Papers
36
Total Citations
5,169
H-Index
21
About
Herbert Shea is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of soft robotics, dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs), and stretchable electronics, whose work has fundamentally shaped how engineers design compliant, bio-inspired machines. His 2018 critical overview of soft robotic grippers, amassing over 1,850 citations, stands as a landmark reference in the field, synthesizing diverse materials, principles, and architectures that define modern soft gripping systems. Shea's contributions extend far beyond review work: his laboratory has produced groundbreaking autonomous soft robots, including a subgram untethered robotic insect driven by low-voltage DEAs (518 citations) and a biomimetic robotic fish (359 citations), demonstrating that elastomer-based systems can achieve sophisticated, lifelike locomotion. His foundational 2012 paper on flexible and stretchable electrodes for DEAs (510 citations) helped establish the material toolkit underpinning much of soft robotics today. Shea has further pushed boundaries with stretchable pumps, variable stiffness actuators, flexible active skins with addressable tactile pixels, and high-voltage thin-film transistors for DEA arrays. Together, his contributions reveal a researcher uniquely committed to translating smart materials into practical, miniaturized, and autonomous robotic systems with real-world impact.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Soft Robotic Grippers1,850 citations · 2018
- 2
- 3Flexible and stretchable electrodes for dielectric elastomer actuators510 citations · 2012
- 4Stretchable pumps for soft machines445 citations · 2019
- 5Soft Biomimetic Fish Robot Made of Dielectric Elastomer Actuators359 citations · 2018
- 6
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- 8Small, fast, and tough: Shrinking down integrated elastomer transducers133 citations · 2016
- 9
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