Materials. Machines. Living systems.
We connect materials science, sensing, and actuation to develop biohybrid and artificial robots. Our research aims to learn from soil, interact precisely with plants, and monitor the health of rivers and oceans.
From the lab, into the world
Discover the latest coverage of our people, science, and machines.
Story image · Cornell ChronicleLatest coverage · Cornell Chronicle
Oarfish, giant fish rarely spotted by humans, have hundreds of unique dorsal fin rays, which help propel the fish forward.
Read the story ↗Our research vision
We study how living and engineered systems sense, move, and exchange energy.
At Cornell’s Organic Robotics Lab, led by Rob Shepherd, we bring biology and materials science into robotics. Mycelium-based biohybrid robots provide a living interface, with the goal of learning about soil health. Soft robotic tools interact with plants, while aquatic machines open possibilities for observing rivers and oceans. Together, these efforts aim to guide precise agricultural inputs, reduce runoff, and understand waterway health.
Energy and manufacturing make these machines possible. Redox flow batteries integrate energy storage and actuation into soft bodies; wave-energy harvesters explore renewable power for marine systems. Our longer-term goal is enduring electric robots that make agricultural logistics and ocean-health monitoring more practical.
Volumetric additive manufacturing enables complex robotic structures and production on demand, with the potential to reduce overproduction and excess inventory. We translate discoveries through new ventures and the independent research programs of our alumni.
Five connected research directions
Sense living systems.
Build capable machines.
Extend their endurance.
01Above ground
Soft robotic tools and optical phenotyping help us understand plant condition. We aim to inform more precise use of water and agricultural inputs, reducing waste at its source.
Explore our leaf-gripper researchLiving soil
Soft robots can bring instruments below ground. Mycelium-based biohybrid robots offer a complementary living interface: our goal is to read fungal responses to soil conditions, learn about soil health, and inform agricultural decisions.
Explore our mycelium research
03Rivers to the sea
Soft aquatic robots and embodied energy offer a path toward sustained underwater surveying. Our vision is to monitor river and ocean health and connect those observations to decisions upstream.
Explore our aquatic robot research
Mycelium-based biohybrid robotics
We are developing biohybrid robots that pair living fungal mycelium with engineered sensing and motion. Our goal is to use this interface in agriculture to learn about soil health and guide more precise use of agricultural inputs.
Our published robots use electrical signals from mycelia to control movement and respond to light. Building on that work, we aim to read soil chemistry through fungal responses—connecting conditions below ground to decisions above it.
Soil conditions Fungal signals Agricultural insight
04 Volumetric additive manufacturing
How we make a machine is part of its environmental story. Volumetric additive manufacturing forms three-dimensional structures with light, opening possibilities for complex geometries and integrated robotic components.
Producing parts on demand can reduce waste from overproduction and excess inventory. It also gives us a way to build the intricate soft machines needed to sense, move, and work in the world.
05 Green energy & embodied energy
Harvest energy from the environment. Store it in the machine. Our aim is to keep electric robots working longer, from agricultural logistics to sustained ocean-health monitoring.
Redox flow batteries
Our robotic circulatory systems use liquid electrolytes to combine electrical energy storage with hydraulic force transmission and actuation. Integrating these functions throughout a soft body opens a path toward longer operation and more adaptable machines.
Building on our aquatic robots, we are working toward enduring electric platforms that could simplify agricultural logistics and make ocean monitoring more continuous.
Read the redox-flow robotics paperWave-energy harvesting · Device, 2026
Our soft wave-energy harvester uses an origami-inspired elastomeric pump that stretches and compresses with passing waves. Pumped seawater drives a turbine to generate electricity, while the compliant design accommodates large motions.
Led by Ofek Peretz, this work was demonstrated in ocean tests and published in Device. It advances our longer-term vision of renewable power supporting persistent marine systems.
Read the wave-energy paperThe longer-term vision
Renewable energy + enduring electric robots smoother agricultural logistics and sustained ocean-health monitoring.
Illustrations show research concepts. Energy storage and wave harvesting are complementary research efforts; the combined field and ocean applications are future goals.
One connected research framework
Different machines.
Shared foundations.
Explore the technologies behind the systems.
Optical and tactile sensors measure how soft materials deform and interact with their environment. They connect contact and motion to useful information for robotic systems.
