Michael T. Tolley

About

Michael T. Tolley is a pioneering roboticist whose research has fundamentally shaped the field of soft robotics, with particular expertise in the design, fabrication, and control of compliant robotic systems. His landmark 2015 survey paper, "Design, Fabrication and Control of Soft Robots," has accumulated over 5,500 citations, establishing it as a foundational reference for researchers worldwide. Tolley's contributions span the full spectrum of soft robotics: from developing resilient, untethered pneumatic robots capable of operating in unstructured environments (1,075 citations) to pioneering combustion-powered, 3D-printed soft machines with functionally graded materials (1,036 citations). His work on self-folding origami robots demonstrated that programmable matter could autonomously assemble into functional machines, earning nearly 1,000 citations. More recently, Tolley has advanced intelligent soft systems by integrating electronic skins, embedded sensors, and machine learning to enable proprioception and tactile awareness in autonomous robots. His exploration of electronics-free pneumatic control circuits further demonstrates his commitment to making soft robots practical and deployable. With over 12,000 cumulative citations across his top works, Tolley's research continues to redefine what is possible at the intersection of materials science, biomimicry, and robotics.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Design, fabrication and control of soft robots

   5,556 citations · 2015
2. 2
   A Resilient, Untethered Soft Robot

   1,075 citations · 2014
3. 3
   A 3D-printed, functionally graded soft robot powered by combustion

   1,036 citations · 2015
4. 4
   Soft Robotics: Review of Fluid‐Driven Intrinsically Soft Devices; Manufacturing, Sensing, Control, and Applications in Human‐Robot Interaction

   1,021 citations · 2017
5. 5
   A method for building self-folding machines

   954 citations · 2014
6. 6
   Electronic skins and machine learning for intelligent soft robots

   680 citations · 2020
7. 7
   Soft robot perception using embedded soft sensors and recurrent neural networks

   648 citations · 2019
8. 8
   Design, fabrication and control of origami robots

   622 citations · 2018
9. 9
   Electrically controlled liquid crystal elastomer–based soft tubular actuator with multimodal actuation

   539 citations · 2019
10. 10
    Electronics-free pneumatic circuits for controlling soft-legged robots

    405 citations · 2021

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links