Inspired by the stark performance gap between robots and living organisms, our research aims to advance machine intelligence through material design. Our mission in the Robotic Matter Lab is to develop material systems whose forms and functionalities give soft devices and machines novel bioinspired actuation, perception, control, and power capabilities. Towards this end, we take an interdisciplinary approach to solving key challenges in the design, fabrication, and control of autonomous soft robots and robotic materials.

We envision our efforts advancing innovations at the human-robot interface, while simultaneously ushering a new generation of autonomous machines capable of helping humanity tackle numerous healthcare, societal, and global challenges.

Our lab specializes in the synthesis and characterization of functional soft, polymeric, and nanoscale materials, development of novel additive and digital manufacturing methods, design and control of soft robots, and rheological characterization of soft matter. We are currently working on soft artificial muscles and sensors, rapid multi-material fabrication methods for robotic materials, and machine learning-based control strategies for soft robotics. We conduct these principle research efforts through the lens of our team’s diversity of expertise and perspective, with the goal of pioneering a generation of autonomous systems that bring new innovations to healthcare, environmental stewardship, exploration, automation, and well beyond.

Materials & Design

We design and synthesize soft materials for new robotic functionalities.

Fabrication

We achieve new material compositions and functionalities through 3D printing.