  Robots and artificial machines have been captivating the public for
centuries, depicted first as threats to humanity, then as subordinates and
helpers. In the last decade, the booming exposure of humans to robots has
fostered an increasing interest in soft robotics. By empowering robots with new
physical properties, autonomous actuation, and sensing mechanisms, soft robots
are making increasing impacts on areas such as health and medicine. At the same
time, the public sympathy to robots is increasing. However, there is still a
great need for innovation to push robotics towards more diverse applications.
To overcome the major limitation of soft robots, which lies in their softness,
strategies are being explored to combine the capabilities of soft robots with
the performance of hard metallic ones by using composite materials in their
structures. After reviewing the major specificities of hard and soft robots,
paths to improve actuation speed, stress generation, self-sensing and actuation
will be proposed. Innovations in controlling systems, modeling, and simulation
that will be required to use composite materials in robotics will be discussed.
Finally, based on recently developed examples, the elements needed to progress
toward a new form of artificial life will be described.
