Soft Robotics Podcast
Host Marwa ElDiwiny interviews guests from academia and industry about new research and challenges in soft robotics, aiming to inspire curiosity and understanding in this growing field.
The Rosheim Joint: A Hidden Breakthrough in Wrist Design
In this episode the host and guest dive into the evolution of the Rosheim Joint—a wrist mechanism that balances extreme stiffness with full 180° motion. They trace its lineage from Victorian-era gear‑heavy designs, through the costly custom‑machined OmniRist generations, to today’s low‑cost, link‑based version built with off‑the‑shelf bearings and office‑shelf components. The guest, a veteran robotics engineer and author, explains how simplifying the design lowered cost, boosted reliability, and opened applications from ballistic‑missile‑defense contracts to surgical robots and fountain displays. He also shares personal anecdotes about early cardboard robots, the influence of Leonardo da Vinci’s sketch‑and‑build mindset, and his upcoming book on the subject.
What AI Robotics Demos Don’t Show: The Missing Piece in AI Robotics
The episode explores why AI‑powered robotics demos often hide the true difficulty of teaching robots fine motor skills, likening it to the brain's split‑system learning (system‑1 for fast, automatic actions and system‑2 for reasoning). Hosts discuss how current humanoid projects...
My Conversation with Carl Bass: Autodesk, Innovation & the Future Unplugged
In this nearly hour‑long conversation, former Autodesk CEO Carl Bass recounts the company’s humble origins—from a trade‑show demo of AutoCAD and an early office‑software prototype to the rise of Revit as the architectural standard—and reflects on the massive technological shifts...
Throwback: Sang-Bae Kim on Humanoids and Legged Robots (2021)
In this episode, MIT professor Sang‑Bae Kim recounts his journey from building LEGO and RC cars as a child to creating cutting‑edge legged robots such as the MIT Cheetah series. He explains how nature inspires robot design but stresses that...
Can Planetary Roller Screws Be Produced in Under 20 Seconds to Make Them Viable for Humanoids?
In this episode, host Scott Walter interviews Benjamin Schwegler of LTK Lineartechnik Korb about the feasibility of producing planetary roller screws in under 20 seconds, a breakthrough that could enable their use in humanoid robots. Schwegler explains the current manufacturing...
The Ability Hand: The Fastest Touch-Sensitive Bionic Hand in the World
The Ability Hand: The Fastest Touch-Sensitive Bionic Hand in the World by Marwa ElDiwiny