Plenary speakers: Soft robots as an E-kagen artifact

Abstract

I have developed various types of soft actuators and robots since 1986. In this presentation, first, I will talk about several examples of my works on soft robotics, which include (1) pneumatic rubber actuators, (2) their medical applications, (3) functional rubber surfaces, and (4) hose-free pneumatics. Next, I will talk about my current works of thin soft muscle and its applications to (1) soft power support suits, (2) musculo-skeletal robots and (3) Giacometti robots. At the end of my talk I would like to talk about the significance of soft robotics in the history of robotics using a Japanese word “E-kagen”, which has two opposite meanings. One is positive meaning of good, proper and moderate and the other is negative meaning of irresponsible, imprecise and vague.