I am a researcher specializing in robot dynamics and related fields. I am a leading expert on computational rigid-body dynamics, and my publications have been cited thousands of times. I invented the Articulated-Body Algorithm, and have written two books and many articles on dynamics. (See my publications page.) I am also a Fellow of the IEEE and a member of its Robotics and Automation Society. For more information about my work, software, etc., follow the links on my home page.
Here is a short biography (plain text file) suitable for seminars and invited talks.
Here is a short biography (plain text file) suitable for seminars and invited talks.
Employment History
My most recent employment (which ended in 2022) was at the Italian Institute of Technology, where I worked on the Skippy Project and invented the ring screw mechanism. Before that I worked for many years at the Australian National University; and before that I was a lecturer in computer science at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and an EPSRC Advanced Research Fellow in the Department of Engineering Science (Robotics Group) at Oxford University. And before that, I spent 6.5 years in industry, working first for a small UK start-up called Cambridge Control, and then for Philips Research Laboratories in Briarcliff Manor, New York State.Education
I obtained my Ph.D. at Edinburgh University (Dept. of Artificial Intelligence), and my first degree at Southampton University.Achievements
In addition to the articulated-body algorithm, I invented the spatial (6D) vector algebra and the divide-and-conquer version of the articulated-body algorithm; and I identified the phenomenon of branch-induced sparsity, and figured out how to exploit it. In my early career I made contributions to robot kinematics, and later to hybrid force/motion control and operational-space dynamics. More recently, I found a simpler way to describe and control the physical activity of balancing on a narrow support. On the practical side, I made large improvements to the feedback control of actuators using shape-memory alloys, and I invented the ring screw transmission mechanism.