2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Soft robotics is an emerging field that deals with the design, modeling, and fabrication of robotic systems made of soft and compliant materials mimicking the motion in nature. Since soft robotics will revolutionize the safe interaction of humans and robots due to the application of soft materials in the robot’s structure, the next generation of robotics will yield more towards soft robotics. Engineering programs should introduce this cutting-edge technology in their curriculum that is designed to satisfy societal challenges provide a template for the advances in soft robotics, and support students to learn and explore these revolutionary changes to prepare the U.S. workforce for advanced robotics careers. However, despite the rapid growth of soft robotics, the resources available to the engineering faculty and students are very limited. Also, as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced universities to shift to emergency remote instruction, digital learning tools have become a necessity, not just an accessory, to support students’ access to resources and to facilitate their engagement and learning.
To meet the needs of developing technological solutions in soft robotics courses by visualizing complex concepts, improving students’ core understanding of the material, and growing their confidence for emerging engineering careers, we developed an open-source and user-friendly virtual lab using MATLAB Simscape for soft robotics and compliant mechanisms courses to simulate and visualize the core concepts. The developed virtual lab enables students and faculty to visualize and simulate complex concepts in soft robotics, which are often challenging to grasp through traditional teaching methods. By integrating teaching methodologies with interactive simulations, our virtual lab simplifies the learning process and enriches the teaching experience. The virtual lab enables students and faculty to visualize and simulate complex concepts in soft robotics, which are often challenging to grasp through traditional teaching methods. By integrating teaching methodologies with interactive simulations, our virtual lab simplifies the learning process and enriches the teaching experience.
The virtual lab includes a comprehensive library of compliant components, such as flexure hinges and flexible beams (e.g., fixed-fixed, fixed-free, and initially curved). It also features a variety of compliant mechanisms like double-dwell, bistable, parallel-arm, four-bar, and five-bar systems. Furthermore, it offers detailed comparisons between theoretical models, such as the pseudo-rigid-body model (PRBM), MATLAB Simscape simulations, Ansys results, and experimental data obtained from 3D-printed lab kits and machine vision measurements. To support active learning, the virtual lab is complemented by a set of example activities that can be used for homework or in-class demonstrations.