Soft robotics towards sustainable development goals and climate actions

Giordano, Goffredo; Babu, Saravana Prashanth Murali; Mazzolai, Barbara

doi:10.3389/frobt.2023.1116005

Cited by 7 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…In terrestrial ecosystems, there is a very high risk of extinction for 3 to 14 percent of species at 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming and up to 48% at 5 °C of warming, according to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change from 2022. [ 7 ] Figure illustrates how the fabrication of biodegradable soft robotics using sustainable manufacturing techniques like 3D printing technologies is in line with the UN's sustainable development goals and will result in a circular economy that will minimize energy use, waste, and human impact. In addition, the biodegradability of these soft robots is a significant factor that contributes to the eco‐friendliness of the devices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable Robots 4D Printing

Soleimanzadeh,

Rolfe,

Bodaghi

et al. 2023

Advanced Sustainable Systems

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Nature frequently serves as an inspiration for modern robotics innovations that emphasize secure human–machine interaction. However, the advantages of increased automation and digital technology integration conflict with the global environmental objectives. Accordingly, biodegradable soft robots have been proposed for a range of intelligent applications. Biodegradability provides soft robotics with an extraordinary functional advantage for operations involving intelligent shape transformation in response to external stimuli such as heat, pH, and light. Soft robot fabrication using conventional manufacturing techniques is inflexible, time‐consuming, and labor‐intensive. Recent advances in 3D and 4D printing of soft materials and multi‐materials have become the key to enabling the direct manufacture of soft robotics with complex designs and functions. This review comprises a detailed survey of 3D and 4D printing advances in biodegradable soft sensors and actuators (BSSA), which serve as the most prominent parts of each robotic system. In addition, a concise overview of biodegradable materials for the fabrication of 3D‐printed flexible devices with medical along with industrial applications is provided. A complete summary of current additive manufacturing techniques for BSSA is discussed in depth. Moreover, the concept of biodegradable 4D‐printed soft actuators and sensors and biohybrid soft robots is reviewed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable Robots 4D Printing

Soleimanzadeh,

Rolfe,

Bodaghi

et al. 2023

Advanced Sustainable Systems

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Sustainable Morphing Matter: Design and Engineering Practices

Patel,

Zhong,

et al. 2023

Adv Materials Technologies

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Morphing matter that change shapes and properties in response to external stimuli have gained significant interests in material science, robotics, biomedical engineering, wearables, architecture, and design. Along with functional advances, there is growing pressure and interest in considering the environmental impact of morphing matter during its life cycle. The unique manufacturing and usage of morphing matter means that existing sustainable design frameworks and principles for general physical products may not apply directly. For example, manufacturing morphing matter often requires designing and predicting materials' behaviors over time, and using devices fabricated with morphing matter often involves harnessing renewable energy and self‐reconfiguration, which pose unique sustainability opportunities and challenges. This study reflects and summarizes the field's practice in sustainable manufacturing, transport, use, and end‐of‐life handling of morphing matter. The term “sustainable morphing matter” (SMM) is coined, suggesting that sustainability‐conscious factors can become an integral component of morphing matter. In addition, ways to apply sustainability‐conscious factors to augment the existing design pipeline of morphing matter are presented, and more quantitative and algorithmic‐level developments are needed to apply these factors rigorously to the design process.

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Exploring the transition: biology, technology, and epistemic activities

Tamborini

2024

Synthese

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By focusing on biorobotics, this article explores the epistemological foundations necessary to support the transition from biological models to technological artifacts. To address this transition, I analyze the position of the German philosopher Thomas Fuchs, who represents one possible approach to the problem of the relationship between bio-inspired technology and biology. While Fuchs defends the idea of a unique ontological space for humans, this article contends that his categorical distinctions face challenges in establishing a robust epistemic foundation necessary to ground the transition from biology to technology. After identifying at least three interwoven reasons for rejecting Fuchs’ epistemic foundation, I ask how, through what methods, and by means of which practices the newly bio-inspired object is accessed and shaped. Expanding on philosophy of science and technology in practice, I argue that the plurality of answers to this question provides a possible epistemological foundation within the different frameworks of practices that produce the bio-inspired object. In addressing the potential epistemological foundation for pluralistically grounding the transition from biological models to technological ones, my approach helps us: (i) concretize and examine the relationship between biological and technological models, and (ii) investigate the features and validity of bio-inspired objects, effectively offering a more concrete and pluralistic picture of what bio-inspired sciences and technologies are and what they can (or cannot) do.

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Soft robotics towards sustainable development goals and climate actions

Cited by 7 publications

References 130 publications

Sustainable Robots 4D Printing

Sustainable Robots 4D Printing

Sustainable Morphing Matter: Design and Engineering Practices

Exploring the transition: biology, technology, and epistemic activities

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