Yufeng Su

Columbia University, Zhengzhou University

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About

Yufeng Su is a rising star in soft robotics, whose work masterfully bridges bioinspiration and mechanical innovation to solve fundamental challenges in locomotion and manipulation. His primary research areas center on soft robotic actuation, elastic instability, and microswarm control. Su’s most impactful contribution is the development of a fast untethered soft robotic crawler, which, inspired by the galloping gaits of cheetahs and wolves, achieves a remarkable speed of 313 mm/s (1.56 body lengths per second)—outpacing most reported soft crawlers. This work, cited 18 times, demonstrates how elastic instability can unlock high-speed, single-actuator designs. In parallel, his research on reconfigurable disk-like microswarms under sawtooth magnetic fields (9 citations) advances targeted delivery and micromanipulation by mimicking insect swarm behavior. Su has also addressed the classic gripper trade-off between span and speed, designing bionic soft grippers that leverage elastic instability for rapid fabric grasping. Through these achievements, Su is redefining the performance boundaries of soft robots, proving that simplicity and speed can coexist in compliant, untethered systems.