TU Dresden funds a collaborative project between IHM and Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL, University of Bristol)

TU Dresden Graduate Academy has awarded a Lab2Lab grant (Lab2Lab-2024-02) to initiate a collaboration between the Emmy Noether Junior Research group (PI: Dr. E.-F. Markus Vorrath, TU Dresden) and the Soft Robotics group (PIs: Prof. Jonathan Rossiter and Prof. Andrew Conn, University of Bristol). The project runs till May 2025.

The Lab2Lab program supports the exchange and lively collaboration of early career researchers through the cooperation of international working groups. Its goal is to combine the development of intercultural skills and international experience with the advancement of scientific expertise, knowledge transfer, international networking, and career planning.

During the funding period, Lihaoya Tan (Ph.D. candidate, University of Bristol) will visit TU Dresden to work on the manufacturing of soft grippers through direct ink writing (DIW), Nanoscribe technology, and photolithography. Also, Jianan Yi (Ph.D. candidate, TU Dresden) will visit the University of Bristol to focus on characterizing, optimizing, and prototyping the soft grippers.

Dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) is one of most popular actuation methods for soft robotics. Electroadhesion (EA) is an electrically controllable adhesion mechanism, while adhesives with gecko-inspired microstructures enhance adhesion through van der Waals forces. This project seeks to integrate DEA, EA, and bio-inspired gecko skin into soft structures to significantly improve the grasping performance of soft robotic grippers and manipulators.

By leveraging the strengths of both labs, this collaboration aims to explore new potentials in dielectric elastomers, soft robotics, and microsystem engineering.