Advancing Transient Soft Robotics Through Edible or Biodegradable Material Design

Our notion of robotics has recently expanded with the increased use of edible and biodegradable materials. As these materials are environmentally benign and often recyclable, robots developed with them enable circular design and contribute to the UN’s sustainable development goals. In addition, biodegradable robots are transient and leave no waste at the end of their lifetimes, while some are even nutritious when consumed by humans and animals. This material-driven design in robotics will bring a new wave of applications, such as environment-safe, mass-deployable robots for search and rescue missions, life-like edible robots that attract animals and provide nutrition when consumed, or appetitive robotic food that provides a gastronomic experience for humans, to name a few.

Edible and biodegradable materials are key for developing functional components of transient soft robots, including sensors and actuators, computing units, energy supply and bodies. However, edible and biodegradable materials behave differently from their non-biodegradable counterparts in robotics due to their inherent metastability. In addition, their mechanical, electrical, chemical, and thermal properties are often unfavourable for manufacturing at scale and make it challenging to develop a standalone robotic system. Therefore, a deeper understanding is needed of how to process edible and biodegradable materials, particularly electronics and how to design and manufacture them into robotic components. In addition, standardization and guidelines are needed to characterize transient properties in robotics systems. Additionally, we perceive that many robotic applications of edible and biodegradable materials have yet to be explored, such as computation and energy transduction across different regimes.

All submissions should explore in general how edible or biodegradable materials can be used in robotics or other real-world applications. The scope of this research topic includes, but is not limited to:
- Processing of edible/biodegradable materials and manufacturing techniques
- Sensors, actuators, electronics and their integration in robotic systems
- Stimuli-responsive materials that react with environmental cues
- Portable energy harvesting and energy storage devices for robots
- Programmed obsolescence and end-of-life strategies in robotics and their ecological impact
- Edible robots nourishing humans, animals, or the environment
- Novel real-world applications of edible and biodegradable robots

We invite original research articles, review articles and perspectives that advance transient soft robotics.