I-Corps: Soft Robotic Toolkit for Students and Researchers

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发入门级的、开放式的软机器人工具包和附带的课程材料。这项拟议技术的目标是使学生和研究人员能够用一个易于使用的平台来测试和制作软机器人的原型。拟议的开放式套件将包括便携式和紧凑型控制硬件，以及用于构建软传感器和执行器的材料和指令。这些信息将使高中生、本科生设计团队、学术和工业研究人员能够创建他们自己的软机器人，这将使学生、研究人员和业余爱好者能够应用软机器人技术进行教育和研究。这项拟议的技术可能是一个门户，可以进一步激励学生学习软机器人、工程、科学和数学。这个i-Corps项目是基于针对初中生的入门级软机器人套件的开发，其中将包括材料、建筑指南和使用肌腱和气动驱动方法创建软手指状夹持器的课程。拟议的技术平台包括软机器人的设计和制造规则目录、使用有限元建模模拟流固耦合的指导方针、通过硬件进行的演示和验证、研究结果的文档记录、工程学学生教育，以及一个与更广泛的教育和研究社区共享研究的开源平台。这些工具包包括3D计算机辅助设计(CAD)模型、模拟文件和可能适用于其他应用的制造说明。将软机器人技术与涉及人类交互的应用程序以及社会和以人为中心的应用程序相结合，预计将吸引更多不同的人群从事STEM(科学、技术、数学和工程)主题的研究。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of entry-level, open-ended, soft robotics kits with accompanying curricular materials. The goal of the proposed technology is to enable students and researchers to test and prototype soft robots with an easy-to-use platform. The proposed open-ended kit will include portable and compact control hardware alongside materials and instructions for building soft sensors and actuators. This information will enable high-school students, undergraduate design teams, and academic and industrial researchers to create their own soft robots, which will enable both education and research applications of soft robotics by students, researchers, and hobbyist-makers. The proposed technology may be a gateway that can further motivate students to learn about soft robots, engineering, science, and mathematics. This I-Corps project is based on the development of entry-level soft robotic kits aimed at middle and high school students that will include materials, building guides, and curriculums to create soft finger-like grippers using tendon and pneumatic actuation methods. The proposed technology platform includes a catalog of design and fabrication rules for soft robots, guidelines for simulating fluid-structure interaction with finite element modeling, demonstration and validation via hardware, documentation of research results, engineering student education, and an open-source platform for sharing the research with the broader educational and research communities. The kits consist of 3D computer aided design (CAD) models, simulation files, and fabrication instructions that may be adapted for other applications. Combining soft robotic technology with applications involving human interaction and the use of social and people-centric applications is expected to attract a more diverse population to the study of STEM (science, technology, mathematics, and engineering) subjects.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.