Soft robotic manipulators represent a rapidly evolving field characterized by inherent compliance,adaptability,and safe interactions within unstructured environments.Over the past decade(2015-2025),significant advance...Soft robotic manipulators represent a rapidly evolving field characterized by inherent compliance,adaptability,and safe interactions within unstructured environments.Over the past decade(2015-2025),significant advancements have trans-formed their capabilities through novel designs inspired by biological systems,advanced modeling frameworks,sophisti-cated control strategies,and integration into diverse real-world applications.Recent innovations in multifunctional mate-rials and emerging actuation technologies have markedly expanded manipulator performance,reliability,and dexterity.Concurrently,developments in modeling have progressed from simplified geometric methods toward highly accurate physics-based and hybrid data-driven approaches,substantially improving real-time prediction and controllability.Coupled with these developments,adaptive and robust control strategies-including learning-based techniques-have enabled unprec-edented autonomy and precision in challenging application domains such as Minimally Invasive Surgery(MIS),precision agriculture,deep-sea exploration,disaster recovery,and space missions.Despite these remarkable strides,key challenges remain,notably regarding scalability,long-term material durability,robust integrated sensing,and standardized evaluation procedures.This review comprehensively synthesizes recent advances,critically evaluates state-of-the-art methodologies,and systematically identifies existing gaps to provide a clear roadmap and targeted research directions,guiding future developments toward the broader adoption and optimal utilization of soft robotic manipulators.展开更多
基金Open access funding provided by The Science,Technology&Innovation Funding Authority(STDF)in cooperation with The Egyptian Knowledge Bank(EKB).
文摘Soft robotic manipulators represent a rapidly evolving field characterized by inherent compliance,adaptability,and safe interactions within unstructured environments.Over the past decade(2015-2025),significant advancements have trans-formed their capabilities through novel designs inspired by biological systems,advanced modeling frameworks,sophisti-cated control strategies,and integration into diverse real-world applications.Recent innovations in multifunctional mate-rials and emerging actuation technologies have markedly expanded manipulator performance,reliability,and dexterity.Concurrently,developments in modeling have progressed from simplified geometric methods toward highly accurate physics-based and hybrid data-driven approaches,substantially improving real-time prediction and controllability.Coupled with these developments,adaptive and robust control strategies-including learning-based techniques-have enabled unprec-edented autonomy and precision in challenging application domains such as Minimally Invasive Surgery(MIS),precision agriculture,deep-sea exploration,disaster recovery,and space missions.Despite these remarkable strides,key challenges remain,notably regarding scalability,long-term material durability,robust integrated sensing,and standardized evaluation procedures.This review comprehensively synthesizes recent advances,critically evaluates state-of-the-art methodologies,and systematically identifies existing gaps to provide a clear roadmap and targeted research directions,guiding future developments toward the broader adoption and optimal utilization of soft robotic manipulators.
