Papers
12
Total Citations
962
H-Index
8
About
Yichuan Wu is a pioneering roboticist and materials engineer whose research sits at the intersection of soft robotics, piezoelectric actuators, and flexible electronics. He is best known for his groundbreaking work on insect-scale soft robots, particularly his 2019 paper "Insect-scale fast moving and ultrarobust soft robots," which has garnered nearly 500 citations and demonstrated how curved unimorph piezoelectric structures can simultaneously achieve remarkable mobility and mechanical robustness in polymer-based robots. Building on this foundation, Wu advanced the field further by introducing electrostatic footpads to enable agile trajectory control in soft robots without rigid structures — work cited over 170 times. His contributions extend beyond locomotion into energy harvesting and sensing, including flexible high-voltage microsupercapacitors based on laser-induced graphene and piezoresistive stretchable strain sensors with human-machine interface applications, each accumulating over 100 citations. More recently, Wu has explored moisture-driven MXene-based actuators and untethered microrobots capable of navigating confined spaces autonomously. Collectively, his research portfolio reflects a coherent vision: creating highly capable, miniaturized robotic systems powered by smart materials — work that continues to shape the future of micro-robotics and wearable technology.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Insect-scale fast moving and ultrarobust soft robot495 citations · 2019
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- 4High-Voltage Flexible Microsupercapacitors Based on Laser-Induced Graphene101 citations · 2018
- 5PRE-curved PVDF/PI unimorph structures for biomimic soft crawling actuators18 citations · 2018
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- 8A flexible slip sensor using triboelectric nanogenerator approach10 citations · 2018
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