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

Biomimetic rigid-soft finger design for highly dexterous and adaptive robotic hands, Science Advances (2025)

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)

Group Announcements>>More

[10/31/2025]
Our paper on high-performance artificial muscle has been accepted for publication in the Science. Congratulations to Xiaotian, Jiang and co-authors.

[10/23/2025]
Our paper on fabric-based cellular pneumatic actuators has been accepted for publication in the Science China Technological Sciences. Congratulations to Dezhi and co-authors.

[10/17/2025]
Our paper on high-DOF fabric-based soft glove has been accepted for publication in the Soft Robotics. Congratulations to Jianing and and co-authors.

[10/17/2025]
Welcome Professor Fumiya Iida from University of Cambridge to visit our lab and give a talk on "From Bio-Inspired Sensorized Soft Robots to Informatized Embodiment."

[10/17/2025]
Welcome Professor Jamie Paik from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne to visit our lab and give a talk on "Embedded Intelligence for Adaptive Automation via Reconfigurable Robots."

[10/11/2025]
Our paper on nonlinear modeling of the finite helical deformation of 3D-printed PneuNets has been accepted for publication in the IEEE Transactions on Robotics. Congratulations to Prof. Wang and and co-authors.

[09/17/2025]
Welcome Professor Metin Sitti from Koç University to visit our lab.

[09/10/2025]
Our paper on millimeter-scale fluid-driven soft robots has been accepted for publication in the National Science Review. Congratulations to Rong and and co-authors.

[09/08/2025]
Our review paper on multimodal locomotion of soft robots has been accepted for publication in the Advanced Intelligent Systems. Congratulations to Zihao and co-authors.

[08/22/2025]
Our paper on soft 3D lattice iontronic tactile sensor has been accepted for publication in the SmartBot. Congratulations to Jinhao and co-authors.

[05/27/2025]
Our paper on soft tubular-surface rolling robots has been accepted for publication in the Soft Robotics. Congratulations to Zihao 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