  The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the importance of digital fabrication to
enable online learning, which remains a challenge for robotics courses. We
introduce a teaching methodology that allows students to participate remotely
in a hands-on robotics course involving the design and fabrication of robots.
Our methodology employs 3D printing techniques with flexible filaments to
create innovative soft robots; robots are made from flexible, as opposed to
rigid, materials. Students design flexible robotic components such as
actuators, sensors, and controllers using CAD software, upload their designs to
a remote 3D printing station, monitor the print with a web camera, and inspect
the components with lab staff before being mailed for testing and assembly. At
the end of the course, students will have iterated through several designs and
created fluidically-driven soft robots. Our remote teaching methodology enables
educators to utilize 3D printing resources to teach soft robotics and cultivate
creativity among students to design novel and innovative robots. Our
methodology seeks to democratize robotics engineering by decoupling hands-on
learning experiences from expensive equipment in the learning environment.
