Soft Technologies Research Articles

Mechanoresponsive Drug Release from a Flexible, Tissue-Adherent, Hybrid Hydrogel Actuator.

Soft robotic technologies for therapeutic biomedical applications require conformal and atraumatic tissue coupling that is amenable to dynamic loading for effective drug delivery or tissue stimulation. This intimate and sustained contact offers vast therapeutic opportunities for localized drug release. Herein, a new class of hybrid hydrogel actuator (HHA) that facilitates enhanced drug delivery is introduced. The multi-material soft actuator can elicit a tunable mechanoresponsive release of charged drug from its alginate/acrylamide hydrogel layer with temporal control. Dosing control parameters include actuation magnitude, frequency, and duration. The actuator can safely adhere to tissue via a flexible, drug-permeable adhesive bond that can withstand dynamic device actuation. Conformal adhesion of the hybrid hydrogel actuator to tissue leads to improved mechanoresponsive spatial delivery of the drug. Future integration of this hybrid hydrogel actuator with other soft robotic assistive technologies can enable a synergistic, multi-pronged treatment approach for the treatment of disease.

Soft technologies in the transformation of perceptions of citizenship in Armenia

Political PR and its influence on electoral behavior in Armenia is one of the significant aspects of the study at the present stage. The importance of this direction is due to a number of components. Political PR is able to influence electoral behavior and is an important part of the political process. At the present stage, the political process is still connected with the problem of choosing the path and goal of the country’s development. This aspect makes it necessary to influence the political activity of citizens, directing it in a direction beneficial to political actors. The possibilities of regulating political activity and preferences of the electorate determine the promising search for the most effective means of advertising and PR in the political process, the introduction of innovations. In the Republic of Armenia, a significant part of the electorate continues to remain politically inert, especially in the regions. People have little interest in events related to competition in domestic politics, there is no awareness that it is political trends that shape the future, and therefore their choice is significant and important. Demonstrating superiority over competitors is the main tactic common in political advertising and PR. However, in recent years, new directions and trends have appeared in political PR, which are based on the influence on individual electoral groups, not just the promotion of a political subject, but also a change in the attitude of the electorate itself to its role in the political process. The political process itself becomes a significant problem, both within the framework of domestic and foreign policy. In many ways, they form the theory and practice of communications within the framework of political consulting, determine the tactics and strategies of PR. In this regard, the search for the most optimal and effective directions of political PR for Russian practice becomes a significant task, and therefore it is possible to determine the chosen research topic as relevant.

Lab2Field transfer of a robotic raspberry harvester enabled by a soft sensorized physical twin

Robotic fruit harvesting requires dexterity to handle delicate crops and development relying upon field testing possible only during the harvesting season. Here we focus on raspberry crops, and explore how the research methodology of harvesting robots can be accelerated through soft robotic technologies. We propose and demonstrate a physical twin of the harvesting environment: a sensorized physical simulator of a raspberry plant with tunable properties, used to train a robotic harvester in the laboratory regardless of season. The sensors on the twin allow for direct comparison with human demonstrations, used to tune the robot controllers. In early field demonstrations, an 80% harvesting success rate was achieved without any modifications on the lab trained robot.

Effects of PVP surfactant on nanosuspension stability and optical, dielectric, and rheological properties of zinc oxide nanoparticles dispersed alcohols mixture based nanofluids

