Associate professor, Jaeyoun Kim’s article, ‘Microrobotic tentacles with spiral bending capability based on shape-engineered elastomeric microtubes’, placed as one of the top 100 read Scientific Reports articles in 2015, out of almost 11,000 papers published.
Kim’s article discusses a new, direct peeling-based technique for building long and thin, highly deformable microtubes and a semi-analytical model for their shape-engineering. According to Kim and his co-authors, the spiraling tentacle-based grabbing modality, the direct peeling-enabled elastomeric microtube fabrication technique, and the concept of microtube shape-engineering will enrich the field of soft-robotics.
Kim said he and his co-authors, Prof. Cho and Dr. Paek, are proud of their work and grateful Iowa State provides such a supportive environment for research. This is a type of work that has rarely been researched before, according to Kim.
“We were feeling uncertain and insecure with our paper because it described a new concept with which neither the authors nor the readers were familiar,” Kim said. “The large number of views gave us confidence in our work and its potential. Being able to attach the “badge” to our website is another point of joy.”
As a top 100 article, recipients are given an official top 100 badge, as well as promoted by Scientific Reports. Kim believes Scientific Reports is the perfect outlet to promote more of this research in the scientific community.
“I think the recent transition of technological focus from rigid materials to soft materials explains both how and why our work has been able to attract a high-level interest and maintain it,” Kim said. “I believe that the trend will change the overall shape of the nation’s industry eventually and many want to hop into the bandwagon.”
For more information, visit Scientific Reports webpage.