Title: Geometry-oriented design, modeling, and control for soft robots
Time: 15:00 to 17:00, Wednesday, August.22, 2023
Place: F310, School of Mechanical Engineering
Speaker: Dr. Guoxin Fang（The Chinese University of Hong Kong）
Host: CHEN Feifei, Assoc.Professor (Institute of Robotics)

Biography
Dr. Guoxin Fang will join as Assistant Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong on October 2023, and is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate of Digital Manufacturing at the University of Manchester. His research interests encompass digital manufacturing, computational design, and robotics. Dr. Fang's research focuses on applying computational techniques to advance additive manufacturing and soft robot systems. Dr. Fang has published his research work in reputable journals in the fields of manufacturing, robotics, and computer graphics, including T-RO, T-MECH, T-OG (SIGGRAPH), and Additive Manufacturing.

Abstract
Soft robots exhibit great adaptability to their surroundings and ensure safe human interaction, broadening robotic applications such as fragile object manipulation and exploration of unstructured environments. The importance of computational tools is well-recognized in soft robotics research, spanning from rapid modeling and kinematics computation to automated design. However, existing methods that assume rigidity in structure are insufficient for robots with soft bodies. This gap underscores the need for pioneering algorithms tailored for soft robots. In this seminar, I will share insights from my research dedicated to overcoming the challenges of design and control soft robots from a geometry-oriented perspective. Specifically, this talk will cover topics including: (1) The development of a fast and general numerical simulator for soft robot applications; (2) Learning-based real-time kinematics control for soft robots with sim-to-real transfer; (3) Sensor-based proprioception and closed-loop control for soft manipulators; (4) Data-Driven design of a deformable soft robot mannequin for the garment industry application.