In recent years, significant progress has been made in functional soft materials, alongside advances in nano/micromanufacturing techniques, driving the evolution of soft grippers to the forefront of robotics innovation. Compared to their traditional rigid counterparts, soft grippers offer unparalleled adaptability, effortlessly conforming to objects of varying sizes and shapes. This comprehensive review explores the latest trends shaping the landscape of soft robotic grippers, providing insights into their diverse functionalities and applications. The exploration begins with an examination of the various actuation mechanisms utilized by soft grippers, including cable or tendon-driven, pneumatic, electroactive, and thermoactive systems. Additionally, the review delves into the intricacies of grasping and manipulating mechanisms, spanning from multi-finger configurations to innovative approaches, such as jamming, suction, and adhesion grasping. Notably, hybrid grippers, which integrate multiple actuation and grasping mechanisms, are of particular interest, thereby enhancing the range of functionalities offered by these grippers. Finally, the review briefly addresses current limitations and future directions in the field.

In winter, electric power facilities such as solar panels, substations, power towers, and power lines suffer from freezing or ice accumulation problems due to exposure to harsh external environments. These problems result in unstable power supply, high maintenance costs, and severe economic and social losses. To address these problems, diverse anti-icing or deicing techniques including physical, thermal, and chemical approaches have been developed. However, these conventional approaches have limitations such as requirements for additional external energy, environmental toxicity, and low applicability. Recently, novel anti-icing surfaces based on unique drop bouncing dynamics have been developed by mimicking nano/micro-structures of natural systems. These anti-icing surfaces have attracted attention due to their high energy efficiency and environmental friendliness. It has been found that the superhydrophobic surfaces with specific nano/micro-structures can effectively remove the water droplets before the formation of ice nucleation by minimizing contact area and contact time between the droplets and the surface, thereby demonstrating excellent anti-icing properties. This review introduces recently developed anti-icing techniques based on the drop bouncing dynamics, and briefly describes the future direction of the anti-icing technology for stable power supply.