Dr Guowu Wei's Outputs (74)

Fully 3D printed flexible, conformal and multi-directional tactile sensor with integrated biomimetic and auxetic structure (2023)
Journal Article

Tactile sensors play a crucial role in the development of biologically inspired robotic prostheses, particularly in providing tactile feedback. However, existing sensing technology still falls short in terms of sensitivity under high pressure and ada... Read More about Fully 3D printed flexible, conformal and multi-directional tactile sensor with integrated biomimetic and auxetic structure.

X-crossing pneumatic artificial muscles (2023)
Journal Article
Feng, M., Yang, D., Ren, L., Wei, G., & Gu, G. (2023). X-crossing pneumatic artificial muscles. Science Advances, 9(38), https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adi7133

Artificial muscles are promising in soft exoskeletons, locomotion robots, and operation machines. However, their performance in contraction ratio, output force, and dynamic response is often imbalanced and limited by materials, structures, or actuati... Read More about X-crossing pneumatic artificial muscles.

An Anthropomorphic Robotic Finger With Innate Human-Finger-Like Biomechanical Advantages Part II: Flexible Tendon Sheath and Grasping Demonstration (2022)
Journal Article
Zhu, Y., Wei, G., Ren, L., Luo, Z., & Shang, J. (2022). An Anthropomorphic Robotic Finger With Innate Human-Finger-Like Biomechanical Advantages Part II: Flexible Tendon Sheath and Grasping Demonstration. IEEE transactions on robotics : a publication of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, 39(1), 505-520. https://doi.org/10.1109/tro.2022.3200143

The human hand has a fantastic ability to interact with various objects in the dynamic unstructured environment of our daily activities. We believe that this outstanding performance benefits a lot from the unique biological features of the hand muscu... Read More about An Anthropomorphic Robotic Finger With Innate Human-Finger-Like Biomechanical Advantages Part II: Flexible Tendon Sheath and Grasping Demonstration.

Design and Development of a Cable-Driven Shoulder Exosuit (CDSE) for Upper Limb Assistance (2025)
Thesis

This thesis presents the development and evaluation of a novel Cable-Driven Shoulder Exosuit (CDSE), designed for enhancing upper limb rehabilitation. The motivation for this research stems from the critical need for advanced rehabilitation solutions... Read More about Design and Development of a Cable-Driven Shoulder Exosuit (CDSE) for Upper Limb Assistance.

Design Optimization of a 3-PUU Parallel Machine for Friction Stir Welding Robots (2025)
Journal Article

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) has recently emerged as an effective solid-state joining technique for welding high-strength aluminum alloys and light metals, particularly in the railway industry. However, a limitation of using FSW in this industry is th... Read More about Design Optimization of a 3-PUU Parallel Machine for Friction Stir Welding Robots.

Using Wearable Soft Sensors for Gesture Recognition (2025)
Thesis

The increasing prevalence of hand impairments due to conditions such as arthritis, Cerebral Palsy, Parkinson’s Disease, and stroke presents significant challenges in everyday activities, such as tying shoes or getting dressed. In the UK, long-term mu... Read More about Using Wearable Soft Sensors for Gesture Recognition.

Design, Modeling, and Optimization of Hydraulically Powered Double-Joint Soft Robotic Fish (2025)
Journal Article

This article explores a hydraulically powered double-joint soft robotic fish called HyperTuna and a set of locomotion optimization methods. HyperTuna has an innovative, highly efficient actuation structure that includes a four-cylinder piston pump an... Read More about Design, Modeling, and Optimization of Hydraulically Powered Double-Joint Soft Robotic Fish.

Kirigami‐Inspired Three‐Dimensional Metamaterials with Programmable Isotropic and Orthotropic Thermal Expansion (2024)
Journal Article
Gu, Y., Wei, Z., Wei, G., You, Z., Ma, J., & Chen, Y. (2024). Kirigami‐Inspired Three‐Dimensional Metamaterials with Programmable Isotropic and Orthotropic Thermal Expansion. Advanced materials, 36(50), Article 2411232. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202411232

Mechanical metamaterials with specifically designed cells can provide unusual thermal expansion properties for diverse applications. Limited by very few available cell topologies and complicated non‐linear structural deformation, most existing therma... Read More about Kirigami‐Inspired Three‐Dimensional Metamaterials with Programmable Isotropic and Orthotropic Thermal Expansion.

A Statistical Analysis of Commercial Articulated Industrial Robots and Cobots (2024)
Journal Article

This paper aims to elucidate the state-of-the-art, prevailing priorities, and the focus of the industry, and identify both limitations and potential gaps regarding industrial robots and collaborative robots (cobots). Additionally, it outlines the adv... Read More about A Statistical Analysis of Commercial Articulated Industrial Robots and Cobots.

Bioinspired Soft Actuators for High Bending Stiffness and Flexible Spatial Locomotion (2024)
Journal Article

Soft pneumatic actuators often struggle to achieve both a high degree of freedom and high bending stiffness simultaneously. In this letter, we present a bionic soft pneumatic actuator inspired by the intricate musculature of the elephant trunk, which... Read More about Bioinspired Soft Actuators for High Bending Stiffness and Flexible Spatial Locomotion.

Human tactile sensing and sensorimotor mechanism: from afferent tactile signals to efferent motor control (2024)
Journal Article

In tactile sensing, decoding the journey from afferent tactile signals to efferent motor commands is a significant challenge primarily due to the difficulty in capturing population-level afferent nerve signals during active touch. This study integrat... Read More about Human tactile sensing and sensorimotor mechanism: from afferent tactile signals to efferent motor control.

