Can Soft Robots Transform Health Care, Gaming, and Other Fields?

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. - Sept. 24, 2013 - PRLog -- New Rochelle, NY—Highly deformable materials are now being engineered to create soft robots that can interact safely with humans and other living systems. But this rapidly advancing field requires more than high-tech materials. Innovation and breakthroughs in a variety of scientific disciplines will be essential, and experts representing these diverse fields participated in a lively and provocative Roundtable Discussion on the future promise and current challenges of soft robots, published in Soft Robotics (SoRo), a new peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Soft Robotics website at http://www.liebertpub.com/soro.

The insightful Roundtable Discussion, entitled “At the Crossroads: Interdisciplinary Paths to Soft Robots,” brings together leading researchers in various fields necessary for the successful development, integration, and application of this complex technology. The participants describe the state of the field and predict what are likely to be among the first and highly successful applications of soft robot technology: health care and biomedical engineering (for example, to treat patients with heart failure or paralysis, or to improve prosthetic limbs); gaming and entertainment; human-machine interfaces; and shape-changing structures (such as advanced airplane wing designs).

Leading the discussion was Moderator Barry A. Trimmer, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of Soft Robotics. Participants in the Roundtable included Randy H. Ewoldt, University of Illinois, Champaign; Mirko Kovac, Imperial College, London, UK; Hod Lipson, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; Nanshu Lu, University of Texas, Austin; Mohsen Shahinpooor, University of Maine, Orono; and Carmel Majidi, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.

“Each of these experts brings a different perspective to soft robotics, and yet there was a surprising amount of agreement on the key challenges facing the next generation of interactive robots,” says Barry A. Trimmer, who directs the Neuromechanics and Biomimetic Devices Laboratory at Tufts University (Medford, MA).

About the Journal
Soft Robotics (SoRo), a new peer-reviewed journal published quarterly online with Open Access options and in print, combines advances in biomedical engineering, biomechanics, mathematical modeling, biopolymer chemistry, computer science, and tissue engineering to present new approaches to the creation of robotic technology and devices that can undergo dramatic changes in shape and size in order to adapt to various environments. Led by Editor-in-Chief Barry A. Trimmer, PhD and a distinguished team of Associate Editors, the Journal provides the latest research and developments on topics such as soft material creation, characterization, and modeling; flexible and degradable electronics; soft actuators and sensors; control and simulation of highly deformable structures; biomechanics and control of soft animals and tissues; biohybrid devices and living machines; and design and fabrication of conformable machines. Complete information is available on the SoRo website at http://www.liebertpub.com/soro.

About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing (launching in 2014) and Telemedicine and e-Health. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website at http://www.liebertpub.com.

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Phone: (914) 740-2100    (800) M-LIEBERT    Fax:  (914) 740-2101 www.liebertpub.com