Soft Robotics (Intelligent Robotics and Autonomous Agents)

A comprehensive, cutting-edge treatment of soft robotics that brings conceptual structure to this fast-moving field.

Soft robotics is quickly transforming corners of our world, but as yet there has been no comprehensive treatment of the young field. Filling this gap, Soft Robotics offers a systematic approach to learning the subject’s essential ideas, methods, and techniques. Cecelia Laschi takes a holistic view that integrates interdisciplinary material and provides a conceptual structure that can withstand the discipline’s fast-paced evolution. Laschi first presents robotics basics and the commonly used bioinspired methods before covering materials and technologies for actuation and sensing, modeling internal and external interactions, and soft robot control with model-based and learning-based approaches. Written by a pioneer of the field and honed by classroom experience, this timely textbook is an essential roadmap for anyone studying soft robotics.

• Comprehensive, structured coverage of soft robotics, from fundamentals to advanced techniques
• Pragmatic modular structure adapts to different curricula
• Suitable for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals
• Instructor resources include slides, videos, and exercises

Cecilia Laschi is Provost’s Chair Professor of Robotics at the National University of Singapore, where she leads the Soft Robotics Lab and she is the Director of the NUS Advanced Robotics Centre. She pioneered the field of soft robotics and serves as Editor-in-Chief of Bioinspiration & Biomimetics and member of the editorial board of Science Robotics.