NATURE-INSPIRED SENSOR DEPLOYMENT02
Agile Samara Glider dSAW
One actuator. Two ways to descend.
A samara-inspired robot that glides, dives, and recovers using a single control surface.
RESEARCHER & ROBOTICIST
Aerial Innovation Research LabTemasek Laboratories @ SUTDSingapore University of Technology and Design
Inspired by nature.
Engineered for possibility.
I’m Shane. I design robots that move differently—
through the air, across water, and beyond convention.
ONE PLATFORM. THREE POSSIBILITIES.
Let nature
do the work.
01
Descend.
Dual-purpose wings slow the fall through passive autorotation.
02
Transform.
A low centre of gravity helps the platform right itself on water.
03
Explore.
The same wings become sails for autonomous surface sensing.
MY RESEARCH THEME
New ways to move.
Fewer things to move them.
A falling seed. A sail in the wind. The flick of a fish’s tail. My research turns these natural mechanisms into robots with minimal actuation—combining mechanical design, dynamics, and control to make autonomous systems more capable.
More about my work ↗SELECTED WORK
Ideas in motion.
JAMES DYSON AWARD · 202403
airXeed
A second life for weather sensing.
A reusable radiosonde inspired by falling maple seeds. Global Sustainability Winner, 2024.
RESEARCH OUTPUT
Selected publications.
SCIENCE ROBOTICS
ALBATROSS: A bio-inspired, aerially deployable, autonomous sailing sensor platform
S.K.H. Win, D. Sufiyan, B.L. Suhadi, L.S.T. Win, X. Cai, W.J. Ang, S. Foong
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ROBOTICS
An agile samara-inspired single-actuator aerial robot capable of autorotation and diving
S.K.H. Win, L.S.T. Win, D. Sufiyan, G.S. Soh, S. Foong
BIOINSPIRATION & BIOMIMETICS
Design and control of the first foldable single-actuator rotary wing micro aerial vehicle
S.K.H. Win, L.S.T. Win, D. Sufiyan, S. Foong
RECENT ACTIVITY
Along the way.
Shane’s work on ALBATROSS is featured on Popular Science!
Shane’s research titled ‘ALBATROSS: A bio-inspired, aerially deployable, autonomous sailing sensor platform’ is published in Science Robotics! Read it here!
Shane receives Research Quality Award from Temasek Labs @ SUTD for excellence in research for 2025!
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