Stretchable distributed fiber-optic sensorsConnect sensing to action: learn from plants, soil, and water to guide precision agriculture and ocean-health monitoring.
Selected work
Peretz et al. · Device · 2026
Aubin et al. · Nature · 2019
İlman et al. · Science Robotics · 2025
Liu et al. · Science Advances · 2024
Darkes-Burkey & Shepherd · Advanced Materials · 2024
Mishra et al. · Science Robotics · 2024
Research into practice
Translation is part of our approach. Two companies co-founded by Rob Shepherd bring advances in soft sensing and volumetric manufacturing into practical use.
Optical sensing → Plant & human interactions
Organic RoboticsFirst product: LLume
Organic Robotics Corporation is commercializing our sensing technology, with plant interactions as a focus. Its first product, LLume, applies this technology to biometric monitoring of humans—bringing soft sensing into practical use.
Explore Organic Robotics CorporationVolumetric printing → Production on demand
A new way to make
Volumetric additive manufacturing brings complex parts and integrated components closer to production on demand. MAV Unlimited is translating this approach into manufacturing technology, with the aim of reducing overproduction and excess inventory.
Explore MAV UnlimitedOur current group
At Cornell’s Organic Robotics Lab, we connect materials, machines, and environmental systems through shared research.
Hayden Webb
Jeff Kagle
Chongchan Kim
Daniel Garcia
Douglas Palumbo
Batist Geldhof
Young Seong Kim
Youngjune Park
Terrence Pierce
Yuto HabaGroup meetings · Together in the lab
Choose a date to see the presenter and presentation title. The schedule updates from our Google Sheet every five minutes while this page is open. Concept illustrations follow the title’s topic; untitled talks retain an imagined research sketch.
Group meeting ·
Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. · Upson Hall 531
Imagined research theme
An imagined soft robot that changes its shape and movement through coordinated fluidic actuation.
Group meeting ·
Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. · Upson Hall 531
Imagined research theme
An imagined biohybrid machine that pairs living muscle-like materials with a soft robotic body.
Group meeting ·
Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. · Upson Hall 531
Imagined research theme
An imagined tactile surface that turns contact, pressure, and deformation into useful signals.
Group meeting ·
Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. · Upson Hall 531
Imagined research theme
An imagined robot with a circulating energy system that combines storage, actuation, and motion.
Group meeting ·
Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. · Upson Hall 531
Imagined research theme
An imagined volumetric printing process that builds intricate structures for soft robotic systems.
Group meeting ·
Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. · Upson Hall 531
Imagined research theme
An imagined gentle robotic gripper that measures leaf condition to inform more precise farming.
Group meeting ·
Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. · Upson Hall 531
Imagined research theme
An imagined optical sensing material that reconnects after damage and keeps tracking deformation.
Group meeting ·
Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. · Upson Hall 531
Imagined research theme
An imagined segmented robot that measures conditions around roots and beneath the soil.
Group meeting ·
Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. · Upson Hall 531
Imagined research theme
An imagined flexible swimming robot with distributed sensors for observing aquatic environments.
Sep 30, 2026: IROS – NO meeting.
Saved schedule from September 19, 2026. Enable JavaScript for automatic updates.
Faculty alumni · Independent research & teaching
Former doctoral researchers and postdocs carry ideas into independent research and teaching—from soft sensing and renewable energy to medicine, manufacturing, and planetary exploration.
Meet the current group
Artificial muscles & soft robotics
Tsinghua University
Artificial muscles, stretchable sensors, and soft machines that reach into confined environments.
Explore her research
Embodied energy & autonomy
University of Michigan
Bioinspired robots, actuators, and autonomous materials that integrate novel energy systems into the machine.
Explore his research
Energy storage & multifunctional materials
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Electrochemical energy storage, energy conversion, and soft materials that expand what robots can do.
Explore his research
Soft robotics for medicine
Weill Cornell Medicine
Soft materials, flexible electronics, and patient-specific 3D printing for cardiac sensing and other biomedical tools.
Explore his research
Sustainable robotic materials
ETH Zurich
Robotic materials and sensing systems designed to resist damage, self-heal, and support recycling or reprocessing.
Explore her research
Soft devices & advanced manufacturing
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Polymer chemistry, additive manufacturing, and soft wearable devices for human–computer interaction.
