Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Oyuna Angatkina is a pioneer in the emerging field of origami-enabled soft robotics, where she harnesses the ancient art of paper folding to create novel, bio-inspired mobile robots. Her research focuses on the synergistic design of smart materials and origami structures to achieve complex, multistable locomotion. Angatkina’s most impactful work, "Model-based design of a multistable origami-enabled crawling robot" (2019, 30 citations), provides a foundational framework for moving beyond ad hoc designs, offering a systematic approach to creating these intricate systems. She is the lead developer of the OSCAR (Origami-enabled Soft Crawling Autonomous Robot) platform, a modular, metameric robot inspired by earthworms, which she has rigorously refined to mitigate motion uncertainties that plague soft robots. Her contributions bridge the gap between theoretical origami mathematics and practical robotic engineering, demonstrating how pseudo-compliant behavior can be achieved through clever structural design. Angatkina’s work is critical for advancing soft robots from lab curiosities to reliable tools for real-world tasks like search and rescue, where safe, adaptable, and robust locomotion is paramount.