Using Simulation Tools to Optimize Soft Robotic Systems

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. - Jan. 23, 2017 - PRLog -- Simulation is a valuable tool to improve the energy efficiency of machines and it is now being used to analyze and optimize soft robotic systems to increase their utility, as described in an article published in Soft Robotics, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com/). The article is available free on the Soft Robotics (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/soro.2016.0010)  website until February 20, 2017.

In the article entitled "Controlling and Simulating Soft Robotic Systems: Insights from a Thermodynamic Perspective (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/soro.2016.0010)," Dylan Ross, Markus Nemitz, and Adam Stokes, The University of Edinburgh, U.K., present a predictive approach for characterizing and improving the design and engineering of soft robotic systems. Their energy-based approach relies on a framework that uses port-based modeling and integrates bond-graphs and port-Hamiltonian theory, which are valuable tools for analyzing the thermodynamics that underlie hybrid, multi-domain soft robotic systems.

"Very few researchers have approached robotics from a broad thermodynamics approach. This paper highlights some of the issues (and opportunities) that are particularly important for soft robots. It really illustrates how researchers in the field are finding new and important ways to think about machine design and performance," says Editor-in-Chief Barry A. Trimmer, PhD, who directs the Neuromechanics and Biomimetic Devices Laboratory at Tufts University (Medford, MA). "We know there is a lot more to do before soft robots are commonplace, but this paper is certainly leading the way."

About the Journal
Soft Robotics (http://www.liebertpub.com/soro), a peer-reviewed journal published quarterly online with Open Access options and in print, combines advances in biomedical engineering, biomechanics, mathematical modeling, biopolymer chemistry, computer science, and tissue engineering to present new approaches to the creation of robotic technology and devices that can undergo dramatic changes in shape and size in order to adapt to various environments. Led by Editor-in-Chief Barry A. Trimmer, PhD, and a distinguished team of Associate Editors, the Journal provides the latest research and developments on topics such as soft material creation, characterization, and modeling; flexible and degradable electronics; soft actuators and sensors; control and simulation of highly deformable structures; biomechanics and control of soft animals and tissues; biohybrid devices and living machines; and design and fabrication of conformable machines. Tables of content and a sample issue can be viewed on the Soft Robotics (http://www.liebertpub.com/soro) website.

About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com/)  is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science, technology, and biomedical research, including 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing and Tissue Engineering. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com/)  website.