<p>Soft robotics is ready to enter the spotlight. These robots are built with soft materials like silicone and powered by the flow of fluids. This allows for unique kinds of movement, with the automatons often taking locomotive cues from the animal kingdom. As recently as 2010, when the video below was made, soft robots weren't considered a field of study in their own right. But this month, a peer-reviewed journal, Soft Robotics, was launched just for them:</p><p>These robots have unique applications: Unlike a hard robot, a soft one can run into a human or animal (or wall) without causing much harm to either party. Their flexibility also makes them adept at tasks in tight, irregular spaces like the rubble of a collapsed building or an unexplored cave. For robots that move by creeping and crawling, hitting surfaces can actually be a good thing: It gives them purchase to move around the environment.</p><p>Research is going swimmingly so far. M. Scott Brauer</p><p>In one of SoRo's first papers, MIT researchers report on the soft robotic fish they've developed. Because the fish can bend continuouslyit has no joints and is controlled by the flow of carbon dioxide pumped through channels in its tailit can achieve a range of motion that would be impossible for a hard robot, researchers said. The current model can perform about 20 or 30 maneuvers before running out of gas. But the next version will pump water into its channels, allowing it to operate for about 30 minutes continuously.</p><p><a href="http://qz.com/187705/the-future-of-robotics-is-soft-and-squishy/">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2014/soft-robotic-fish-moves-like-the-real-thing-0313.html">Soft robotic fish moves like the real thing</a> (MIT News)</p><p><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-03-13/mit-researchers-invent-a-softer-robot-that-could-revolutionize-the-field">An MIT Fish Tale: Inventors Conjure a Softer Robot</a> (Businessweek (blog))</p><p><a href="http://www.universityherald.com/articles/8138/20140314/soft-robotic-fish-represent-future-of-robotics-mit-scientist-were-excited-for-a-variety-of-reasons.htm">Soft Robotic Fish Represent Future of Robotics; MIT Scientist: &#039;We&#039;re Excited ...</a> (University Herald)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dDiQ24Weo28GELMmQmB_27nj5z5DM&authuser=0&ned=us">54 additional articles.</a></p>