Soft Robotics: Challenges and Perspectives

• Presented at: 2nd European Future Technologies Conference and Exhibition (FET), Budapest, HUNGARY, May 04-06, 2011
• Published in: Proceedings Of The 2Nd European Future Technologies Conference And Exhibition 2011 (Fet 11), vol. 7, p. 99-102
• Series: Procedia Computer Science
• Elsevier Science, Reg Sales Off, Customer Support Dept, 655 Ave Of The Americas, New York, Ny 10010 Usa, 2011

There has been an increasing interest in the use of unconventional materials and morphologies in robotic systems because the underlying mechanical properties (such as body shapes, elasticity, viscosity, softness, density and stickiness) are crucial research topics for our in-depth understanding of embodied intelligence. The detailed investigations of physical system-environment interactions are particularly important for systematic development of technologies and theories of emergent adaptive behaviors. Based on the presentations and discussion in the Future Emerging Technology (fet11) conference, this article introduces the recent technological development in the field of soft robotics, and speculates about the implications and challenges in the robotics and embodied intelligence research. (C) Selection and peer-review under responsibility of FET11 conference organizers and published by Elsevier B.V.

Reference

• Detailed record: https://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/178736?ln=en
• EPFL-CONF-178736
• doi:10.1016/j.procs.2011.12.030