Flexible pressure sensors have attracted a considerable amount of attention in various fields including robotics and healthcare applications, among others. However, it remains significantly challenging to design and fabricate a flexible capacitive pressure sensor with a quite broad linearity detection range due to the nonlinear stress–strain relation of the hyperelastic polymer-based dielectric material. Along these lines, in this work, a novel flexible capacitive pressure sensor with microstructured composite dielectric layer (MCDL) is demonstrated. The MCDL was prepared by enforcing a solvent-free planetary mixing and replica molding method, while the performances of the flexible capacitive pressure sensor were characterized by performing various experimental tests. More specifically, the proposed capacitive pressure sensor with 4.0 wt % cone-type MCDL could perceive external pressure loads with a broad detection range of 0–1.3 MPa, which yielded a high sensitivity value of 3.97 × 10⁻³ kPa⁻¹ in a relative wide linear range of 0–600 kPa. Moreover, the developed pressure sensor exhibited excellent repeatability during the application of 1000 consecutive cycles and a fast response time of 150 ms. Finally, the developed sensor was utilized for wearable monitoring and spatial pressure distribution sensing applications, which indicates the great perspectives of our approach for potential use in the robotics and healthcare fields.

In order to support the development of high–precision spacecraft, the current state of the Stewart vibration isolation platform in the field of aerospace micro–vibration was surveyed. First, based on analyses of the causes and characteristics of spacecraft micro–vibration, the principles, characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of four vibration isolation technologies are summarized. Second, the development process of the Stewart vibration isolation platform, from structural proposal and theoretical calculation to application in various fields, is introduced. Then, the current state of kinematics, dynamics and braking control algorithms of the Stewart platform is investigated, and related work on rigid/flexible platforms in the field of aerospace micro–vibration is introduced in detail. Finally, the idea that the Stewart platform can be fabricated by 4D printing technology is proposed. The novel Stewart platform can be combined with artificial intelligence algorithms and advanced control strategies, allowing for further development in the direction of an integrated omnidirectional, full–frequency and multi–function platform with variable stiffness.

Dielectric elastomer (DE) is a soft material that can deform to a large degree under the action of an electric field. In this paper, multilayer DE films were stacked in parallel to prepare a 20-layer dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA). This DEA could provide a peak output force of 30 N, which significantly improves the driving performance of the DEA and provides conditions for large load driving of the DEA. As a new driving method, the DEA was applied to a jumping robot, and the heavy-weight robot accomplished jumping motion after several cycles of energy storage.

Complex and unknown terrains in deep space exploration present great challenges to existing exploration robots. In this paper, a multi-mode motion spherical robot with flexible motion and strong environmental adaptability is presented. The spherical robot can roll and jump by swinging the pendulum and rotating the 2-DOF frame. The structure design of spherical robot is described, and the feasibility of multi-mode motion is analyzed by establishing dynamic model and testing robot prototype. In addition, the adaptability of the spherical robot motion mechanism in microgravity environment is preliminarily verified. The results of this analysis and test could be provided with reference for the future research of deep space exploration robots.

Flexible pressure sensors have attracted significant attention in both academic and industrial fields. However, how to design and fabricate a flexible pressure sensor having high sensitivity and good linearity in a wide detection range is still a challenge. To address this challenge, this article proposes a flexible piezoresistive pressure sensor with a multilayer structure consisting of microstructured composite layers (MCLs), which are sandwiched by indium tin oxide-polyethylene terephthalate electrodes and encapsulated by an ultrasoft elastomer frame. The preparation of the conductive composite and the fabrication procedure of the pressure sensor are presented. Due to the point-to-point hemisphere microstructures of the multilayer composite layers, the pressure sensor can perceive pressure with a sensitivity of 7.66 kPa ⁻¹ in a range of 0–583 kPa. Besides, the proposed sensor features good linearity of 5.86% and an $R^{2}$ of 0.99. The developed pressure sensor has excellent repeatability of 500 cycles and a fast response time of 80 ms. The proposed sensor is verified by the experiments with primary applications, and the obtained results indicate it could be potentially utilized as wearable detectors.

A seaweed-like porous carbon anode, prepared using fish scale as the precursor and K₂SO₄ as the auxiliary, achieves high capacities and superior stability for KIC.