Nanofluids (NFs) are state-of-the-art engineered promising properties soft materials which found vital applications in thermal management and electrical insulation, and also gaining much attention in the advances of soft optoelectronic and microelectronic device technologies. The longer-time functionality of the NF material depends on particle suspension stability which can be maintained up to some extent with the addition of appropriate surfactants. Here, we report the promising properties of the semiconductor NF (SNF) samples consisting of a highly rich ethylene glycol (EG) mixture with glycerol (Gly) (90/10 vol%) as base fluid, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanosuspension, and poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) surfactant. These formulated 90EG + 10Gly/x wt% (ZnO + PVP) SNFs with varying concentrations (x wt%) of ZnO and PVP are characterized by employing ultraviolet-visible (UV–Vis) spectrophotometer (wavelength range 200–800 nm), precision inductance-capacitance-resistance (LCR) meter (frequency range 50 Hz to 1 MHz), and rotational rheometer (shear rate range 13–132 s−1). The UV–Vis absorbance spectra, recorded on the freshly prepared and aged SNF samples, confirmed that the added PVP enhances longer time suspension stability for ZnO nanoparticles in the H-bonded 90EG + 10Gly viscous base fluid, and also promoted the photosensitivity, electronic transition, and radiation blocking performance of these materials. The dielectric spectra revealed a huge contribution of the electrode and interfacial polarization processes to the dielectric permittivity of the SNFs at low frequencies and their dynamics is explored from the intense relaxation peaks observed in the loss angle tangent spectra. The higher experimental frequency range dielectric permittivity remains frequency independent and it is marginally affected by the ZnO and PVP concentrations in these SNFs, at 298.15 K. The electric modulus and impedance spectra of these SNFs are also provided and analyzed for the charge conductivity and interfacial relaxation processes. The ac electrical conductivity of these materials obeys the power law behaviour along with the dc conductivity part in the range from 5.4 to 6.8 × 10–7 S⋅cm−1. The rheological measurements on these SNFs, in the 303.15 K to 323.15 K, categorized them as Newtonian-type fluids with a considerable increase in dynamic viscosity by PVP dissolution. These materials showed the Arrhenius behaviour of viscous flow having activation energies in the range of 25–27 kJ⋅mol−1. The experimental results of various techniques on these green-formulated SNFs revealed their multifunctionality with great potential for the future generation of soft device technologies, in addition to highlighting their current applications of manageable heat transfer in the flow systems.

Learning-Based Control Strategies for Soft Robots: Theory, Achievements, and Future Challenges

In the last few decades, soft robotics technologies have challenged conventional approaches by introducing new, compliant bodies to the world of rigid robots. These technologies and systems may enable a wide range of applications, including human–robot interaction and dealing with complex environments. Soft bodies can adapt their shape to contact surfaces, distribute stress over a larger area, and increase the contact surface area, thus reducing impact forces.

3D printable resin/carbon nanotube composites for wearable strain sensors: Enhancing mechanical and electrical properties

Electrically conductive composite materials are widely used for several applications, particularly flexible strain sensors for wearable electronic devices to detect human motions or apply to soft robotic technologies. Among the carbon nanotube (CNT) composites for strain sensors, the CNT composites with polypyrrole (PPy) have been scarcely found for electromechanical property improvement via digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing. Thus, this research presents a 3D printing fabrication of flexible polyurethane/CNT/PPy (FPU/CNT/PPy) composites for high complexity and model specifications, particularly strain sensing. The FPU/CNT/PPy composites were prepared as photopolymer resin with various proportions of the three components. The composites successfully achieved a gauge factor of 91.9 at 20 percent strain with high durability in 100 stretching-releasing cycles. More than 85% of printing accuracy was also found under the DLP 3D printing method. The small deformation of the composites could be detected during the stretching-releasing process during time-dependent testing. Examples of simple human activity and complex spring motion could be successfully detected due to the high responsibility and reproducibility of the finger motion. The composites mentioned in this study could reach the field of strain sensing and can further be applied to other fields such as healthcare and soft robotics.

Technological Innovations and Design Thinking for Policing and Social Justice

The outcome of interactions between police and citizens is widely held to vary according to the identity of the individual being questioned. This has been a recognized as an issue in law enforcement for some time. This paper will review information on new hard and soft policing technologies and strategies that are designed to reduce the possibilities of police-citizen interactions taking a turn for the worse. In addition to various non-lethal technologies, Artificial Intelligence is often viewed as a potential means of eliminating bias in police interactions. While the literature seems to show some potential for this technology, the end results seem to suggest that more work needs to be done to create a system that thoroughly removes bias from police interactions.

Leveraging Dynamics-Induced Snap-Through Instabilities to Access Giant Deformations in Dielectric Elastomer Membranes

AbstractAchieving extreme deformations without electrical breakdown has been a longstanding challenge in the dielectric elastomer community. In this paper, we present a novel approach for accessing giant in-plane stretches in circular dielectric elastomer membranes by leveraging nonlinear dynamics, specifically short-duration voltage pulses. These voltage pulses—applied about nominal bias voltages where the large-stretch equilibrium does not experience dielectric breakdown—create transient stretches that, if sufficiently large, cause the membrane to dynamically snap-through to its large-stretch equilibrium. These giant deformations are reversible; pulsed voltage drops can return the membrane from its large-stretch equilibrium to its small-stretch equilibrium. Parametric analyses are used to determine the combinations of pulse amplitude and duration that result in snap-through. Corresponding through-thickness electric fields are shown to be below stretch-dependent dielectric strengths from the literature, suggesting practical feasibility. Unlike other techniques for accessing extreme stretches in dielectric elastomers, the present approach relies on voltage control alone; it therefore does not require altering the external mechanical forces that cause pre-stretch and can be applied without modifying the elastomer’s mechanical compliance. This research demonstrates that carefully designed voltage pulses may permit existing and emerging soft material technologies to access extreme, large-stretch equilibria without dielectric breakdown.

