SOFTWEAR (SOFT actuators for Wearables, Exoskeletons, and Augmenting Robotics) is a doctoral network where researchers develop materials that can be called “textile muscles”, or soft actuators, which can be worn on the body or like an exoskeleton, giving the wearer extra strength. The researchers have taken a broad approach to the problem.
Edwin Jager is the coordinator for the new project SOFTWEAR.
“This is going to be a really exciting project, one in which we’ll develop lots of new materials and technologies focussed on ‘wearables’. The fact that the project also has an interdisciplinary dimension – encompassing textile manufacturing, aesthetic design and the sociological aspects of interactions between people and technology – makes the project interesting both as a whole and as a part of the PhD students’ education”, says Edwin Jager from the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), who is the coordinator for the project.
Linköping University is the host for the network, which consists of a total of twelve PhD students at ten partner universities across the whole of Europe. Two of these will be employed in Edwin Jager’s research group, and will work with both textile muscles and new manufacturing methods. Five universities from France, Japan and Australia are also participating as partners, as are seven European companies.
The PhD student network has been granted almost SEK 29 million from Horizon Europe, a research and innovation programme funded by the European Union. There is also additional funding from Switzerland, which is not part of the Horizon Europe programme.
“This is going to be a really exciting project, one in which we’ll develop lots of new materials and technologies focussed on ‘wearables’. The fact that the project also has an interdisciplinary dimension – encompassing textile manufacturing, aesthetic design and the sociological aspects of interactions between people and technology – makes the project interesting both as a whole and as a part of the PhD students’ education”, says Edwin Jager from the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), who is the coordinator for the project.
Linköping University is the host for the network, which consists of a total of twelve PhD students at ten partner universities across the whole of Europe. Two of these will be employed in Edwin Jager’s research group, and will work with both textile muscles and new manufacturing methods. Five universities from France, Japan and Australia are also participating as partners, as are seven European companies.
The PhD student network has been granted almost SEK 29 million from Horizon Europe, a research and innovation programme funded by the European Union. There is also additional funding from Switzerland, which is not part of the Horizon Europe programme.
