Introduction
The Intelligent, Soft and Flexible Robotics Laboratory (IS-Flex) is dedicated to designing and developing mechatronic devices that utilize soft materials and non-rigid structures to achieve their objectives. While this field of research is most commonly known today as soft robotics, our work encompasses a broader lineage of systems, including flexible-link and flexible-joint robots.
Unlike conventional robots that rely on a chain of rigid links connected by actuated joints to perform tasks, soft and flexible robots are designed for applications where structural compliance is a distinct advantage. This flexibility is essential when contact is unavoidable and can be leveraged to achieve task goals, when the available workspace does not allow for sufficient clearance to accommodate a rigid structure, or when safe interaction with humans and environments is a mandatory requirement—even in the event of a controller failure.
Examples of devices developed and studied at the IS-Flex robotics lab include robotic manipulators with inflatable links for safe interaction, soft inflatable tool interfaces for traditional rigid robots, soft grippers for manipulating fragile objects, and continuum manipulator robots for operation in cluttered or otherwise confined workspaces.
Previous work
- Inflatable Structures for Robotic Applications (MSc thesis, 2016)
- Controlo de um manipulador Robótico Insuflável (MSc thesis, 2017)
- Sensing Pneu-net Devices Using Adaptive Materials (MSc thesis, 2017)
- Estimation of Contact Force on an Inflatable Structure Using Vision Sensors (MSc thesis, 2019)
- Development of Shape Memory Alloy Actuated Gripper using Jamming Granular Effect (MSc thesis, 2020)
- Vision Based Soft Robotic System for Fruit Picking (MSc thesis, 2021)
- Experiments on control of a soft continuum manipulator robot (MSc thesis, 2021)
- Contact and force experiments with an inflatable manipulator link (MSc thesis, 2021)
- Design and experiments on a continuous deformation soft manipulator module (MSc thesis, 2021)
- Characterization of contact interaction with an inflatable link robot (MSc thesis, 2021)
- Pose estimation of a soft continuum manipulator using magnetic linear encoders (MSc thesis, 2022)
- Developing robotic grasping of delicate objects using a sensorised soft physical twin (MSc thesis, 2022)
- Modelling and analysis of a soft continuous robot with friction effects (MSc thesis, 2023)
- Improving kinematic accuracy of soft continuum robot using Machine Learning (MSc thesis, 2024)
- Instrumentação de um elo robótico insuflável para estimação de deformação e deteção de contacto (MSc thesis, 2024)
- Validation of an Inverse Kinematics Solution for a Soft Continuum Manipulator Under the Constant Curvature Assumption (MSc thesis, 2025)
Publications
- Oliveira, J., Ferreira, A., & Reis, J. C. (2020). Design and experiments on an inflatable link robot with a built-in vision sensor. Mechatronics, 65, 102305.
- Salgueiro, J. M., &Reis, J. C. (2021, February). Towards a highly integrated 3D printed soft continuum manipulator. In 2021 7th International Conference on Automation, Robotics and Applications (ICARA) (pp. 163-167). IEEE
- Costa, C. F., & Reis, J. C. (2023). End-point position estimation of a soft continuum manipulator using embedded linear magnetic encoders. Sensors, 23(3), 1647.