Soft grippers have gained significant attention in robotics for their ability to adapt to diverse object geometries, comply with variable surfaces, and handle fragile items safely. Incorporating variable stiffness mechanisms has enhanced their performance by enabling adjustments in gripping force and structural rigidity... 

Soft grippers have gained significant attention in robotics for their ability to adapt to diverse object geometries, comply with variable surfaces, and handle fragile items safely. Incorporating variable stiffness mechanisms has enhanced their performance by enabling adjustments in gripping force and structural rigidity... 

Suction grippers have gained widespread use in numerous industrial applications due to their simple mechanism and ease of operation. This study introduces a gripping mechanism employing passive suction cups that has the potential to be used with existing robot grippers to enhance their performance... 

A rigid system can support a huge amount of matter, but when it comes to human matter, although it can be served as a frame, or mechanism, etc., it only provides “rigid” solutions. Since the human body is made of curved surfaces that are challenging to track and adapt, “softer” methods should be applied... 

Soft-morphing, deformation control by fabric structures, and soft-jumping mechanisms using magnetic yield points are studied. The durability and adaptability of existing rigid-base jumping mechanisms are improved by a soft-morphing process that employs the residual stress of a polymer... 

Soft-morphing, deformation control by fabric structures, and soft-jumping mechanisms using magnetic yield points are studied. The durability and adaptability of existing rigid-base jumping mechanisms are improved by a soft-morphing process that employs the residual stress of a polymer... 

Expanding on previous designs, this study reports on a variable-stiffness soft gripper with an added silicone coating for increased friction, and an EGaIn soft sensor for monitoring the strength of grip forces... 

Soft robots have advantages such as low weight and compact size compared to rigid robots. Variable stiffness is one of the key methods of improving the performance of a soft robot. ⋯⋯

To improve the multi-functionality of a structure, a foldable or deployable structure with variable stiffness is needed. This article presents dual-stiffness structures with two stiffness states: a stiff state and a flexible state for ⋯⋯

Compliance can increase the thrust generated by the fin of a bio-inspired underwater vehicle. To improve the performance of a compliant fin, the compliance should change with the operating conditions; a fin should ⋯⋯

A Scotch yoke mechanism can provide high thrust by generating high frequency flapping motion in a propulsion system of robotic fish. However, higher frequency makes higher drag force, and if the motor torque is insufficient compared ⋯⋯

The compliance of a fin affects the thrust of underwater vehicles mimicking the undulatory motion of fish. Determining the optimal compliance of a fin to maximize thrust is an important issue in designing robotic fish using ⋯⋯

This paper proposes a new design concept of hybrid instrument for single-port laparoscopic surgery (SPLS) and a new method of verification using a scaledup prototype based on the principle of elastic similarity. The proposed concept ⋯⋯