Interview Transcript
Q1: Hi professor. Thank you so much for your time today to begin this interview. Could you tell us again about your name and a bit about your upbringing?
Yong Lae Park: Okay. Yeah. So hi, my name is Yong Lae Park. I’m a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Acceleration University. My research area is soft robotics. I’m working on developing different types of robots using soft materials and softer structures.
Q2: Could you tell me a bit about where you went to school, your graduate school and PhD?
Yong Lae Park: Okay. Yes. So I went to Korea University for my undergrad. And then I went to Stanford University for my master’s and PhD. At Stanford, I did my PhD in mechanical engineering. I worked on robotics, especially biomimetic robotics and also force and tactile sensing for robots.
Q3: And you became a professor right after your PhD?
Yong Lae Park: No. So I graduated from Stanford University, and then I went to Harvard University for my postdoctoral research. I did soft robotics research at Harvard. And after three years of postdoctoral research, I went to Carnegie Mellon University as an assistant professor in the Robotics Institute. I spent about three years there, and then I came to Seoul National University.
Q4: I see. So how did you get interested in robotics in the first place?
Yong Lae Park: Robots were really exciting things when I was really young. I was born in 1975, and I went to elementary school around the 1980s. During that time, we had a lot of robotic animations and cartoons. So I became really interested in robots. I also liked disassembling my toys and assembling the toys again. So robots were really kind of a friend from my childhood.
Q5: Do you remember the first robot you saw in person?
Yong Lae Park: At that time in Korea, we had a lot of Japanese animations. I don’t know if this sounds right, but I liked the Japanese animation called Mazinger. That was the first robot I saw. And right after that, we also had a Korean robot animation called Taekwon V. Those two were my favorite robots during my childhood.
Q6: And that childhood experience influenced the way you view robots today?
Yong Lae Park: Yes. When I watched the animations, there were always heroes who controlled robots and fought with enemies, but I was more attracted by the doctors who made the robots in the animation, not just the heroes. When I was young, I thought maybe I wanted to be a person who makes robots, not someone who controls robots and fights with enemies.
Q7: And then you realized your dream and became the doctor who makes robots yourself.
Yong Lae Park: Kind of.
Q8: Do you remember the first robotic project you worked on?
Yong Lae Park: When I was in college, I was in a student group for computer engineering and science. In that group, we had an annual exhibition. Most people were developing software to demonstrate, but I was more excited about robots. I studied stepper motors, and then I tried to assemble and make some circuits to control the stepper motors. That was the first robot I made. I was a sophomore in college.
Q9: So you were really attracted to the physical aspect of the robot.
Yong Lae Park: Yes.
Q10: What were some of the main research questions that shaped your career and your research?
Yong Lae Park: During my PhD years, I was really interested in the question: how can we make robots that are similar to creatures or biological systems? Humans and animals have a lot of sensors and actuators. We have developed robotics technologies, but robots are still far from creatures and animals. So my main question was: can we make robots something like humans, or something like animals?
Q11: Is this still your main research question?
Yong Lae Park: Yes, that’s true. In my PhD research, I developed robotic structures that had sensory skins. At that time, sensors and actuators were separate. People made robots and then added sensors if they needed information. But I wanted to create robotic structures that had tactile and force sensing capabilities themselves. My inspiration came from arthropods like insects. Even though they have hard shells, they have sensors in their shells. During my PhD, I wanted to develop robotic structures similar to that, where the structure itself has force and tactile sensing capabilities. After moving to Harvard for my postdoctoral research, I learned about soft robotics. Before that, I didn’t know much about soft robotics. I thought robots needed to be strong. But I learned the concept of soft robotics during my postdoctoral research, and that was fascinating to me. From that time, I really wanted to make robotic skin similar to human skin—not implantable skin for humans, but skin for robots. I also started developing artificial muscles for robots.
Q12: Where do you see applications of these technologies in real life?
Yong Lae Park: These days, humanized robots are really popular, and many companies and labs are working on developing humanoid robots. But still, these humanoid robots are based on traditional robotics designs. The shape itself may be close to humans, but in terms of components and structures, they are still far from humans, animals, and biological systems. In the future, if we have mature technologies in soft robotics, artificial skins, and artificial muscles, those could be implemented in the next generation of humanoid robots.
Q13: Why do you see next-generation humanoids being most useful?
