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Soft Robotics As Emerging Technologies Girls in Emergency Medicine. feature articlefeature soft robotics as emerging technologies: preparing students for future work through soft robot design experiences Students prepared with strategies for learning now will be able to apply the same strategies when faced with new situations in the future. n our field of technology and engineering educa- teachers to grow student confidence for emerging engineer- tion, we are limited by our inability to predict what ing careers. is coming; as the saying goes, we are preparing our students for jobs that don’t even exist yet. Two adap- Preparing Students for the Future tive approaches can help prepare students for this Integrating 21st century skills devel- Iuncertainty: teaching broad skills that can be applied in by opment—problem solving, creativity, new situations and exposing students to recent technologi- and communication, among others— cal developments that hint at the future. Soft robotics is an Andrew in our classrooms is one way to pre- emerging technology with advantages to traditional robotics Jackson, pare students for an uncertain career in some circumstances. In this article, we describe several landscape. Learning these types of Nathan emergent applications of soft robotics and how they align skills “allows the individual to transfer with the Standards for Technological Literacy (STL) domains Mentzer, and what was learned to solve new of technology. We also share an overview of our approach to problems” (Pellegrino & Hilton, 2012, Rebecca implementing a soft robotics design and fabrication experi- p. 6). Open-ended and design-based Kramer- ence focused on integrating design and inquiry skills. These teaching are effective pedagogies resources may be used by technology and engineering Bottiglio 8 technology and engineering teacher March 2020 soft robotics as emerging technologies: preparing students for future work through soft robot design experiences for fostering these skills: they support critical thinking, mega- cognition, and collaborative learning, allow students to draw on authentic information sources to make decisions, and “highlight the process of thinking” (Pellegrino & Hilton, 2012, p. 10), which is transferrable to future situations. They also engage students in questioning and self-directed learning. Voogt and Roblin (2010, p. 13) likened these competencies to “learning-to-learn” competen- cies, noting that pedagogical approaches for 21st century skills can include student involvement in pacing and assessment. In this way, students prepared with strategies for learning now will be able to apply the same strategies when faced with new situa- tions in the future. Though the skills are not new, they are called Figure 1. Search interest of "soft robotics" by year. Obtained from Google upon at an increasing rate and in broadening types of careers. Trends (www.google.com/trends). The y axis represents relative interest for the search during the period of time. As career options broaden, especially in technology and engi- neering, we need to be aware of and communicate the nature of these fields to our students. Looking at recent technological student interest. Ensuring that our teaching strategies include developments is critical: 21st century skills and cutting-edge technology designed to meet societal challenges may be one such way. Looking forward to further changes in science and technol- ogy, perhaps revolutionary changes, we are limited by our Soft Robotics: Advantages and Applications inability to see the future… Turning to reality, though, the Soft robotics is one example of an emerging technology with best we can do is look at recent and emergent advances…to novel applications in areas where traditional robotics may provide a possible template of the changes engineering will struggle. Soft robotics has direct societal impacts and tangible need to contend with [in the future]. (National Academy of outcomes, such as safety at the material level and appropriate- Engineering, 2004, pp. 9-10). ness or direct human interaction, that we might explore in our classrooms. Soft robotics is of growing interest to the engineer- Showing these new innovations to students, letting them explore ing community, media, and the public, as indicated by rising the advantages of these technologies and learn their intricacies interest in the search topic (Figure 1). Soft robots are controllable in a structured environment, and having students try the technol- systems made from soft, flexible materials that are designed to ogy for themselves are all important steps in growing under- perform a task. Soft components of these systems include actua- standing of the core ideas. In order to develop further technologi- tors and sensors (for movement and