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151-0636-00L 4 Credits MSC D-HEST , D-MAVT , D-PHYS , D-INFK , D-MATH , D-ITET
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Soft and Biohybrid Robotics

Lecturers & Examiners: Prof. Dr. Robert Katzschmann
VVZ CR n/a

Last Updated: 2026-02-05 16:08:05

Abstract

Soft and biohybrid robots are emerging fields taking inspiration from Nature to create integrated robots that are inherently safer to interact with. You will be able to create the structures, actuators, sensors, models, controllers, and machine learning architectures exploiting the deformable nature of these robots. You will apply the learned principles to challenges of your research domain.

Objective

Learning Objective 1: Convert any robotics challenge into a functional soft robotic physical prototype Step 1: Formulate suitable functional requirements Step 2: Select actuator material Step 3: Design + fabricate suitable for the task Step 4: Controller for basic functionality Step 5: Learning Approach for complex robotic skills Learning Objective 2: Formulate control and learning frameworks to highly articulated robots in real life scenarios Step 1: Formulate the dynamic skills needed for the real life scenario Step 2: Pick or combine suitable control and learning frameworks given the robot at hand Step 3: Evaluate the control approach for a real life scenario Step 4: Modify and enhance the control approach and repeat the evaluation Learning Objective 3: Apply the principle of mechanical impedance and embodied intelligence to any research challenge within any domain Step 1: Identify the moving aspects of the problem Step 2: Choose and design the passive and actively-controlled degrees of freedom Step 3: Pick the actuation material based on suitability to your challenge Step 4: Design in detail multiple combinations of body and brain Step 5: Simulate, build, test, fail, and repeat this often and quickly until the soft robot works for simple settings Step 6: Upgrade and validate the robot for performances in real world conditions Learning Objective 4: Rethink approaches to robotics by moving towards designs made of living materials Step 1: Identify what problems could be easier to solve with a complex living material Step 2: Scout for available works that have potentially tackled the problem with a living material Step 3: Formulate a hypothesis for your new approach with a living material Step 4: Design a minimum viable prototype (MVP) that properly highlights your new approach

Content

Students will cover a range of latest research insights on materials, fabrication technologies, and modeling approaches to design, simulate, and build soft and biohybrid robots. Part 1: Functional and intelligent materials for use in soft and biohybrid robotic applications Part 2: Design and design morphologies of soft robotic actuators and sensors Part 3: Fabrication techniques including 3D printing, casting, roll-to-roll, tissue engineering Part 4: Biohybrid robotics including microrobots and macrorobots; tissue engineering Part 5: Mechanical modeling including minimal parameter models, finite-element models and ML-based models Part 6: Closed-loop controllers of soft robots that exploit the robot's impedance and dynamics for locomotion and manipulation tasks Part 7: Machine Learning approaches to soft robotics, for design synthesis, modeling, and control A mandatory semester-long project will teach the participants to implement the skills and knowledge learned during the class by building their own soft robotic prototype or simulation. There is a mandatory pass/fail assignment to be submitted within the first two weeks of class to get a spot in the project.

Resources

Lecture Notes

All class materials including slides, recordings, class challenges infos, pre-reads, and tutorial summaries can be found on Moodle:https://moodle-app2.let.ethz.ch/course/view.php?id=14501

Literature

1) Wang, Liyu, Surya G. Nurzaman, and Fumiya Iida. "Soft-material robotics." (2017). 2) Polygerinos, Panagiotis, et al. "Soft robotics: Review of fluid‐driven intrinsically soft devices; manufacturing, sensing, control, and applications in human‐robot interaction." Advanced Engineering Materials 19.12 (2017): 1700016. 3) Verl, Alexander, et al. Soft Robotics. Berlin, Germany:: Springer, 2015. 4) Cianchetti, Matteo, et al. "Biomedical applications of soft robotics." Nature Reviews Materials 3.6 (2018): 143-153. 5) Ricotti, Leonardo, et al. "Biohybrid actuators for robotics: A review of devices actuated by living cells." Science Robotics 2.12 (2017). 6) Sun, Lingyu, et al. "Biohybrid robotics with living cell actuation." Chemical Society Reviews 49.12 (2020): 4043-4069.

Learning Materials (Links)

General Information

Language
English
Levels
MSC
Frequency
Yearly recurring

Examination

Type
end-of-semester examination
Mode
written 120 minutes
Aids
None
The assessment will be a written examination with 50% weight and a compulsory continuous assessment throughout the semester with 50% weight.The written exam covers all contents of the course, including the lectures, exercises, and learning activities. The exam counts 50% towards the final grade.The compulsory continuous assessment throughout the semester will consist of one short pass/fail essay due after the first two weeks and two graded assignments: (1) a written proposal that has 15% weight of the final grade, and (2) a project with final demonstration, presentation, and short paper (35%). Not handing in an assignment will result in the grade 1.0 for that assignment. The remaining 50% of the final grade will be based on the written exam.

Registration & Places

Max Places
40

Course Components

Type Title Time & Place Hours
lecture with exercise Soft and Biohybrid Robotics
  • Mon 09:15-12:00 (LEE E 101)
3 h weekly

Offered In