Science AMA Series: We’re roboticists at MIT’s Computer Science and
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory who developed a soft robot fish that
can swim in the ocean. Ask us anything!
Abstract
Hi! We’re Robert Katzschmann and Joseph DelPreto, researchers at MIT’s
Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) who work
in the field of soft robotics. We just published a paper in Science
Robotics on “SoFi” (pronounced Sophie), a soft robotic fish we created
that can swim alongside real fish in the ocean. We’re hoping a platform
like SoFi could enable nature filmmakers to better document marine life
up-close, monitor ocean pollution, and someday even inspect underwater
infrastructure like oil rigs and pipelines. We’ll be online today at 2pm
EST to answer your questions. Feel free to ask us about SoFi, our other
projects (including a soft gripper for robot hands, a dynamic soft
manipulator arm, 3d printed soft robots, and robots corrected by brain
signals), our academic backgrounds, and anything else you want to know
about. Note: Access to full Science Robotics paper via our lab website,
search for and click on link called “Paper: Official full text version
formatted/edited by Science Robotics”. Requisite disclaimer: we are by
no means speaking for MIT or CSAIL in any official capacity!