Abstract: Soft robots, owing to their ability to undergo continuous large deformations, hold significant promise in fields such as disaster rescue, scientific exploration, and medical healthcare. However, they are prone to damage under harsh working conditions, which can negatively impact their operational efficiency. The existing research on the protection of soft robots is very limited. In this study, inspired by the natural armor of the arapaima and the asymmetrical body surface structures of the cobra, a high-performance flexible protective system was designed using a coupled biomimetic approach. An electronic pressure testing machine was used to evaluate the flexibility and protective performance of the biomimetic protection system. The results indicated that the presence of the asymmetric structures can substantially enhance the protection performance of the biomimetic protection system without appreciably compromising its flexibility in the slightest. This is due to the reason that the frictional anisotropic effect of asymmetric structure has varying effects on the interlocking interaction between adjacent scales in bending and compression conditions. This study introduces a novel approach aiming at enhancing the protective performance of flexible protection systems, thus presenting potential applications in soft robotic systems.

Key words: Frictional anisotropic')">Frictional anisotropic, Asymmetric structure, Biomimetic protection system, Flexibility, Protectiveperformance