Talks:

Below, the talks present at the Robotics Day are shown.

Keynote - Soft Robotics: Enabling Function Through Geometry, Materials, and Fabrication 
Soft robotics represents a transformative approach to designing machines that can interact addaptivly with users and their environment. Built from highly flexible, compliant materials, soft robots mimic the properties of biological organisms, making them ideal for applications in healthcare, wearable technology, and bio-inspired systems. These robots offenoffer versatile solutions for tasks requiring adaptability and gentle interaction, from rehabilitation devices to soft robotic hearts and sensorized garments. Similar to biological systems, soft robots possess multifunctional bodies where the structure itself hosts various integrated functionalities such as sensing, actuation, and adaptability. This inherent complexity requires particular attention ot the structural details, materials and advanced fabrication techniques capable of producing such multifunctional structures. One of the most promising approaches is additive manufacturing, which allows for the precise layering of multiple materials, each serving distinct roles in the system. At the Soft Robotics Lab, University of Twente, we focus on the additive manufacturing of multi-material soft robotic systems that combine hyperelastic rubbers, continuous fibers, and conductive polymers. This talk will present some of our recent achievements and the challenges we face in developing these complex, multifunctional soft systems. From fabricating soft sensors, proprioceptive actuators, and electroactive actuators to designing sensorized insoles and prosthetic hands, I will discuss the fabrication techniques, material considerations, and design choices that drive our research, as well as our future directions 

RIWO - Modular Ground Robot Navigation 
As a system integration firm, Riwo makes software for a wide range of machine manufacturers. Modular software stacks may be a bit harder to set up, but save you a lot of time in the long run when facing similar challenges as different customers. In this talk I will give you an introduction into our interpretation of robotic navigation, show you some examples from our current projects, and show you the benefits of this modular approach.

Mission I.A.M. - Bionic leg
Create a bionic leg that enables amputees to run the Marathon des Sables in 2030. Moving naturally. Competing fully. Anytime. Anywhere. Anyone. The first project we start is developing wearable technologies for sensing human movement - fully wearable technologies for sensing human biomechanics, out of constrained laboratory conditions and directly in the real world. Three MSc students work in a team to make this first step:

• Development of a smart sportswear (e.g., sensorized shoe and socks)
• Minimal off-the-shelf
• IMU set up for leg kinematics and kinetic​s
• Real-time sensors-driven digital athletes