A Critical Review on Factors Affecting the User Adoption of Wearable and Soft Robotics.

In recent years, the advent of soft robotics has changed the landscape of wearable technologies. Soft robots are highly compliant and malleable, thus ensuring safe human-machine interactions. To date, a wide variety of actuation mechanisms have been studied and adopted into a multitude of soft wearables for use in clinical practice, such as assistive devices and rehabilitation modalities. Much research effort has been put into improving their technical performance and establishing the ideal indications for which rigid exoskeletons would play a limited role. However, despite having achieved many feats over the past decade, soft wearable technologies have not been extensively investigated from the perspective of user adoption. Most scholarly reviews of soft wearables have focused on the perspective of service providers such as developers, manufacturers, or clinicians, but few have scrutinized the factors affecting adoption and user experience. Hence, this would pose a good opportunity to gain insight into the current practice of soft robotics from a user's perspective. This review aims to provide a broad overview of the different types of soft wearables and identify the factors that hinder the adoption of soft robotics. In this paper, a systematic literature search using terms such as "soft", "robot", "wearable", and "exoskeleton" was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines to include peer-reviewed publications between 2012 and 2022. The soft robotics were classified according to their actuation mechanisms into motor-driven tendon cables, pneumatics, hydraulics, shape memory alloys, and polyvinyl chloride muscles, and their pros and cons were discussed. The identified factors affecting user adoption include design, availability of materials, durability, modeling and control, artificial intelligence augmentation, standardized evaluation criteria, public perception related to perceived utility, ease of use, and aesthetics. The critical areas for improvement and future research directions to increase adoption of soft wearables have also been highlighted.

Opportunities and Challenges in Space Robotics

Robotic technology has the potential to play a major part in the quest to uncover the origins of life and investigate the feasibility of long-term human habitation outside of Earth. However, the harsh conditions present in outer space, including radiation, vacuum, temperature fluctuations, and complex, unpredictable terrain, pose significant obstacles to the development and operation of robotic systems. Although a variety of robotic platforms have been created for exploration, construction, and maintenance in space, their capacity to address fundamental questions remains largely untapped. In particular, the design, construction, and control of robots that can withstand the rigors of extreme space environments remain a significant challenge. In this special section, which is building on a workshop co-organized by the guest editor at the 2020 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, we focus on the recent advancements of space robots, as well as opportunities and critical challenges of this field. In particular, we cover topics of significant interest to the field including mobility on granular terrain and bio-inspired and soft robots for extraterrestrial applications. Because research pertaining to space robotics is generally interdisciplinary in nature, we include articles not only from roboticists but also from physicists and planetary scientists. This special section includes two research articles (2100040, 2100125), two review articles (2100063, 2200071), and two perspectives (2100106, 2100195). The research article by Khajenejad et al., presents an alternative set-valued or set-membership estimation framework for estimation of unknown planetary terrain parameters based on how they affect rover motion (2100040). The other research article by Green et al., presents CASPER, a novel screw-propelled excavation system for planetary exploration and excavation. This platform employs screw propellers for both mobility and excavation and demonstrates significant excavation capability with low mass and power requirements (2100125). The two review papers in this special section discuss robotic attachment mechanisms (2100063) and soft robots (2200071) for space applications. In particular, the article by Spenko, reviews robotic attachment mechanisms for extraterrestrial applications. Specifically, bio-inspired fibrillar dry adhesives for smooth surfaces, electrostatic adhesives for smooth and rougher surfaces, and microspines for rocky and rough surfaces are discussed (2100063). The article by Zhang et al., reviews soft robotics technologies for space applications. Particularly, advantages of soft robots for such applications and potential design, modeling, fabrication, sensing, and control improvements for adapting to space environments are described (2200071). Finally, there are two perspective articles included in this special section that provide insight on soft robots (2100106), and bio-inspired multi-legged and limbless robots (2100195) for mobility on extra-terrestrial terrain. Ng and Lum elaborate on key advantages and potential changes to actuation, fabrication, and locomotion of soft robots for future planetary explorations (2100106). Li and Lewis discuss using terradynamics insights for developing bio-inspired ground robots that are effective in maneuvering on granular and rocky planetary terrain (2100195). The guest editor extends heartfelt gratitude to the authors, reviewers, and the editorial team for their great contributions to this special section. We hope this collection of articles will inspire researchers currently working in space robotics, and also encourage other researchers to engage this exciting and challenging field. Hamid Marvi

