Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Aaron Ong is a pioneering roboticist whose research sits at the intersection of bio-inspired design, soft robotics, and autonomous fabrication. His most impactful work, a flapping-wing hybrid aerial-aquatic microrobot (286 citations), demonstrates a biologically-inspired solution for multimodal locomotion, enabling robots to seamlessly transition between air and water—a capability critical for environmental monitoring and search-and-rescue. Ong also revolutionized underwater exploration with a soft robot that grows via eversion and retraction, designed to navigate the fragile, narrow crevices of coral reefs (97 citations). This work addresses a pressing ecological need by providing a gentle, non-invasive tool for studying declining reef ecosystems. Additionally, he has made significant contributions to self-folding origami structures, developing an end-to-end design-to-fabrication pipeline (35 citations) that automates the creation of heat-activated robotic sheets. His broader efforts in rapid mechanical customization and efficient 2D laminate fabrication aim to overcome barriers to high-volume production of microrobots, enabling resilient, scalable robotic collectives. Through these innovations, Ong is shaping the future of adaptive, deployable robots for exploration and environmental stewardship.