feedback, respectively), cal solutions, the ideas of these recent solutions will need to be which are often integrated into one body. Power and pneumatic leveraged and improved; “industry requires a workforce that is control may even be connected internally, though that is not equally nimble at adapting to changing conditions so they can often the case for testing. utilize available technologies and generate innovations of their own” (Brophy, Klein, Portsmore, & Rogers, 2008, p. 369). In the design phase of a robotics project, a decision might be made to pursue soft robot use, based on the affordances of soft Trends of student interest in STEM decline during secondary robot systems (Table 1). There is inherently a tradeoff: soft robots school: about 28% of students begin with STEM interest, about are less forceful and less accurate; however, their compliance half of those lose interest, yet fewer students experience a gain in new environments and delicate interaction with objects may in interest, so there is a failure to offset these losses (Munce & be necessary for the success of the project. Wang, Chen, and Fraser, 2013). Therefore, we need ways to recapture, even grow, Table 1. Comparison of soft robot and traditional rigid robot characteristics. Soft Robot Design Traditional Rigid Robot Design Made of soft, flexible, stretchable materials Made of rigid materials (e.g., fabric, rubber, or foam) (e.g., plastics, wood, or metal) Naturally compliant to the environment Compliant via control systems Safe for human-machine interaction Unsafe for human-machine interaction Highly biologically inspired systems Slightly biologically inspired systems Low force and accuracy High force and accuracy March 2020 technology and engineering teacher 9 soft robotics as emerging technologies: preparing students for future work through soft robot design experiences Soft Robot Heart Sleeve Vignette Soft Wheel Robot Vignette Farias, Nieminen, Strock, Kress-Gazit, and Shepherd (2015) won the Soft Robotics Toolkit design competition with their Roche, et al. (2017) designed a soft robot sleeve with layers idea for a self-contained soft robot that could drive and to mimic the function of the heart. The device could be used turn. Air channels along the side of the robot would inflate, to help medical patients with heart failure. Compared to tra- propelling the robot forward, then deflate to allow it to keep ditional assistive devices, it does not contact blood, meaning rolling. it is simpler and less expensive. Design: cast silicone with air channels Design: pneumatic artificial muscles Domain: transportation technology Domain: medical technology Learn More: https://softroboticstoolkit.com/soft-wheel- Learn More: www.wired.com/2017/01/robots-coming-heart/ robot Image from Roche, E.T., Horvath, M.A., Wamala, I., Alazmani, Image from Farias, O., Jr., Nieminen, N., Strock, C., Kress-Ga- A., Song, S.-E., Whyte, W., . Walsh, C.J. (2017). Soft robotic zit, H., & Shepherd, R. (2015). Soft wheel robot, submission sleeve supports heart function. Science Translational Medi- from Cornell University. Retrieved from Soft Robotics Toolkit cine, 9(373). doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aaf3925. Reprinted with Projects website (above). Reprinted with permission from permission from AAAS. Soft Robotics Toolkit. Soft Acoustic Tile Vignette Yi (2015, pp. 93-94) summarized three main applications of soft robots that are intrinsic to their material properties. First, han- dling deformable, fragile, or changing objects. Because soft robot materials are compliant relative to the environments they are in, they are able to conform to and grasp a variety of objects, even of different shapes. Second, resemblance to natural systems, namely biomimicry. Numerous soft robot designs have drawn from biological inspiration for fabrication including the octopus, Decker (2015) described soft robot research to dynamically jellyfish, and caterpillars. And third, human-centered applications respond to and minimize sound. In its deactivated state the such as wearables or medical devices. Examples of soft robots robot is flat; in its activated state it expands to a rough sur- intended for interaction include a glove for hand rehabilitation face to affect sound reflection. and a device to assist with heart rhythm. Design: pneumatic actuators Domain: construction technology These advantages of soft robotics are being leveraged in a Learn More: www.architectmagazine.com/technology/q- variety of ways, including the applications previously mentioned. a-material-dynamics-lab-director-martina-decker-on-the- Within the framework of seven technology areas for K-12 study intersection-of-design-and-science_o identified in STL (ITEEA, 2007), we identify prototype examples Image of soft acoustic tile test environment
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