Soft Robotics and Biodesign Lab

Soft neuroprosthetic hand

A soft neuroprosthetic hand providing simultaneous myoelectric control and tactile feedback

Welcome to Gu Research Group

T
he SJTU Soft robotics and biodesign (SRB) lab focuses on design, manufacturing, modeling and control of new bioinspired, soft robots for safe, compatible and adaptive interactions with humans and environments. SRB Lab is part of Robotics Institute, School of Mechanical Engineering in Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Our current research interests include soft robotics, bioinspired robot design and motion control, smart materials actuators and sensors, and additive manufacturing with soft materials. Example applications include soft wearable rehabilitation robots for assisting and restoring the ability of the humans with the upper extremity weakness in activities of daily living, bioinspired robotic systems for grasping and manipulation, and soft sensing systems for human-robot interaction.

Recent Publication>>More

Soft robotic hand with tactile palm-finger coordination, Nature Communications (2025)

Soft multifunctional bistable fabric mechanism for electronics-free autonomous robots, Science Advances (2025)

Multimaterial cryogenic printing of three-dimensional soft hydrogel machines, Nature Communications (2025)

Precise control of soft robots amidst uncertain environmental contacts and forces, IEEE Transactions on Robotics (2024)

All 3D-printed soft high-density surface electromyography electrode arrays for accurate muscle activation mappingand decomposition, Advanced Functional Materials (2024)

A generalized motion control framework of dielectric elastomer actuators: dynamic modeling, sliding-mode control and experimental evaluation, IEEE Transactions on Robotics (2024)

Modeling and design of lattice-reinforced pneumatic soft robots, IEEE Transactions on Robotics (2024)

High-stroke, high-output-force, fabric-lattice artificial muscles for soft robots, Advanced Materials (2024)

Morphological design for pneumatic soft actuators and robots with desired deformation behavior, IEEE Transactions on Robotics (2023)

X-crossing pneumatic artificial muscles, Science Advances (2023)

A soft neuroprosthetic hand providing simultaneous myoelectric control and tactile feedback, Nature Biomedical Engineering (2023)

Dexterous electrical-driven soft robots with reconfigurable chiral-lattice foot design, Nature Communications (2023)

3D-printed PEDOT:PSS for soft robotics, Nature Reviews Materials (2023)

High-stretchability, ultralow-hysteresis conducting polymer hydrogel strain sensors for soft machines, Advanced Materials (2022)

Kinematic modeling and characterization of soft parallel robots, IEEE Transactions on Robotics (2022)

Inchworm inspired multimodal soft robots with crawling, climbing, and transitioning locomotion, IEEE Transactions on Robotics (2022)

Group Announcements>>More

[03/23/2025]
Our paper on hybrid tension and configuration control of cable-driven hyper-redundant robots has been accepted for publication in the IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L). Congratulations to Zhenpu and co-authors.

[03/19/2025]
Our paper on highly dexterous and adaptive robotic hands has been accepted for publication in the Science Advances. Congratulations to Ningbin and co-authors.

[02/26/2025]
Our paper on soft robotic hand with tactile palm-finger coordination has been accepted for publication in the Nature Communications. Congratulations to Ningbin, Jieji and co-authors.

[02/02/2025]
Our collaborated paper with Prof. Xuzhou Yan on robust mechanically interlocked network ionogels has been published online in Angewandte Chemie.

[01/16/2025]
Miao Feng defended his Ph.D. thesis. Congratulations!

[12/14/2024]
Our paper on soft multifunctional bistable fabric mechanism has been accepted for publication in the Science Advances. Congratulations to Dezhi and co-authors.

[12/12/2024]
Our paper on gelLight camera-based tactile sensor has been accepted for publication in the Advanced Intelligent Systems. Congratulations to Jieji and co-authors.

[12/10/2024]
Our paper on multimaterial cryogenic printing of three-dimensional soft hydrogel machines has been accepted for publication in the Nature Communications. Congratulations to Jinhao and co-authors.

[11/20/2024]
Our paper on control of dielectric elastomer actuators via modified repetitive control has been accepted for publication in the IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics (TMECH). Congratulations to Peinan and co-authors.

[11/02/2024]
Our paper on automatic design framework of dielectric elastomer actuators has been accepted for publication in the Soft Robotics. Congratulations to Zijian and co-authors.

[10/10/2024]
Our paper on hierarchically-interlocked, three-axis soft iontronic sensor has been accepted for publication in the Advanced Materials Technologies. Congratulations to Zequn and co-authors.

Videos>>More

Soft neuroprosthetic hand


High-stretchability, ultralow-hysteresis strain sensors for soft machines


Design and modeling of soft parallel robots


Cutaneous ionogel mechanoreceptors for soft machines and prostheses


Soft wall-climbing robot

Hyper-redundant snake robot