Tensegrity Robotics: Toward Field-capable, Intelligent Systems
IROS - Pittsburgh, PA, USA
September 27, 2026
Room 412, David L. Lawrence Convention Center
Organizers:
- Will Johnson (Swarthmore College)
- John Rieffel (Union College)
- Xiaonan (Sean) Huang (University of Michigan)
- Kostas Bekris (Rutgers University)
- Valter Böehm (OTH Regensburg)
- Muhao Chen (University of Houston)
- Lauren Ervin (Florida International University)
- Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio (Princeton University)
- Vishesh Vikas (University of Alabama)
This will be the sixth in a series of Tensegrity Robotics workshops we’ve been organizing since 2018. Please address correspondence to Will Johnson at wjohnso3@swarthmore.edu.
Abstract
Composed of rigid struts and compliant tendons, tensegrity robots boast a remarkable strength-to-weight ratio and demonstrate extraordinary shape morphability, stiffness tuning, and impact resistance. These favorable properties make tensegrity robots an attractive technology for the next generation of adaptive robots. However, tensegrity robots’ compliance, coupled dynamics, and many degrees of freedom pose challenges in modeling, sensing, and control. Demonstrations of tensegrity robots are typically confined to a controlled laboratory setting despite claims of tensegrity robots’ favorability for remote and unstructured environments. To solve this grand challenge, this workshop aims to rally the tensegrity robotics community to build field-capable, intelligent systems. This workshop draws participation from tensegrity roboticists in industry as well as researchers and experts in complementary fields, including field robotics, robot learning, soft robot modeling and control, and bio-inspired robotics. The workshop will give participants an opportunity to present and discuss the current state of the art in tensegrity robotics through invited talks, live robot demonstrations, an interactive panel discussion, and a student-focused poster session. The organizers will disseminate the results of the workshop discussions in a prospective article and summarize them on the tensegrity robotics website. This workshop will attract and engage new participants in the field, encourage interactions between junior and senior researchers, and facilitate future collaborations.
Schedule
(all times in EDT)
- 08:30 - 08:35 Opening Remarks
- 08:35 - Invited Talks
- 08:35- Shuhei Ikemoto Design and Modeling of Redundant Tensegrity Manipulators
- 08:55 - Robert Baines Leaps and Bounds: Design and Control of Jumping Tensegrity Robots
- 09:15 - Luyang Zhao Toward Task-Adaptive Soft Modular Tensegrity Robots
- 09:35 - Hiroyuki Nabae Multi-modal Locomotion in Pneumatically Actuated Tensegrity Robots
- 9:55 - Cole Woods The Second Spine: From Research to Reality in Tensegrity Commercialization
- 10:15 - Morning Coffee Break
- 11:15 - Live Demo Session
- 11:45 - Xuesu Xiao Learning Extreme Off-Road Mobility
- 12:05 - Vytas Sunspiral Elysium’s Synthetic Muscles and the Bio-Tensegrity Robots They Will Enable
- 12:25 - Closing Remarks
- 12:30 - End
Contributions
Poster Presentations
- An Open-Source, Reproducible Tensegrity Robot that can Navigate Among Obstacles by Patrick Meng, William R. Johnson III, Nelson Chen, Luca Cimatti, Augustin Vercoutere , Mridul Aanjaneya, Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio, and Kostas E. Bekris
- Shape Reconstruction of Tensegrity Manipulators from Strut Inclinations by Tufail Ahmad Bhat and Shuhei Ikemoto
- Design and Locomotion Strategies of Adaptable, Lightweight Tensegrity Snake Robot by Christian Kazoleas, Lauren Ervin, Jiajun Zhang, Pacifique Uwajambo, and Sichen Yuan
