Zuyang Ye

University of California, Riverside, University of Washington

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Total Citations

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About

Zuyang Ye is a researcher at the forefront of soft robotics and laboratory automation, whose work bridges intelligent materials design with autonomous scientific discovery. Ye’s most impactful contribution lies in the development of polarization-modulated photothermal actuators, a breakthrough that enables multidirectional, programmable locomotion in soft robots. Their 2020 paper on this topic, which has garnered 59 citations, introduced a freestanding photothermal robot capable of walking along predesigned pathways simply by modulating laser polarization—a significant advance in contactless, light-driven motion control. More recently, Ye has turned their attention to the critical bottleneck of high-throughput characterization in self-driving laboratories. As the lead author of “Kamome” (2025), Ye presents a low-cost, 3D-printable sample positioning and scanning system designed to democratize autonomous materials characterization. This work addresses a key limitation in the widespread adoption of autonomous labs, offering a scalable solution that could accelerate the discovery and optimization of novel materials. By combining expertise in photothermal actuation with open-source automation tools, Ye is shaping a future where both soft robots and materials science laboratories operate with unprecedented autonomy and efficiency.