Explore his research
Biohybrid actuation & assistive technology
Nanyang Technological University
Incoming assistant professorMaterials, design, and fabrication for bioinspired actuation, including muscle-powered systems and tactile interfaces.
Explore his publications
Planetary robotics & terrain interaction
Concordia University · Canada
Robotic mobility, excavation, and construction on planetary surfaces, with a focus on terrain and reduced gravity.
Explore his research
Energy harvesting & autonomous systems
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
Joining October 2026Wave-energy harvesting, propulsion, and embodied energy for autonomous systems in water and underground.
Explore his wave-energy work
Stretchable sensing & adaptive robotics
University of Turku · Finland
Soft robotics, stretchable electronics, and bioinspired structures for responsive grippers and industrial or biomedical tools.
Explore her research
Soft robotics & machine intelligence
Manisa Celal Bayar University
Soft robotic systems, machine intelligence, and simulation, including robotic tools for plant interactions.
Explore his research
Engineering education & design
Northwest Nazarene University
Educating the next generation of engineers, with teaching that connects scientific investigation, design, and the foundations of science.
Explore her teaching
Autonomous materials & physical computing
Faculty · Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Fluid–structure interactions and material architectures that embed sensing, computation, and response within soft machines.
Explore his research
Biohybrid & agricultural robotics
Assistant Professor · West Virginia University
Soft bioinspired and biohybrid robots that connect living materials, plants, and fungi with sensing, manipulation, and agricultural applications.
Explore his research
Embodied energy & soft materials
Lecturer in Robotics · King’s College London
Soft robotics, functional soft materials, and embodied intelligence, building on her Cornell doctoral work in embodied energy.
Explore her researchIndustry & national laboratory highlights
Our alumni bring materials science and robotics into companies, national laboratories, and public-sector technology teams—developing new materials, intelligent machines, and technologies that move from discovery into practice.
Explore faculty alumni
Robot motion & artificial intelligence
NVIDIA
Coauthor of Motion Policy Networks: learning smooth, collision-free robot motion from a depth-camera view of the world.
Explore the research
Machine learning & intelligent interfaces
AnyTeam
Bringing software and systems experience to AnyTeam, following Cornell research on stretchable touch interfaces and neural-network-based touch recognition.
Explore his professional profile
Robot learning & tactile manipulation
Amazon
Now at Amazon, with research spanning tactile sensing, contact-rich manipulation, and large behavior models that help robots learn versatile manipulation skills.
Explore the robot learning research
Soft actuation & manufacturing
Aperia Technologies
Bringing manufacturing and data-analytics experience to Aperia Technologies, following Cornell research on 3D-printed electrohydraulic actuators.
Explore her professional profile
Additive manufacturing & medical devices
3D Systems
At 3D Systems, building on Cornell research in additive manufacturing and patient-specific soft medical devices, including custom cardiac occluders.
Explore the medical-device research
Materials formulation & additive manufacturing
Applied Molecules
Developing damping materials and 3D-printing resins, with data and AI helping guide formulation and experimental iteration.
Explore the materials work
Ink chemistry & functional materials
HP
Working in ink chemistry at HP, building on doctoral training in materials science at Cornell and research on functional soft materials.
Read her alumni story
Aerospace design & engineering
GE Aerospace
Bringing experience in aircraft and spacecraft design to aerospace engineering. Recognized as an AIAA Associate Fellow.
Explore his professional profile
Architected materials & 3D printing
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
A materials engineer advancing polymer manufacturing. Her LLNL research includes fast-curing silicone inks for printing intricate, self-supporting structures.
Explore the LLNL research
Deformable structures & multifunctional materials
NASA Langley Research Center
Now at NASA Langley, following Cornell research on highly deformable elastomeric structures for multifunctional capacitors.
Explore her professional profile
Autonomous systems & technology transition
Defense Innovation Unit (DIU)
Advancing autonomous ground-vehicle technologies at DIU, building on Cornell research in soft robotic mechanisms and the translation of laboratory inventions into practical systems.
Explore the autonomy workLet’s connect the dots.
Interested in soft robotics, precision agriculture, waterway health, green energy, or new ways to manufacture? Connect with the Organic Robotics Lab to explore research and translation.
Get in touch Meet our people