- Development of a Rolling Spheroidal Tensegrity-Inspired Robot With a Cable-Slackening Deformable Outer Shell by Hayate Tanaka, Takayuki Osa, and Shuhei Ikemoto
- Tendon-actuated Structural Modules for In-space Assembly Applications: Design Methodology and Experimental Validation by Nate S. Osikowicz, John R. Cooper, Kenny Cheung, and Puneet Singla
- Model Predictive Control of Tensegrity Robots via Contact-Aware Graph Neural Dynamics Model by Nelson Chen, Patrick Meng, Charles Tang, Angelina Degay, Zachary Brei, Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio, Kostas E. Bekris, and Mridul Aanjaneya
- PCB-Based Vibrationally Actuated Tensegrity Robots by Duy Hung Dang, Miraj Parekh, Viet Hoang Tran, Jackson Preskins, and John Rieffel
- A Miniature Tensegrity Worm Robot for Multi-Terrain Locomotion and Payload Transport by Christian Kazoleas, Jiajun Zhang, Pacifique Uwajambo, and Sichen Yuan
- Bayesian Optimization Finds Repeatable Gaits in a Vibrational Tensegrity by Miraj Parekh, Duy Hung Dang, and John Rieffel
- Fabrication and System Design of a Mobile Base Tensegrity Continuum Manipulator by Robbie Monke, Annette Martinez, Christopher Roussakies, and Vishesh Vikas
- Geometric Modeling and Hybrid Dynamics of Curved-Link Tensegrity Locomotion by Annette Martinez and Vishesh Vikas
- A Magnetic Tactile Sensor for Tensegrity Robots by Shiran Huang, Alvin Zheng, and William R. Johnson III
- Tensegrity Locomotion under Partial Observability with Transformer-Based Latent Representations by Russell Soo, Rory Lipkis, and Adrian Agogino
- Morphology-Aware Graph Reinforcement Learning for Tensegrity Robot Locomotion by Chi Zhang, Mingrui Li, Wenzhe Tong, and Xiaonan Huang
- TeCoBot: A Compliant Tensegrity Continuum Robot for Field-Capable Manipulation and Locomotion by Mahmud Hasan Saikot, Sydney Spiegel, Sudheera Akalanka Kariyawasam, Andrew Stefka, Josh Chrisler, and Jianguo Zhao
Live Demonstrations
- Shape Reconstruction of Tensegrity Manipulators from Strut Inclinations by Tufail Ahmad Bhat and Shuhei Ikemoto
- Design and Locomotion Strategies of Adaptable, Lightweight Tensegrity Snake Robot by Christian Kazoleas, Lauren Ervin, Jiajun Zhang, Pacifique Uwajambo, and Sichen Yuan
- Development of a Rolling Spheroidal Tensegrity-Inspired Robot With a Cable-Slackening Deformable Outer Shell by Hayate Tanaka, Takayuki Osa, and Shuhei Ikemoto
- ROSAIA: From Four-Arm Manipulation to a Portable Two-Arm Vision-Guided Demonstration by Albin Bajrami, Marcel Gabriel Lahoud, Nahuel Jose, Yasir Mehmood, Lorenzo D’Acierno, Farshad Nozad Heravi, Gabriele Marchello, Orietta Lanciano, Agustina Scaro, and Ferdinando Cannella
- GelFoot: Visuotactile Endcap Sensing for Contact-Aware Tensegrity Robots by Wenzhe Tong, Jonathan Mi, Xili Mi, Nima Fazeli, and Xiaonan Huang
- PCB-Based Vibrationally Actuated Tensegrity Robots by Duy Hung Dang, Miraj Parekh, Viet Hoang Tran, Jackson Preskins, and John Rieffel
- Bayesian Optimization Finds Repeatable Gaits in a Vibrational Tensegrity by Miraj Parekh, Duy Hung Dang, and John Rieffel
- Fabrication and System Design of a Mobile Base Tensegrity Continuum Manipulator by Robbie Monke, Annette Martinez, Christopher Roussakies, and Vishesh Vikas
- Geometric Modeling and Hybrid Dynamics of Curved-Link Tensegrity Locomotion by Annette Martinez and Vishesh Vikas
Inclusiveness
We want to specifically encourage participation from students, young researchers, underrepresented groups, new conference attendees, and those who have not participated in a workshop before. The poster session is meant to highlight the work of students and young researchers. You are welcome as a contributor and/or as an attendee.
Prior Workshops
An archive of the workshop series we’ve been running since 2018.