23 – 24^th June 2014 / Stuttgart / Germany

First International Symposium on Soft Robotics

Objective

A new era of robotics is about to start: »Soft Robotics«. Therefore, it´s time to dedicate a symposium to »Soft Robotics for novel human-technique interactions«, to bring the »Soft Robot« community together, to exchange ideas, and to create new connections between active researchers around the world. Within this symposium, the national and international community is invited to present the state of the art, including both summarizing contributions and latest research results. Some of the most recognized experts are invited to give keynotes in order to consolidate the state of the art in key areas such as design, control, safety, simulation, and biomimetic robotics.

Topics

Theory and some application of »Soft Robotics« including

Soft Actuators and Control
Soft Interactions
Soft Robots Assistants: Potentials and Challenges
Human-centered »Soft Robotics«

Program

08:30	Registration and Coffee
Plenary Lectures – Hörsaal A+B
09:00	Welcome address and opening Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. h.c. mult. Alexander Verl Senior Vice President Technology Marketing and Business Models, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Munich, Germany
09:15	Experience and Outlook Assistant Prof. Jamie Paik, PhD Reconfigurable Robotics Lab, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
09:55	Soft Robotics: Sensitive and compliant robots for human robot collaboration Prof. Dr. Alin Olimpiu Albu-Schäffer Head of the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Oberpfaffenhofen-Weßling, Germany
10:35	Coffee Break
11:05	Soft Manipulation with Environmental Constraints Prof. Dr. Oliver Brock Head of the Dept. of Computer Engineering and Microelectronics – Robotics and Biology Laboratory, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany
11:45	Soft Robotics research, challenges, and innovation potential, through showcases Associate Prof. Cecilia Laschi, PhD The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore, Sant`Anna, Pisa, Italy
12:25	Lunch
13:30	Professional Forum I – Hörsaal A“Soft Actuators and Control” Chair: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Franke	Professional Forum II – Hörsaal B “Soft Interactions” Chair: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Heinz Wörn
13:30	Artificial Muscles made of Dielectric Elastomer Actuators (DEA) for Compliant Robots Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Franke Head of the Institute for Factory Automation and Production Systems (FAPS), Friedrich-Alexander Universität, Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany	Artificial Skin for Soft Robotics Prof. Dr.-Ing. Heinz Wörn Head of the Institute for Process control and Robotics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
14:00	The Potential of Nanostructered Materials for Applications in Soft Robotics: Sensors and Actuators Thomas Ackermann Doctoral Researcher, Graduate School of Excellence advanced Manufacturing Engineering (GSaME), University of Stuttgart, Germany	Variable Impedance Actuators:Tough Robots for Soft Interaction Sebastian Wolf Project Manager DLR Hand Arm System, Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Oberpfaffenhofen-Weßling, Germany
14:30	Soft Control with a behavior based architecture Prof. Dr. Karsten Berns, Head of the Robotics Research Laboratory, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany	Perception of Deformable Objects and Compliant Manipulation for Service Robots Prof. Dr. Sven Behnke Head of Autonomous Intelligent Systems Group, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Germany
15:00	Coffee Break
15:30	New concepts for distributed actuators and their control Prof. Dr.-Ing. Welf-Guntram Drossel Head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU, Chemnitz, Germany	Application areas for capacitive tactile proximity sensors (CTPS) Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Björn Hein SCHUNK-Shared-Professorship: “Interaction technologies for robotic systems”, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
16:00	Soft Control for noval (smart) human hybrid kinematics Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jens Wulfsberg Chair of Production Engineering (LaFT) Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Helmut-Schmidt-University, Hamburg	Simulation technology for soft robotics applications Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Roßmann Head of the Institute for Man-Machine Interaction, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
16:30	Using anisotropic, adaptable properties of fibrous materials for soft robotics Dr.-Ing. Markus Milwich Head of Fiber and braiding technologies, Institute of Textile and Process Engineering, Denkendorf, Germany	Turbine Assembly – A challenge For Human Fine Motor skills Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stephan Staudacher Head of the Propulsion Systems, Director of the Institute of Propulsion Systems, University Stuttgart, Germany
17:00	Questions and Summary of the Professional Forum I	Questions and Summary of the Professional Forum II
19:00	Evening: Dinner

