Contest-Driven Soft-Robotics Boost: The RoboSoft Grand Challenge

This paper reports the design process, the implementation and the results of a novel robotic contest addressing soft robots, named RoboSoft Grand Challenge. Application-oriented tasks were proposed in three different scenarios where soft robotics is particularly lively: manipulation, terrestrial and underwater locomotion. Starting from about sixty expressions of interest submitted by international teams distributed across the world, nineteen robots were eventually selected to participate in the challenge in two of the initially proposed scenarios, i.e. manipulation and terrestrial locomotion. Results highlight both the effectiveness and limitations of state of the art soft robots with respect to the selected tasks. The paper will also focus on some of the advantages and disadvantages of contests as technology-steering mechanisms, including what we called “reductionist design”, a phenomenon in which simplistic solutions are devised to purposely tackle the proposed tasks, possibly hindering more general and desired technological advancements.

[1]  Pedro U. Lima,et al.  RoCKIn Innovation Through Robot Competitions [Competitions] , 2014, IEEE Robotics Autom. Mag..

[2]  Jong-Oh Park,et al.  Magnetic actuated pH-responsive hydrogel-based soft micro-robot for targeted drug delivery , 2016 .

[3]  Kaspar Althoefer,et al.  Robot Competitions: What Did We Learn? [Competitions] , 2016, IEEE Robotics Autom. Mag..

[4]  B. Trimmer,et al.  The biomechanical and neural control of hydrostatic limb movements in Manduca sexta , 2004, Journal of Experimental Biology.

[5]  Lisa Fauci,et al.  An actuated elastic sheet interacting with passive and active structures in a viscoelastic fluid , 2013 .

[6]  Kenji Urai,et al.  Design and control of a ray-mimicking soft robot based on morphological features for adaptive deformation , 2015, Artificial Life and Robotics.

[7]  Antonio DeSimone,et al.  A study of snake-like locomotion through the analysis of a flexible robot model , 2014, Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences.

[8]  M Calisti,et al.  Bioinspired locomotion and grasping in water: the soft eight-arm OCTOPUS robot , 2015, Bioinspiration & biomimetics.

[9]  Robert Riener,et al.  Cybathlon 2016 , 2014, 2014 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (SMC).

[10]  Arianna Menciassi,et al.  A Soft Modular Manipulator for Minimally Invasive Surgery: Design and Characterization of a Single Module , 2016, IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

[11]  D. Floreano,et al.  Versatile Soft Grippers with Intrinsic Electroadhesion Based on Multifunctional Polymer Actuators , 2016, Advanced materials.

[12]  Yi Sun,et al.  A Miniature Soft Robotic Manipulator Based on Novel Fabrication Methods , 2016, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.

[13]  R. Wood,et al.  Meshworm: A Peristaltic Soft Robot With Antagonistic Nickel Titanium Coil Actuators , 2013, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics.

[14]  Francis wyffels,et al.  Robot competitions trick students into learning , 2011 .

[15]  William A. Masters,et al.  Accelerating innovation with prize rewards: History and typology of technology prizes and a new contest design for innovation in African agriculture , 2008 .

[16]  T. Nanayakkara,et al.  Soft Robotics Technologies to Address Shortcomings in Today ’ s Minimally Invasive Surgery : The STIFF-FLOP Approach , 2014 .

[17]  D. Rus,et al.  Design, fabrication and control of soft robots , 2015, Nature.

[18]  Robin R. Murphy,et al.  Using Robot Competitions to Promote Intellectual Development , 2000, AI Mag..

[19]  Angelo Tartaglia,et al.  Relativistic space-time positioning: principles and strategies , 2012, 1212.0429.

[20]  Daniela Rus,et al.  Autonomous Object Manipulation Using a Soft Planar Grasping Manipulator , 2015, Soft robotics.

[21]  T Umedachi,et al.  Softworms: the design and control of non-pneumatic, 3D-printed, deformable robots , 2016, Bioinspiration & biomimetics.

