The integration of textile technologies in robotics has gained significant attention in recent years due to several key factors that make textiles an appealing choice for robotic applications. Traditional robots are often rigid, which limits their ability to interact safely and effectively with humans and delicate objects. Textiles, inherently flexible and soft, are ideal for creating robotic components like grippers or exoskeletons. Such soft robots can mimic the natural movement of muscles and tendons, making them more adaptable to various tasks and environments. Textile-based robots can bend, stretch, compress, and twist, allowing for a greater range of motion while not compromising on robustness. This flexibility is particularly useful in applications that require robots to navigate complex, irregular, or confined spaces. Textiles can be designed as garments or accessories, directly and naturally following the body’s movements, making them ideal for applications that require close contact with the skin, such as in rehabilitation. This feature is particularly important in wearable robotics, where comfort and ergonomics are critical for user acceptance.
In this workshop, we address the versatility of using textiles in robotics and ignite an exchange between researchers of all stages for future directions in this emerging domain. We aim to explore opportunities together from diverse viewpoints, gaining insights from a textile fabrication viewpoint, as well as touching on challenges in material innovation.
Cecilia Laschi
Full professor at National University of Singapore (NUS)
Professor Laschi is Provost’s Chair Professor of robotics at the National University of Singapore, leading the Soft Robotics Lab. She is Co-Director of CARTIN – Centre for Advanced Robotics Technology and Innovation. She is also Full Professor at the BioRobotics Institute of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa, Italy, currently on leave. Her research interests are in the field of soft robotics, a research area that she pioneered, established, and contributed to develop at international level, including its applications in marine robotics and in the biomedical field. She has been working in humanoid robotics and neurorobotics, at the merge of neuroscience and robotics.
Ozgur Atalay
Associate professor at Istanbul Technical University (ITU)
Ozgur Atalay is an Associate Professor and Head of the Soft Sensors Lab at Istanbul Technical University. As such, he is also the grantee of multiple ERC funded projects. After completing his PhD at Manchester University, UK and his postdoctoral research at Harvard University, US, he has received the Marie Curie Individual Fellowship in 2019 as part of the EU Horizon 2020 program. Currently, the European Commission is funding his “TEXWEAROTS” project with an ERC Grant. This project summarises also Dr. Atalay’s research interests, exploring textile based wearable soft robotics with integrated sensing, actuating, as well as self-powering properties. The Soft Sensors Lab further specializes in sustainable electronic textiles, soft robotics, and the integration of machine learning and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Liang An
Assistant professor at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTECH)
Dr Liang An is a research fellow at SUStech and an assistant professor at Changsha University, China. She completed her PhD at Queen Mary University in London part of the Doctoral Training Centre for Media and Arts Technology. She is also affiliated with the E-Body Lab led by Dr Rebecca Stewart at Imperial College London. In her research, she is interested in e-textile and wearable technology. Her research explores textile stretch sensors properties and how to design and evaluate e-textile sensing systems to capture dance movement for digital performance.
Coming soon! Bear with us!
The workshop will take place in the morning of the 20th October, and will feature some hands on tutorials on smart textiles, as well as talks by experts in the field of soft robotics and textile engineering.
| Time | Activity/Talk | Speaker/Coordinator |
|---|---|---|
| 10 min | Introduction | Organizers |
| 20 min | “Robotics goes soft: new technologies for flexible robots” | Cecilia Laschi |
| 20 min | “Manufacturing Methods of Textile-Based Soft Robotics” | Ozgur Atalay |
| 20 min | “Robust and Reliable E-Textiles” | Liang An |
| 10 min | Break | |
| 50 min | Lightning Talks: accepted abstracts as fast presentations | |
| 40 min | Demo & Poster Session | |
| 40 min | Panel Discussion | Sophie Skach |
| 10 min | Award Ceremony for best poster and demo | |
| 10 min | Closing Remarks by the organizers | Organizers |
We invite you to participate and to submit an extended abstract of maximum 2 pages in IEEE conference paper format.
The deadline for submissions is the 2nd of September 2025. Please submit your abstract contributions to textilerobotics@bioroboticsinstitute.itThe highest quality and most innovative contributions will be invited for a full paper submission for a Special Issue of the IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics (T-MRB), with support from the journal’s Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Paolo Dario.
Further, we also give out monetary awards for the best contribution, sponsored by our industrial partner MoveoWalks.
Topics of interests include, but are not limited to:
We look forward to your submissions, and to a fruitful exchange during the workshop! Hopefully see you in Hangzhou!
Asli Tuncay Atalay
Istanbul Technical University
For any questions and clarifications, please contact Sophie Skach on sophie.skach@santannapisa.it
