Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning Announces Call for Proposals for Soft Robotics Research Center (ERC) Support Program
All or part of the existing robot is manufactured with a flexible and elastic structure

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning announced that it will accept applications for research teams starting Tuesday, July 19, to support the soft robot field as an Engineering Research Center (ERC).

Soft robots are one of the promising future technologies identified by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning last year (2015) as a follow-up measure to the annual work report, and include soft robots, neuro-mimetic chips, biomimetic sensory sensors, and nanomachines for diagnosis and treatment.

Soft robots, in which all or part of existing robots are replaced with flexible and stretchable structures, are a new type of robot based on the principles of movement and interaction of living organisms in irregular environments.

This was derived as a new technology worth pursuing for Korea by comprehensively analyzing market potential, technological competitiveness, and national agendas based on information on approximately 590 future technologies predicted by about 60 domestic and international institutions.

'SNUMAX', developed by a Seoul National University research team and modeled after the shape of an armadillo, is a robot that transforms freely using origami techniques.

Korea's implementation of softness through hardware (H/W) and control algorithms, surgical robots using cable drives, highWe have been conducting research using soft materials such as molecules and biomaterials, and have accumulated significant research capabilities in each element technology of soft robots.

Representative examples of recent major research achievements include 'SNUMAX' by Professor Kyu-Jin Cho's team at Seoul National University and the stingray bio-robot by Professor Jeong-Woo Choi's team at Sogang University.

'Snumax', which won first place in the World Soft Robot Grand Challenge, is modeled after the shape of an armadillo and features wheels that can be freely transformed using origami, and a robot arm made using a flexible material that mimics spinal joints.

The stingray bio-robot was recently featured as a cover article in the world-renowned journal Science. As a robot that moves using light stimulation with animal biological tissues without relying on electric power, it is expected to have diverse potential applications in the future, such as in disease diagnostic sensors.

Excellent results were derived from collaborative group projects rather than division of labor research.
Applications will be accepted until the end of August, followed by an evaluation, and research will begin in earnest in November.

Over the past four months, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning formed a working group centered on relevant researchers to analyze global research trends in soft robots and held an expert discussion at Ewha Womans University on June 24.

During the discussion, there was a consensus that securing research leadership is essential for developing globally competitive soft robot technology and acquiring core technologies. Furthermore, an analysis of overseas research trends revealed that superior results were derived from collaborative group projects rather than the existing division of labor, leading to the agreement that intensive investment should be made in collaborative research such as ERCs.

The selected research teams are expected to receive approximately 12.5 billion won in funding over a maximum of seven years, following the application deadline at the end of August. We plan to start the research in earnest starting in November following an evaluation.

The Soft Robot ERC plans to conduct research with the goal of advancing soft robots from the current basic research level to a prototype level for commercialization, and ultimately completing the development and performance evaluation of approximately five soft robot prototypes.

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning stated, “Through the Soft Robot ERC, we expect to secure global competitiveness in the field of soft robot applications, such as reconnaissance robots for extreme environments that are difficult to implement with existing robot technology, medical device robots, and wearable robots.”