When you think of robots, you probably think of hard surfaces and clamps instead of hands, but the field of soft robotics keeps growing.
A team of researchers at MIT, led by associate professor of mechanical engineering Xuanhe Zhao and graduate student Hyunwoo Yuk, has turned to a material called hydrogel. Hydrogel is usually made from polymer and water, which the team believes has strong potential for medical applications. The research has been published in the journal Nature Communications.
“Hydrogels are soft, wet, biocompatible, and can form more friendly interfaces with human organs,” Zhao said in a statement.
“We are actively collaborating with medical groups to translate this system into soft manipulators such as hydrogel ‘hands,’ which could potentially apply more gentle manipulations to tissues and organs in surgical operations.
