As a soft roboticist I am constantly searching for inspiration for novel soft actuators, and as a home cook and artist I consider eating an object to be a high-level form of interactivity. Having noted the similarities between cast silicone and gummi candies it was natural to combine these interests. I will share my experiments in assessing different candies for their engineering potential, and show my work-in-progress for sweet soft robots.
As a soft roboticist I am constantly searching for inspiration for novel soft actuators, and as a home cook and artist I consider eating an object to be a high-level form of interactivity. Having noted the similarities between cast silicone and gummi candies it was natural to combine these interests.
Part of this analysis is developing testing metrics for candy recipes for performance characteristics, and looking to an ever-increasing set of candy-making techniques to potentially use to design and iterate/innovate.
I will share my experiments in assessing different candies for their engineering potential, and show my work-in-progress for sweet soft robots. I will also share a few ideas for future design plans.