The MSC Lab focuses on designing and developing control strategies for mechanical systems. The laboratory has engaged in pioneering research in precision motion control, robot control, vehicle control and mechatronics. The laboratory typically has 15 to 20 graduate students and 5 to 10 visitors such as visiting student researchers, visiting scholars and visiting industrial fellows.
Research Interest
Hybrid Robotics
Our research lies at the intersection of applied Nonlinear Control and Hybrid Dynamic Robotics. Our goal is to design controllers for achieving dynamic, fast, energy-efficient, and robust maneuvers on hybrid and underactuated systems such as legged and aerial robots. This will require addressing the challenges of high degree-of-freedom, high degree-of-underactuation, nonlinear and hybrid systems with …
High Performance Robotics Lab
At the HiPeR Lab, we focus on low-level research on fundamental robotics capabilities, especially for Unmanned Aerial Systems. Areas of particular focus are safety, localization, and design. We aim to enhance the systems’ capabilities by advanced algorithms, mechanical design, and control strategies.
Berkeley Robotics & Human Engineering Laboratory
Our research activities are focused on the design and control of a class of robotic systems worn or operated by humans to augment human mechanical strength, while the wearer’s intellect remains the central control system for manipulating the robot. Human power extenders can be used to maneuver heavy loads with great dexterity, speed, and precision, …
BEST Lab
The BEST (Berkeley [Energy and Sustainability Technologies/ Expert Systems Technologies/ Emergent Space Tensegrities]) Lab conducts research at the intersection of cutting-edge frontiers in design research, computational design, sustainability, gender equity, human-machine cognition, supervisory control, soft robotics, sensor fusion, design research and intelligent learning systems.
Embodied Dexterity Group
Our group improves robot and human dexterity through building end-effectors and mechanisms with embodied intelligence and robustness, especially for challenging unstructured environments. This includes the design of (1) novel grippers, hands and exoskeletons, (2) touch perception for autonomous or teleoperated interventions and (3) bioinspired manipulation strategies. This vision includes the advancement of relevant design analysis …
Masayoshi Tomizuka
Cheryl and John Neerhout Jr. Distinguished Professorship
Cheryl and John Neerhout, Jr. Distinguished Professor
Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Associate Dean, Faculty
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
tomizuka@berkeley.edu
(510) 642-0870
For more information see: Mechanical Systems Control Lab
Current Classes Taught
Masayoshi Tomizuka received his B.S. and M.S. from Keio University in 1968 and 1970, respectively. He received his Ph. D. from MIT in 1974, after which he joined the ME Department at UC Berkeley. Here, he served as the Vice Chair of Instruction from Dec. 1989 to Dec. 1991, and as the Vice Chair of graduate studies from Jul. 1995 to Dec. 1996.
From 2009 to 2011, he was the Executive Associate Dean for the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley. He also served as Program Director of the Dynamic Systems and Control Program at the National Science Foundation from Sept. 2002 to Dec. 2004.
To view Professor Tomizuka’s CV, please click here.
Research Description:
Adaptive control, computer-aided manufacturing, control systems and theory, digital control, dynamic systems, manufacturing, mechanical vibrations.
Hannah Stuart
Don M. Cunningham Endowed Professorship in Mechanical Engineering
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Don M. Cunningham Endowed Professorship in Mechanical Engineering
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
hstuart@berkeley.edu
(510) 643-9786
For more information see: Embodied Dexterity Group (EDG)
Current Classes Taught
Hannah Stuart received her BS in Mechanical Engineering from the George Washington University in 2011. She then completed her MS and PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University in 2013 and 2018 respectively. She is an NSF CAREER and NASA Early Career Faculty grant recipient.
Research Description:
Professor Stuart’s research interests include: Dexterous manipulation; Bioinspired design; Soft and multi-material mechanisms; Skin contact conditions; Tactile sensing and haptics.
