Events

Date: 29 November 2024   Time: 11:00 - 12:00

Location: People's Palace PP1 Queen Mary University of London Mile End London E1 4NS Map 

Title:
Creating Life-like Robots: From Musculoskeletal Designs to Biohybrid Innovations

Abstract:
Living robots represent a new frontier in engineering materials for robotic systems, incorporating biological living cells and synthetic materials into their design. These bio-hybrid robots are dynamic and intelligent, potentially harnessing living matter's capabilities, such as growth, regeneration, morphing, biodegradation, and environmental adaptation. Such attributes position bio-hybrid devices as a transformative force in robotics development, promising enhanced dexterity, adaptive behaviors, sustainable production, robust performance, and environmental stewardship. Nature's musculoskeletal design can act as an inspiration for both artificial and living robots. We will explore recent advances in artificial electrohydraulic musculoskeletal robots, which employ electrohydraulic actuators to produce lifelike muscle contractions and adaptive motions, as demonstrated in our recent work published in Nature Communications. We will also delve deeper into our breakthroughs in vision-controlled inkjet printing for robotics from our Nature paper, and xolographic biofabrication techniques for biohybrid swimmers presented at RoboSoft. Additionally, we will discuss computational optimization of musculoskeletal systems from our recent work published at Humanoids. Together, these projects showcase how musculoskeletal, bio-hybrid, and computational techniques are opening new frontiers in robotics interaction and manipulation.

Speaker Bio:
Robert Katzschmann is an Assistant Professor of Robotics at ETH Zurich, where he leads the Soft Robotics Lab, focusing on designing and controlling soft, musculoskeletal, and bio-hybrid robots that interact safely with humans and the environment. Since being named a TED Fellow in 2022, Robert's innovative contributions to the field of robotics have gained global attention. Before joining ETH Zurich, he served as the Chief Technology Officer at Dexai Robotics and a Senior Applied Scientist at Amazon Robotics. He received his Ph.D. from MIT, where his work garnered media attention from outlets like The New York Times and BBC. His research has been published in prestigious journals, and he is an active editor for leading conferences such as IJRR, ICRA, and RoboSoft.
srl.ethz.ch/the-group/prof-robert-katzschmann.html