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Soft robotics is a field of robotics that focuses on the design, construction, and control of robots with soft, flexible materials, such as silicone or rubber, rather than hard, rigid materials like metal or plastic. This course introduces some of the design innovations, technologies, materials, and algorithms underpinning their development. The course will first present the motivation behind the field, its bio-inspired roots, exemplar works that have led to its rise and widespread adoption. The course will cover fundamental understanding of its design and fabrication, materials used for its development and actuation technologies. Mathematical modelling of these nonlinear high-dimensional systems will be presented along with current control strategies. Parallels with their rigid counterpart will be done to draw comparisons and understand the fundamental differences and similarities. State estimation with soft sensing technologies will be briefly covered. Finally, an outlook on the future direction of the field and potential research directions are presented.

Aims:

The aims of the module are to:

• Develop students’ knowledge on the field of soft robotics: design, development, fabrication, modelling, and control.Ìý
• Provide hands-on experience on the development of novel robotic systems and their integration.Ìý
• Develop critical thinking, interdisciplinary knowledge, presentation and research skills and team building experience through research projects.

Intended learning outcomes:

On successful completion of the module, a student will be able to:

1. Demonstrate a breadth of knowledge and understanding in the fundamentals of soft robotics, their design, development, and control, with the goal of applying this in the context of real-world applications.
2. Demonstrate how to apply the theoretical knowledge to real-life robotic systems.
3. Demonstrate and assess the performance of a soft robotic actuator or sensor, improving it where appropriate. Model these systems mathematically and find solutions to these models.
4. Formulate research projects by analysing and reviewing existing literature, devising experimental protocols, and finally disseminating the results through a report.

Indicative content:

The following are indicative of the topics the module will typically cover:

• Overview: History, bioinspiration, state-of-the-art.
• Design and Fabrication of soft robots, Modelling of visco-elastic materials.
• Actuation technologies.
• Modelling and Control.
• Sensing.
• Outlook.

Requisite conditions:

To be eligible to select this module as optional or elective, a student must be registered on a programme and year of study for which it is formally available.