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About

Joshua Kaufmann is a pioneer in the emerging field of origami-inspired robotics, where he leverages the principles of mechanical multi-stability to create intelligent, self-coordinating soft machines. His research focuses on harnessing the unique bistable behavior of Kresling origami patterns to build reconfigurable robotic systems that require minimal external control. In his highly cited 2021 work (146 citations), Kaufmann demonstrated how Kresling modules can be assembled into soft robotic arms with tunable articulation, drastically simplifying actuation by exploiting the modules’ innate snap-through transitions. His foundational 2019 study on peristaltic locomotion (145 citations) introduced a groundbreaking concept: using origami multi-stability to generate coordinated, wave-like motion in segmented robots without the need for digital controllers or multiple actuators. By embedding mechanical intelligence directly into the robot’s skeleton, Kaufmann’s work paves the way for simpler, more robust, and inherently adaptive soft robots. His contributions are shaping a new paradigm in robotics, where form and function are unified through the elegant mathematics of folding.