The potential application of soft robotics maneuvering into inaccessible spaces would benefit from the use of biocompatible materials. For example, if it is less economically beneficial to return a soft robot after a “mission” the team that deployed the robot might abandon the robot afterwards. Creating biocompatible soft robots means that these robots can be deployed in natural environments while limiting their artificial pollution.
Baumgartner, M., Hartmann, F., Drack, M. et al. Resilient yet entirely degradable gelatin-based biogels for soft robots and electronics. Nat. Mater. 19, 1102–1109 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-020-0699-3