Soft Robotics Workshops: Supporting Experiential Learning About Design, Movement, and Sustainability

Soft Robotics is a class of robotics in which flexible materials make up some or all parts of the structure. Soft materials afford more flexibility than the rigid materials used in traditional robots, enabling new shapes, sizes, and interactions across a range of applications. From a pedagogical perspective, soft robotics is a good entry point for teaching robotics due to its simplicity and low production costs. Students can get started with programming a robot of their own design in a very short time, which provides a good case study for increasing accessibility in education. For the past five years, we have incorporated studio-based courses on soft robotics in an undergraduate education of Art and Technology, and most recently in a transdisciplinary workshop focused on robots and sustainability. Results from several iterations of the course help to identify key challenges and pedagogical opportunities for developing and teaching transdisciplinary courses in higher education. We contribute guidelines for conducting a successful soft robotics course that supports transdisciplinary teaching and learning activities that foster critical engagement with sustainability. We discuss the integration of different types of knowing and doing, and propose art-based and design-based research methods as useful tools for developing sustainability in transdisciplinary settings. We outline activities that support learning outcomes including digital fabrication, expressive movement, embodied interaction, and design for sustainability. We conclude by mapping future development and open questions linking soft robotics, sustainability, and creative expression with the aim of integrating cultural and sustainable principles throughout the design process.