Yong Lae Park: Because I believe we will have robots in our homes in the future. So far, we have had robots mainly in industrial areas. Those areas were separated from human workers. We didn’t have to worry too much about interaction with humans or safety. We could use fences and restrict the area where humans could go. But if you have robots in your home, you have to interact with robots, and you will have physical contact with robots all the time. In that case, robots need to be human-friendly and human-safe. Because of these requirements, you need to make robots soft. They also need to become more similar to humans. So in the near future, we may encounter humanoids with softer skin instead of metallic bodies. That’s what I envision in my research.
Q14: And getting back a little bit to your career, have you encountered any major challenges in your research or career?
Yong Lae Park: Yes. When I was doing my PhD, and when I went to graduate school and started researching, I didn’t really have any concept of research. What is research? I thought maybe I could just work harder and harder, but I didn’t really understand the concept of research. During my PhD, my advisor, Professor Mark Cutkosky at Stanford University, taught me a lot. I really learned what research is from him.
Q15: What was the most challenging part of the research that you had to do during your PhD program at Stanford?
Yong Lae Park: In my early years in graduate school, I tried to work hard. I tried to make something more and more advanced, harder and harder. Then one day my advisor came to me and told me: Research is not just working hard. Research is something where you need to make your own problem and then propose your own solution. To conduct really good research, you need to think about what your research problem and research questions are. From that time, I started thinking about what my research questions and interests were. I thought maybe I really wanted to make robots that were close to creatures and biological systems. Then I started looking at biological systems like arthropods. That was the first moment when I realized what research really means and how we can solve problems and propose solutions.
Q16: I’m hearing from people from Stanford Mechanical Engineering that you still worked really, really hard. What was it like to be a graduate student there? What was your day-to-day life like?
Yong Lae Park: Sometimes I worked hard, but I didn’t work all the time, like the whole year or the whole week. You need to take a break. But even during the break, I tried to think about my research. Working hard doesn’t necessarily mean you have to stay in the lab all the time, do mathematics, make something, or do experiments. Even during your break time, you can meet your friends, have lunch or dinner with your family, but still think about your research problems. That really helps you develop further and advance when you come back to the research lab. When you are working on research, sometimes you always have problems. It looks like you are not really solving those problems. Sometimes you can stop. You can go back home, sleep, take a rest, or meet friends. During those times, you are not physically working on the problems. You are not physically doing mathematics or experiments, but you are still thinking in your brain and your mind. You keep thinking about it. Then when you come back, sometimes you find the solution. So research is nonstop thinking.
Q17: Do you have anything that you’ve always wanted to work on but haven’t done yet?
Yong Lae Park: It’s not something I haven’t done, but as I mentioned, I’m working on soft robotics, artificial skins, and artificial muscles. Still, in real robots, it is very hard to implement a lot of muscles and a lot of skin sensors. If you look at the human hand, you have more than 17,000 sensing organs, tactile sensing organs, in your hand alone. At the fingertip, you have more than 1,000 tactile sensing organs. That is a very high-density tactile sensor array. Using those tactile sensors, humans can manipulate objects and things without looking. If we want humanoid robots to be really useful in our daily lives in the future, then I think we need those kinds of tactile sensors and dexterous manipulation capabilities in robotic hands. We are trying to make those things, but we are still very far from biological systems. In the future, I really want to achieve high-density tactile sensors in robotic hands.
Q18: Another thing I want to achieve is artificial muscles.
Yong Lae Park: We have developed artificial muscles, and there are available artificial muscles for robots. But if you look at the human body, humans have more than 600, almost 700 muscles throughout the body. It is not really possible today to make a robot with that many muscles. But I believe if humanoid robots need to move and work with humans like humans, they should have those kinds of structures and components. I want to make robots that have a lot of tactile sensors and a lot of muscles that combine and create complex motions and synergistic movements.
Q19: Your research vision has very strong real-life applications and usefulness. Do you also collaborate with industry?
Yong Lae Park: Yes. Recently, I worked with Samsung Electronics. They wanted us to develop soft sensors that could be used for semiconductor manufacturing processes. We also worked with Hyundai Motors. They wanted to develop soft sensors that could help recognize the intentions of users, so humans can interact with machines in the future.
Q20: How do you start these collaborations with industry?
Yong Lae Park: Sometimes we approach them, and sometimes they approach us. Sometimes we meet people at conferences and workshops from companies. We start talking about our research interests and expertise, and then we try to find their problems or needs. Then we can suggest what we can do. Sometimes they come to our lab and look at what we are doing. Then they start talking about their needs.
Q21: Why would you say are the keys to successful relationships with industry partners?
Yong Lae Park: There are multiple ways. One way is through students. We have graduate students who graduate from my lab, and sometimes they go to companies. Then we have better relationships and networks with those companies. Another way is meeting many people. There are many workshops, conferences, and symposiums. During those events, we can talk about our research.
