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ABSTRACT As modern agriculture faces increasing demands for efficiency and automation, this study presents a novel, untethered soft gripper system designed for autonomous and efficient harvesting. At the core of this innovation is a piston‐driven, pneumatically actuated gripper embedded with flexible tactile sensors, enabling operation without an external air source. The system integrates a compact motorized syringe, forming a closed‐loop fluid circuit that provides precise pressure control for adaptive grasping. The pneumatic actuation mechanism regulates air pressure from −30 to 180 kPa, allowing the gripper to perform delicate and adaptive handling, particularly suited for tree fruits and other fragile crops. A key feature of the system is its intelligent control mechanism, which seamlessly combines pneumatic and electrical systems to enhance autonomy and versatility in agricultural applications. The integration of size recognition and adaptive grasping, enabled by force feedback from embedded tactile sensors, ensures safe, efficient, and damage‐free harvesting. Demonstrating exceptional potential for autonomous agricultural operations, the untethered soft gripper system offers enhanced independence, maneuverability, and adaptability across diverse harvesting environments. Its ability to optimize crop handling while minimizing damage highlights its significance as a pioneering solution for the future of automated agriculture. 

Abstract With advances in materials and manufacturing techniques, recent years have seen a number of conductive composite materials that exhibit pronounced strain-dependent electrical resistivity, allowing them to be used for embedded, cost-effective strain sensing in various applications. The strain-resistivity relationship of these materials, however, is often highly nonlinear and dynamic, posing challenges for effective use of such strain sensors. In this paper, a computationally efficient scheme is proposed for compensating the nonlinear, dynamic strain-resistance behavior of a soft conductive rubber using a time delay neural network. The accuracy and feasibility of the technique is evaluated with a soft robotic arm incorporating three strain sensors for proprioception. Experimental results show that the sensing scheme is able to predict both the tip position and the shape of the robotic manipulator, achieving an average tip positional error of less than 4% relative to the total length of the manipulator. 

Abstract The inherent low stiffness in soft robots makes them preferable for working in close proximity to humans. However, having this low stiffness creates challenges when operating in terms of control and sensitivity to disturbances. To alleviate this issue, soft robots often have built-in stiffness tuning mechanisms that allow for controlled increases in stiffness. Additionally, redundant pneumatic manipulators can utilize antagonistic pressure to achieve identical positions under increased stiffness. In this paper, we develop a model to predict the stiffness and configuration of a pneumatic soft manipulator under different pressure inputs and external forces. The model is developed based on the physical characteristics of a soft manipulator while enabling efficient parameter estimation and computation. The efficacy of the modeling approach is supported via experimental results. 

Abstract Innovative human–machine interfaces (HMIs) have attracted increasing attention in the field of system control and assistive devices for disabled people. Conventional HMIs that are designed based on the interaction of physical movements or language communication are not effective or appliable to severely disabled users. Here, a breath‐driven triboelectric sensor is reported consisting of a soft fixator and two circular‐shaped triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) for self‐powered respiratory monitoring and smart system control. The sensor device is capable of effectively detecting the breath variation and generates responsive electrical signals based on different breath patterns without affecting the normal respiration. A breathing‐driven HMI system is demonstrated for severely disabled people to control electrical household appliances and shows an intelligent respiration monitoring system for emergence alarm. The new system provides the advantages of high sensitivity, good stability, low cost, and ease of use. This work will not only expand the development of the TENGs in self‐powered sensors, but also opens a new avenue to develop assistive devices for disabled people through innovation of advanced HMIs. 

Abstract Electronic textiles (e‐textiles) that combine the wearing comfort of textiles and the functionality of soft electronics are highly demanded in wearable applications. However, fabricating robust high‐performance stretchable e‐textiles with good abrasion resistance and high‐resolution aesthetic patterns for high‐throughput manufacturing and practical applications remains challenging. Herein, the authors report a new multifunctional e‐textile fabricated via screen printing of the water‐based silver fractal dendrites conductive ink. The as‐fabricated e‐textiles spray‐coated with the invisible waterproofing agent exhibit superior flexibility, water resistance, wearing comfort, air permeability, and abrasion resistance, achieving a low sheet resistance of 0.088 Ω sq⁻¹, high stretchability of up to 154%, and excellent dynamic stability for over 1000 cyclic testing (ε = 100%). The printed e‐textiles can be explored as strain sensors and ultralow voltage‐driven Joule heaters driven for personalized thermal management. They finally demonstrate an integrated aesthetic smart clothing made of their multifunctional e‐textiles for human motion detection and body‐temperature management. The printed e‐textiles provide new opportunities for developing novel wearable electronics and smart clothing for future commercial applications. 

Abstract Soft robots have attracted great attention in the past decades owing to their unique flexibility and adaptability for accomplishing tasks via simple control strategies, as well as their inherent safety for interactions with humans and environments. Here, a soft robotic manipulation system capable of stiffness variation and dexterous operations through a remotely controlled manner is reported. The smart manipulation system consists of a soft omnidirectional arm, a dexterous multimaterial gripper, and a self‐powered human–machine interface (HMI) for teleoperation. The cable‐driven soft arm is made of soft elastomers and embedded with low melting point alloy as a stiffness‐tuning mechanism. The self‐powered HMI patches are designed based on the triboelectric nanogenerator that utilizes a sliding mode of tribo‐layers made of copper and polytetrafluoroethylene. The novel soft manipulation system has great potential for soft and remote manipulation and human machine interactions in a variety of applications from elderly care to surgical operation to agriculture harvesting. 

Abstract Soil sensors and plant wearables play a critical role in smart and precision agriculture via monitoring real‐time physical and chemical signals in the soil, such as temperature, moisture, pH, and pollutants and providing key information to optimize crop growth circumstances, fight against biotic and abiotic stresses, and enhance crop yields. Herein, the recent advances of the important soil sensors in agricultural applications, including temperature sensors, moisture sensors, organic matter compounds sensors, pH sensors, insect/pest sensors, and soil pollutant sensors are reviewed. Major sensing technologies, designs, performance, and pros and cons of each sensor category are highlighted. Emerging technologies such as plant wearables and wireless sensor networks are also discussed in terms of their applications in precision agriculture. The research directions and challenges of soil sensors and intelligent agriculture are finally presented. 

Abstract Stretchable supercapacitors (SCs) have attracted significant attention in developing power‐independent stretchable electronic systems due to their intrinsic energy storage function and unique mechanical properties. Most current SCs are generally limited by their low stretchability, complicated fabrication process, and insufficient performance and robustness. This study presents a facile method to fabricate arbitrary‐shaped stretchable electrodes via 4D printing of conductive composite from reduced graphene oxide, carbon nanotube, and poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate. The electrode patterns of an arbitrary shape can be deposited onto prestretched substrates by aerosol‐jet printing, then self‐organized origami (ridge) patterns are generated after releasing the substrates from holding stretchers due to the mismatched strains. The stretchable electrodes demonstrate superior mechanical robustness and stretchability without sacrificing its outstanding electrochemical performance. The symmetric SC prototype possesses a gravimetric capacitance of ≈21.7 F g⁻¹at a current density of 0.5 A g⁻¹and a capacitance retention of ≈85.8% from 0.5 to 5 A g⁻¹. A SC array with arbitrary‐shaped electrodes is also fabricated and connected in series to power light‐emitting diode patterns for large‐scale applications. The proposed method paves avenues for scalable manufacturing of future energy‐storage devices with controlled extensibility and high electrochemical performance.