Embodied Intelligence in soft robotics: joys and sorrows

Abstract

Embodied intelligence and soft robotics are strictly interconnected, as soft bodyware is key to obtain emergent behaviours from external interactions. The overall advantages of embodied intelligence in robotics are balanced by additional challenges in robot design and control. A main contribution of embodied intelligence to robotics consists of simplifying principles for robot control, in terms of control parameters. At the same time, robot design becomes more complex, involving the complex dynamic interaction of the robot with the environment and the task. These two form the ecological niche where embodied intelligence is effective, but they also limit the robot task space. To what extent can we enlarge the ecological niche without missing the benefits of embodied intelligence? Emergent behaviours are what we expect to simplify control, but what level of controllability can we still achieve? And how far are we from a mathematical description of embodied intelligence, to the benefit of soft robot design and control? Few trade-offs between contrasting needs in the use of embodied intelligence in soft robotics are discussed here, in view of directions of future progress.