Q22: So right now we have generative AI and large language models with very rapid development. How do these technologies change your research?
Yong Lae Park: It has changed a lot. When I was doing my research during my PhD, we didn’t have those kinds of tools. Everything needed to be generated from my own experience, my own insight, or my advisor’s experiences and insights. Those were limited. But these days, because of large language models and generative AI, I think we are able to expand our creativity and expand our insights. We can also borrow ideas from others. It is not about stealing other people’s ideas. These technologies give us the capability to think beyond just one person’s ability.
Q23: What do you think is your most significant contribution to robotics?
Yong Lae Park: I’m working on soft robotics. When I was doing my PhD, there was no term like “soft robotics.” When I started my soft robotics research during my postdoctoral years, people were not familiar with the concept. When I talked about soft robotics to people who were unfamiliar with it, they were confused because they had never heard of soft robotics and had never thought that robots could be made using soft materials. I have worked on soft robotics for more than 15 years. Now soft robotics is really popular in robotics research, and many researchers are working on soft robotics. I developed different types of sensors, actuators, and soft robots. I think those are my contributions. I also contributed a little bit to making the public aware of soft robots. These days, if I talk about soft robotics, many people understand what that means.
Q24: Do you actively communicate with the public and try to educate them about the topic?
Yong Lae Park: Sometimes. I mostly interact with graduate students, professors, and researchers in my field. But sometimes I invite high school students to my lab and show them what we are working on. I also go out and talk with the public about my research.
Q25: What is the reaction like from these high school students?
Yong Lae Park: In the beginning, they don’t understand what I’m talking about. But after I show some videos of my research, they become really excited. Sometimes they are surprised.
Q26: You mentioned you have been working in soft robotics for 15 years. What is the biggest difference between the state of soft robotics today and 15 years ago?
Yong Lae Park: Fifteen years ago, we thought robots needed to be made of metals, mostly rigid materials. We thought robots needed to be strong and that robots could replace human workers in terms of repetitive tasks and strength. That was the concept of robots at that time. Robots needed to be in separate places in industrial areas, away from human operators. But these days, because of soft robotics, we understand that robots can be really interactive with humans. They can physically interact with humans, both in homes and industrial areas. Before the concept of soft robots, people talked about collaborative robots that could interact and work in the same area as human workers. But these days, I want to bring these robots into our daily lives and our homes.
Q27: Have you brought your robots into people’s houses yet?
Yong Lae Park: Not yet, but it’s coming. In the past, there was a term like “PC,” meaning personal computer. When people talked about computers in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, computers were special tools used by researchers or certain people. People didn’t have computers in their homes. At that time, people thought maybe in the future everyone would have a computer at home. That’s why they thought about the term “personal computer.”
Yong Lae Park: Now that has become reality. Everybody has a computer. You have tablets, smartphones, laptops, and desktops. In the future, I believe we will have a term like “PR,” personal robot. Everybody will have robots at home, in schools, and outside. To achieve those personal robots, we are developing humanoid robots. To go further, I think soft robotics will be one of the key technologies to achieve that.
Q28: I see. There could be one day personal soft robots at home.
Yong Lae Park: Personal humanoid robots.
Q29: So we are at the humanoid robotics conference. What aspect of humanoid robotics today excites you the most?
Yong Lae Park: Humanoid technology is developing rapidly. Even five or ten years ago, I couldn’t really imagine that we would have humanoid robots walking around us. Ten years ago, when I went to conferences and talked with experts, not many robots were able to walk. The technologies are changing really, really fast. That was really surprising to me. These days, the motions, controls, and dynamics of humanoid robots are really amazing. I think that will change much faster than what we experienced during the last five to ten years. We live in a very exciting time.
Q30: To wrap this up, since you engage with high school students and the public, what would you recommend to students interested in robotics?
Yong Lae Park: Okay. Based on my research, my research is really about designing, manufacturing, fabrication, and prototyping. There are different areas in robotics, but I recommend that they really work on hardware and physical things. They can start by making robots, disassembling robots, and working with different mechanical systems. Then they will have a better understanding of how mechanical systems and hardware work. I think in the future, even though we have highly developed and advanced AI systems, AI cannot be disconnected or separated from physical systems. The development of physical systems should follow and match the development of AI. So working on physical systems will be really important in the future.
Q31: Start with building and get your hands dirty.
Yong Lae Park: Yes.
Q32: This is all my interview questions. Thank you so much.
Yong Lae Park: Thank you very much. I don’t know if I answered everything perfectly, but thank you.