News

Inspired by the movement of worms, Dr. Tan and his research team developed a robotic system that can navigate corrugated agricultural drainage pipes by exploiting their ridged structure for locomotion. As the robot stretches and contracts through underground pipes, it evaluates their physical condition to enable early detection of potential issues, helping reduce repair costs for farmers. …

What happens when you cross a worm with a robot? Read More »

Dr. Tan and his research team are advancing soft robotics by developing flexible, biologically inspired robots that are inherently safe for humans and delicate environments. Their work explores applications such as underground agricultural drainage pipe inspection and soft robotic arms for harvesting and handling produce, where adaptability and gentle interaction are essential. Read the full …

MSU Finding Creative Uses for Soft Robots Read More »

Congratulations to Vedant Naik for winning first place in the Engineering, Computer Science, and Math category at Michigan State University’s 2025 Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum (UURAF). His award-winning poster was based on his paper, “Nonlinear compensation of stretchable strain sensors with application to proprioceptive sensing of soft robotic arm”, completed with support from the …

Vedant Naik Wins First Place at MSU Undergraduate Research Showcase Read More »

Dr. Tan gave a keynote talk, entitled “Stalking vampires of the Great Lakes: A systems engineering solution for monitoring invasive sea lamprey with e-skins”, at the 19th Annual IEEE International Systems Conference (SysCon 2025). More information about his talk can be found at Keynote Speakers | SYSCON 2025.

SML was awarded a new patent on FLEXIBLE SENSOR.

Congratulations to Xinda Qi, who has successfully completed his PhD study at Michigan State. His dissertation was titled “Bioinspired Soft Robots: Design, Modeling, and Control”. He will be joining Amazon Robotics as an Applied Scientist and work on robot motion planning and control.

Dr. Xiaobo Tan has been elected the next Editor-in-Chief for IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics (TMECH), with his term officially starting in January 2026. TMECH is a top journal in mechatronics, with a current impact factor of 6.1. It is a Q1 (first quartile) journal in all categories of Manufacturing Engineering, Automation and Control Systems, Mechanical Engineering, and …

Dr. Tan Elected Next Editor-in-Chief of IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics Read More »

Congratulations to Yu Mei, who won the Best Student Paper Award at the 2024 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM) held in Boston in July 2024.  This work, “Simultaneous shape reconstruction and force estimation of soft bending actuators using distributed inductive curvature sensors,” was coauthored by Yu Mei, Lei Peng, Hongyang Shi, Xinda …

Yu Mei Received AIM 2024 Best Student Paper Award Read More »

A team of Michigan State University researchers, including a behavioral ecologist and two engineers, has been commissioned by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) to develop a pioneering selective fish barrier in Traverse City over the next decade. This barrier, called FishPass, aims to be a revolutionary solution for invasive species control. The objective is …

Smart panel offering potential solution to invasive sea lamprey control Read More »

Bacterial contamination has already led to the closure of at least eight beaches across Michigan, according to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. Although some have since reopened, more closures are expected throughout the summer. Several pollutants can cause beach closures in Michigan and elsewhere. Sanitary and combined sewer overflows, groundwater runoff, …

Contamination forces beach closures: MSU experts can comment Read More »