3D Printers Help Create a New Breed of Robots

If you haven’t yet heard, there’s a new advance in the field of robotics now taking shape – quite literally in fact. Known as 'Soft Robotics', this emerging science aims to break down the physical differences that remain between humans and robots.

The ‘Human’ Challenge

Until now, robots have been hard-bodied and made of materials that are many times more rigid and strong than the soft tissues in our bodies. And as a result, they don’t resemble humans in anything other than general form. Peter Walters and David McGoran are two researchers at the University of West England, Bristol, who are working to change that.