I-Corps: Soft Robotic Toolkit for Students and Researchers

这个I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发入门级，开放式，软机器人工具包，并附带课程材料。该技术的目标是使学生和研究人员能够使用易于使用的平台测试和原型软机器人。拟议的开放式套件将包括便携式和紧凑的控制硬件以及用于构建软传感器和执行器的材料和说明。 这些信息将使高中生，本科生设计团队以及学术和工业研究人员能够创建自己的软机器人，这将使学生，研究人员和业余爱好者能够对软机器人进行教育和研究应用。 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和高中学生的入门级软机器人套件的开发，其中包括材料，建筑指南和使用肌腱和气动驱动方法创建软手指状夹具的工具。 拟议的技术平台包括一个软机器人设计和制造规则的目录，通过有限元建模模拟流体-结构相互作用的指南，通过硬件进行演示和验证，研究结果的文档，工程学生教育，以及与更广泛的教育和研究社区共享研究的开源平台。该套件包括3D计算机辅助设计（CAD）模型，模拟文件和制造说明，可适用于其他应用。 将软机器人技术与涉及人类互动的应用相结合，并使用社交和以人为本的应用，预计将吸引更多样化的人群学习STEM（科学、技术、数学和工程）学科。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值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.