Talks & Invited Lectures

The Compliant Machine: Simulation, Control, and Medical Applications of Soft Robots

Soft robots that deform continuously under actuation offer intrinsic safety and adaptability, but their infinite-dimensional mechanics make modelling and control non-trivial. This seminar presents a unified pipeline — from corotational FEM for real-time deformation simulation, through constraint-based inverse-model control, to prototype deployment in medical scenarios such as flexible endoscopy and neurosurgical assistance — and outlines the open research questions at each stage.

The Compliant Machine: Simulation, Control, and Medical Applications of Soft Robots

Soft robots that deform continuously under actuation offer intrinsic safety and adaptability, but their infinite-dimensional mechanics make modelling and control non-trivial. This seminar presents a unified pipeline — from corotational FEM for real-time deformation simulation, through constraint-based inverse-model control, to prototype deployment in medical scenarios such as flexible endoscopy and neurosurgical assistance — and outlines the open research questions at each stage.

Gentle Precision: Robotizing Neurotech

Introducing robotic assistance into neurotechnology applications — from deep-brain stimulation lead placement to cortical probe insertion — calls for actuators and control strategies that combine sub-millimetre accuracy with minimal mechanical stress on delicate neural tissue. This talk surveys soft and compliant robotic solutions, covering simulation-driven design, model-based control, and early clinical translation efforts aimed at making neurotechnology procedures safer and more reproducible.

Soft-robot phantoms for medical applications

Validating medical robots requires realistic physical surrogates that reproduce the mechanical behaviour of human tissue without ethical constraints. This talk introduces soft-robot phantoms — elastomer-based structures whose compliance and geometry are tuned via simulation — as versatile test-beds for catheter navigation, force calibration, and surgical training, and presents experimental results comparing phantom and ex-vivo tissue responses.

Soft Robots for Neurosurgery Procedures

Neurosurgical interventions demand exceptional precision and minimal tissue disruption, making soft continuum robots an attractive alternative to rigid tools. This talk examines FEM-based simulation and real-time inverse-model control applied to flexible instruments designed for intracranial navigation, tumour biopsy, and endoscopic procedures, and discusses open challenges in integrating intraoperative imaging feedback with compliant robot control.

Soft Robots for Medical Applications

Compliant, continuum robotic devices offer compelling advantages for minimally invasive procedures: they conform to anatomy, reduce tissue trauma, and can reach otherwise inaccessible targets. This talk presents simulation-driven design and model-based control pipelines — built on real-time FEM and inverse kinematics — that accelerate the development and validation of soft robotic catheters and tools intended for clinical deployment.

Foundations of Simulation and Control of Soft Robots

Soft robots — composed of highly compliant, continuously deformable structures — demand modelling and control strategies fundamentally different from rigid-body robotics. This lecture covers finite element formulations for real-time soft-body simulation, constraint-based actuation models for pneumatic and cable-driven robots, and closed-loop inverse-model control, illustrating each concept with prototype soft manipulators developed in the DEFROST team.

Modeling interactions with soft objects

Workshop on Soft Morphological Design for Haptic Sensation, Interaction and Display

Realistic haptic interaction with soft objects requires models that couple contact mechanics, large deformations, and force rendering at interactive rates. This talk addresses constraint-based contact formulations and corotational FEM that together support stable, real-time simulation of grasping and manipulation of compliant objects, with implications for both haptic display design and soft-robot skin sensing.

Foundations of Simulation and Control of Soft Robots

Soft robots — composed of highly compliant, continuously deformable structures — demand modelling and control strategies fundamentally different from rigid-body robotics. This lecture covers finite element formulations for real-time soft-body simulation, constraint-based actuation models for pneumatic and cable-driven robots, and closed-loop inverse-model control, illustrating each concept with prototype soft manipulators developed in the DEFROST team.

Interactive Simulation of Interventional Radiology Procedures

Interventional radiology requires navigating catheters and guide-wires through complex vascular anatomy under fluoroscopic guidance, a skill that is difficult and risky to acquire on patients. This talk presents real-time finite element models for flexible instrument mechanics and vascular contact, integrated into a haptic simulator that reproduces the force feedback and visual cues of live procedures for training purposes.

Interactive Medical Simulation

Real-time physically based simulation is reshaping medical training by enabling interactive virtual environments for surgical and interventional procedures. This talk introduces finite element and constraint-based mechanics as the foundation for deformable tissue models, and surveys applications ranging from needle insertion to endoscopic navigation, emphasizing the interplay between computational efficiency and simulation fidelity.