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About

Haofei Zhou is a pioneering researcher in soft robotics and bioinspired engineering, whose work pushes the boundaries of autonomous systems in extreme environments. His most celebrated contribution is the development of a self-powered soft robot capable of operating in the Mariana Trench, the deepest point on Earth—a breakthrough that has garnered over 1,100 citations and demonstrated the viability of soft robots in deep-sea exploration. Zhou’s research spans terrestrial and aquatic domains, including the design of the S²worm, a fast-moving untethered insect-scale robot with a novel 2-DoF transmission mechanism that achieves high maneuverability, and a bistable rotating mechanism based on dielectric elastomer actuators for soft actuation. His recent work on plasticized electrohydraulic robot autopilots addresses the critical challenge of material stiffening in deep-sea conditions, while his bioinspired underwater microrobot, modeled after the pteropod, enables flexible multimodal motion in confined aquatic spaces. Zhou also explores sustainable materials with intrinsic shape reconfigurability and reconfigurable bionic assembly systems. With a portfolio of high-impact publications and a focus on real-world deployment from the deep sea to insect-scale locomotion, Zhou is a leading innovator in resilient, adaptive robotic systems.