Our research focuses on autonomous robotic systems that utilize natural mechanical features as a part of their intelligence. The goal of our research is to address the fundamental challenges of robots: modeling, sensing, control, and planning. Our research targets emerging technologies in human-robot interaction including, agriculture automation, housecare and search and rescue.<\/p>\n
\n
News:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n- 2026-01:\u00a0The paper “<\/span><\/span>Design Optimization and Data-Driven Static Modeling for Active Fiber-Reinforced Elastomeric Enclosures<\/a>” <\/span>gets accepted at Journal of Robotics 2026.<\/li>\n
- 2026-01: Our low-cost inflatable fabric robotic arm for apple picking is featured in “Inflatable fabric robotic arm picks apples<\/a>” in the WSU Insider (2026).<\/li>\n
- 2025-11: The paper “An Everting Inflatable Fabric Manipulator (EIFM) Designed for Apple Picking<\/a>” <\/span>gets accepted at Smart Agric<\/span><\/span>ultural <\/span><\/span>Technology<\/span><\/span> 2025.<\/li>\n
- 2025-09 MIARers had a fantastic tour at Columbia Fruit Packers Inc.
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-labs\/uploads\/sites\/2578\/2025\/09\/df358b44ef5bd611e1acef86027e028b-792x594.jpeg\")
<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n <\/p>\n
\n- 2025-01\u00a0Our Soft Growing Manipulator for apple harvesting is featured in\u00a0“AI Comes to the Apple Orchard\u2014From Pollinating to Picking<\/a>”\u00a0in\u00a0The Wall Street Journal (2025).<\/li>\n
- 2025-01 PhD student Justin Allen is featured in WSU VCEA’s Student Success<\/a> (2025).<\/li>\n
- 2024-08 Postdoc Kyle Yoshida, along with lab members and their work, is featured in “This Hawaii-born researcher is putting robots to work to help state\u2019s agriculture industry<\/a>” from Hawaii News Now (2024).<\/li>\n
- 2024-06 Our soft gripper project is featured in “Robotic gripper for automated apple picking developed<\/a>” from WSU Insider (2024).<\/li>\n
- 2024-06 Postdoc Kyle Yoshida is featured in the media title “WSU Researcher Awarded a Fellowship in Robotics<\/a>” in the WSU Insider (2024).<\/li>\n
- 2024-05: The paper “Design and Evaluation of a Lightweight Soft Electrical Apple Harvesting Gripper”\u00a0<\/a>gets accepted at IEEE 7th International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft) 2024.<\/li>\n
- 2024-04: MIARers (Christopher Ninatanta, Kyle Yoshida, and Justin Allen) presented their work at Robosoft 2024!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s3.wp.wsu.edu\/uploads\/sites\/2578\/2024\/04\/Presentation2-792x382.png\")
<\/p>\n
\n- 2024-02 The paper “Modeling and Experimental Verification of a Continuous Curvature-based Soft Growing Manipulator<\/a>” gets accepted at IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.<\/li>\n
- 2024-02 We received a grant from the WSU Inspire! Community Engaged Research Seed Grant Program<\/a>, as highlighted in WSU Insider (2024).<\/li>\n
- 2023-12 Our HRC project is featured in “Exposure to soft robots decreases human fears about working with them<\/a>” from WSU Insider (2023).<\/li>\n
- 2023-11 The paper “Effects of Prior Robot Experience, Speed, and Proximity on Psychosocial Reactions to a Soft Growing Robot<\/a>” gets accepted at IISE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics and Human Factors.<\/li>\n
- 2023-11 Our CPS project is featured in “Grant aims for smarter harvesting”<\/a> from WSU Insider (2023).<\/li>\n
- 2023-10 MIARers (Justin Allen, Ryan Dorosh, Christopher Ninatanta, and Zoe Fichtel) presented their work at IROS 2023!
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s3.wp.wsu.edu\/uploads\/sites\/2578\/2023\/10\/tempImageAnz29h-396x297.jpg\")
<\/li>\n - \n
2023-09 The paper “Design, Modeling, and Control of a Low-Cost and Rapid Response Soft-Growing Manipulator for Orchard Operations<\/a>” gets accepted at IEEE\/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2023.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
2023-09 We received a new grant from National Science Foundation (NSF)<\/a> to fund our research on studying agricultural cybernetic systems.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
2023-03 Congratulations to MAIRers who presented their work at WSU SURCA 2023! Presenters include Justin Pilgrim, Christopher Heintz, and Zoe Fichtel.
