Tactile-Embodied Soft Robots: Enabling Perception and Intelligent Physical Interaction in Compliant Systems

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• Professor Kaspar Althoefer, Queen Mary University of London
• Friday 21 November 2025, 16:00-17:00
• JDB Seminar Room, CUED.

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Introducing softness and tactile embodiment into robotics is reshaping how robots perceive and interact with the physical world. By using compliant materials such as silicone and fabrics, combined with fluidic actuation, soft robots achieve safe, adaptable, and dexterous manipulation in settings where traditional rigid-component robots fall short. Embedding tactile sensors within the soft body fundamentally changes how robots perceive and interact with their environment. It enables them to sense key interaction parameters—such as contact, distributed pressure, texture, and shape—through the same deformable structures that generate motion, creating a form of embodied perception in which sensing, actuation, and morphology are intrinsically linked. My research investigates the fundamental principles that enable robots to physically sense, interpret, and adapt to their surroundings through the integration of soft materials, compliant actuation, and distributed tactile sensing. By studying how mechanical softness, morphology, and embodied perception interact, I aim to uncover the scientific foundations of intelligent, touch-based manipulation — bridging the gap between physical embodiment and perception– action coordination. This scientific approach informs the design of tactile-embodied robots capable of robust interaction in unstructured and dynamic environments. The insights gained are broadly applicable across domains — from minimally invasive surgery and human–robot collaboration to remote inspection and repair in hazardous settings — and provide a strong foundation for projects such as the EU-funded STIFF -FLOP and PALPABLE , as well as the European Research Council (ERC) funded Synergy Grant EndoTheranostics. The unifying vision behind these projects is to transform in-situ cancer diagnosis and therapy by creating soft, touch-enabled robotic systems that can operate intelligently within the human body. Looking to the future, I aim to advance soft robotics toward systems that perceive and interact with the world imbued with the sensitivity, precision, and adaptability of human touch.

This talk is part of the Engineering - Mechanics Colloquia Research Seminars series.

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