ВПЛИВ РІЗНИХ СИЧУЖНИХ ЕНЗИМІВ НА ОСНОВНІ ПОКАЗНИКИ МОЦАРЕЛИ ЗА ТЕХНОЛОГІЇ М’ЯКИХ СИРІВ

У статті викладено результати дослідження впливу різних сичужних ензимів на основні показники моцарели за технології м’яких сирів. Для постановки досліду було сформовано ІІІ групи проб молока (n=5). У контрольній групі проб для зсідання молока використовували сичужний ензим мікробіального походження. У І дослідній групі проб застосовувався ензимний препарат із сичугів молочних телят, екстрагований за методикою Ю.Я. Свириденка. У ІІ дослідній групі застосовували ензимний препарат, який екстрагували із сичугів молочних телят за методикою С.В. Мерзлова. Тривалість зсідання білків при виробництві сиру «Моцарела» із використанням мікробіального ензимного препарату 23 хв., при використанні ензимів І дослідної групи – 27 хв. і при використанні сичужних ензимів ІІ дослідної групи – 33 хв. З огляду на вихід готового сиру «Моцарела» з комерційною метою для отримання більшого прибутку, доцільно використовувати ензим мікробіального походження. Згідно із сенсорним аналізом зразки із використанням телячого сичужного ензиму екстрагованих за методикою С.В. Мерзлова І дослідна група проб характеризувалися вираженим сирним, кисломолочним, без сторонніх присмаків та запахів, властивим м’якому свіжому сиру смаком і запахом; поверхня чиста без механічних ушкоджень, пружна; консистенція мазка, ніжна, в міру щільна; колір білий, рівномірний за всією масою; тісто з наявністю вічок. Найгіршими органолептичними показниками характеризувалися зразки ІІ дослідної групи.

Evidence of the Contribution of the Technological Progress on Aquaculture Production for Economic Development in China—Research Based on the Transcendental Logarithmic Production Function Method

Technology includes hard technology and soft technology. Material technology embodied in production conditions and working conditions such as machinery, equipment and infrastructure is called hard technology, referring to the technology directly used in the development and production of means of production and means of subsistence, such as product design technology, equipment manufacturing technology, etc. Non-material technology, which embodies the experience, skills and management ability of process management, decision support and information technology, is called soft technology. Hard technologies make things easier and faster, while soft technologies promote flexibility and creativity. However, hard technologies take time to produce and have negative environmental impacts, while soft technologies are simple to produce but hard to use. Hence, finding the right balance between hard and soft technology investment is important for the sustainable increase of productivity. In recent years, China has continuously increased its investment in science and technology in aquaculture industry. However, the majority of the investment has gone to hard technology, which has hampered the long-term development of the industry. This paper aims to look at the status quo of the scientific and technological progress of the aquaculture industry in China and explore how the advancement of hard and soft technologies play a role in the economic growth of the aquaculture industry. Transcendental logarithmic production function is employed to calculate the contribution rate of technological progress on China’s aquaculture industry, and the contribution rates of hard technologies and soft technologies are examined separately. The results indicate that, from 2012 to 2020, the contribution rate of overall technical progress on aquaculture in China was 80.159%, of which 71.720% came from the progress of hard technologies, while only 8.439% came from the progress of soft technologies. Based on this conclusion, the paper calls for a balance of hard and soft technologies in the aquaculture industry in China to ensure a healthy and sustainable aquaculture industry. Policy suggestions are also put forward.

Early career scientists converse on the future of soft robotics.