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s3.wp.wsu.edu\/uploads\/sites\/2578\/2023\/03\/WSU-SURCA-2023-792x317.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
2023-02\u00a0\u00a0We are expanding! new MIAR Agricultural Robotics Lab is now located at the Engineering Teaching Research Laboratory (ETRL) 110.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
2023-01 The paper \u201cA protein aerogel with distinctive filtration capabilities for formaldehyde and particulate pollutants<\/span><\/a>” published in the Separation and Purification Technology.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
2022-12 We received a new grant from\u00a0Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission (WTFRC) for our research studying apple harvesting robot (Phase2).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
2022-08 The paper “Design, Analysis, and Real-Time Simulation of a 3D Soft Robotic Snake<\/a>” published in the soft robotics.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
2022-06 The paper \u201cTailoring bimodal protein fabrics for enhanced air filtration performance<\/a>” published in the Separation and Purification Technology.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
2022-06 We received a new grant from National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) for our research studying apple flower thinning robot.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
2022-03\u00a0We received a new grant from\u00a0Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission (WTFRC) for our research studying apple harvesting robot.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
2021-12 Our soft robot project is featured in \u201cResearchers receive $125,000 from Cougar Cage program<\/a>\u201d from WSU Insider (2021).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
2021-12 The paper “Soft Mobile Robots: a Review of Soft Robotic Locomotion Mode”<\/a>\u00a0published in the Current Robotics Reports (Invited paper).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
2021-11 The paper \u201cInterface-tailored Forces Fluffing Protein Fiber Membranes for High-performance Filtration<\/a>” published in the Separation and Purification Technology.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
2020-08 The Paper “AFREEs: Active Fiber Reinforced Elastomeric Enclosures<\/a>” published in the processings of the 2020 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics, was nominated for the Best Paper Award.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
2020-03 The Paper “Human Interface for Teleoperated Object Manipulation with a Soft Growing Robot<\/a>” published in the processings of the 2020 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, was nominated for the Best Paper Award in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Our research focuses on autonomous robotic systems that utilize natural mechanical features as a part of their intelligence. The goal of our research is to address the fundamental challenges of robots: modeling, sensing, control, and planning. Our research targets emerging technologies in human-robot interaction including, agriculture automation, housecare and search and rescue.<\/p>\n
News:<\/strong><\/h2>\n2026-01:\u00a0The paper “Design Optimization and Data-Driven Static Modeling for Active Fiber-Reinforced Elastomeric Enclosures<\/a>” gets accepted at Journal of Robotics 2026.
2026-01: Our low-cost inflatable fabric robotic arm for apple picking is featured in “Inflatable fabric robotic arm picks apples<\/a>” in the WSU Insider (2026).
» More …<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22223,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-builder.php","meta":[],"wsuwp_university_location":[],"wsuwp_university_org":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/miar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/miar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/miar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/miar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22223"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/miar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29"}],"version-history":[{"count":57,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/miar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":478,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/miar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29\/revisions\/478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/miar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/miar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_location?post=29"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_org","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/miar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_org?post=29"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/p>\n
- \n
- 2025-01\u00a0Our Soft Growing Manipulator for apple harvesting is featured in\u00a0“AI Comes to the Apple Orchard\u2014From Pollinating to Picking<\/a>”\u00a0in\u00a0The Wall Street Journal (2025).<\/li>\n
- 2025-01 PhD student Justin Allen is featured in WSU VCEA’s Student Success<\/a> (2025).<\/li>\n
- 2024-08 Postdoc Kyle Yoshida, along with lab members and their work, is featured in “This Hawaii-born researcher is putting robots to work to help state\u2019s agriculture industry<\/a>” from Hawaii News Now (2024).<\/li>\n
- 2024-06 Our soft gripper project is featured in “Robotic gripper for automated apple picking developed<\/a>” from WSU Insider (2024).<\/li>\n
- 2024-06 Postdoc Kyle Yoshida is featured in the media title “WSU Researcher Awarded a Fellowship in Robotics<\/a>” in the WSU Insider (2024).<\/li>\n
- 2024-05: The paper “Design and Evaluation of a Lightweight Soft Electrical Apple Harvesting Gripper”\u00a0<\/a>gets accepted at IEEE 7th International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft) 2024.<\/li>\n
- 2024-04: MIARers (Christopher Ninatanta, Kyle Yoshida, and Justin Allen) presented their work at Robosoft 2024!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n- \n
- 2024-02 The paper “Modeling and Experimental Verification of a Continuous Curvature-based Soft Growing Manipulator<\/a>” gets accepted at IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.<\/li>\n
- 2024-02 We received a grant from the WSU Inspire! Community Engaged Research Seed Grant Program<\/a>, as highlighted in WSU Insider (2024).<\/li>\n
- 2023-12 Our HRC project is featured in “Exposure to soft robots decreases human fears about working with them<\/a>” from WSU Insider (2023).<\/li>\n
- 2023-11 The paper “Effects of Prior Robot Experience, Speed, and Proximity on Psychosocial Reactions to a Soft Growing Robot<\/a>” gets accepted at IISE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics and Human Factors.<\/li>\n
- 2023-11 Our CPS project is featured in “Grant aims for smarter harvesting”<\/a> from WSU Insider (2023).<\/li>\n
- 2023-10 MIARers (Justin Allen, Ryan Dorosh, Christopher Ninatanta, and Zoe Fichtel) presented their work at IROS 2023!
