Northwestern University engineers have created a new soft and flexible device that allows robots to move by expanding and contracting, similar to how human muscles work. To showcase their new actuator, the researchers used it to create two different types of robots: a cylindrical, worm-like soft robot and an artificial bicep. In experiments, the cylindrical robot was able to navigate through tight, hairpin-shaped environments with a narrow passage, while the bicep could lift a 500-gram weight up to 5,000 times without failure.