During the recent decade, we have witnessed an extraordinary flourishing of soft robotics. Rekindled interest in soft robots is partially associated with the advances in manufacturing techniques that enable the fabrication of sophisticated multi-material robotic bodies with dimensions ranging across multiple length scales. In recent manuscripts, a reader might find peculiar-looking soft robots capable of grasping, walking, or swimming. However, the growth in publication numbers does not always reflect the real progress in the field since many manuscripts employ very similar ideas and just tweak soft body geometries. Therefore, we unreservedly agree with the sentiment that future research must move beyond "soft for soft's sake." Soft robotics is an undoubtedly fascinating field, but it requires a critical assessment of the limitations and challenges, enabling us to spotlight the areas and directions where soft robots will have the best leverage over their traditional counterparts. In this perspective paper, we discuss the current state of robotic research related to such important aspects as energy autonomy, electronic-free logic, and sustainability. The goal is to critically look at perspectives of soft robotics from two opposite points of view provided by early career researchers and highlight the most promising future direction, that is, in our opinion, the employment of soft robotic technologies for soft bio-inspired artificial organs.

Actuation and design innovations in earthworm-inspired soft robots: A review.

Currently, soft robotics technologies are creating the means of robotic abilities and are required for the development of biomimetic robotics. In recent years, earthworm-inspired soft robot has garnered increasing attention as a major branch of bionic robots. The major studies on earthworm-inspired soft robots focuses on the deformation of the earthworm body segment. Consequently, various actuation methods have been proposed to conduct the expansion and contraction of the robot's segments for locomotion simulation. This review article aims to act as a reference guide for researchers interested in the field of earthworm-inspired soft robot, and to present the current state of research, summarize current design innovations, compare the advantages and disadvantages of different actuation methods with the purpose of inspiring future innovative orientations for researchers. Herein, earthworm-inspired soft robots are classified into single- and multi-segment types, and the characteristics of various actuation methods are introduced and compared according to the number of matching segments. Moreover, various promising application instances of the different actuation methods are detailed along with their main features. Finally, motion performances of the robots are compared by two normalized metrics-speed compared by body length and speed compared by body diameter, and future developments in this research direction are presented.

Designing Digital University Conceptual Framework; Grounded Theory Approach

The present article seeks to identify the characteristics of the digital university using grounded theory. Snowball sampling was performed and 19 experts in the field of university and digital transformation were interviewed. The result of the interviews was a collection of basic topics that were collected during the open coding process and categories were extracted from them. Then, in the central coding stage, the link between the categories under the following headings: causal conditions, contextual factors, intervening conditions, phenomenon-oriented, strategies and consequences of digital university was determined. Then the cases were written in the selective coding stage. The causal conditions affecting the digital university were divided into two categories. Factors within the university: the need to rethink the mission of the university, the need to change teaching and research approaches, the cost and bureaucracy of education and the need to use new educational opportunities and factors outside the university: demographic challenges, the need to identify and meet scientific needs and job for society. Such are the policy and management strategies of research. In policy strategies, policy of education, hard and soft technologies, digital culture, finance and management and data preservation and educational equality are suggested, and in management strategies (executive), assessing the level of digital maturity of the university, providing infrastructure in humanities, leadership, economics and technology, and review of the education system process and definition of new processes are suggested.

Slum compassionate community: expanding access to palliative care in Brazil.

To describe the implementation of a compassionate community in Rocinha and Vidigal slums, located in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Report on the experience of implementing a Compassionate Community based on the World Health Organization conceptual bases, supported by university extension guidelines. Initially, local leaders and residents were recruited and trained in palliative care. Subsequently, health professionals from different specialties engaged in the project through volunteering. Home visits were instituted in the form of interconsultation and "sponsorships" by residents and health professionals to people in palliative care and family members. Finally, the health care network in the territory was integrated in order to recognize the project as a support network. We highlight the experience as living work in health, which involves relationships and creative processes, which mobilize structured technical knowledge and relationships between people and soft-hard and soft technologies, making it possible to recognize powers in the territory.

Can health work be considered as “soft technologies”?

Resumo Neste ensaio trazemos uma discussão sobre o conceito de tecnologia leve aplicado ao trabalho em saúde, como proposto por Emerson Merhy. Objetivamos problematizar a ideia de tecnologia leve e, para isso, estabelecemos duas linhas de análise. Na primeira, há um diálogo com Antonio Negri, Michael Hardt e Maurízio Lazzarato na reflexão sobre a dimensão produtiva do trabalho vivo, como trabalho imaterial e produção de valor no campo da saúde. Na segunda, orientados por Michel Foucault, analisamos a dimensão ética de um trabalho que tem na imprevisibilidade do encontro, da experiência e do acontecimento a produção de um saber. Concluímos apontando que o trabalho em saúde se trata de uma tecnologia que produz relações de cuidado e, assim, solicita a criação de modos de cuidar, trabalhar e gerir com os cotidianos da saúde pela metamorfose de um êthos.

