KENNESAW, Ga. | Oct 8, 2026

Soft robots that can bend, flex, and safely interact with people are becoming more common in research and industry. However, many engineering students still have little exposure to the technology. Kennesaw State University researchers are working to change that with the support of a recent National Science Foundation (NSF) grant.

The $399,953 award is the first NSF grant received by KSU’s Mobility for Everyone (MOVE) Center and brings together three researchers from the Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology. MOVE Center Director and Professor of Mechanical Engineering Ayse Tekes will serve as principal investigator, alongside co-principal investigators Razvan Voicu, assistant professor of robotics and mechatronics engineering, and Lei Shi, assistant professor of mechanical engineering.

The researchers will develop low-cost physical prototypes, digital twins, and artificial intelligence-enhanced learning tools designed to help undergraduate students understand soft robotics and other complex systems that are often introduced at the graduate level. Soft robotic systems use flexible or compliant materials that can bend and adapt to their surroundings. That flexibility creates possibilities for systems that work closely with people, including assistive technologies, wearable devices and biomedical applications.

“This proposal will give us all the resources to implement and demonstrate these topics from freshman to senior engineering courses,” Tekes said. “We will be able to expose an emerging field to undergraduate engineering students at every level.”

The project will combine several pieces into a single learning system. Students will help build portable, 3D-printed soft robotic prototypes and create digital versions of those systems. They will also develop learning activities that faculty can use for classroom demonstrations, assignments, and group projects. AI tools will then provide students with feedback as they work through the material.

The team will pair physical prototypes with digital twins, or virtual models designed to mimic how the systems behave in the real world. Tekes will lead development using MATLAB Simscape, while Shi will work with open-source modeling tools.

“We developed open-source software which can mimic the real behavior of the soft robots in the physical world,” Shi said. “In addition to teaching our own students, we can also leave a very good legacy to them for the future development of their own systems.”

Artificial intelligence will serve as another component of the project. Voicu will lead work on AI tools that can monitor how students solve problems, assess their understanding and provide real-time feedback.

“You can basically just pause and speak to an AI bot and say, ‘I don’t quite understand what’s happening here. Can you explain it?’” Voicu said. “Then you have a 24-hour-a-day tutor that can help you understand the topics.”

Students will also help build the tools. The grant will directly support three graduate students and three undergraduate students, while additional students from the researchers’ labs and the MOVE Center will contribute to the project. Student teams will help design and 3D print prototypes, build digital twins, develop software and work with sensing and data acquisition systems.

“Students own the research,” Tekes said. “We are advisors on this research. We give them the tasks, weekly tasks, and they’re the makers of this research.”

Interest is already growing. Tekes said 44 mechanical engineering students ranging from sophomores to seniors registered for a semester-long training program focused on developing soft robotics virtual lab simulations in MATLAB Simscape.

Ultimately, the researchers hope to share the educational tools developed at KSU with other universities.

“It would be a long-lasting impact,” Voicu said. “Being able to see these tools used in other universities in different locations, those are the type of things that would be really impactful.”

This work is supported by the National Science Foundation’s Division of Undergraduate Education under Award under Award No. 2613366

Established in 2025, the MOVE Center is dedicated to advancing interdisciplinary research and innovation in rehabilitation and assistive technologies by bringing together faculty expertise across engineering, health sciences, computing, and related fields. Its mission is to support the development of impactful solutions that can improve mobility, health, and quality of life for individuals and communities.

– Story by Raynard Churchwell

A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees to its more than 51,000 students. Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia with 11 academic colleges. The university's vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties, and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 8 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.