Mobile and assistive robots face a rapidly expanding range of potential applications, including remote exploration and human assistance. In many of these cases, the focus of interaction is via the robot’s contact points, like end-effectors. However, current machines have limited capabilities in comparison to their biological counterparts when complex contact conditions dominate physical interaction.
Professor Stuart’s research group is interested in improving robot dexterity with embodied intelligence through studying and designing for the nonidealities of real contact, especially for unstructured environments. This includes the design of (1) novel grippers and hands, (2) touch perception for autonomous interventions and (3) bioinspired manipulation strategies. This vision includes the advancement of relevant design analysis tools and the validation of concepts by applying technologies in the field.
Key Publications:
Cao, C., Moon, D., Creager, C., Lieu, D., & Stuart, H. S. (2023). Push-pull locomotion: Increasing travel velocity in loose regolith via induced wheel slip. Journal of Terramechanics, 110, 87–99. https://doi.org/10.
Abbott, M., & Stuart†, H. S. (2023). Characterizing the force-motion tradeoff in body-powered transmission design. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 31, 3064–3074. https://doi.org/10.
Page, J. J., Treers, L. K., Jorgensen, S. J., Fearing, R. S., & Stuart, H. S. (2023). The robustness of tether friction in non-idealized terrains. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 8(1), 424–431. https://doi.org/10.1109/LRA.
Treers, L. K., McInroe, B., Full, R.,&Stuart, H. S. (2022). Mole crab-inspired vertical self-burrowing. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 9, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.3389/
Featured in Berkeley News: https://engineering.
Featured in Berkeley News: https://engineering.
Huh, T. M., Sanders, K., Danielczuk, M., Li, M., Chen, Y., Goldberg, K., & Stuart, H. S. (2021a, December). A multi-chamber smart suction cup for adaptive gripping and haptic exploration. In 2021 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) (pp. 1786–1793). https://doi.org/
Li, M. S., Melville, D., Chung, E., & Stuart, H. S. (2020). Milliscale features increase friction of soft skin in lubricated contact. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 5(3), 4781-4787. https://doi.org/10.
Koushil Sreenath
Vice Chair of Graduate Studies
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
koushils@berkeley.edu
For more information see: Hybrid Robotics
Current Classes Taught
Koushil Sreenath is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, at UC Berkeley. He received a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and a M.S. degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, MI, in 2011. He was a Postdoctoral Scholar at the GRASP Lab at University of Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2013 and an Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University from 2013 to 2017. His research interest lies at the intersection of highly dynamic robotics and applied nonlinear control. His work on dynamic legged locomotion on the bipedal robot MABEL was featured on The Discovery Channel, CNN, ESPN, FOX, and CBS. His work on dynamic aerial manipulation was featured on the IEEE Spectrum, New Scientist, and Huffington Post. His work on adaptive sampling with mobile sensor networks was published as a book entitled Adaptive Sampling with Mobile WSN (IET). He received the Best Paper Award at the Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS) Conference in 2013, and the Google Faculty Research Award in Robotics in 2015.
Research Description:
Hybrid Dynamic Robotics, Applied Nonlinear Control, Dynamic Legged Locomotion, Dynamic Aerial Manipulation
Key Publications:
To view a list of Professor Sreenath’s publications, please click here.
S. Shankar Sastry
Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
Berkeley, CA 94720-1700
shankar_sastry@berkeley.edu
For more information see:
From 2004 to 2007, S. Shankar Sastry was the Director of CITRIS (Center for Information Technology in the Interests of Society) an interdisciplinary center spanning UC Berkeley, Davis, Merced and Santa Cruz. He has served as Chairman, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley from January, 2001 through June 2004. From 1999-early 2001, he was on leave from Berkeley as Director of the Information Technology Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). From 1996-1999, he was the Director of the Electronics Research Laboratory at Berkeley.
