soft robotics
![time lapsed photo shows a soft robot tendril lowering, wrapping around a tube, and lifting it into the air](https://engr.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/yin-mini-actuator-header-1500.jpg)
3D-printed mini-actuators can move small soft robots, lock them into new shapes
![A soft robot and a caterpillar on the branch of a green plant. The caterpillar is on the bottom of the branch and the soft robot is on the top or opposite side of the branch.](https://engr.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Soft-robot-and-caterpillar.jpg)
Caterbot? Robotapillar? It crawls with ease through loops and bends
![Illustration of caterpillar-like soft robot.](https://engr.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/soft-robot-illustration-cropped-resized.jpg)
MAE postdoc wins first-place prize in annual research image contest
![Black-and-white video still shows a ringlike object in a square space that has one gap for an entrance. A bright white line shows the path that the object has taken in tracing the contours of the space.](https://engr.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/yin-orbit-header-1500.jpg)
New soft robots roll like tires, spin like tops and orbit like moons
![image shows two long, twisted strands of clear polymer](https://engr.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/jie-yin-asymmetric-robot-1500.jpg)
‘Brainless’ robot can navigate complex obstacles
![Memorial Belltower](https://engr.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/april-2021-cherry-award-website-image.jpg)
MAE researchers win PNAS Cozzarelli Prize
![Photo shows several caterpillar robots bent in different poses, demonstrating how they move forward and backward.](https://engr.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Zhu-caterpillar-1500-HEADER.jpg)
Robot caterpillar demonstrates new approach to locomotion for soft robotics
![Closeup composite image of butterfly bot: left side shows diagram, right side shows 3 different butterfly stroke swimming positions and how the robot mimics them.](https://engr.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Jie-Yin-Butterfly-HEADER.png)
‘Butterfly Bot’ is fastest swimming soft robot yet
![Ringbot towing a payload across a flat surface.](https://engr.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Screen-Shot-2022-11-15-at-11.41.00-AM.png)