Sarah Bergbreiter

About

Sarah Bergbreiter is a pioneering roboticist whose work sits at the fascinating intersection of microrobotics, autonomous systems, and bio-inspired design. Best known for pushing the boundaries of what is physically possible at millimeter and sub-gram scales, her research addresses fundamental challenges in locomotion, actuation, and autonomy for miniature robotic platforms. Her early work on CotsBots (140 citations) established accessible, modular frameworks for distributed robot networks, while her subsequent focus shifted dramatically toward the frontier of microscale robotics. Bergbreiter has made landmark contributions in jumping microrobots — designing systems capable of efficient locomotion at millimeter scales (77 citations) — and achieved the remarkable milestone of launching the first autonomous thrust-driven microrobot using nanoporous energetic silicon (70 citations). Her 25 mg magnetically actuated microrobot walking at over five body lengths per second (44 citations) exemplifies her ability to translate biological inspiration into engineering reality. Beyond locomotion, she has advanced tactile sensing through rapidly manufactured mechanoreceptive skins (62 citations) and leveraged multimaterial 3D printing to create more capable microrobotic mechanisms (57 citations). Collectively, her body of work has helped define modern microrobotics as a rigorous and impactful discipline.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   CotsBots: an off-the-shelf platform for distributed robotics

   140 citations · 2004
2. 2
   Toward Autonomy in Sub-Gram Terrestrial Robots

   86 citations · 2019
3. 3
   Design of an Autonomous Jumping Microrobot

   77 citations · 2007
4. 4
   The First Launch of an Autonomous Thrust-Driven Microrobot Using Nanoporous Energetic Silicon

   70 citations · 2011
5. 5
   Rapid Manufacturing of Mechanoreceptive Skins for Slip Detection in Robotic Grasping

   62 citations · 2016
6. 6
   Multimaterial 3D Printing for Microrobotic Mechanisms

   57 citations · 2019
7. 7
   A comparison of critical shear force in low-voltage, all-polymer electroadhesives to a basic friction model

   51 citations · 2016
8. 8
   Gait Exploration of Sub-2 g Robots Using Magnetic Actuation

   47 citations · 2016
9. 9
   First leaps toward jumping microrobots

   45 citations · 2011
10. 10
    A 25 MG magnetically actuated microrobot walking at > 5 body lengths/sec

    44 citations · 2017

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links