Yuta Horii

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Yuta Horii is a researcher at the forefront of soft robotics and embodied intelligence, specializing in the integration of physical reservoir computing with bio-inspired locomotion. His major contributions center on demonstrating how soft, deformable materials can serve as computational substrates for generating complex, adaptive motion. In his most-cited work, "Physical reservoir computing in a soft swimming robot" (2021, 21 citations), Horii pioneered a novel approach where a soft sheet-like robot’s own body dynamics—its passive elasticity and fluid interactions—act as a reservoir for computation, eliminating the need for rigid controllers. This breakthrough addresses long-standing challenges in soft robotics, where high system complexity and nonlinearity often hinder precise control. Horii’s subsequent paper (2021, 6 citations) further refined motion generation for these swimming robots, showcasing how physical reservoir computing enables efficient, fish-like propulsion without top-down models. By merging computational theory with soft material design, Horii has opened new pathways for autonomous, low-power robots that learn and adapt through their physical form. His work is highly influential in the emerging field of morphological computation, inspiring researchers to rethink the boundaries between body, brain, and environment in robotic systems.