IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - December 2015 - 35

There is a general agreement that there will be a broad
range of tasks that a robot might be called upon to perform.
Whether that is achieved by a custom robot designed specifically for that single task or a general purpose robot that can
perform that task in addition to many others, the focus is the
fulfillment of tasks. Both approaches have their costs and benefits, and at this stage, it is hard to conclusively determine
whether either is objectively better.
The technologies described in this article will enable
both the customized and general purpose mass-produced
robotic systems. Choosing one or the other category will
depend on the specific type of research and applications.
Control engineers who are interested in developing motion
planning strategies with stable and robust controllers are
more likely to be interested in using a general purpose robot
to focus on the software level control specifications. On the
other hand, researchers who are working in kinematics and
dynamics will be more interested in quickly developing different platforms changing their mechanical and electronic
specifications. The same applies for material scientists and,
in general, mechanical engineers. Software engineers concerned with the verification and the code-level analysis can
benefit from tools like ROSLab, since it can provide a systematic way to generate provably correct codes. Finally,
beginners like high school students, college freshmen, and
hobbyists will benefit from these technologies to create ondemand platforms for academic or personal use.
An enormous advantage of rapid prototyping is that it
can considerably lower manufacturing costs. Common
robotic systems, such as unmanned ground and aerial
vehicles and medical systems, can have prohibitive costs.
This is especially true when considering the research
development for large-scale systems like multiagent heterogeneous and homogeneous robotic systems. Thus,
the rise of rapid prototyping and codesign technologies
will allow researchers to push toward different horizons
and build a larger robotics community.
Robots in Human Lives
With the applications of robotics research occasionally veering off into unforeseen directions (such as artistic endeavors), a question that comes to mind is whether robots can
positively impact humanity. We identify agriculture and field
robotics, as well as custom orthotics and robotic healthcare,
as some of the promising fields where robotic development
has the potential to greatly improve human lives. For
instance, 3-D printing technologies have recently been demonstrated that are well suited to the generation of low-cost
prostheses [43]. Similarly, surgeons could take advantage of
the compliance and maneuverability of soft robots for delicate surgical operations while reducing the likelihood of collateral damage [44]. Last but not least, the type of rapid prototyping and programming techniques discussed here will
have an enormous impact in education and cheap, accessible,
and easy-to-develop robotics will propagate to all levels of
education, encouraging the next generation of roboticists. In

this particular case, origami cut-and-fold robotics and simplified and intuitive graphical user interface-based codesign
tools, such as ROSLab,
popupCAD, and EMLab,
There is a general
could help reduce the
overall learning curve
agreement that there will
time for programming
and codesign of control,
be a broad range of tasks
mechanical, and electric
circuit specifications.

that a robot might be

Acknowledgments
called upon to perform.
This work was sponsored
by the National Science
Foundation Award IIS1138847, for which we express thanks.
The material shown in this article is based on the discussions and work presented at the 1st Workshop on Robot
Makers (RoMa), in conjunction with the 2014 Robotics: Science and Systems Conference (http://precise.seas. upenn.
edu/events/RoMa2014). The authors would like to thank all
of the participants of RoMa 2014 for making the workshop a
success. In particular, they would like to thank D. Aukes, A.
Bicchi, J. DelPreto, Y. Menguc, Y. Mulgaonkar, C. Walsh, and
M. Wehner for permission to include their images.
References
[1] M. Wehner, N. Bartlett, Y. Menguc, C. Domkam, and R. J. Wood, "Multimaterial devices expand the design-space for soft robotics," in Proc. Robot
Makers Workshop, Robotics: Science Systems Conf., 2014.
[2] Y. Menguc, Y.-L. Park, E. Martinez-Villalpando, P. Aubin, M. Zisook, L.
Stirling, R. J. Wood, and C. J. Walsh, "Soft wearable motion sensing suit for
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[5] A. M. Mehta and D. Rus, "An end-to-end system for designing mechanical
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[6] C. D. Onal, M. T. Tolley, R. J. Wood, and D. Rus, "Origami inspired
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DECEMBER 2015

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