Soft robotics: what’s next in bioinspired design and applications of soft robots?

The field of soft robotics has shown unprecedented growth in research efforts, scientific achievements, and technological advancements. Bioinspiration and biomimetics have played an instrumental role in the birth and growth of soft robotics. What is next for this field? To promote soft robotics research to the next level and have a broader impact in robotics and engineering fields, in this roadmap, we argue that two research directions should be strengthened (i) more structured, formal methods and tools for designing and developing soft robots and bioinspired robots (ii) more concrete applications of bioinspired soft robots in diverse sectors of human activities. This article provides a roadmap for the design of bioinspired soft robots, the integration of soft robot systems, and their applications in industry and services. Scientists and experts describe the state-of-the art and the perspectives of bioinspired, model-informed design of soft robots, outlining the challenges in developing complex soft robotic systems, and applications of soft robots in diverse fields.