inControl ep35 - Cosimo Della Santina: From Dexterous Manipulation to Soft Robotics and Embodied Intelligence
Aug 15, 2025
Join Cosimo Della Santina, an innovative Associate Professor in Robotics at TU Delft and founder of the Physical Intelligence Lab, as he delves into the fascinating world of soft robotics. He shares insights from his early days with the PISA robotic hand and discusses the complexities of controlling soft robots, emphasizing their natural inspirations. Cosimo also explores the intriguing fusion of robotics and art, alongside the evolution of control systems. His passion for innovation shines through, encouraging future students to embrace unexpected opportunities.
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From Music To Nonlinear Control
- Cosimo describes his path from aspiring musician to computer engineering and then to nonlinear control in robotics.
- He credits visits to Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna and Antonio Bicchi's group for steering him toward robotic hands research.
Mechanics As A Control Layer
- Embedding control in mechanics lets the physical design solve parts of the manipulation problem.
- Cosimo learned to view mechanical design as a control design problem during his PhD on robotic hands.
Passive Mechanics Create Local Control
- Underactuated, elastic hands can implement local PD-like behavior via springs and damping.
- Allowing many passive degrees of freedom lets the object shape and interactions determine the hand equilibrium.