[22]  A. L. Kulasekera,et al.  Biomimetic flexible robot arm design and kinematic analysis of a novel flexible robot arm , 2016, 2016 Moratuwa Engineering Research Conference (MERCon).

[23]  Matteo Cianchetti,et al.  Soft Robotics: New Perspectives for Robot Bodyware and Control , 2014, Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol..

[24]  Ahmad Athif Mohd Faudzi,et al.  A review article: investigations on soft materials for soft robot manipulations , 2015, The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology.

[25]  Heinrich M. Jaeger,et al.  JSEL: Jamming Skin Enabled Locomotion , 2009, 2009 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[26]  Fumiya Iida,et al.  Minimalistic Models of an Energy-Efficient Vertical-Hopping Robot , 2014, IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron..

[27]  P. Fiorini,et al.  Biomimetic mechanical design for soft-bodied underwater vehicles , 2010, OCEANS'10 IEEE SYDNEY.

[28]  R. Full,et al.  Cockroaches traverse crevices, crawl rapidly in confined spaces, and inspire a soft, legged robot , 2016, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[29]  Weiliang Xu,et al.  A Novel Soft Machine Table for Manipulation of Delicate Objects Inspired by Caterpillar Locomotion , 2016, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics.

[30]  Erico Guizzo,et al.  The hard lessons of DARPA's robotics challenge [News] , 2015 .

[31]  Frank E. Schneider,et al.  ELROB and EURATHLON: Improving search & rescue robotics through real-world robot competitions , 2015, 2015 10th International Workshop on Robot Motion and Control (RoMoCo).

[32]  Fumiya Iida,et al.  Minimalistic Models of an Energy-Efficient Vertical-Hopping Robot , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.

[33]  Filip Ilievski,et al.  Multigait soft robot , 2011, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[34]  Imin Kao,et al.  Slippage control in soft finger grasping and manipulation , 2016, Adv. Robotics.

[35]  Gabriele Ferri,et al.  Boosting the talent of new generations of marine engineers through robotics competitions in realistic environments: The SAUC-E and euRathlon experience , 2015, OCEANS 2015 - Genova.

[36]  Hiroaki Kitano,et al.  RoboCup: Robot World Cup , 1998, CROS.

[37]  Sung-Hoon Ahn,et al.  Turtle mimetic soft robot with two swimming gaits , 2016, Bioinspiration & biomimetics.

[38]  Ian D. Walker,et al.  Soft robotics: Biological inspiration, state of the art, and future research , 2008 .

[39]  Cecilia Laschi,et al.  Soft robotics: a bioinspired evolution in robotics. , 2013, Trends in biotechnology.

[40]  CianchettiMatteo,et al.  A Bioinspired Soft Robotic Gripper for Adaptable and Effective Grasping , 2015 .

[41]  Cecilia Laschi,et al.  Hopping on Uneven Terrains With an Underwater One-Legged Robot , 2016, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.

[42]  Xiaobo Tan,et al.  Evolutionary multiobjective design of a flexible caudal fin for robotic fish , 2015, Bioinspiration & biomimetics.

[43]  Alice M. Agogino,et al.  Rapid prototyping design and control of tensegrity soft robot for locomotion , 2014, 2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO 2014).

[44]  Paolo Dario,et al.  Soft Robot Arm Inspired by the Octopus , 2012, Adv. Robotics.

[45]  B. Trimmer,et al.  Context dependency of a limb withdrawal reflex in the caterpillar Manduca sexta , 2000, Journal of Comparative Physiology A.

[46]  CianchettiMatteo,et al.  Soft Robotics Technologies to Address Shortcomings in Today's Minimally Invasive Surgery: The STIFF-FLOP Approach , 2014 .

[47]  Cecilia Laschi,et al.  PoseiDRONE: Design of a soft-bodied ROV with crawling, swimming and manipulation ability , 2013, 2013 OCEANS - San Diego.