Soft Robotics Transferring Theory to Application
The research areas as well as the knowledge gained for the practical use of robots are growing and expanding beyond manufacturing and industrial automation, making inroads in sectors such as health care and terrain sensing, as well as general assistive sy
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Alexander Verl • Alin Albu-Schäffer • Oliver Brock Annika Raatz (Eds.)
Soft Robotics Transferring Theory to Application
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Editors Alexander Verl Fraunhofer IPA Stuttgart, Germany
Alin Albu-Schäffer DLR Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
Oliver Brock TU Berlin Berlin, Germany
Annika Raatz Leibniz Universität Hannover Hannover, Germany
ISBN 978-3-662-44505-1 ISBN 978-3-662-44506-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-44506-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2015931376 Springer © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is a brand of Springer Berlin Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
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Preface For about the last ten years, the scientific world of robotics has been influenced by worldwide innovative stimuli from research inspired by biological processes. Instead of rigid structures, the trend is now towards the use of soft, pliable organic structures, materials, and surfaces. In doing so, scientists obtain their inspiration from diverse biological organisms such as humans, vertebrates, caterpillars, snakes, octopuses, starfish and plant roots. They try to understand natural mechanisms and use this information to develop a new generation of robots – “soft robots”. This new class of robot may be utilized in unsafe, dynamic task environments, to grip and manipulate unknown objects, move around in rough terrain, interact with humans in top security situations and even be capable of the visionary research topic of self-repair. In numerous initiatives, especially in the USA, Japan, Italy and Switzerland, but also in Germany, some of these technologies have already been transferred to initial applications. In view of this already advanced pioneering work, in the spring of 2014 we came to the conclusion that there is an urgent need to gain an overview of the state of research in selected European instit
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