By permission only; students must apply through the VIP@Maryland applica tion process in order to join a VIP team.

Soft robots have emerged as powerful alternatives for applications that would be difficult or impossible to realize using traditional, rigid robots. Despite a number of inherent benefits for soft robots, particularly in terms of safety for human-robot interactions, challenges associated with controlling the underlying fluidics of such systems represent key barriers to utility. Dr. Sochol's laboratory introduced a strategy for 3D printing soft robots comprising fully integrated fluidic circuitry ina single print run and demonstrated a soft robotic "hand" beating the first level of Super Mario Bros. This approach relied on an expensive (>$100,000) 3D printer. The goal of this project is to extend this strategy to inexpensive (e.g., <$500) 3D printers to support accessibility and demonstrate efficacy by engineering soft robots capable of playing video games.