Soft Robotics Podcast

In this episode, we interviewed Carmel Majidi, who is an Associate Professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Carmel's mission is to discover materials, hardware architectures, and fabrication methods that allow robots and machines to behave like soft biological organisms and be safe for contact with humans. The aim is to replace the bulky and rigid hardware in existing robots with soft, lightweight, and deformable technologies that match the functionality of natural biological tissue. Currently, his group is focused on filled-elastomer composites and soft microfluidic systems that exhibit unique combinations of mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties and can function as “artificial” skin, nervous tissue, and muscle for soft robotics and wearables. I’m particularly interested in approaches that are practical from a rapid prototyping and robotics implementation perspective. This includes efforts to enable robust mechanical and electrical interfacing between soft-matter systems and conventional microelectronics and hardware.

In this episode, we interviewed Carmel Majidi, who is an Associate Professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Carmel's mission is to discover materials, hardware architectures, and fabrication methods that allow robots and machines to behave like soft biological organisms and be safe for contact with humans. The aim is to replace the bulky and rigid hardware in existing robots with soft, lightweight, and deformable technologies that match the functionality of natural biological tissue. Currently, his group is focused on filled-elastomer composites and soft microfluidic systems that exhibit unique combinations of mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties and can function as “artificial” skin, nervous tissue, and muscle for soft robotics and wearables. I’m particularly interested in approaches that are practical from a rapid prototyping and robotics implementation perspective. This includes efforts to enable robust mechanical and electrical interfacing between soft-matter systems and conventional microelectronics and hardware.

In this episode, we interviewed Bram Vanderborght is professor robotics at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. he is a member of the interdisciplinary Brussels Human Robotics Research Center (BruBotics). His research interests include cognitive and physical human-robot interaction, robot-assisted therapy, humanoids and rehabilitation robotics with the core technology of using variable impedance actuators.

In this episode, we interviewed Bram Vanderborght is professor robotics at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. he is a member of the interdisciplinary Brussels Human Robotics Research Center (BruBotics). His research interests include cognitive and physical human-robot interaction, robot-assisted therapy, humanoids and rehabilitation robotics with the core technology of using variable impedance actuators.

In this episode, we interviewed Allison Okamura, a professor at the Mechanical Engineering Dept, Stanford University, and the leader of the CHARM LAB. Allison Okamura received the BS degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and the MS and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University. She is Professor in the mechanical engineering department at Stanford University, with a courtesy appointment in computer science. She is an IEEE Fellow and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the journal IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters. Her awards include the IEEE Technical Committee on Haptics Early Career Award, the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Early Academic Career Award, and the NSF CAREER Award. Her academic interests include haptics, teleoperation, virtual reality, medical robotics, soft robotics, rehabilitation, and education.

In this episode, we interviewed Allison Okamura, a professor at the Mechanical Engineering Dept, Stanford University, and the leader of the CHARM LAB. Allison Okamura received the BS degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and the MS and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University. She is Professor in the mechanical engineering department at Stanford University, with a courtesy appointment in computer science. She is an IEEE Fellow and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the journal IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters. Her awards include the IEEE Technical Committee on Haptics Early Career Award, the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Early Academic Career Award, and the NSF CAREER Award. Her academic interests include haptics, teleoperation, virtual reality, medical robotics, soft robotics, rehabilitation, and education.