<\/li>\n- \n
2023-09 The paper “Design, Modeling, and Control of a Low-Cost and Rapid Response Soft-Growing Manipulator for Orchard Operations<\/a>” gets accepted at IEEE\/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2023.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
2023-09 We received a new grant from National Science Foundation (NSF)<\/a> to fund our research on studying agricultural cybernetic systems.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
2023-03 Congratulations to MAIRers who presented their work at WSU SURCA 2023! Presenters include Justin Pilgrim, Christopher Heintz, and Zoe Fichtel.
\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
2023-02\u00a0\u00a0We are expanding! new MIAR Agricultural Robotics Lab is now located at the Engineering Teaching Research Laboratory (ETRL) 110.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
2023-01 The paper \u201cA protein aerogel with distinctive filtration capabilities for formaldehyde and particulate pollutants<\/span><\/a>” published in the Separation and Purification Technology.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
2022-12 We received a new grant from\u00a0Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission (WTFRC) for our research studying apple harvesting robot (Phase2).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
2022-08 The paper “Design, Analysis, and Real-Time Simulation of a 3D Soft Robotic Snake<\/a>” published in the soft robotics.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
2022-06 The paper \u201cTailoring bimodal protein fabrics for enhanced air filtration performance<\/a>” published in the Separation and Purification Technology.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
2022-06 We received a new grant from National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) for our research studying apple flower thinning robot.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
2022-03\u00a0We received a new grant from\u00a0Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission (WTFRC) for our research studying apple harvesting robot.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
2021-12 Our soft robot project is featured in \u201cResearchers receive $125,000 from Cougar Cage program<\/a>\u201d from WSU Insider (2021).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
2021-12 The paper “Soft Mobile Robots: a Review of Soft Robotic Locomotion Mode”<\/a>\u00a0published in the Current Robotics Reports (Invited paper).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
2021-11 The paper \u201cInterface-tailored Forces Fluffing Protein Fiber Membranes for High-performance Filtration<\/a>” published in the Separation and Purification Technology.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
2020-08 The Paper “AFREEs: Active Fiber Reinforced Elastomeric Enclosures<\/a>” published in the processings of the 2020 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics, was nominated for the Best Paper Award.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
2020-03 The Paper “Human Interface for Teleoperated Object Manipulation with a Soft Growing Robot<\/a>” published in the processings of the 2020 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, was nominated for the Best Paper Award in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Our research focuses on autonomous robotic systems that utilize natural mechanical features as a part of their intelligence. The goal of our research is to address the fundamental challenges of robots: modeling, sensing, control, and planning. Our research targets emerging technologies in human-robot interaction including, agriculture automation, housecare and search and rescue.<\/p>\n
News:<\/strong><\/h2>\n
2026-01:\u00a0The paper “Design Optimization and Data-Driven Static Modeling for Active Fiber-Reinforced Elastomeric Enclosures<\/a>” gets accepted at Journal of Robotics 2026.
2026-01: Our low-cost inflatable fabric robotic arm for apple picking is featured in “Inflatable fabric robotic arm picks apples<\/a>” in the WSU Insider (2026).
» More …<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22223,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-builder.php","meta":[],"wsuwp_university_location":[],"wsuwp_university_org":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/miar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/miar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/miar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/miar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22223"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/miar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29"}],"version-history":[{"count":57,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/miar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":478,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/miar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29\/revisions\/478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/miar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/miar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_location?post=29"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_org","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/miar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_org?post=29"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} - 2024-02 We received a grant from the WSU Inspire! Community Engaged Research Seed Grant Program<\/a>, as highlighted in WSU Insider (2024).<\/li>\n
- 2025-01 PhD student Justin Allen is featured in WSU VCEA’s Student Success<\/a> (2025).<\/li>\n