Any small 'unwanted' movement on the part of the robot can cause significant injury to the patient. Although clinical data is only available for the da Vinci system, it is likely that market competitors, such as SennhanceTM Surgical System (Morrisville, NC, USA) and VersiusTM (Cambridge Medical Robotics, Cambridge, UK) are affected by the same limitations given the similarities of their hardware architecture. The various shortcomings of rigid MIS robots prompted researchers to explore alternative approaches. The first large-scale project looking into soft robotics in MIS was the EU project STIFF-FLOP (2012 to 2015). The project's ambition was to radically part from traditional approaches and pursue the idea of creating robotic structures out of soft materials, in a bid to overcome the shortcomings presented by rigid devices. Although soft robots prove superior in terms of safety and dexterity, they present their own challenges within an MIS setting. Above all else, pneumatically actuated robot structures, made from soft materials, are notoriously difficult to model and control. The very factors that make them useful (high deformability and low stiffness of the materials used--typically silicone) along with the actuation medium's high compressibility, render their control more complex--potentially infinitely more articulate, but as a consequence, considerably more complex to control and to achieve accurate positioning of the instrument tip. It is important to acknowledge that visualisation during MIS is usually limited to the target organ and the end effectors of the surgical instrument--indeed the entire monitor will be often focussed on a viewing field of just a few square centimetres inside the abdominal cavity. In such circumstances, the surgeon is solely concentrating on the procedure at hand, e.g., a delicate dissection, at the tip of the instrument. In most surgical procedures, the instrument shaft is not at all visible, and thus, not observed. With rigid devices, an instrument's location and movement are usually predictable, effectively following the surgeon's movements. However, this is not the case in soft robotics. This fact, together with limited visualisation, mandates a complete understanding of the instrument's location and pose within its environment. This can be achieved by embedding soft sensors within the robot's body, the feedback from which the robot's pose and shape can be determined. In traditional articulated instruments made from rigid instruments, the end effector can be manipulated using one pivotal hinge (at the trocar port through which the shaft is inserted into the patient's abdominal cavity) offering limited mobility (Figure 1). Insoft robotic manipulators, the manipulator can deform along the entire length of the manipulator and also leverage contact with the body parts due to the safety offered by the softness to achieve a greater dexterity. Advanced control software is therefore required to ensure the desired end-effector position and angle is achieved in the most efficient way and with minimal body displacement. In robotic surgery, the correct placement of trocars on the abdominal wall is of the utmost importance. Choosing the correct location for the insertion of rigid instruments into the abdominal cavity and creating the fulcrum point is crucial in that it enables the surgeon to perform the various tasks that are demanded by the procedure. This pivot point on the abdominal wall is not as critical in soft robotics as instruments can bend, and their manoeuvrability is therefore less dependent upon the specific location of the fulcrum point, see Figure 1.  
With far more freedom in relation to trocar placement, cosmetic factors can be brought into the equation--with Trocar port placements kept to areas that are not usually exposed. That said, by increasing the distance from trocar to target--and the consequent route that the soft robot has to take, we also increase the complexity of pose perception and control. The speed of robotic action is also a consideration.