Current Advances In Soft Robotics Best Papers From Robosoft 2018

The field of soft robotics has grown significantly in the last decade and has brought significant achievements in terms of principles, models, technologies, fabrication techniques for soft robots and in interdisciplinary areas such as soft functional materials, stretchable electronics and biology The conceptual and theoretical framework of soft robotics includes modeling and control and computational capacity of soft body dynamics, i e morphological computation It becomes possible to pursue applications of soft robots in several fields, ranging from explorations to biomedical applications

This book offers a comprehensive, timely snapshot of current research, technologies and applications of soft robotics. The different chapters, written by international experts across multiple fields of soft robotics, cover innovative systems and technologies for soft robot legged locomotion, soft robot manipulation, underwater soft robotics, biomimetic soft robotic platforms, plant-inspired soft robots, flying soft robots, soft robotics in surgery, as well as methods for their modeling and control. Based on the results of the second edition of the Soft Robotics Week, held on April 25 – 30, 2016, in Livorno, Italy, the book reports on the major research lines and novel technologies presented and discussed during the event.

Soft robotics is a recent exciting trend of robotics, taking the challenge of using soft materials and deformable structures for building robots, with high potential for impact in science and in applications Given the young and fast growing area and the lively interdisciplinary community that grew around soft robotics, the RoboSoft international conference aims at presenting recent progresses in this field, for discussing new science, new technologies and new opportunities for applications

Soft and Stiffness-controllable Robotics Solutions for Minimally Invasive Surgery presents the results of a research project, funded by European Commission, STIFF-FLOP: STIFFness controllable Flexible and Learn-able manipulator for surgical Operations. In Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS), tools go through narrow openings and manipulate soft organs that can move, deform, or change stiffness. There are limitations on modern laparoscopic and robot-assisted surgical systems due to restricted access through Trocar ports, lack of haptic feedback, and difficulties with rigid robot tools operating inside a confined space filled with organs. Also, many control algorithms suffer from stability problems in the presence of unexpected conditions. Yet biological "manipulators", like the octopus arm can manipulate objects while controlling the stiffness of selected body parts and being inherently compliant when interacting with objects. STIFF-FLOP robot is an innovative soft robotic arm that can squeeze through a standard MIS, reconfigure itself and stiffen by hydrostatic actuation to perform compliant force control tasks while facing unexpected situations. Technical topics discussed in the book include:Soft actuatorsContinuum soft manipulatorsControl, kinematics and navigation of continuum manipulatorsOptical sensors for force, torque, and curvatureHaptic feedback and human interface for surgical systemsValidation of soft stiffness controllable robots