Tools & Projects

SOFA ↗

LGPL-2.1-or-later; some applications/tutorials GPL-2.0-or-later; directory exceptions

An interactive finite-element simulation framework for deformable systems, contact, medical simulation, and soft robotics.

SoftRobots plugin ↗

LGPL-3.0

SOFA components and examples for soft robot actuation, simulation, and hardware communication.

PyElastica ↗

MIT

A Python library for simulating slender flexible structures and assemblies using Cosserat rod theory.

SOROTOKI ↗

MIT

A MATLAB toolkit for soft robot design, modelling, and control.

Evolution Gym / EvoGym ↗

MIT

A benchmark for jointly optimizing soft robot morphology and control across locomotion and manipulation tasks.

SoftGym ↗

BSD-3-Clause

Learning and evaluation environments for manipulating deformable objects, including cloth, ropes, and fluids.

MuJoCo ↗

Apache-2.0

A general robotics engine for dynamics, contact, control, and learning research.

Drake ↗

BSD-3-Clause; some portions have other permissive licenses

Tools for robot modelling, dynamics, optimization, and control.

ROS 2 ↗

Core primarily Apache-2.0; ported code may use BSD-3-Clause; package-specific licenses

A robotics software ecosystem for communication, device integration, drivers, and development tools.

LeRobot ↗

Apache-2.0

Tools for robot data collection, imitation learning, policy training, and deployment.

Taichi ↗

Apache-2.0

A Python-embedded programming language for high-performance numerical computation and custom physics simulation.

PneuSoRD ↗

MIT

Multichannel electronics for controlling solenoid and proportional valves in pneumatic soft robots.

SO-100 / SO-101 ↗

Apache-2.0

Printable robot arm designs for teleoperation and robot learning, with LeRobot integration.

OpenArm ↗

Hardware: CERN-OHL-S-2.0; software repositories licensed separately

A robot arm platform with manufacturable CAD assets for manipulation, contact interaction, and robot learning.

ALOHA ↗

MIT for the original code repository; full hardware licensing not established in this review

A bimanual teleoperation and demonstration collection system with control code and hardware assembly tutorials.

FlowIO ↗

CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0

A modular pneumatic development platform with pumps, valves, Bluetooth control, and Arduino and JavaScript interfaces.

Yale OpenHand ↗

CC-BY-NC-3.0

Robot hand designs for rapid fabrication, including underactuated and compliant grasping mechanisms.

DIGIT ↗

CC-BY-NC-4.0

A compact vision-based tactile sensor with published manufacturing and assembly designs.

GelSlim 3.0 ↗

CC-BY-NC-4.0

A vision-based tactile finger for research on contact shape, force, and slip sensing.

Soft Robotics Toolkit ↗

Per-project verification required; no single blanket license asserted

Tutorials and shared resources for soft robot design, fabrication, modelling, characterization, and control.

SoRoSim — introductory paper ↗

Anup Teejo Mathew … Federico Renda

Article access and reuse terms are separate from software licensing.

A MATLAB toolbox for modeling soft, rigid, and hybrid robotic systems.