Publications

Research Publications

Selected publications from Mevita Robotics Lab, covering tactile sensing, embodied intelligence, dexterous manipulation, and biomedical robotic systems. For the complete publication record, please refer to Google Scholar →

Preprints Journal Articles Conference Papers Books / Chapters Patents
Preprints

Recent preprint works

Recent manuscripts publicly available as preprints. These works are under review, in revision, or in preparation for journal publication.

A physics-grounded tactile representation for generalizable contact-rich manipulation

Baihui You, Yifeng Tang, Jinzhao Yang, Yajing Shen*.
arXiv 2026 arXiv →
Journal Publications

Selected journal publications

Selected journal publications in nature/science series.

Embodied Sensorimotor Integration for Whole-arm Tactile Sensing and Adaptive Robotic Manipulation

Y. Tang, T. Yin, T. Zhang, L. Yang, G. Li, H. Ren, Z. Ling, H. Zhao, R. Zhang, Y. Shen*.
Nature Sensors, in press. Paper →

Touching with Torque Enables Human-Level Robotic Dexterity

L. Wang, Y. Sun*, L. Yang*, Y. Sun, Q. Guo, Y. Liu, X. Chen*, Y. Shen*.
Science Advances, 12, eaec3263, 2026. Paper →

A Robust and Omnidirectional-sensitive Electronic Antenna for Tactile-induced Perception

H. Ren, L. Yang, H. Chang, T. Zhang, G. Li, X. Yang, Y. Tang, W. Shang, Y. Shen*.
Nature Communications, 16, 3135, 2025. Paper →

Digital Channel-Enabled Distributed Force Decoding via Small Datasets for Hand-Centric Interactions

Y. Tang, G. Li, T. Zhang, H. Ren, X. Yang, L. Yang, D. Guo, Y. Shen*.
Science Advances, 11, eadt2641, 2025. Paper →

Sub-Millimeter Fiberscopic Robot with Integrated Maneuvering, Imaging, and Biomedical Operation Abilities

T. Zhang, G. Li, H. Ren, L. Yang, X. Yang, R. Tan, Y. Tang, D. Guo, H. Zhao, W. Shang, Y. Shen*.
Nature Communications, 15, 10874, 2024. Paper →
Editors’ Highlights: one of the 50 best papers recently published in the area of “Devices”; Top 10 Research News in Hong Kong in 2025.

One-Step Formation of Polymorphous Sperm-like Microswimmers by Vortex Turbulence-Assisted Microfluidics

R. Tan, X. Yang, H. Lu, Y. Shen*.
Nature Communications, 15, 4761, 2024. Paper →
Editors’ Highlights: one of the 50 best papers recently published in “Applied physics and mathematics”.

A Liquid Metal-Based Module Emulating the Intelligent Preying Logic of Flytrap

Y. Yang, Y. Shen*.
Nature Communications, 15, 3398, 2024. Paper →

Milli-Scale Cellular Robots That Can Reconfigure Morphologies and Behaviors Simultaneously

X. Yang, R. Tan, H. Lu, T. Fukuda, Y. Shen*.
Nature Communications, 13, 1–11, 2022. Paper →

Soft Magnetic Skin for Super-Resolution Tactile Sensing with Force Self-Decoupling

Y. Yan, Z. Hu, Z. Yang, W. Yuan, C. Song, J. Pan*, Y. Shen*.
Science Robotics, 6, eabc8801, 2021. Paper →
Highlighted by Science through video.

Self-Adaptive and Efficient Propulsion of Ray Sperms at Different Viscosities Enabled by Heterogeneous Dual Helixes

P. Wang, M. A. R. Azad, X. Yang, P. Martelli, K. Y. Cheung, J. Shi*, Y. Shen*.
PNAS, 118(23), e2024329118, 2021. Paper →

An Agglutinate Magnetic Spray Transforms Inanimate Objects into Millirobots for Biomedical Applications

X. Yang, W. Shang, H. Lu, Y. Liu, L. Yang, R. Tan, X. Wu*, Y. Shen*.
Science Robotics, 5, eabc8191, 2020. Paper →
Featured by CCTV.

