Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Taogang Hou is a robotics researcher whose work sits at the intersection of soft robotics, bio-inspired design, and intelligent locomotion. His key research areas include soft robotic manipulation, bio-inspired underwater propulsion, and multimodal mobile robotics. Hou’s most cited work, “Design and experiment of a universal two-fingered hand with soft fingertips based on jamming effect” (2018, 49 citations), introduces a novel soft gripper that leverages granular jamming for adaptive, gentle grasping—a contribution with clear implications for industrial and medical robotics. In underwater robotics, he has developed a bionic manta ray driven by dielectric elastomer actuators (2023, 7 citations) and a cavity-membrane-based water-jet thruster (2023, 5 citations), both demonstrating innovative approaches to soft, efficient aquatic locomotion. His recent work on a lightweight untethered soft robotic fish (2024, 4 citations) addresses key challenges in miniaturization and waterproofing for autonomous underwater vehicles. Hou also explores terrestrial robotics, including an arm-wheel-track multimodal mobile robot (2023, 4 citations) and a spiral coverage path planning algorithm for nonomnidirectional robots (2025, 8 citations). His research consistently pushes the boundaries of soft, adaptive, and bio-inspired systems, making him a notable figure in the growing field of soft robotics and biomimetic engineering.