First International Symposium on »Soft Robotics« in Germany – 24th June

08:30	Arrival and Coffee
	Professional Forum III – Hörsaal A “Soft robot assistance – potentials and challenges” Chair: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Annika Raatz	Professional Forum IV – Hörsaal B “Human-centered soft robotics” Chair: Prof. Dr. Oskar von Stryk
09:00	Musco-skeletal robots and wearable devices on the basis of cable-driven actuators Martin Hägele Head of the Department Robot and Assistive Systems,Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA, Stuttgart, Germany	Mechanics and thermodynamics of biological muscle – a simple model approach Juniorprof. Dr. Syn Schmitt Head of the Group Human Movement Simulation Lab, INSPO University of Stuttgart, Germany
09:30	Using Additive Manufacturing and Reinforcement Learning to Develop a Soft Robotic Hand Dr.-Ing. Arne Rost Research Engineer Future Technology, Festo AG & Co. KG, Esslingen-Berkheim, Germany	Wearable Humanoid Robotics Prof. Dr.-Ing. Tamim Asfour Head of the Humanoid Robotics Systems Chair, High Performance Humanoid Technologies Lab at the Institute for Anthropomatics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
10:00	Flexible and safe automation with compliant cable-driven robot arms Dr.-Ing. Thomas Lens Chief Technology Officer, Bionic Robotics GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany	Compliant legged robots Prof. Dr. Oskar von Stryk Head of the Group Simulation, Systems Optimization and Robotics, Department of Computer Science, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany
10:30	Coffee Break
11:00	Human-Friendly Robotics: A Paradigm for Robot Design, Control, and Planning Prof. Dr.-Ing. Sami Haddadin Head of the Institute of Automatic Control (IRT), Leibniz University Hannover, Germany	Continuum Robots for Medical Applications Dr.-Ing. Jessica Burgner Head of the DFG Emmy Noether-Junior researcher group, Hannover Center of Mechatronics (MZH), Leibniz University Hannover, Germany
11:30	Structure inherent safety mechanism in soft robotics Prof. Dr.-Ing. Annika Raatz Head of the Institute of Assembly Technology (match), Leibniz University Hannover, Germany	Flexible robot for laser phonomicrosurgery Prof. Dr.-Ing. Tobias Ortmaier Head of the Institute of Mechatronic Systems, Leibniz University Hannover, Germany
12:00	Questions and Summary of the Professional Forum III	Questions and Summary of the Professional Forum IV
12:30	Lunch
Plenary Lectures – Hörsaal A+B
13:30	Biomechanics of locomotion – how soft should robots be? Prof. Dr. phil. Andre Seyfarth Head of Lauflabor Locomotion Lab, Institute of Sport Science, Technische Universität Darmstadt
14:10	Power Exoskeleton: A Robotic Suit for Overcoming Mobility Impairment Dr. Amit Goffer Founder & President, Yokneam Illit, Israel
14:50	Coffee Break
15:20	Control of compliant robots for physical collaboration with humans Prof. Dr.-Ing. Alessandro De Luca, Department of Computer, Control, and Management Engineering (DIAG) at Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
16:00	Applications and future potentials of bionic handling assistants Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. h.c. mult. Alexander Verl, Senior Vice President Technology Marketing and Business Models, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, München, Germany
16:40	Closing Remarks Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. h.c. mult. Alexander Verl

Photo: M. Scott Brauer

Publicado el 13/03/2014

Soft robots — which don’t just have soft exteriors but are also powered by fluid flowing through flexible channels — have become a sufficiently popular research topic that they now have their own journal, Soft Robotics. In the first issue of that journal, out this month, MIT researchers report the first self-contained autonomous soft robot, a “fish” that can execute an escape maneuver, convulsing its body to change direction, in just 100 milliseconds, or as quickly as a real fish can.

“We’re excited about soft robots for a variety of reasons,” says Daniela Rus, a professor of computer science and engineering, director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and one of the researchers who designed and built the fish. “As robots penetrate the physical world and start interacting with people more and more, it’s much easier to make robots safe if their bodies are so wonderfully soft that there’s no danger if they whack you.”

Andrew Marchese, doctoral candidate in EECS (right), and Daniela Rus, professor in EECS and Director of CSAIL, hold a soft robotic fish developed by the Distributed Robotics Laboratory.

The robotic fish was built by Andrew Marchese, a graduate student in MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and lead author on the new paper, where he’s joined by Rus and postdoc Cagdas D. Onal. Each side of the fish’s tail is bored through with a long, tightly undulating channel. Carbon dioxide released from a canister in the fish’s abdomen causes the channel to inflate, bending the tail in the opposite direction.

Video: Melanie Gonick, MIT News
High-speed footage courtesy of Andrew Marchese

Source: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)