Invited Talk Title: 3D Printing Soft Sensorized Robots
Abstract: The challenge of soft robotic control is both a robotics and a material one. The compliant, deformable nature of soft robots severely complicates their dynamic control via model-based approaches. Providing soft robots with appropriate sensing capabilities remains challenging due to the difficulties of fabricating soft robots with integrated soft sensors. Moreover, advances in deep learning and soft robot modeling highlight the importance of designing soft robots that are both physically and computationally intelligent. In this talk, I will discuss our work in designing and fabricating soft sensorized robots using novel manufacturing methods. I will first present “embedded 3D printing” as a method of rapidly building soft sensorized robots. I will then review a deep learning-based pipeline for using soft sensor networks for pose prediction in complex soft robotic arms. Finally, I will discuss some future directions for the field that look towards developing next-generation soft, sensorized robots as “robotic materials” that facilitate the emergence of more autonomous soft machines.
Bio: Dr. Ryan Truby joined the Faculty of Northwestern University in September 2021 as an Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. His research broadly aims to advance machine intelligence by material design. He and his team in the Robotic Matter Lab develop novel soft actuators and sensors, rapid multimaterial 3D printing methods, and machine learning-based control strategies for soft and bioinspired robots. Ryan’s research also includes work in 3D printing vascularized tissue constructs, soft electronics, artificial muscles, and architected materials. Prior to Northwestern, Ryan was a Postdoctoral Associate at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab. He received his Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Harvard University’s John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Wyss Institute. Ryan is the recipient of several awards, including Young Investigator Program Awards from the Office of Naval Research and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Outstanding Paper Award at the 2019 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics, and the Gold Award for Graduate Students from the Materials Research Society. His work at the materials-robotics interface has been supported by a Schmidt Science Fellowship and an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.
Image Credit: Ryan L. Truby, MIT