Self-supporting braided textile structures for soft robotics: Mechanics, design, and emerging applications

Abstract

Tubular braided structures are widely used in soft robotics as passive constraint layers in McKibben-type actuators. Recent studies have shown that they can also serve as self-supporting structural bodies, where the braid itself provides shape adaptability, load transfer, and functional deformation. This review focuses on such braided structures from a textile-centered perspective. Unlike conventional braided sleeves or composite reinforcements, these structures generate robotic functions through geometric reconfiguration, fiber sliding, and interfacial constraints. The reviewed systems are organized into four representative application groups: access-support devices, continuum robotic backbones, passive adaptive grippers, and robot bodies for locomotion. Despite differing task requirements, they exploit similar structural features of tubular braids, including diameter change, bending compliance, hollow geometry, and tunable mechanical response. At the same time, their performance is commonly limited by profile instability, friction-induced hysteresis, difficulties in miniaturization and functional integration, and the lack of structure-level evaluation metrics. By integrating insights from soft robotics, textile mechanics, and braided-stent research, this review identifies the key structure-function relationships of self-supporting tubular braided structures and outlines design considerations for future robotic textile systems.