Dr. Sastry received his Ph.D. degree in 1981 from the University of California, Berkeley. He was on the faculty of MIT as Asst. Professor from 1980-82 and Harvard University as a chaired Gordon Mc Kay professor in 1994. His areas of personal research are resilient network control systems, cybersecurity, autonomous and unmanned systems (especially aerial vehicles), computer vision, nonlinear and adaptive control, control of hybrid and embedded systems, and software. Most recently he has been concerned with critical infrastructure protection, in the context of establishing a ten year NSF Science and Technology Center, TRUST (Team for Research in Ubiquitous Secure Technologies).
Dr. Sastry has supervised over 65 doctoral students and over 50 MS students to completion. His students now occupy leadership roles in several places and on the faculties of many major universities in the United States and abroad.
Research Description:
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Biosystems & Computational Biology (BIO), Control, Intelligent Systems, and Robotics (CIR), Security (SEC)
Key Publications:
To view a list of Professor Sastry’s publications, please click here.
Mark W. Mueller
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
5136 Etcheverry HallUniversity of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
mwm@berkeley.edu
(510) 642-3270
For more information see: HiPeR Lab
Current Classes Taught
Mark W. Mueller received a B.Eng. in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Pretoria in South Africa in 2008. With a scholarship from the Swiss Federation, he continued to his M.Sc. and Dr. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering at the ETH Zurich, in 2011 and 2015, respectively. He joined the Mechanical Engineering Department at UC Berkeley in August 2016.
Research Description:
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, dynamics and control; motion planning and coordination; state estimation and localization.
Key Publications:
For a list of Professor Mueller’s publications, please click here.
Sara McMains
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
5145 Etcheverry HallUniversity of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
mcmains@me.berkeley.edu
(510) 852-9359
For more information see: McMains Home Page
Current Classes Taught
Dr. McMains is a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley. Her research interests include Geometric DFM (Design for Manufacturing) feedback, geometric solid modeling, CAD/CAM, GPU algorithms, computer aided process planning, layered manufacturing, computer graphics, visualization, virtual prototyping, and virtual reality. Her current research focuses on new techniques for accessibility analysis and collision detection, with applications in haptic design environments, design for manufacturing for injection molding, design for cleanability, layered manufacturing, and machining.
McMains received her A.B. from Harvard University in Computer Science, and her M.S. and Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in Computer Science with a minor in Mechanical Engineering. She is the recipient of Best Paper Awards from Usenix (1995) and ASME DETC (2000), a Best Poster and a Best Paper Award from the ACM Solid and Physical Modeling Symposium (2007, 2008 — 2nd place), and the NSF CAREER Award (2005).
Research Description:
Geometric and solid modeling, computer aided design, computer aided manufacturing, layered manufacturing, computer graphics and visualization, virtual prototyping, virtual reality.
Homayoon Kazerooni
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
6147 Etcheverry HallUniversity of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
kazerooni@berkeley.edu
(510) 642-2964
For more information see: Berkeley Robotics & Human Engineering Laboratory
Current Classes Taught
Dr. Kazerooni is a professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, where he also serves as the director of the Berkeley Robotics and Human Engineering Laboratory. With more than 30 years of mechanical engineering experience and a doctorate degree from MIT, he is a leading expert in robotics, control sciences, exoskeletons, medical devices, human-machine systems and augmentation, bioengineering, mechatronics design, and intelligent assist devices. Prior to his more well-known research on lower extremity exoskeletons, Dr. Kazerooni led his team at Berkeley to successfully develop robotics systems that enhanced human upper extremity strength. The results of this work led to a new class of Intelligent Assist Devices (IAD) that are currently marketed worldwide by leading material handling corporations for use by manual laborers in distribution centers and factories globally.
