I measure the functional gradients behind biological sensing and energy storage, and rebuild them as robomaterial models for robotics, healthcare and assistive technology.
Sensing structures are usually built from uniform materials, so every filtering and encoding step has to happen downstream in electronics and software. Biology does it differently. My research builds bio-inspired meta-structures around one hypothesis: re-creating biological physical intelligence in robomaterial models, fabricated specimens where the gradient itself is the experimental variable, reveals design rules for when and how each gradient helps a robot or device.
images/quest-1.jpgCan we build the graded structures biology builds? Map keratin and collagen gradients across length scales, then re-create them with 3D printing and programmable knitting.
images/quest-2.jpgCan one gradient structure both encode contact and store energy? Mount robomaterial models in full robots and compare each gradient with a uniform control under identical loading.
images/quest-3.jpgCan graded structures make assistive technology cheaper and more comfortable? Translate gradients into low-cost devices that interface with the body.
Schulz AK*, Kaufmann LV, Smith LT, Philip DS, David H, Lazovic Zinnanti J, Brecht M, Richter G, Kuchenbecker KJ*
Elephants cannot move their whiskers. The whiskers make up for it through their material: three independent gradients in geometry, porosity and stiffness encode where along the whisker a contact happens in the amplitude and frequency of the vibration felt at its base. This one example has since inspired force sensors with passive filtering, more robust robotic legs, and gradient links for robotic guide dogs.
Also on Google Scholar. * marks corresponding authors.
As a group leader at MPI-IS I independently supervise master’s students, research engineers and interns, and quest alongside biologists, zoos and natural history museums on comparative haptics.
Katherine J. Kuchenbecker
Director, Haptic Intelligence Department, MPI-IS.
A structure that senses by contact should be taught by contact. Much of my outreach grows from the research itself, and from building classrooms and labs where neurodivergent people belong.
A peer network I co-founded for neurodivergent researchers and staff across the Max Planck Society. It gives people a place to share what works, ask for what they need, and feel they belong in their research communities.
Brings Georgia Tech, Emory and Zoo Atlanta researchers together with zoo audiences. The format is published so other groups can run their own.
Tactile 3D-printed lithographs of whiskers, bristles and hairs for blind and low-vision learners in classrooms and museums.
An invited piece on living abroad as a medicated autistic scientist.
Read the article ↗Posts on medication, masking and academic life.
Read on Medium ↗Co-founded at Georgia Tech to connect undergraduates with zoo and conservation partners.
Visit ↗
A live interview on BBC News about how elephants develop their trunk wrinkles, from our study in Royal Society Open Science.
images/andrew.jpgAndrew K. Schulz is a Group Leader in the Haptic Intelligence Department at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) in Stuttgart, an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, and an Associated Postdoc with the International Max Planck Research School for Intelligent Systems (IMPRS-IS).
He is a mechanical engineer trained in applied mathematics and soft-matter physics. He earned a B.S. in Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering at Oklahoma State University and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech in 2022 with David L. Hu, where his thesis examined the mechanics and materials of the elephant trunk. He now leads interdisciplinary teams that bridge engineering mechanics and biology, working with zoos and natural history museums including the American Museum of Natural History.
As an autistic researcher with ADHD, he builds open-source, low-cost methods that keep rigorous science accessible to blind and low-vision scientists, neurodivergent scientists, and groups without major facilities.
Collaborations, speaking invitations, prospective students and faculty search questions are all welcome.
aschulz@is.mpg.de