Soft robots, made from flexible materials and fluidic systems, offer safe human-robot interactions but face control challenges. Sochol's BAM Lab aims to make 3D-printed soft robots more accessible by using affordable printers to create robots that can even play video games. 

Soft robots—e.g., robots composed of compliant materials and actuated by fluidic (hydraulic and/or pneumatic)—have emerged as powerful alternatives for applications that would be difficult or impossible to realize using traditional, rigid robots. Despite a number of inherent benefits for soft robots, particularly in terms of safety for human-robot interactions, challenges associated with controlling the underlying fluidics of such systems represent key barriers to utility. 

Recently, Sochol's "Bioinspired Advanced Manufacturing (BAM)" Laboratory introduced a strategy for 3D printing soft robots comprising fully integrated fluidic circuitry in a single print run and demonstrated a soft robotic "hand" capable of beating the first level of Super Mario Bros (youtu.be/5smhhTKb3DM). Unfortunately, this particular approach relied on an expensive (>$100,000) 3D printer. The goal of this project is to extend this strategy to inexpensive (e.g., <$500) 3D printers to support accessibility and, ultimately, demonstrate its efficacy by engineering soft robots capable of playing video games.