Soft Kinetic

Soft Kinetic is an inter professional group comprising expertise ranging from biomechanics to robotics and materials science.

To realize robust life-like movement in robots, soft active materials are now required. Robo-physical models allow us to decipher the emergent general principles of natural motion systems by emulating them. We develop soft robots with biomimetic soft active materials inspired by original biomechanical discovery. Morphing structures such as fins and tails allow for shape changes on the body, thus enabling unparalleled multi-modal locomotion. 

The head of the research group, Dr. Ardian Jusufi conducted his formal training at U.C. Berkeley, Harvard University, and the University of Cambridge, UK. After first serving as a lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney from 2016, Ardian was appointed as independent Max Planck Research Group Leader [~Associate Professor] in 2018, where served as Faculty at International Max Planck Research School IMPRS-IS and Associate Faculty of the ETH Center for Learning Systems through 2023.  He is currently a research group leader at the Engineering Sciences Department of the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology.  Ardian is Honorary Associate Professor of Macquarie University.  Moreover, Ardian is an Associate of the ETH and University of Zürich Institute for NeuroInformatics INI as well as the Paleontological Institue. As an Editor of Institute of Physics Publishing Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, he handles peer-reviewed articles in his area of expertise encompassing biomimetic materials and mechanisms, experimental robotics, soft robotics, biomechanics and functional morphology.

Dr. Ardian Jusufi positions his highly interdisciplinary research at the interface of engineering robotics, materials science, and biomechanics. He specializes on soft active materials, biomimetics, and robotics inspired by original biomechanical discovery.