Harvard team build world's first completely "soft robot"
Scientists at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have created the world's first entirely autonomous soft robot. Dubbed the Octobot, the body of the device is 3D printed and it is fuelled by hydrogen peroxide. The gas created from the chemical allows the Octobot's to move autonomously in a groundbreaking, predetermined sequence as it deflates one limb and inflates another to produce movement. The next generation of Octobots will be able to "swim and interact with objects around it."
Harvard University researchers built what they describe as the world’s first completely soft robot. The device looks like an octopus and is appropriately named Octobot. Though it resembles a toy, the core technology within it may one day be used for medical applications such as minimally invasive surgery and imaging of the GI tract.

To overcome the limitations of commonly used technologies, such as rigid batteries and other electronics, the team harnessed more exotic methods to build the Octobot. Instead of a battery, the robot uses a chemical reaction fueled by hydrogen peroxide to power its movement, which happens inside a 3D printed network made of a composition of different materials. Replacing traditional electronics is a microfluidic logic system that self-controls the release of the hydrogen peroxide and so how fast the robot moves.

Here’s a Harvard video showing off the Octobot:

Study in Nature: An integrated design and fabrication strategy for entirely soft, autonomous robots…