A Survey on Soft Robot Adaptability: Implementations, Applications, and Prospects

2025-06-24

AI Summary

This paper addresses the lack of systematic definition and analysis of adaptability in soft robotics. It first rigorously categorizes adaptability into *external adaptability*—encompassing responses to environmental conditions, object properties, geometric variations, and task dynamics—and *internal adaptability*, covering tolerance to manufacturing imperfections, material aging, and cross-platform control generalization. Through a comprehensive review of representative applications—including surgical, wearable, locomotive, and manipulative systems—the work systematically analyzes the synergistic interplay among structural design, soft sensing, and adaptive control. A unified analytical framework is proposed to address application-driven challenges, integrating materials science and robotics methodologies. The study identifies fundamental limitations in modeling fidelity, real-time soft sensing, and general-purpose adaptive control. These findings provide both theoretical foundations and practical pathways for enhancing the robustness and deployability of soft robots across diverse operational scenarios.

Technology Category

• Intelligent Robots: Other Foundations and Applications
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Adaptive Behavior
• Natural Language Processing: Safety and Robustness

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Applied ML and AI for Web-based mobile applications
• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Robustness and generalizability of Web mining methods
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy

Abstract

Soft robots, compared to rigid robots, possess inherent advantages, including higher degrees of freedom, compliance, and enhanced safety, which have contributed to their increasing application across various fields. Among these benefits, adaptability is particularly noteworthy. In this paper, adaptability in soft robots is categorized into external and internal adaptability. External adaptability refers to the robot's ability to adjust, either passively or actively, to variations in environments, object properties, geometries, and task dynamics. Internal adaptability refers to the robot's ability to cope with internal variations, such as manufacturing tolerances or material aging, and to generalize control strategies across different robots. As the field of soft robotics continues to evolve, the significance of adaptability has become increasingly pronounced. In this review, we summarize various approaches to enhancing the adaptability of soft robots, including design, sensing, and control strategies. Additionally, we assess the impact of adaptability on applications such as surgery, wearable devices, locomotion, and manipulation. We also discuss the limitations of soft robotics adaptability and prospective directions for future research. By analyzing adaptability through the lenses of implementation, application, and challenges, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of this essential characteristic in soft robotics and its implications for diverse applications.

Problem

• Enhancing soft robot adaptability in design and control
• Exploring external and internal adaptability mechanisms
• Assessing adaptability impact on medical and industrial applications

Innovation

• Enhancing adaptability via design, sensing, control
• Categorizing adaptability into external and internal
• Assessing adaptability impact on diverse applications