Robot Talk Episode 168 explores flexible electronics for dexterous robots
Robohub's Robot Talk has released Episode 168, featuring a conversation with Zlatka Stoeva, founder and managing director of DZP Technologies, about how novel electronics are helping advance dexterous robotics. The Cambridge-based company specialises in advanced materials and unconventional electronic systems, with a portfolio built around flexible, stretchable and soft printed electronics.
Stoeva's background is in materials chemistry. According to the episode description, she developed the innovative electronic materials that laid the foundation for DZP Technologies' current range of flexible and soft electronics. That materials-first approach is central to the company's work: rather than treating electronics only as rigid boards and packaged components, DZP focuses on electronic materials and devices that can bend, stretch and conform to curved or moving surfaces.
Such capabilities matter for robotics, especially for dexterous robots that need to interact with objects and environments in more adaptable ways. Conventional rigid electronics can constrain where sensors and circuits are placed, and they may not survive repeated flexing or contact. Flexible and stretchable printed electronics could allow sensing, wiring and other functions to be integrated into soft robotic structures, compliant grippers or wearable interfaces without adding excessive bulk or stiffness.
The Robot Talk episode examines the path from materials chemistry to robotics applications. DZP Technologies entered robotics through an ARIA-funded project focused on printed electronics components for dexterous robots. The project offers a concrete example of how advanced materials research can move from laboratory-developed inks and substrates toward components designed for robotic hands and manipulation systems.
In the conversation, Stoeva discusses the technical and commercial considerations involved in developing flexible, stretchable and soft printed electronics. The episode also considers the role such components might play in future dexterous robots, where sensing and electronics must be distributed across compliant structures rather than concentrated in rigid enclosures.
Printed electronics are typically built by depositing functional inks and materials onto substrates, which can enable thin, lightweight and conformal devices. For robotics, that opens possibilities for large-area sensors, stretchable interconnects and integrated sensing skins. The discussion places novel electronics in this broader context, linking materials innovation to the hardware needs of more capable robotic manipulation.
The focus on printed electronics is significant because it shifts attention from packaged chips alone to the materials and processes that make electronic functions possible. In robotics, that can mean customised sensors and circuits produced on flexible substrates, rather than components designed only for conventional circuit boards.
DZP Technologies is based in Cambridge and describes its focus as advanced materials and novel forms of electronics. Its portfolio spans flexible, stretchable and soft electronics, building on electronic materials developed by Stoeva. The company's robotics work is tied to printed electronics components intended for dexterous robot systems, according to the episode description.
Robot Talk is a Robohub podcast that explores robotics research, technology and applications through interviews with researchers, engineers and entrepreneurs. Episode 168 places novel electronics in that broader context, linking materials innovation to the hardware needs of more capable robotic manipulation.
For listeners interested in the intersection of materials science and robotics, the episode offers an overview of why soft and printed electronics are attracting attention. It also highlights the practical route from specialised materials to application-focused projects, including the ARIA-funded effort on dexterous robots.
The conversation also illustrates how specialist materials companies can contribute to robotics without building complete robots. By supplying electronic materials and components, firms such as DZP Technologies can support robot developers that need new sensing, interconnection or conformal electronic solutions for dexterous manipulation. The episode thus connects a materials-science story to a specific robotics application and to the wider debate over how robots can become more capable in unstructured settings.
The episode is available through Robohub's Robot Talk series. It features Zlatka Stoeva of DZP Technologies and host Claire, and focuses on flexible, stretchable and soft printed electronics for dexterous robots.