ME 223: SOFT ROBOTICS

University of California, Santa Barbara

Learning from the versatility and robustness of bodies in nature, robotic d evices are moving away from the traditional rigid form to designs that inte ntionally and carefully incorporate compliance. We explore this emerging pa radigm of robots by 1) modeling the underlying mechanics of soft systems, s uch as soft actuators, sensors, and bodies, 2) examining current literature and gleaning design principles, and 3) designing and fabricating soft robo tic devices in a hands-on laboratory setting. This course includes a final project; students are expected to design, model, fabricate, and test either a subcomponent or a full soft robot.