Ollie Shorthose

Soft Roboticist

I am a DPhil student in the Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford. I work within the Soft Robotics Lab at the Oxford Robotics Institute. Our work is primarily focused on how we can incorporate soft and compliant materials to design inherently safe and adaptable robots. My own research is on designing a 3D-printed soft robotic hand that could be developed further into a prosthetic or to help humans in domestic environments. By taking inspiration from humans’ hands, the hand I’ve designed can achieve near-humanlike dexterity and, by using 3D printing, we can reduce the time taken to print new models and modify them more easily for specific users.

Before beginning my DPhil, I also did my undergraduate MEng at Oxford and was inspired by the novel and exciting work being done within Soft Robotics. As robots increasingly become used in daily life by humans, we have to ensure the safety of both the operating human and the robot itself. The field of Soft Robotics is leading the way in this development and is fast expanding.