Soft Actuators

We will discuss typical soft actuators in this chapter. In the overview, we showed that actuators are generally divided into equilibrium and non-equilibrium types in terms of energy dissipation and efficiency. We introduce the following categories of soft actuators: fluidic actuators, electroactive polymer actuators, thermomechanical actuators, and bioactuators. Furthermore, the types of actuators are summarized. Finally, we discuss the mechanical properties and performance of the various actuators.