Day 3 - Design and Manufacturing

9:00-10:00: Keynote "Rethink How we Make Robots to Explore the World" - Robert Katzschmann

Abstract:

Soft robotics focuses on the deformable and non-rigid character of our world. These soft-bodied robots are made of deformable materials that greatly surpass the limited degrees of freedom of rigid robots and potentially offer inherently safe and adaptable ways of achieving versatile forms in locomotion and manipulation. A soft robot can homogeneously combine actuation, sensing, and structural complexity within the same component of the robot. In this talk, I will provide an overview of several efficient modeling and control approaches that bring us closer to the development of intelligent robotic “brains”. We are aiming for an approach that exploits the unique properties of soft robots and the deformable world we live in. I will cover in this talk our group’s recent developments in overcoming the challenges in design, modeling, and control of soft robotic systems. One focus of the talk will be on explaining and comparing our modeling methods, which include: minimal parameter modeling, reduced order modeling, variational deep Koopman operator modeling, differentiable projective dynamics, and physics-informed model learning. Based on these modeling techniques, I will then introduce frameworks that perform model-based control of multi-segment pneumatic soft robotic arms. Finally, I will show how we use our modeling approach to co-optimize the designs of geometry and control of our soft robotic systems.

Bio: Robert is a professor of robotics at ETH. He takes inspiration from living creatures and develops robots with deformable properties that adapt better to their environment when compared to traditional robots. His lab designs, fabricates, models, and controls soft robotic systems such as robotic fish for ocean exploration, arms for dynamic manipulation tasks, and drones for swift grasping. Robert's work has appeared in leading academic journals, such as Science Robotics, and has been featured in major outlets, including New York Times. Robert is one of 20 TED Fellows in 2022. Robert is a member of the ETH AI Center, the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems (CLS), and the ETH Competence Center for Materials and Processes (MaP). Robert is an Area Chair for Robotics Science and Systems (RSS), an Associate Editor for IROS, an Associate Editor for RA-L, and a reviewer for leading peer-reviewed journals, including Science and Nature.

10:00-11:00: Lecture "Design and Manufacturing: Basics and Importance of Material-Process-Shape Relationships" - Olivier Piccin

Abstract:

The session will cover first some basic aspects related to the manufacturing of soft and flexible structures. From there, we will outline the strong links between manufacturing techniques and on one hand the selection of materials, based on their intrinsic properties, and on the other hand adequate shapes for robot and robotic structural components. Examples in the context of soft robot design and continuum robot design will be used.

Bio: Olivier Piccin is an associate professor at ICube and INSA Strasbourg, France. He received the Mech. Eng. degree from École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers, France, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Toulouse, France (LAAS-CNRS) in 1992 and 1995, respectively. From end 1995 to 1998, he was Head of the robotics and automation service for body-in-white spot welding applications in PSA-Peugeot Citroën Company, Vélizy, France. His research interests include mechanical and mechatronic design of rigid and soft robots with a focus on how to build and produce them.

11:30-12:30: Lecture "Active Materials and Soft Actuators" - Kanty Rabenorosoa

Abstract:

This course will introduce the different actuators for multi-scale soft robots. The different types of actuators will be presented and the principles of operation explained. Their integration on soft robots will be discussed and some examples of soft robots with exceptional capabilities will be detailed.  A focus on continuum robots will also be presented. A guide for the choice of actuators according to the size and performances of the soft robot will be established.

Bio: Kanty Rabenorosoa holds a MS degree (2007) in Electrical Engineering from INSA Strasbourg, France and a Ph.D in Microrobotics and Control (2010) from Université de Franche-Comté. He was a temporary research assistant at FEMTO-ST Institute in AS2M department (Automatic Control and Micro-Mechatronic Systems) from october 2010 to august 2011. He was a postdoc fellow at LIRMM in DEXTER team between september 2011 to August 2012. He is currently Associate Professor at FEMTO-ST Institute in Automatic Control and Micro-Mechatronic Systems (AS2M) department. His research interests are microrobotics, specially, his investigation is focused on continuum robots with hybrid actuation for medical applications and smart materials actuated multiscale soft robots.