A Lightweight Powered Knee Prosthesis Replicating Early-Stance Knee Flexion During Level Walking (2024)
Journal Article

Powered knee prostheses promise to improve the mo- bility of transfemoral amputees by imitating the biomechanics of the missing knee joint. Unfortunately, the heavy weight and short battery life severely limit the application of powered prostheses. H... Read More about A Lightweight Powered Knee Prosthesis Replicating Early-Stance Knee Flexion During Level Walking.

Development of an Industrial Test Platform for Foot Health Device and Footwear Testing (2024)
Thesis

The current development pathway for medical and non-medical foot health devices faces
challenges. Specifically, medical devices often proceed to clinical testing with limited
functional testing which can result in spiralling costs and ineffective p... Read More about Development of an Industrial Test Platform for Foot Health Device and Footwear Testing.

An Improved Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) Algorithm for Intent Recognition of Transfemoral Amputees With Powered Knee Prosthesis (2024)
Journal Article

To overcome the challenges posed by the complex structure and large parameter requirements of existing classification models, the authors propose an improved extreme learning machine (ELM) classifier for human locomotion intent recognition in this st... Read More about An Improved Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) Algorithm for Intent Recognition of Transfemoral Amputees With Powered Knee Prosthesis.

Development and Characteristics of a Highly Biomimetic Robotic Shoulder Inspired by Musculoskeletal Mechanical Intelligence (2024)
Journal Article
Yang, H., Wei, G., & Ren, L. (2024). Development and Characteristics of a Highly Biomimetic Robotic Shoulder Inspired by Musculoskeletal Mechanical Intelligence. IEEE transactions on robotics : a publication of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, 40, 2672 - 2691. https://doi.org/10.1109/tro.2024.3390057

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the existing landscape of conventional and highly biomimetic robotic arms, highlighting a prevalent tradeoff between size, range of motion, and load capacity in current highly biomimetic designs. To o... Read More about Development and Characteristics of a Highly Biomimetic Robotic Shoulder Inspired by Musculoskeletal Mechanical Intelligence.

Enhancing the Performance of a Biomimetic Robotic Elbow-and-Forearm System Through Bionics-Inspired Optimization (2024)
Journal Article
Yang, H., Wei, G., & Ren, L. (2024). Enhancing the Performance of a Biomimetic Robotic Elbow-and-Forearm System Through Bionics-Inspired Optimization. IEEE transactions on robotics : a publication of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, 40, 2692 - 2711. https://doi.org/10.1109/tro.2024.3386615

This article delineates the formulation and verification of an innovative robotic elbow-and-forearm system design, mirroring the intricate biomechanics of human musculoskeletal systems. Conventional robotic models often undervalue the substantial fun... Read More about Enhancing the Performance of a Biomimetic Robotic Elbow-and-Forearm System Through Bionics-Inspired Optimization.

Enhancing Gearbox Fault Diagnosis through Advanced Feature Engineering and Data Segmentation Techniques (2024)
Journal Article
Shukla, K., Holderbaum, W., Theodoridis, T., & Wei, G. (in press). Enhancing Gearbox Fault Diagnosis through Advanced Feature Engineering and Data Segmentation Techniques. Machines, 12(4), 261. https://doi.org/10.3390/machines12040261

Efficient gearbox fault diagnosis is crucial for the cost-effective maintenance and reliable operation of rotating machinery. Despite extensive research, effective fault diagnosis remains challenging due to the multitude of features available for cla... Read More about Enhancing Gearbox Fault Diagnosis through Advanced Feature Engineering and Data Segmentation Techniques.

Sarrus-inspired deployable polyhedral mechanisms (2024)
Journal Article
Gu, Y., Zhang, X., Wei, G., & Chen, Y. (2024). Sarrus-inspired deployable polyhedral mechanisms. Mechanism and Machine Theory, 193, 105564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mechmachtheory.2023.105564

Deployable polyhedral mechanisms (DPMs) have witnessed flourishing growth in recent years because of their potential applications in robotics, space exploration, structure engineering, and so forth. This paper firstly presents the construction, mobil... Read More about Sarrus-inspired deployable polyhedral mechanisms.

Hamiltonian-path based constraint reduction for deployable polyhedral mechanisms (2023)
Journal Article
Gu, Y., Zhang, X., Wei, G., & Chen, Y. (in press). Hamiltonian-path based constraint reduction for deployable polyhedral mechanisms. Mechanism and Machine Theory, 193, 105563. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mechmachtheory.2023.105563

Most of the deployable polyhedral mechanisms (DPMs) are multi-loop overconstrained mechanisms that causes barriers for their applications due to the issues in assembly, operation and control. Yet, constraint reduction for these mult... Read More about Hamiltonian-path based constraint reduction for deployable polyhedral mechanisms.

Compliant actuators that mimic biological muscle performance with applications in a highly biomimetic robotic arm (2023)
Working Paper
Yang, H., Wei, G., Ren, L., & Yan, L. Compliant actuators that mimic biological muscle performance with applications in a highly biomimetic robotic arm

This paper endeavours to bridge the existing gap in muscular actuator design for ligament-skeletal-inspired robots, thereby fostering the evolution of these robotic systems. We introduce two novel compliant actuators, namely the Internal Torsion Spri... Read More about Compliant actuators that mimic biological muscle performance with applications in a highly biomimetic robotic arm.