Let's discover soft robotics - Mashable podcast with France24

Date:
Changed on 03/01/2024
Discover deformable robotics in 1 minute 40 seconds in this Mashable France 24 podcast with Olivier Goury, researcher in deformable robotics on the Defrost* project team at Inria's Lille research center.
Echelon III - un robot à vertèbres souples
© Inria / Photo R. de Bengy

Discover deformable robotics

“Is soft robotics the future of conventional robotics?” This field of research has developed at the same time as the invention of shape memory materials. Soft robots, unlike their rigid cousins, are particularly flexible and mobile.

“If you want to pick up an egg with a rigid robot, you will need very precise control to avoid cracking the egg. A soft robot, however, will simply wrap around the egg and lift it up gently,” explains Olivier Goury, soft robotics researcher on the Defrost team at Inria Lille-Nord Europe, to Mashable. “Soft robots are inexpensive and 3D printable, so they offer a wealth of possibilities, especially in the field of surgery.”

* The Defrost project-team is common between the Inria Lille - Nord Europe center, Centrale Lille, the University of Lille - Science and technology, the CNRS. Within the UMR 9189 CNRS-Centrale Lille-University of Lille - Science and Technology, CRIStAL.