3D Printed Soft Robots

Soft robots hold considerable potential in delicate object manipulation and interaction with fragile environments given their compliant nature, inherent safety, and high dexterity. During the last decade, a significant breakthrough of soft robots in various applications has been impeded by current limitations in the design, manufacturing, and integration of soft materials that combine actuation, sensing, and control. Scientific understanding of design and fabrication is entering an exciting new era where early approaches relying on rigid materials, standard manufacturing, and conventional kinematics are giving way to soft and smart materials for advanced robots. Our research is focused on the design, mechanics, and manufacturing of novel multi-scale and multi-material robotic systems for manufacturing and medical applications.

To cover multi-scale robots, we use two-photon polymerization (2-PP), stereolithography, FDM, and moisture-curing.