Principled Rigid-Soft Mechanisms Lab

The Principled Rigid-Soft Mechanisms (PRiSM) Lab at WPI—led by Professor Connor McCann—studies hybrid-stiffness mechanisms at the intersection of soft and rigid robotics, seeking to leverage the benefits of both extremes to produce more highly capable robotic hardware. We draw inspiration from nature where rigid and soft materials are often used in tandem to achieve “mechanical intelligence,” embedding complex behaviors directly into an animal’s body independent of any active neurological control. To emulate this approach in robotics, we combine first-principles physical modeling with application-driven design and prototyping. Our work spans multiple application areas, including robotic grasping and manipulation, wearable robotics, and bioinspired robotics.