Fueled by a recent surge in sensing and artificial intelligence technologies, robotics holds the potential to take center stage in our society. To accelerate the socioeconomic impact of this field, I develop algorithmic foundations that will shape the way future generations of robots are made, how they operate in the physical world and how they interact with us. More specifically, towards the goal of ubiquitous robots, I focus on scalability and customizability. As far as scalability is concerned, I investigate computational motor control models that will allow robots to safely and reliably perform increasingly sophisticated behaviors in uncertain, real-world environments. I also develop novel algorithmic solutions that will allow robots to be easily customized according to specific tasks, environments and the unique needs and preferences of the people they serve. Furthermore, by leveraging the emerging capabilities of digital fabrication technologies, the computational design methodologies developed in my lab promise to lead to entirely new breeds of bio-inspired synthetic creatures, including robots that are entirely soft, and therefore safe-by-design.