Paley, Wereley edit new Springer book on soft robotics

A new book on the field of soft robotics, edited by Maryland Robotics Center Director and Professor Derek Paley (AE/ISR) and Professor Norman Wereley, Chair of the Department of Aerospace Engineering, has been published by Springer.

Bioinspired Sensing, Actuation, and Control in Underwater Soft Robotic Systems includes 15 chapters detailing representative state-of-the-art research in this emerging ﬁeld, with a special focus on bioinspired soft robotics for underwater applications.

Soft robotics seeks to replace traditional rigid robotic components with sensors and actuators that achieve greater flexibility and degrees of freedom. Bioinspired soft robotics seek to emulate the diverse capabilities of natural systems such as elephant trunks, octopus arms and seastars through novel architectures, materials, and control designs.

This book focuses on soft robotic systems that are designed to operate underwater. Topics include novel materials, sensors, actuators, and system design for distributed estimation and control of soft robotic appendages. The book is a comprehensive snapshot of the latest advances, with tutorial and original content on mechanisms and motion, materials and muscles, biological analysis and design, and modeling and control.

Examples are primarily drawn from, but not limited to, the ongoing research program in bioinspired autonomous systems sponsored by the Oﬃce of Naval Research. This program has stimulated cross‑disciplinary research in biology, material science, computational mechanics, and systems and control for the purpose of creating novel robotic appendages for maritime applications.

Published November 10, 2020