Ziyao Zhang

State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instruments, Intelligent Health (United Kingdom), South China University of Technology

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Ziyao Zhang is a rising researcher in soft robotics and microactuation, whose work bridges fundamental physics with practical, energy-efficient design. His primary research areas include optothermal microactuation, programmable artificial muscles, and soft robotic grippers. Zhang’s major contributions lie in developing novel actuation mechanisms that overcome traditional trade-offs between performance and control. His most-cited work, “Laser-driven optothermal microactuator operated in water” (2020, 7 citations), established a theoretical model for a microactuator that uses laser-induced heat to create expansion in aqueous environments—a key step toward untethered, remotely controlled micro-robots. In “Programmable Helical Hierarchy in Coiled Polymer Artificial Muscles” (2025, 4 citations), he introduced a multilevel helical fabrication scheme that achieves both large stroke and high payload capacity, solving a long-standing challenge in artificial muscle design. His latest work, “An Energy-Efficient Soft Robotic Gripper with Shape Locking and Sensing” (2024, 1 citation), proposes a gripper driven by a pre-stressed flexible plate and twisted string actuator, enabling low-power shape locking. Though early in his career, Zhang’s innovative approaches to actuation and energy efficiency mark him as a promising contributor to next-generation soft robotics.