RoboSoft 2023 Half Day Workshop
When Soft Robots get small
Current trends and new perspectives in materials, design and application of small-scale soft robots
Monday 3rd April 2023, 13:30 - 17:30 SGT
Marina Bay Sands - Singapore
Inspired by biological organisms, soft robots need to integrate multiple functionalities on a small footprint to achieve autonomous operation. Due to size limitations, soft robotic design principles are even more stringent for small-scale soft robots (<5 cm, <5 g), where fabrication limitations necessitate a further reduction of the number of components to a bare minimum. However, such constraints are also the driving motivation that is pushing research efforts towards the development of new smart materials and actuation mechanisms. Smart and biohybrid materials, 4D processes and hybrid manufacturing are thus being combined with embodied design strategies to form tiny soft robotic systems with unprecedented performances. In recent years, this philosophy has led to the development of small-scale soft robots (SSSR’s) that display a variety of locomotion and fluid propulsion strategies. Such systems are foreseen to play a key role in applications oriented towards the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nation, like “Good Health and Well-Being” and “Climate Action”. This workshop aims to highlight the recent advances of SSSR, from new materials and fabrication processes to actuation mechanisms and functional embodiment, and to provide a forum for researchers of diverse backgrounds to discuss the recent achievements and draw the future research lines to promote the further development of the field.
This event will be held hybrid. Click on Registration for more information.
The Speakers
Pierre Lambert, Universitè Libre Bruxelles, Belgium
Rob Shepherd, Cornell University, USA
Tian Qiu, University of Stuttgart, Germany
Martin Kaltenbrunner, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria
Hongri (Richard) Gu, University of Konstanz, Germany
Robert Katzschmann, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Isabella Fiorello, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy
Maria Guix, University of Barcelona, Spain
Guo Zhan Lum, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Daniele Martella, University of Florence, Italy
Guoyong Mao, Zhejiang University, China
Miriam Filippi, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Veronica Iacovacci, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Italy
Younghoon Lee, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
Panel Discussion
The workshop aims at promoting experts discussions around these central questions:
• Compared to rigid-driven microrobots, what unique functions can SSRR’s achieve?
• What are the main challenges SSRR’s are facing?
• How can SSRR’s demonstrate animal-like multimodal locomotion?
• How can SSRR’s leverage or overcome surface effects (electrostatic, capillary) during locomotion or manipulation?
We invite all the attendees to participate to our final round table discussion!
Please do not forget to attend also our Workshop of the morning session!
Call for Contributions
We welcome the submission of abstracts (max 250 words) for contributing with poster presentation at the workshop.
Submission deadline: 1 April 2023
Please fill the registration form and submit your abstract as .pdf attachment via email at edoardo.milana@imtek.uni-freiburg.de
Topics of interest:
Microrobotics
Soft Microactuators
Biohybrid Robots
Micro crawlers
Small Scale Propulsion
Embodied & Physical Intelligence
Artificial Cilia & Flagella
Small Scale Soft Robots applications
The Organisers
Edoardo Milana
University of Freiburg, Germany
Benjamin Gorissen
KU Leuven, Belgium
Stefano Palagi
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Italy
Kevin Chen
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
Joon-Wan Kim
Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan