Jee Hwan Ryu - "Soft Growing Robots: From Disaster Response to Colonoscopy"

Why It Matters

The technology offers a versatile, low‑impact solution for life‑critical tasks—from rescuing disaster victims in inaccessible spaces to performing safer, more comfortable colonoscopies—potentially reshaping both humanitarian aid and medical practice.

Key Takeaways

• Vine robots grow by eversion, navigating narrow, slippery spaces.
• Whole-body steering enables curvature without rigid joints for navigation.
• Origami‑based material feeding keeps tip camera stable during growth.
• Minimal modifications allow retraction and steering for colonoscopy use.
• Portable disaster‑response prototype delivers supplies and visual feedback underground.

Summary

Jee Hwan Ryu presented the latest advances in soft‑growing "vine" robots, machines that extend their bodies by everting material rather than moving a rigid chassis. This eversion‑based locomotion lets the robot slip through tight, slippery or even vertical passages, making it a promising tool for both post‑disaster search‑and‑rescue and minimally invasive medical procedures.

The research tackles three technical hurdles: steering, tip‑mount stability, and reliable retraction. Ryu’s team favors whole‑body steering, using artificial‑muscle actuators wrapped around the robot to induce curvature, while avoiding complex tip‑joint mechanisms. To keep a camera or sensor at the tip during rapid growth, they introduced an origami‑folded material‑feeding system that separates the cable channel from the eversion stream, preventing the cable from being engulfed. A simple internal retraction channel, activated by pressurizing a sealed ring, enables the robot to pull itself back without external pulling forces.

Demonstrations included a portable disaster‑response prototype that could navigate a collapsed‑building mockup, deliver a water bottle, and transmit live video—all from a compact control box. In collaboration with clinicians, the same platform was adapted for colonoscopy, showing safe, low‑force navigation through animal intestines and rapid self‑retraction. A separate self‑wearing garment project illustrated the robot’s potential for assistive clothing, leveraging its unfolding motion to dress users with limited mobility.

If the challenges of sharp intestinal bends and reliable tip‑tool integration are resolved, vine robots could revolutionize emergency response by reaching victims in confined rubble and transform endoscopic procedures by reducing patient discomfort and infection risk. Their modular, low‑pressure design also opens avenues in wearable robotics and other soft‑automation fields.

Original Description

Speaker Biography

- 2019 ~ Present: Professor, Dept. of CEE, KAIST

- 2025 ~ Present: IEEE Fellow

- 2025 ~ Present: IEEE RAS AdCom

2016 ~ 2017: Visiting Professor, Stanford, AI Lab

- 2005 ~ 2019: Assistant/Associate/Full Professor, KOREATECH

- 2003 ~ 2005: Research Professor, KAIST

- 2002 ~ 2003: Visiting Professor, German Aerospace Center

- 2002 ~ 2003: Post-Doc, University of Washington

Abstract

Soft growing robots, often referred to as vine robots, represent a new class of continuum robots that achieve locomotion by extending their body through tip eversion, much like the growth of a plant vine. This simple yet powerful principle enables robots to navigate confined and cluttered environments without causing significant disturbance to their surroundings. Despite their promise, early implementations have faced key challenges that limit their deployment in real-world scenarios, including restricted steering, difficulty in mounting sensors and tools at the tip, challenges in controlled retraction, and robustness under diverse operating conditions. In this keynote, I will introduce the fundamental working principle of vine robots and present recent advances in mechanisms that overcome these limitations, enabling practical deployment. I will describe new approaches for high-curvature steering, modular tip-mounting of sensors and end-effectors, and efficient retraction strategies, each designed to expand the capabilities of soft growing robots. These innovations open the door to a wide range of impactful applications, from disaster response and search-and-rescue operations in collapsed structures, to directional drilling and underwater exploration, to minimally invasive medical procedures such as colonoscopy. By bridging fundamental mechanisms with practical implementation, this talk highlights how soft growing robots are transforming from laboratory prototypes into versatile tools for some of society’s most urgent and delicate challenges.