Papers
37
Total Citations
1,031
H-Index
17
About
Yasemin Ozkan-Aydin is a roboticist and engineer whose work sits at the dynamic intersection of bioinspired robotics, locomotion mechanics, and swarm systems. Drawing inspiration from earthworms, centipedes, and even entangled worm blobs, she has pioneered soft and hybrid robotic platforms capable of navigating some of the most challenging terrains imaginable — including underground. Her landmark 2021 paper on burrowing soft robots (186 citations) broke new ground by demonstrating controlled subterranean locomotion, a frontier that had long eluded the field. Complementing this, her work on kirigami-skinned earthworm robots and granular fluidization-based burrowing devices reveals a consistent commitment to solving real-world locomotion problems through biological analogy and smart material design. Ozkan-Aydin has also made significant contributions to swarm robotics, showing that self-reconfigurable multilegged robot collectives can conquer complex terrain (95 citations), and to fundamental questions of body-leg coordination in quadrupedal systems. Her collaboration with NASA on granular terrain recovery further underscores the applied relevance of her research. Collectively, her body of work — spanning soft robotics, terradynamics, and collective behavior — has accumulated over 620 citations, establishing her as a distinctive and influential voice in next-generation robotic locomotion.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Controlling subterranean forces enables a fast, steerable, burrowing soft robot186 citations · 2021
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- 3Collective dynamics in entangled worm and robot blobs93 citations · 2021
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- 7Soft Robotic Burrowing Device with Tip-Extension and Granular Fluidization54 citations · 2018
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- 10Coordination of back bending and leg movements for quadrupedal locomotion32 citations · 2018