Dr. Kazerooni’s later work focuses on the control of human-machine systems specific to lower human extremities. After developing BLEEX, ExoHiker, and ExoClimber–three load-carrying exoskeletons–his team at Berkeley created HULC (Human Universal Load Carrier). It is the first energetically-autonomous, orthotic, lower extremity exoskeleton that allows its user to carry 200-pound weights in various terrains for an extended period, without becoming physically overwhelmed. The technology was licensed to Lockheed Martin. Dr. Kazerooni has also developed lower-extremity technology to aid persons who have experienced a stroke, spinal cord injuries, or health conditions that obligate them to use a wheelchair. His medical exoskeletons, Ekso and Phoenix have successfully allowed those who have been paralyzed to walk, stand, and speak face to face with peers in an upright position. The technologies related to Ekso and Phoenix are licensed to Ekso Bionics and suitX.
In addition to his teaching work and research experience in academia, Dr. Kazerooni is also an entrepreneur. In 2005, he founded Ekso Bionics (eksobionics.com), which went on to become a publicly-owned company in 2014 and now supplies medical exoskeleton (Ekso) to a great number of rehabilitation centers worldwide. Later he founded suitX (suitx.com), a VC, industry, and government funded company that provides industrial and medical exoskeletons. suitX was acquired by Ottobock, the largest European medical device company in late 2021.
Dr. Kazerooni has won numerous awards including Discover Magazine’s Technological Innovation Award, the McKnight-Land Grant Professorship, and has been a recipient of the outstanding ASME Investigator Award. His research was recognized as the most innovative technology of the year in New York Times Magazine. He has served in a variety of leadership roles in the mechanical engineering community and was notably the editor of two journals: ASME Journal of Dynamics Systems and Control and IEEE Transaction on Mechatronics. A recognized authority on robotics, Dr. Kazerooni has published more than 200 articles to date, delivered over 130 plenary lectures internationally, and is the inventors of over 200 patents.
Research Description:
Bioengineering, robotics, control systems, mechatronics, design, automated manufacturing and human-machine systems
Key Publications:
To view a list of Professor Kazerooni’s publications, please visit the Berkeley Robotics & Human Engineering Laboratory’s website.
Roberto Horowitz
James Fife Endowed Chair
Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering
James Fife Endowed Chair
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
horowitz@berkeley.edu
For more information see: Horowitz Home Page
Current Classes Taught
Roberto Horowitz is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UC Berkeley and holds the James Fife Endowed Chair in the College of Engineering. He received a B.S. degree with highest honors in 1978 and a Ph.D. degree in 1983 in mechanical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and became a faculty member of the Mechanical Engineering Department in 1982. Dr. Horowitz teaches and conducts research in the areas of adaptive, learning, nonlinear and optimal control, with applications to Micro-Electromechanical Systems (MEMS), computer disk file systems, robotics, mechatronics and Intelligent Vehicle and Highway Systems (IVHS). He is a former Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering Department is a former co-director of the Partners for Advanced Transportation Technology (PATH) research center at U.C. Berkeley. Dr. Horowitz is a member of IEEE and ASME and the recipient of the 2010 ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Division (DSCD) Henry M. Paynter Outstanding Investigator Award.
To view Professor Horowitz’s CV, please click here.
Research Description:
Adaptive, learning and nonlinear control, control of robot manipulators, computer mechatronics systems, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), intelligent vehicle and highways systems (IVHS)
Key Publications:
To view a list of Professor Horowitz’s publications, click here.
Alice M. Agogino
Distinguished Professor of the Graduate School
Product Design Concentration Founder and Head Advisor, MEng Program
Roscoe and Elizabeth Hughes Chair in Mechanical Engineering (7/1/2008-12/31/20221)
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720
agogino@berkeley.edu
(510) 666-3704
For more information see: Best Lab
Current Classes Taught
Click here to view Professor Agogino’s biography, and here to view her CV.
Research Description:
Intelligent learning systems; information retrieval and data mining; multiobjective and strategic product design; nonlinear optimization; probabilistic modeling; intelligent control and manufacturing; sensor validation, fusion and diagnostics; wireless sensor networks; multimedia and computer-aided design; design databases; design theory and methods; MEMS Synthesis and CAD; artificial intelligence and decision and expert systems; gender equity.
Key Publications:
Click here for a list of Professor Agogino’s publications.