Insider Brief
- Researchers in South Korea have developed a soft, sheet-like robotic actuator that mimics human muscle proteins, offering precise, multi-directional motion in confined spaces.
- Backed by the National Research Foundation of Korea, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the project was led by POSTECH and Samsung Electronics’ Future Robotics Division, with findings published in Nature Communications.
- The actuator uses air-filled chambers and channels to produce movement similar to muscle contractions, enabling flexible robots to crawl, grip, and clean in air or underwater, with potential applications in surgery, caregiving, factory inspection, and narrow-pipeline maintenance.
Government-funded researchers in South Korea report developing a thin, flexible robotic actuator that mimics the way muscle proteins generate motion, offering new possibilities for medical and industrial robots that must operate in tight spaces.
Backed by the National Research Foundation of Korea and the Ministry of Science and ICT, the research team at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), in collaboration with Samsung Electronics’ Future Robotics Division, created a sheet-like actuator capable of precise, multi-directional movement. The work, published in Nature Communications, signals a step forward in the development of robots that combine flexibility with strength, according to researchers.
Most current robots rely on rigid parts, which limits their motion and prevents them from navigating narrow or complex environments. The POSTECH team sought to solve this problem by designing a soft actuator inspired by myosin—a protein in human muscle that enables movement through small, repeated contractions. The result is a sheet, just millimeters thick, containing layered air chambers and channels that can bend, crawl, and grip by inflating sequentially.
The actuator can move in six directions, including rotation, with adjustable speed and range. It demonstrated the ability to maneuver like a caterpillar when bent and to manipulate delicate objects both in air and underwater, according to POSTECH. It was also able to clean narrow spaces like pipelines, a task that traditional robots struggle to perform.
To support its development, the researchers built a mathematical model that predicts how the actuator will behave, laying the groundwork for further customization and control. The integration of a three-dimensional pneumatic network into such a thin device, while maintaining coordinated motion across different directions, highlights the novelty of the approach.
Researchers indicte the implications are broad. In medicine, these actuators could support precision surgery by allowing robots to move inside the body through small incisions. In factories and infrastructure maintenance, they could help inspect machinery or reach hard-to-access areas. For home use, such flexible robots could be adapted for tasks like elder care or cleaning, where gentle touch and adaptive movement are essential.
One of the strengths of the system is its ability to accumulate small movements into larger, purposeful actions. That property, combined with its compact form, makes it suitable for integration into mobile or embedded robotic systems, researchers added.
In addition to support from Korea’s science ministry and the NRF, the project also received funding through the Alchemist Project from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
