Harvard University has teamed up with Trinity College Dublin to launch an online toolkit for those looking to create their own soft robots.
The Soft Robotics Toolkit comes with step-by-step tutorial videos, open-source plans and real world studies for both researchers who have experience with the technology and researchers who are new to the field, according to Gizmag. The two universities hope that the new toolkit will help researchers design soft robots for a variety of purposes.
"The goal of the toolkit is to advance the field of soft robotics by allowing designers and researchers to build upon each other's work," said Conor Walsh, assistant professor at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).
The toolkit is also designed so that those involved in soft robotics can work with other researchers around the world, sharing tips, designs, techniques and knowledge about the technology, CNET reported.
"One thing we've seen in design courses is that students greatly benefit from access to more experienced peers- say, postdocs in a research lab- who can guide them through their work," said Trinity College's Donal Holland, one of the lead developers of the toolkit. "But scaling that up is difficult; you quickly run out of time and people. The toolkit is designed to capture the expertise and make it easily accessible to students."
The Soft Robotics Toolkit website covers a variety of aspects of the field, such as actuators, sensors, and controls, Gizmag reported. Case studies are provided to take visitors through sub-categories, which show pictures, explanations and reference sources of devices.
The researchers behind the toolkit aim for its open-source software to lead to more opportunities for mechanical engineers to work together on projects. Gareth J. Bennett, assistant professor at Trinity College Dublin, mentioned the benefits of open design in a paper describing the toolkit's development, according to CNET.
"Open design can have as disruptive an influence on technology development in this century as open source did in the last," Bennett said.
A video about the toolkit has been provided for researchers in the field. Those interested in soft robotics can access the toolkit for free online at its site.
