Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Philipp Rothemund is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of soft robotics, smart materials, and autonomous control systems, whose work has fundamentally advanced the field of untethered, fully soft robotic devices. His most celebrated contributions center on pneumatic logic and control architectures for soft systems: his bistable soft valve (2018, 525 citations) and soft ring oscillator (2019, 214 citations) demonstrated that complex, coordinated robotic behaviors—including locomotion and grasping—could be achieved using a single constant-pressure air source, entirely without electronics. Building on this, his work on digital logic for soft devices (2019, 299 citations) established theoretical and practical frameworks for autonomous soft machines. Rothemund has also made significant strides in electrohydraulic actuation through the HASEL platform, contributing to high-strain Peano-HASEL designs, spider-inspired fast actuators, and biodegradable variants that address sustainability concerns in soft robotics. His research on liquid crystal elastomers and electrically responsive materials further broadens the toolkit available to soft robotics engineers. Recognized as a thought leader through a highly cited perspective on materials innovation in robotics (2021, 136 citations), Rothemund's body of work—exceeding 1,600 cumulative citations—continues to shape the next generation of lifelike, adaptable, and environmentally conscious robotic systems.