Starting paper: Y. Liu, X. Huang, H. Pan, S. Li and P. Li, “Design of a Spiny Foot with Fluid-filled Sacs for Climbing Robots,” 2021 IEEE International Conference on Real-time Computing and Robotics (RCAR), Xining, China, 2021, pp. 336-340, doi: 10.1109/RCAR52367.2021.9517486.
Root: P. Glick, S. A. Suresh, D. Ruffatto, M. Cutkosky, M. T. Tolley and A. Parness, “A Soft Robotic Gripper With Gecko-Inspired Adhesive,” in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 903-910, April 2018, doi: 10.1109/LRA.2018.2792688.
This is actually a paper that I had previously found in the lateral search, funnily enough. It has 189 total citations, ranging from review papers to deeply technical applications.
Related paper 1: M. Ishida, J. A. Sandoval, S. Lee, S. Huen and M. T. Tolley, “Locomotion via Active Suction in a Sea Star-Inspired Soft Robot,” in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 10304-10311, Oct. 2022, doi: 10.1109/LRA.2022.3191181.
This first reference paper covers a design that uses pneumatic legs that suction onto the surface, much like a sea star. It relates to the root paper in its materials and general pneumatic principles.
Related Paper 2: Q. Hu, H. Huang, E. Dong and D. Sun, “A Bioinspired Composite Finger With Self-Locking Joints,” in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 1391-1398, April 2021, doi: 10.1109/LRA.2021.3056345.
This second paper is more human centered than the other papers written about here. Using a mixture of SMA, rotating joints, and silicone, the team was able to produce a robotic human finger as well as a three finger system. Though the method of actuation is different than the root paper, they reference its overall form and the way it bends, as well as the polymeric coating.
My general approach to this was to use IEEE to find a paper that I found interesting, then to look at the references to find a paper in a similar field that was interesting as well. From that paper, I looked into the citations to find two papers that used the root paper. I tried to find two that were related yet distinctly separate to provide more variety in this search.