A unique opportunity presented itself to researchers in AMOLF’s Soft Robotic Matter group. Two university engineering faculties and a research unit in South Africa asked them to organize a Soft Robotics summer school. From 26 January to 2 February, PhD student Katrien van Riet and her South African students progressed from an introduction to the topic to a final prototype presentation.
Katrien’s research is focused on designing workflows and toolkits that enable engineers and designers to learn about and apply soft robotics principles. Thus, the soft robotics field is becoming more visible and accessible. The project in South Africa was a great opportunity for Katrien to put this into practice.
Making soft robotics accessible
Katrien’s summer school was the first in South Africa to focus on soft robotics. Currently, many soft robotics applications are made from expensive materials, and knowledge is often not open access or easily replicable. This creates a barrier for the widespread expansion and implementation of soft robotics. To further reduce barriers, Katrien used fully open source and cross-platform software. Design files were also made open source. Wherever possible, she and her colleagues used inexpensive locally available materials, and some parts were 3D-printed on site to further increase accessibility.
At the start of the summer school, students selected a challenge and at the end they presented their final prototype. The challenges included designing a backpack that distributes pressure evenly, as well as a blood pressure measuring device that operates autonomously.
Now that the soft robotics seed has been planted in South Africa, the universities in South Africa hope to further develop the field. One of the goals is to bridge the gap between academic research and industry so that people in South Africa can benefit.
The summer school project is a collaboration between AMOLF, Eindhoven University of Technology, the University of Johannesburg, the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS), and the Perinatal HIV Research Unit (PHRU). This collaboration was initiated by Neil Martinson from the PHRU.
Learn more
To read more about soft robotics research, go to the Soft Robotic group page.
