Soft robots are capable of mimicking the complex motion of animals. Soft robotic systems are defined by their compliance, which allows for continuous and often responsive localized deformation. These features make soft robots especially interesting for integration with human tissues, for example, the implementation of biomedical devices, and for robotic performance in harsh or uncertain environments, for example, exploration in confined spaces or locomotion on uneven terrain. Advances in soft materials and additive manufacturing technologies have enabled the design of soft robots with sophisticated capabilities, such as jumping, complex 3D movements, gripping and releasing. In this Review, we examine the essential soft material properties for different elements of soft robots, highlighting the most relevant polymer systems. Advantages and limitations of different additive manufacturing processes, including 3D printing, fused deposition modelling, direct ink writing, selective laser sintering, inkjet printing and stereolithography, are discussed, and the different techniques are investigated for their application in soft robotic fabrication. Finally, we explore integrated robotic systems and give an outlook for the future of the field and remaining challenges.

软机器人能够模仿动物的复杂运动。软机器人系统的依从性决定了它的柔韧性，它允许连续且经常响应的局部变形。这些功能使软机器人特别适合与人体组织集成，例如生物医学设备的实现，以及在恶劣或不确定环境中的机器人性能，例如在狭窄空间中的探索或在崎uneven不平的地形上的运动。软材料和增材制造技术的进步使软机器人的设计具有复杂的功能，例如跳跃，复杂的3D运动，抓紧和释放。在这篇评论中，我们研究了软机器人不同元素的基本软材料特性，重点介绍了最相关的聚合物系统。讨论了包括3D打印，熔融沉积建模，直接墨水书写，选择性激光烧结，喷墨打印和立体平版印刷在内的不同增材制造工艺的优缺点，并研究了不同技术在软机器人制造中的应用。最后，我们探索集成的机器人系统，并展望该领域的未来和尚存的挑战。