Michael D. Grissom

About

Michael D. Grissom is a pioneering roboticist whose work has fundamentally shaped the fields of soft robotics and continuum manipulators. His research centers on bio-inspired robot design, particularly drawing from invertebrate anatomy like octopus arms and elephant trunks, and advanced actuator technologies. Grissom’s most significant contribution is the development of the OctArm series, a groundbreaking class of multi-section, continuous-backbone soft robot manipulators. His 2006 paper on OctArm field trials, which has garnered over 415 citations, demonstrated these robots’ unprecedented ability to navigate unstructured environments—from collapsed buildings to underwater settings—using their entire length for grasping. This work, along with a companion design paper (128 citations), established a new paradigm for safe, compliant manipulation. Grissom also advanced actuation science through his work on wound roll dielectric elastomer actuators, achieving high-strain, high-bandwidth performance for applications in prosthetics and robotics. His 2008 paper on this topic (64 citations) detailed a fabrication process yielding 12% strain, enabling compact, powerful artificial muscles. Through these innovations, Grissom has left an indelible mark on how robots interact with the real world.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Field trials and testing of the OctArm continuum manipulator

   415 citations · 2006
2. 2
   Design and experimental testing of the OctArm soft robot manipulator

   128 citations · 2006
3. 3
   Wound Roll Dielectric Elastomer Actuators: Fabrication, Analysis, and Experiments

   64 citations · 2008
4. 4
   OctArm - A soft robotic manipulator

   60 citations · 2007
5. 5
   Wound roll dielectric elastomer actuators: fabrication, analysis and experiments

   12 citations · 2005
6. 6
   Field Experiments with the OctArm Continuum Manipulator

   4 citations · 2006

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links