UK-Japan Workshop on Bio-Inspired Soft Robotics

软机器人领域一直是最具吸引力的研究领域之一，有望在机器人领域取得重大突破。与使用刚性机械和僵硬控制结构的传统机器人系统不同，软机器人的研究重点是使用柔软和可变形的材料来快速而灵活地产生行为，以及在机器人系统中进行稳健和精确的传感。随着软机器人技术的即将实现，预计将极大地拓宽机器人技术的应用领域，包括不确定的危险环境和以人为本的任务空间，而传统的机器人系统到目前为止还不能很好地应用于这些领域。对于高影响力的应用，本次研讨会的目标是将英国和日本这一令人兴奋的研究领域的领先科学家聚集在一起，并讨论未来的战略研究合作。更具体地说，在这次研讨会中，我们首先评估英国和日本之间以前的合作项目，然后讨论我们如何构建研究方向，以期在未来取得丰硕的合作成果。为此，我们从日本科学促进会(JSPS)获得了基本资金，邀请了来自日本的五位顶尖研究人员，这项提议应该是一笔匹配的资金，以支持来自英国大学的与会者，包括成熟的研究人员和未来有前途的高年级学生，他们将在正在进行和未来的双边合作中发挥主要作用。作为这次活动的主要成果，我们期待：-相互了解两国的最新水平，探索研究的可能性和行动，以解决差距。-讨论并就塑造该领域未来的主要行动达成一致，并在一家主要技术期刊上以特刊形式报告这次研讨会的成果--发展这些研究人员的科学网络，作为工作组促进进一步的合作和研究交流。-制定联合跨学科和国际研究拨款提案(在英国、欧洲和日本)-促进机构之间年轻研究人员(硕士、博士生和博士后)的交流，不仅加强他们的学术能力，还提高他们对不同文化的认识。

The field of Soft Robotics has been one of the most attractive research areas that is expected to provide significant breakthroughs in robotics. Unlike the conventional robotic systems that make use of rigid mechanics and inflexible control architectures, the investigations in Soft Robotics focus on the use of soft and deformable materials for rapid and dexterous behavior generation as well as robust and precise sensing in robotic systems. With the forthcoming achievement of Soft Robotics, it is expected to considerably broaden the application niche of robotics, including uncertain hazardous environment and human-oriented task space, where the conventional robotic systems could not be used very well so far. Toward high impact applications, the goal of this workshop is to bring together the leading scientists of this exciting research area in UK and Japan, and to discuss strategic research collaborations in the future. More specifically, in this workshop, we first assess the previous collaboration projects between UK and Japan, and second, to discuss how we structure the research directions for fruitful collaborations in the future. For this purpose, we have obtained the basic funding from Japan Society of Promotion of Science (JSPS) to invite five leading researchers from Japan, and this proposal is supposed to be a match funding to support attendees from the UK universities, including both established researchers as well as future promising senior students who will play major roles in the ongoing and future bilateral collaborations.As the main outcome of this event we expect:- A mutual understanding of the state-of-the-art of both countries, exploration of research possibilities and actions to address the gaps.- Discussion and agreement on major actions to shape the future of the field, and report the outcome of this workshop as a special issue at a major technical journal - Develop a scientific network of these researchers to foster further collaborations and research exchanges as a working group.- Develop joint interdisciplinary and international research grant proposals (both in UK, European, and Japan)- Promote the exchange of young researchers (Master, PhD students and postdocs) exchange between institutions, strengthening not only their academic capabilities but also increasing their awareness of different cultures.