, and
multidisciplinary frontier for creating physically intelligent processing methods (Figure 1b). 3D printing is well-suited for
machines. Despite much progressfrom the design of new fabricating robotic materials, especially multimaterial direct ink
soft matter hardware to investigations in morphological writing (DIW), embedded 3D (EMB3D) printing, and digital
computationthe field still faces key challenges in the design, projection lithography (DPL).11 We have recently used these
fabrication, and control of soft robots.3 methods to spatially and hierarchically program materials for
Here, a vision is presented for designing soft robots as robotic novel actuators,12−14 sensorized soft robots,5,15 and hardware-
materials to improve their performance. This vision is inspired free machines.7
by recent work in the design of hardware-free soft robots, Strategies for Integrating Robotic Functions
electrically driven artificial muscles, and sensorized soft
Designing soft robots as robotic materials requires strategies for
machines. Targeted research in robotic materials can lead to a
integrating robotic functionalities. Promising integration strat-
new generation of machines more closely aligned to the likeness
egies include fluidics, optoelectronics, and electronics. Table 1
of living organismsespecially if engineered to meaningfully
lists current and potential robotic material components for each
bridge the physical and computational sides of machine
approach and the functions they enable.
intelligence.

■
Fluidic strategies are most common in soft robotics.
ROBOTIC MATERIALS Pressurized working fluids displaced via electrically powered
pumps are typical energy sources in fluidic actuation.3 Any
A robotic material is a self-contained material system whose sensors and controllers in fluidic soft robots are generally
form and composition enable multiple, distributed robotic
functionalities for actuation, perception, power, and/or control.
Robotic materials should bridge the physical and computational Received: April 5, 2021
sides of machine intelligence to improve the performance, Published: October 12, 2021
practical use, and autonomy of the agent built from them. Thus,
robotic materials are distinct from responsive or “intelligent”
materials and most soft robotic components, which are
unifunctional.4 While this Viewpoint focuses on designing
© 2021 Accounts of Materials Research.
Co-published by ShanghaiTech https://doi.org/10.1021/accountsmr.1c00071
University and American Chemical 854 Acc. Mater. Res. 2021, 2, 854−857
Society. All rights reserved.
Accounts of Materials Research pubs.acs.org/amrcda Viewpoint

Figure 1. A paradigm for robotic materials design. (a) Inspired by design approaches in materials science and engineering, robotic materials couple
robotic behaviors in self-contained material systems through considerations of material processing-structure-properties-function relationships. (b)
Opportunities for robotic innovations via robotic materials are illustrated through relevant processing methods for target robotic functions in emerging
applications.

Table 1. Integration Strategies in Robotic Materialsa

integration
strategy energy source actuation control perception
fluidic electronic power + fluidic (direct) electronic electronic
pump
fluidic (direct) mechanical or mechanical/fluidic components that affect
fluidic mechanical/fluidic controller
flow battery + pump fluidic (direct) electronic electronic
fluidic (direct) mechanical or mechanical/fluidic components that affect
fluidic mechanical/fluidic controller
chemical fuel fluidic or thermoresponsive (indirect) mechanical or mechanical/fluidic components that affect
fluidic mechanical/fluidic controller

optoelectronic electronic power + light photoresponsive actuators (direct/indirect) electronic electronic

source
photoresponsive actuators (direct/indirect) optical logic photonically active components, optoelectronic

electronic electronic power electrostatic, ionic, electrochemical, or electronic electronic

piezoelectric (direct)
thermoresponsive (indirect) electronic electronic
motor-driven (direct) electronic electronic
a
For actuation, direct and indirect methods refer to actuation strategies that do or do not require an energy conversion step, respectively.

electronic ones,3 though fluidic computing and sensing While advances in chemical fuels8 and fluidic controllers and
components are emerging.16 One example of a fluidically sensors16 are in their infancy, it is unclear how sophisticated
integrated soft robot designed as a robotic material is the robotic materials or soft robots based on these components
Octobot, a first embodiment of a hardware-free, untethered soft would actually be. In light of fluidic design challenges,
robot.7 The Octobot sidesteps bulky power and control optoelectronic and electronic integration strategies are gaining
hardware by using hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as a chemical popularity. These strategies rely on electric power to drive
energy source and a microfluidic controller that autonomously photoresponsive actuation via a light source or actuation of
regulates the catalytic decomposition of the fuel. H 2O 2 electroactive composites.4 They are compatible with electronic
decomposition into pressurized oxygen and water vapor drives sensors and controllers, though one can anticipate the
fluidic actuation of the Octobot’s tentacles. Although the emergence of photoresponsive materials for optical logic or
Octobot does not possess sensors, future versions could employ sensing in optoelectronic approaches. As with fluidics, (opto)-
fluidic sensors like those recently demonstrated in an electronic integration strategies will likely rely on auxiliary power
untethered, turtle-inspired soft robot.17 and control hardware for the foreseeable future.
Despite their popularity, fluidic integration strategies face One material driving interest in (opto)electronic approaches
many challenges: fluidic actuators are relatively weak, and is liquid crystal elastomers, which can be designed for optically
tethers to off-board hardware are common in these systems.3 or electrically stimulated, high-force and large-strain contractile
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Acc. Mater. Res. 2021, 2, 854−857
Accounts of Materials Research

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pubs.acs.org/amrcda Viewpoint

actuation.4 Thermotropic liquid crystal elastomer actuators AUTHOR INFORMATION

(LCEAs) readily contract upon heating above a nematic− Corresponding Author
isotropic transition temperature4 and can be 3D printed to Ryan L. Truby − Departments of Materials Science and
create artificial muscles with spatially programmed contractile Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, McCormick School
and shape morphing properties.12 LCEA composites with of Engineering and Applied Science, Northwestern University,
conductive fillers have recently been developed for Joule-heated Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States; orcid.org/0000-
actuation in untethered soft robots18 and sensorized artificial 0002-1313-6463; Email: [email protected]
muscles.6 They are representative of a simple robotic material.
Complete contact information is available at:
Progress in architected materials is also encouraging the field to https://pubs.acs.org/10.1021/accountsmr.1c00071
revisit the use of motor-driven actuation in soft robots. For
example, handed shearing auxetics19 can be 3D printed via DPL Notes
to create servo-driven soft actuators that provide the compliance The author declares no competing financial interest.

■
and deformability of fluidic soft actuators without the
disadvantages that come with powering them.14 Continued ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
advances in architected material design and additive manufac- R.L.T. thanks Dr. J. T. Muth for their valuable feedback and
turing point to mechanical metamaterials as another interesting input.

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avenue for robotic materials.
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