PMG editors fanned out across PACK EXPO International in October in search of packaging innovation. Here s what they found in food processing and packaging.
Soft actuators are one of the primary and critical components of a soft robot. Soft robots demand dexterous, fast, and reversible soft actuators that must be able to contract, extend, bend, and/or twist with favorable performance while delivering sufficient output forces. Pneumatic soft actuators are one of the most used types of soft actuators for soft robotic systems since they can be designed with internal deformable hollow chambers that dictate a desired output motion and can be directly fabricated using various additive manufacturing techniques. Pneumatic soft actuators based on a volumetric expansion and contraction are two main classes that include positive pressure soft actuators requiring compressed air to be activated or inflated upon their actuation and negative pressure soft actuators requiring a vacuum source for actuation. This chapter presents four-dimensional (4D)-printed pneumatic soft actuators that are fabricated directly using various additive manufacturing techniqu
Researchers have developed a soft robot that can be the future of biomedicine. Researchers from Taiwan-based Soochow University, Harbin Institute of Technology in China, and Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Germany have developed a soft robot that can split and re-assemble itself, as reported by Interesting Engineering.