Design of a robotic flexible actuator based on layer jamming

This research paper provides an insight into one of the most promising fields of robotics, which brings together two main elements: the traditional or rigid robotics and the soft robotics. A branch of soft-rigid robots can perform and modulate soft and rigid configurations by means of an approach called jamming. Here we explore how to use layer jamming, namely a set of layers within a flexible membrane, in order to design soft robotics. The paper introduces a quick overview of the history of soft robotics, then it presents the design of a functional prototype of soft-rigid robotic arm with the results of preliminary trials and discussion of future advances where we show the capability of the system in order to lift up possible loads.