Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Ki Wan Wong is a leading researcher in the field of soft robotics, with a primary focus on the design, modeling, and control of soft continuum manipulators. His work addresses the fundamental challenge of harnessing the inherent compliance of soft materials to create robots that are both versatile and precisely controllable. Wong’s major contributions include the development of SoPrA, a scalable soft continuum robotic arm with integrated proprioceptive sensing, which represents a significant step toward practical, real-world soft robotic systems. He has also pioneered robust model-based control strategies, including adaptive dynamic sliding mode control, to overcome the difficulties of modeling highly deformable structures. His most cited paper (47 citations) demonstrates the impact of his work on the field, while his subsequent publications on adaptive control (27 and 3 citations) continue to advance the state of the art. By bridging the gap between soft material compliance and reliable, model-based control, Wong is helping to make soft robots a viable technology for human-robot interaction, object manipulation, and biomimetic applications.