Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

He Peng is pioneering the next generation of flexible robotics through innovative variable-stiffness actuation. His core research focuses on overcoming a fundamental challenge in soft robotics: the trade-off between flexibility and load-bearing rigidity. Peng’s major contribution is the development of a novel class of pneumatic actuators that cleverly integrate three principles—pneumatic drive, wedge structures, and particle blockage—to achieve tunable stiffness on demand. His most cited work (2023, 5 citations) introduces a particle-blocking variable-stiffness actuator that can nonlinearly adjust its anti-tensile stiffness, dramatically improving the payload capacity of flexible robots without sacrificing their inherent compliance. He has since extended this concept to create bidirectional bending actuators (2024, 3 citations) and a three-degree-of-freedom pneumatic flexible arm with integrated braking (2023, 1 citation), demonstrating a systematic approach to solving the rigidity problem. Peng’s work is foundational for applications requiring safe human-robot interaction, such as assistive devices and medical manipulators, where a robot must be both gentle and strong. His innovative hybrid mechanism design is establishing a new paradigm for adaptive, high-performance soft robotic systems.