Pneumatic soft actuator: A review of design, modeling and applications

As a highly promising actuator in the field of cutting-edge technology, pneumatic soft actuators have found widespread application in areas such as flexible grasping, medical rehabilitation, and biomimetic motion, owing to their exceptional environmental adaptability and interactive safety. This paper presents a comprehensive review of their design, modeling, and applications, aiming to provide valuable insights for related research. It begins by classifying pneumatic soft actuators based on their motion characteristics and offers an in-depth analysis of typical structures such as fiber-reinforced and pneumatic network systems. Subsequently, it elaborates on the features, applicability, and implementation of various hyperelastic constitutive models. The review then summarizes the primary application domains and the practical challenges these actuators address. Finally, it discusses the current limitations of soft actuators and envisions future development directions to foster further advancements in this field.