Kyu Jin Cho Soft Wearable Robots:Navigating the Challenges of Building Technology for the Human Body

Описание: Speaker Biography
Kyu Jin Cho is a Professor in the department of Mechanical Engineering and the Director of Soft Robotics Research Center and Biorobotics Lab at Seoul National University. He received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from MIT and his B.S and M.S. from Seoul National University. He was a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard Microrobotics Laboratory before joining SNU in 2008. He has been exploring novel soft bio-inspired robot designs, including a water jumping robot, various shape changing robots and soft wearable robots for the disabled. He has received the 2014 IEEE RAS Early Academic Career Award for his fundamental contributions to soft robotics and biologically inspired robot design. He has published several papers in Science and Science Robotics with novel robot designs. He has served RAS as Associate VP of Publication Activities Board, a general chair of RoboSoft 2019, management committee chair of TMECH. Currently, he serves as VP of the RAS Technical Activities Board and General Chair of ICRA2027.

Abstract
Soft wearable robots promise to support, assist, and augment human movement in ways that rigid machines cannot. Yet building technology that works with the complexity, variability, and softness of the human body remains a significant challenge—both technically and conceptually. In this talk, I will share our experiences at the Soft Robotics Research Center at Seoul National University, where we have pursued this challenge through long-term, interdisciplinary research. Our efforts span soft wearable robots for various parts of the body, human intention detection, soft sensors, and wearable system design. Key results include multimodal sensors for activity recognition, vision-based intention detection, and wearable robotic devices for the hand, back shoulder and ankle support. These outcomes came from the collaboration between engineering, medicine, biomechanics, and design in creating systems that are not only functional, but also comfortable, and usable in everyday life. Looking ahead, the Center will become a core unit of the new SNU Robotics Institute, a university-wide initiative to unify and advance robotics research across disciplines at SNU.