Soft robots promise solutions for a wide range of applications that cannot be achieved with traditional, rigid-component robots. A key challenge is the creation of robotic structures that can vary their stiffness at will, for example, by using antagonistic actuators, to optimize their interaction with the environment and be able to exert high forces.
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A variable-stiffness tendril-like soft robot based on reversible osmotic actuation
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Acknowledgements
The work described in this paper was partially funded by the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Commission under grant agreement 287728 in the framework of EU project STIFF-FLOP.
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Althoefer, K. Antagonistic actuation and stiffness control in soft inflatable robots. Nat Rev Mater 3, 76–77 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-018-0004-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-018-0004-0
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A variable-stiffness tendril-like soft robot based on reversible osmotic actuation
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