Soft pneumatic actuators (SPAs) are widely employed to drive soft robots. However, their inherent flexibility offers both benefits and challenges. This property reduces their output force/torque and makes them hard to control. This paper introduces a new design method that enhances the actuator's performance and controllability. The complex structure of the soft actuator is simplified by approximating it as a cantilever beam. This allows us to derive a mechanical equation between input pressure to output torque. Additionally, a dynamical model is explored to understand the correlation between the natural frequency and dimensional parameters of the SPA. The design problem is then transformed into an optimization problem, using the mechanical equation as the objective function and the dynamical equation as a constraint. By solving this optimization problem, the optimal dimensional parameters are determined. Prior to fabrication, preliminary tests are conducted using the finite element method. Six prototypes are manufactured to validate the proposed approach. The optimal actuator successfully generates the desired force/torque, while its natural frequency remains within the constrained range. This work highlights the potential of using approximated models and optimization formulation to boost the efficiency and dynamic performance of soft pneumatic actuators.

Sony was once the king of consumer electronics, the Apple of its day. It had a slew of iconic products. The brand was so synonymous with cutting-edge quality, its tagline was simply "It's a Sony." But against the rise of tech giants such as Apple and Samsung, it's struggled to adapt to changing trends in the electronics world and watched its prominence evaporate in nearly everything from televisions to smartphones. Now, Sony is trying to reintroduce itself to the US market.

Sony was once the king of consumer electronics, the Apple of its day. It had a slew of iconic products. The brand was so synonymous with cutting-edge quality, its tagline was simply "It's a Sony." But against the rise of tech giants such as Apple and Samsung, it's struggled to adapt to changing trends in the electronics world and watched its prominence evaporate in nearly everything from televisions to smartphones. Now, Sony is trying to reintroduce itself to the US market.

"I have been running during the past six years with full force, and as Sony is going into the next stage, I thought it would be best for me and the company that I pass the baton now," Mr. Hirai, 57 years old, said at a news conference. Mr. Yoshida, 58, inherits a company that is making money in all its major areas, from traditional electronics such as televisions to videogame machines, smartphone game software and movies. That is a shift from the beginning of Mr. Hirai's term when the television business, among others, was churning out losses year after year. Even the movie business, which struggled in recent years, is riding a wave thanks to "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle," which was No. 1 at the U.S. box office for several weeks. The stock has risen 63% over the last year.

Kazuo Hirai looks set to end his six-year reign at Sony Corp. on a high note. The electronics giant said Friday its president and chief executive officer credited for turning around the once-struggling company will assume chairmanship and be replaced by his right-hand man. The announcement came as Sony posted a nearly fourfold jump in third quarter operating profit and raised its full year profit to a record high, underscoring how a restructuring drive led by Hirai, focusing on image sensors and gaming, is reaping rewards. Effective April 1, Chief Financial Officer Kenichiro Yoshida, who alongside Hirai worked to steer Sony back to profitability after years of losses, will take on the role of CEO. "I have been pondering about when to step down and decided this to be the ideal timing, both for Sony and myself, as the company prepares to embark on a new mid-range plan," Hirai said at the company's headquarters in Tokyo.

The firm's chief executive says his hands-on approach has paid off so far, but he's not ready for a victory lap just yet The secret to rekindling Sony's return to form, according to the company's chief executive, is personalisation – achieved not by the mass collection of customer data in the way some big tech firms do, but by eliciting an emotional response to its products. "Getting in close is the only way," says Kaz Hirai, who took the helm of Sony five-and-half-years ago charged with turning the company around; he has succeeded, with Sony projecting its largest-ever annual operating profit of £4.2bn this year. Hirai is a passionate believer in the Japanese concept of Kando, which is about establishing an emotional connection across what Sony calls "the last one inch" to the consumer – the wow factor that creates enthusiasm and loyalty. "My father and grandfather were Sony fanatics," he says. "When I was about five years old, my father recorded my voice on his open reel tape deck and played it back. Hearing my own voice was a technological wonder. "We had a huge TV, but we also had a five-inch TV, and I found it wonderful that Sony could miniaturise these products." But by the time Hirai took over as chief executive that wow factor had faded. "Sony products need to have functional and emotional value," says Hirai, who made it his mission to apply Kando across every business unit and revive faded glory. "Anybody can provide functional value in this commoditised space, but emotional value is something that has been part of the Sony design philosophy, part of the Sony DNA since the company started 71 years ago.

The verdict is still out on Sony's new pet dog'aibo,' but that's not stopping the company from planning a deeper push into robotics. The mechanical mutt, which goes on sale in Japan on Thursday, is just the beginning of the Tokyo-based company's return to robotics, Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai told Bloomberg TV. While aibo is primarily a toy, its artificial-intelligence capabilities and robotic architecture can be used to create machines for various service fields, he said. "The technology we incorporated into aibo -- A.I., robotics, and that combination -- in different form-factors can manifest itself in other robots that can be a part of transportation, education, health care," Hirai told Bloomberg's Emily Chang. "So it has a lot of different applications beyond just being an entertainment robot."

An AI-powered robot dog created by Sony has ignored commands from the firm's CEO onstage in an embarrassing moment for the electronics giant. The £1,300 ($1,750) Aibo robot, which Sony says behaves like a real dog and responds to voice commands, was on show at a conference in Las Vegas on Monday. 'Aibo is an autonomous robot and will quickly become a member of your family, right Aibo?' Sony's President & CEO Kazuo Hirai said in an exchange on stage. But the robo-dog didn't respond, prompting Hirai to remark, 'ignored me there' before quickly passing Aibo back to its handlers. An AI-powered robot dog created by Sony has ignored commands from the firm's CEO onstage in an embarrassing moment for the electronics giant.

The head of Intel aims to steer the company toward new business in self-driving cars, virtual reality and other cutting-edge technologies. Though first it may have to pull out of a skid caused by a serious security flaw in its processor chips, which undergird many of the world's smartphones and personal computers. Intel CEO Brian Krzanich opened his keynote talk Monday at the annual CES gadget show in Las Vegas by addressing the hard-to-fix flaws disclosed by security researchers last week. He says there have been no known attempts to exploit the flaws, which affect processors built by Intel and other chipmakers. He says Intel aims to fix the problem in the coming week for 90 percent of its processors built in the last 5 years, and the rest of those processors by the end of the month.

Sony has revealed several new products designed to take your entertainment experience to the next level. At a press conference in Las Vegas ahead of CES, the firm teased a look at new smartphones that aim to capture the best selfies, a prototype 8K display featuring its X1 Ultimate picture processor, and its new wireless noise-cancelling earbuds. And, Sony unveiled its jaw-dropping $30,000 Ultra Short Throw Projector. During the event, Sony also brought back the latest iteration of a nostalgic companion, the Aibo robot – but, the cheeky bot decided not to acknowledge its owner on stage. Sony invited the new Aibo robot to the stage, which launched in Japan this past fall.