The Robotics Engineering Department is pleased to welcome Assistant Professor Connor McCann to Worcester Polytechnic Institute as the newest addition to the department. As the founding head of the Principled Rigid-Soft Mechanisms (PRiSM) Lab, Professor McCann specializes in hybrid-stiffness robotics, combining the strength of rigid structures with the adaptability of soft materials to create mechanically intelligent robotic systems.
Amid today’s fascination with artificial intelligence, Professor McCann shifts our attention to the importance of a robot’s physical design for embodied intelligence. His research explores the subtle interaction between rigid and soft components—using first-principles modeling, hands-on prototyping, and nature-inspired design strategies to bring robots to life.
Professor McCann’s academic journey took a turning point as an undergraduate student when an encouraging postdoctoral mentor urged him to pursue a research career. He recalls, “I convinced my advisor to let me lead an independent project developing a dexterous robotic hand inspired by parallel mechanisms. It was really this experience that made me fall in love with research.” This blend of autonomy and hands-on creativity shifted his path from industry toward academia, driven by curiosity rather than predetermined objectives.
Long before that, an earlier experience imbued his work with deep purpose. In high school, he helped engineer a makeshift walker for a two-year-old child with cerebral palsy. Professor McCann reflects, "While the technical aspects of this project were exciting, what really got me hooked on working with assistive technology was the experience of watching this little boy walk across the room for the first time… it’s very rewarding when you can see the way your work is changing someone’s life right before your eyes." That profound experience shaped Professor McCann’s future in assistive robotics.
Nature rarely uses exclusively rigid or soft materials—animals, humans included, combine both to achieve nuanced movement and control. Professor McCann’s lab mirrors that insight, using first-principles modeling and prototypes that blend soft and rigid elements to build robots capable of adaptive physical behavior.
A signature project from Professor McCann’s prior work is a wearable, inflatable robotic shoulder assistant designed to reduce fatigue during overhead tasks. The challenge? Textile materials exhibit hysteresis, where stiffness depends on how they were previously deformed—making consistent robot control tricky. Professor McCann’s solution applies a Preisach model, a mathematical framework borrowed from magnetic hysteresis, to predict and compensate for varying response patterns after just 90 seconds of personalized calibration. This innovation brings reliability and individuality to assistive wearable robotics.
Professor McCann’s classroom reflects his research principles—learning by building. He weaves together rigorous theory, practical projects, and commercial tools, ensuring students learn through immersive, hands-on experience. Professor McCann describes himself as “in the trenches” with students—from undergraduate MQPs up to doctoral research—tailoring his mentorship to individual growth.
Looking ahead, Professor McCann dives into the aquatic world for inspiration. He studies the biomechanics of stingrays, whose fins combine rigid cartilage structures with soft tissues to swim with graceful efficiency. He’s assembling a research team spanning marine biology, material mechanics, soft robotics, and composites to translate that biological elegance into robotic systems, like remotely operated underwater vehicles with unprecedented agility.
In a time when headlines are dominated by artificial intelligence, Professor McCann champions a complementary yet vital concept: embodied physical intelligence—the notion that a robot’s physical design is as crucial as its computational brain. Drawing from a journey that began with crafting assistive devices in high school and now leads to groundbreaking hybrid-stiffness robotics research, Professor McCann’s path illuminates how empathy, mentorship, and interdisciplinary innovation can redefine robotics. His philosophy emphasizes that a robot's body should be as thoughtfully engineered as its code. With this vision in mind, he hopes to “work towards a comprehensive design theory for this new hybrid-stiffness regime, developing the modeling and design principles to bridge the gap between rigid and soft robotics.”
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