Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Xuan-Truc Nguyen is a pioneering roboticist whose work pushes the boundaries of microrobotics, specializing in the design, actuation, and control of insect-scale robots. His major contributions center on the development of ultra-lightweight, high-frequency shape-memory alloy (SMA) actuators, enabling unprecedented locomotion in sub-gram machines. Nguyen led the creation of **SMALLBug**, a 30-mg crawling robot (49 citations), and **SMARTI**, a 60-mg steerable robot (40 citations), both demonstrating that SMA-based actuators can achieve rapid, reliable motion at frequencies up to 20 Hz. He also introduced a **1-mg fast unimorph SMA actuator** (9 citations), a breakthrough in actuator miniaturization. Beyond crawling robots, Nguyen has advanced the control of flapping-wing micro air vehicles (FWMAVs), proposing a unifying control framework for platforms like the Harvard RoboBee and USC BeeBot (8 citations). His work on a **multiplatform position control scheme** (12 citations) further extends the autonomy of flying robotic insects. With over 100 cumulative citations, Nguyen’s research is foundational for the next generation of agile, insect-inspired robots, with potential applications in search-and-rescue, environmental monitoring, and medical microdevices.