Everett Collins

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About

Everett Collins is a pioneering roboticist whose work bridges soft robotics and deep-sea engineering, with a focus on adaptive manipulation in extreme environments. His most-cited paper, "Universal jamming grippers for deep-sea manipulation" (2016, 31 citations), introduced the first underwater application of a jamming gripper—a soft robotic technology that uses granular material to conform to and grasp irregularly shaped objects. Collins and his team overcame significant challenges, such as pressure tolerance and fluid dynamics, by developing a glass-based granular system that operates reliably at depth. This breakthrough has opened new possibilities for autonomous underwater vehicles in marine biology, archaeology, and offshore infrastructure maintenance. Beyond this landmark study, Collins has contributed to the design of pressure-tolerant actuators and sensorized soft grippers, advancing the field's understanding of how compliant systems can function in high-pressure, low-visibility conditions. His work is widely recognized for its practical impact, with ongoing collaborations with oceanographic institutes and robotics labs. Collins continues to push the boundaries of what soft robots can achieve in the most inaccessible places on Earth.