Soft and Deployable Robotics for Extreme Environments

Mark Cutkosky

Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University

Location: Stanford Robotics Center, Packard Electrical Engineering Bldg, Basement

Abstract:

As robots grow more intelligent, responsive, and capable, there is increasing interest in deploying them in remote environments where it is difficult or dangerous for people to operate. In these applications, bioinspiration provides useful design principles that can improve robustness and ability to interact with complex and unstructured environments. 

In this talk we will examine applications involving robots in space and under the sea. In each case, soft and deployable materials and structures play a valuable role in improving the robot’s versatility. The materials allow for compact packaging, energy dissipation for stability, conformation to irregular surfaces, and load-sharing to avoid stress concentrations. Space and undersea environments also present relatively low gravity loads, which makes it easier to deploy soft materials. At the same time, these scenarios present severe challenges for the kinds of materials commonly used in soft robotics. In space, we encounter wide temperature ranges, radiation, and a vacuum that promotes out-gassing. In the ocean, we encounter very high ambient pressures, and corrosive and electrically conductive salt water. These conditions lead us to favor selectively soft designs, combining soft materials like silicone rubber with composites and metal alloys for a combination of strength, durability, and flexibility. We illustrate these concepts with robots developed at Stanford for use on the moon and in the deep ocean.

To learn more: https://bdml.stanford.edu

Bio: 

Mark R. Cutkosky is the Fletcher Jones Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Dept. at Stanford University. He joined Stanford in 1985, after working in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University and as a design engineer at ALCOA, in Pittsburgh, PA. He received his Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in 1985. He is a fellow of ASME and IEEE and an IEEE RAS Pioneeer in Robotics and Automation.

Cutkosky's research activities include robotic manipulation and tactile sensing and the design and fabrication of biologically inspired robots. He has graduated 80 PhD students and published over 400 articles and 23 patents in these and related fields.