15. Juni 2022 - 18. Juni 2022 | Schloss Ringberg

Shaping the Future of Robotics through Materials Innovation

The goal of this workshop is to bring together a group of international experts working at the intersection of materials science and robotics to discuss how materials innovation can shape the future of robotics. The workshop will feature invited talks that stimulate subsequent organized breakout sessions to discuss key future research themes and to set the course in the field. The meeting will take place at Castle Ringberg in the south of Germany, which offers an inspiring setting to discuss cutting edge research, to initiate new collaborations, and to reinvigorate existing connections.

Functional soft materials have the potential to revolutionize the field robotics. They promise to provide new functions and to lead to increased performance compared to current robot technologies. Over the last decade an active academic research community has emerged, which again and again demonstrates the tremendous capabilities of functional soft materials in proof-of-principle demonstrations. However, functional soft materials are rarely found in real-world robotic systems (see Rothemund et al. Nat. Mater. 20 , 1582 (2021) for a detailed discussion). In this workshop we will discuss issues that still stand in the way of the use of functional materials in practical robotic systems and jointly develop possible solutions for these issues.

Program

Wednesday, June 15, 2022

15:00 - 18:30 Arrival and check-in 18:30 - 19:30 Dinner 19:30 - 20:30 Welcome remarks

Thursday, June 16, 2022

8:00 - 9:00 Breakfast 9:00 - 9:15 Workshop opening 9:15 - 10:15 Lightning talks 10:15 - 10:30 Coffee break 10:30 - 11:05

Keynote talk by Cecilia Laschi: Soft Robotics: rethinking material role for sustainable robots

11:05 - 11:50 Breakout session 1 11:50 - 12:35 Discussion of breakout session 1 12:45 - 13:45 Lunch 14:15 - 14:50

Keynote talk by Herbert Shea: Soft actuators for wearable haptics

14:50 - 15:25

Keynote talk by Kirstin Petersen: Collective embodied Intelligence in robotic systems

15:30 - 15:45 Coffee break 15:45 - 16:30 Breakout session 2 16:30 - 17:15 Discussion breakout session 2 17:30 - 18:30 Poster session 18:30 - 19:30 Dinner

Friday, June 17, 2022

8:00 - 9:00 Breakfast 9:00 - 09:35

Keynote talk by Katherine Kuchenbecker: Sensing tactile contact over large, soft surfaces

09:35 - 10:10

Keynote talk by Xuanhe Zhao: Soft Medical Robots

10:30 - 10:45 Coffee break 10:45 - 11:30 Breakout session 3 11:30 - 12:15 Discussion of breakout session 3 12:30 - 13:30 Lunch 13:30 - 14:05

Keynote talk by Michael Tolley: Materials for mobile biologically

14:05 - 14:40

Keynote talk by Martin Kaltenbrunner: Sustainable soft electronic and robotic systems

14:45 - 15:00 Coffee break 15:00 - 15:45 Breakout session 4 15:45 - 16:30 Discussion of breakout session 4 16:30 - 17:30 Castle tour 17:30 - 18:30 Poster session 18:30 - 19:30 Bavarian Dinner