A Bioinspired Multilegged Soft Millirobot That Functions in Both Dry and Wet Conditions

H. Lu, M. Zhang, Y. Yang, Q. Huang, T. Fukuda, Z. Wang*, Y. Shen*.
Nature Communications, 9, 3944, 2018. Paper →
Top 5 most read Nature Communications articles in physics in 2018; Top 10 progress in Robotics in China in 2018.
Conference Papers

Selected conference publications

Selected conference papers and award-recognized work in robotics.

Best Manipulation Paper Award
Characterization of oscillating nano knife for single cell cutting by nanorobotic manipulation system inside ESEM
Yajing Shen*, M. Nakajima, S. Kojima, M. Homma, Y. Ode, T. Fukuda.
IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2011.
Recognition: Best Manipulation Paper Award.
Best Paper Award
In-situ single cell manipulation via nanorobotic manipulation system inside E-SEM
Yajing Shen*, M. Nakajima, M. Ahmad, S. Kojima, M. Homma, T. Fukuda.
IEEE International Symposium on Micro-Nano Mechatronics and Human Science, 2009.
Recognition: Best Paper Award.
Best Paper Finalist
Nanorobotic manipulation system for in-situ micro/nano torsion test
H. Lu, W. Wan, Yajing Shen*.
International Conference on Complex Medical Engineering, 2017.
Recognition: Best Paper Finalist.
Books / Book Chapters

Books and chapters

Selected books and chapters related to robotics.

Minimalist milliscale robot construction by M-spray
R. Tan, X. Yang, Yajing Shen.
Untethered Small-Scale Robots for Biomedical Applications, 2023.
Chapter 12: 3D System Cell Engineering Using Micro-Nano Robotics
T. Fukuda, M. Nakajima, M. Takeuchi, Y. Hasegawa, T. Yue, C. Hu, M. Ahmad, Yajing Shen.
The Encyclopedia of Medical Robotics, 2018.
In Situ Nano Characterization of Yeast Cells using ESEM and FIB
Yajing Shen.
Advanced Microscopy in Mycology, 2015.
Nanomanipulation of Biocells
Yajing Shen, T. Fukuda.
Encyclopedia of Nanotechnology, 2015.
Patents

Selected patents

Selected patents related to tactile sensing, human–robot interaction technologies, and biomedical robotic systems.

Tactile Manipulation
Object Property Estimation and Manipulation Based on Multi-Finger Tactile Information
Yajing Shen, X. Yang, Z. Ling.
US 63/620,146, Filed Jan. 11, 2024.
Bioinspired Tactile Sensing
Bioinspired sensing unit with decoupled force and temperature sensing ability
Yajing Shen, X. Yang.
US 63/589,989, Filed Oct. 12, 2023.
Artificial Skin / Phygital System
Artificial Skin-based Phygital System for the Cohesion of Human, Robot, and Virtual World
Yajing Shen.
US 63/507,737, Filed Jun. 13, 2023.
Flexible Tactile Sensor
Flexible mechanochromic tactile sensor and a method of distributed tactile measurement using the sensor
Yajing Shen.
US 63/478,499, Filed Jan. 4, 2023.
Magnetic Tactile Sensor
Low-cost tactile sensor based on artificial magnetic pillar for robotic tactile sensing
Yajing Shen.
US 63/478,501, Filed Jan. 4, 2023.
Biomedical Millirobot
An entirely biodegradable spiny milli-ball robot for oral macromolecule drug delivery
Yajing Shen.
US 63/478,497, Filed Jan. 4, 2023.
Magnetic Spray Robot
Method for converting inanimate object to small-scale robot on-demand
Yajing Shen, X. Yang.
US20220184360A1, Filed Dec. 13, 2021.