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About

Woongbae Kim is a robotics researcher whose work sits at the intersection of soft robotics, origami-inspired mechanisms, and bio-inspired locomotion. His research has made significant contributions to the design and fabrication of soft robotic systems, particularly through modular and origami-based approaches that enable flexible, adaptive, and human-safe robots. Kim's early landmark contribution, "Soft Robotic Blocks" (2016, 87 citations), introduced the SoBL framework — a modularized, bottom-up design paradigm that dramatically accelerated soft robot prototyping. This foundational work helped shape how researchers approach reconfigurable soft systems. He further advanced the field with dual-origami actuators (45 citations) and a deployable origami robotic arm with variable stiffness (49 citations), demonstrating how folded-structure principles can achieve impressive payload capacity while maintaining safety and compactness. Beyond manipulation, Kim has explored unconventional locomotion strategies, including buoyancy-driven underwater maneuvering (31 citations) and terrain-adaptive inchworm-inspired robots. His team's SNUMAX robot claimed top honors at the RoboSoft Grand Challenge (2016), validating his designs in competitive real-world conditions. More recently, Kim has extended soft robotics into healthcare, developing origami-based wearable devices for lymphedema treatment and deep learning-integrated soft grippers. With a body of work spanning over 280 cumulative citations, Kim represents a versatile and impactful voice in modern soft robotics research.