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Research Article | Open Access

Soft Science

Yu et al. Soft Sci. 2026, 6, 19 DOI:10.20517/ss.2025.112

Bioinspired magnetic soft gripper for rapid and
non-injurious capture of deep-sea organisms

Shimin Yu 1,# , Lixin Ji , Weiwei Zhang , Linqiang Zhang , Xuejia Liu , Zhanxiang Zhang , Penghao Chen ,
3
1,#
2,#
1
1
3
Anliang Ge , Bingchen Liang , Yingchun Xie , Tianlong Li 3,4,*
1,*
1
1
Keywords:
Magnetically driven soft
gripper, bionic ciliate
microneedle structures,
underwater operation,
magnetic composite
materials
Citation: Yu, S.; Ji, L.;
Zhang, W.; Zhang, L.; Liu, X.;
Zhang, Z.; Chen, P.; Ge, A.;
Liang, B.; Xie, Y.; Li, T.
Bioinspired magnetic soft
gripper for rapid and
non-injurious capture of
deep-sea organisms. Soft Sci.
2026, 6, 19.
https://dx.doi.org/10.20517
/ss.2025.112
Abstract
Received: 31 Oct 2025 The rapid, flexible, and non-injurious capture and sampling of live organisms in deep-sea
First Decision: 23 Dec high-pressure environments is a critical component for establishing environmental
2025 baselines prior to deep-sea development operations. Here, we propose and fabricate a
Revised: 6 Jan 2026
Accepted: 16 Jan 2026 bionic multi-fingered magnetically driven soft gripper (MSG) designed for underwater
Published: 12 Mar 2026 grasping tasks. The gripper adopts a modular, bioinspired multi-finger structure composed
of portable magnetic field actuator and high-pressure-resistant silicone elastomer with
Academic Editor: integrated surface microneedle arrays for enhancing contact friction. Remote, non-contact
Grace X. Gu
Copy Editor: actuation and programmable deformation are achieved through an external magnetic drive
Pei-Yun Wang system. The fabrication process, mechanical and magnetic characterization, flow
Production Editor: disturbance analysis, magneto-fluid-structure coupling simulations, and grasping
Pei-Yun Wang
experiments on five representative underwater targets were systematically investigated.
Structural response, control efficiency, and operational performance were comprehensively
validated. Experimental results demonstrate that the MSG can complete
expansion-contraction movements within 1 s and achieve high grasping success rates

1 State Key Laboratory of Coastal and Offshore Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, Shandong, China.
2 School of Mechanical and Power Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan, China.
3 State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, Heilongjiang, China.
4 Suzhou Research Institute of HIT, Suzhou 215104, Jiangsu, China.
# These authors contributed equally.

* Correspondence to: Prof. Yingchun Xie, State Key Laboratory of Coastal and Offshore Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao
266100, Shandong, China. E-mail: xieyc@ouc.edu.cn; Prof. Tianlong Li, State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System, Harbin Institute of
Technology, Harbin 150001, Heilongjiang, China. E-mail: tianlongli@hit.edu.cn

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