SoftSAR: The New Softer Side of Socially Assistive Robots-Soft Robotics with Social Human-Robot Interaction Skills.

When we think of "soft" in terms of socially assistive robots (SARs), it is mainly in reference to the soft outer shells of these robots, ranging from robotic teddy bears to furry robot pets. However, soft robotics is a promising field that has not yet been leveraged by SAR design. Soft robotics is the incorporation of smart materials to achieve biomimetic motions, active deformations, and responsive sensing. By utilizing these distinctive characteristics, a new type of SAR can be developed that has the potential to be safer to interact with, more flexible, and uniquely uses novel interaction modes (colors/shapes) to engage in a heighted human-robot interaction. In this perspective article, we coin this new collaborative research area as SoftSAR. We provide extensive discussions on just how soft robotics can be utilized to positively impact SARs, from their actuation mechanisms to the sensory designs, and how valuable they will be in informing future SAR design and applications. With extensive discussions on the fundamental mechanisms of soft robotic technologies, we outline a number of key SAR research areas that can benefit from using unique soft robotic mechanisms, which will result in the creation of the new field of SoftSAR.

Semi-quantitative analysis of molecular composition for petroleum fractions using electrospray ionization high-resolution mass spectrometry

The developments of high-resolution mass spectrometry and soft ionization technologies have enabled the molecular characterization of petroleum fractions. However, quantitative analysis of molecular composition for petroleum is far from being achieved. In this study, semi-quantitative analysis of molecular composition for the whole compounds in heavy petroleum fractions was carried out. Hydrocarbons and various heteroatoms in the heavy petroleum fractions were characterized by only electrospray ionization coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry. The molecular composition of various types of compounds were calculated and integrated quantitatively based on bulk chemical composition. The semi-quantitative molecular compositions of four heavy petroleum fractions with largely different bulk properties were comprehensively characterized in multiple dimensions such as carbon number distribution, condensation degree, molecular weight, mass fraction, and molecule number. More than 5,000 molecules, which classified into 16 compound classes of seven groups were quantitatively characterized from the four fractions. The accuracy of the analysis seems acceptable according the H/C ratio comparation between that derived from element analysis and the semi-quantitative molecular composition. Representative molecule set containing structural information was also proposed based on the semi-quantitative results.

SOFT SKILLS DEVELOPMENT TECHNOLOGIES IN THE SYSTEM OF PROFESSIONAL BACHELOR TRAINING OF CHOIR CONDUCTORS

The paper studies the soft skills development technologies in the system of professional bachelor’s training of choral conductors, which are an important factor in ensuring future successful professional activity. The essence of the «soft skills» category was interpreted and the main characteristics of soft skills were investigated. It was found that there are three categories of soft skills: cognitive (critical thinking, innovative thinking, problemsolving skills, time management, etc.), social-communicative (communicative skills, communication ethics, group work skills, interpersonal skills, work ethics, etc.), personality attributes and components of emotional intelligence (emotional intelligence, flexibility, optimism, creativity, honesty, motivation, empathy, etc.). The analysis of the Higher Education Standard for the specialty 025 «Musical Art» for the first (bachelor’s level) of higher education was carried out, which defines the entire range of special professional competencies and learning outcomes of future choral conductors. An analysis of the process of formation and development of soft skills in future choral conductors was carried out through the analysis of the educational standard of their specialty. A general overview of the educational components for the «Conducting and choral art» profiling was conducted from the standpoint of ensuring the formation and development of soft skills. An analysis of the educational disciplines of the «Conducting and Choral Art» specialization was carried out, was carried out, which are aimed at the formation and development of differentiated soft skills in future choral conductors. The discipline «Professional music and performance training» was analyzed from the perspective of its opportunities to directly form soft skills of the future choir conductor, which contributes to the formation of communicative competences. It was determined that the most significant in the formation of communicative competences are personal indicators in several plans: creative-executive, social-psychological, communicative, individual-personal, moralpolitical. It was found that the communicative culture of choral conductors during the study of the educational discipline «Professional music and performance training» as an integrative personal education distinguishes the following indicators: according to the conducting-performing criterion, according to the emotional-value criterion, according to the cognitive criterion, according to the behavioral criterion. It was determined that after completing bachelor’s training, future choral conductors should develop soft skills based on the competence approach.