Boris Gromov

About

Boris Gromov is a robotics researcher whose work sits at the intersection of human-robot interaction, gesture-based control, and rescue robotics. He has made particularly significant contributions to the development of intuitive interfaces that allow humans to communicate with robots through natural pointing gestures, leveraging wearable inertial measurement units (IMUs) to translate body movements into actionable commands for mobile robots and quadrotors. Gromov's most impactful contribution is his co-authorship of "The Current State and Future Outlook of Rescue Robotics" (2019), which has accumulated an impressive 361 citations and serves as a foundational reference for the field. His subsequent work on proximity human-robot interaction, wearable multi-modal interfaces, and robot identification through pointing gestures demonstrates a sustained commitment to making human-robot collaboration more seamless, particularly in high-stakes search and rescue scenarios. A recurring theme across his research is accessibility — designing systems that require minimal training, using everyday gestures to control complex robotic systems including drones. His open-source ROS toolkit, PointIt, reflects a dedication to community-driven development. Collectively, Gromov's portfolio positions him as a thoughtful innovator bridging wearable sensing technology and practical robotics deployment in real-world environments.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   The current state and future outlook of rescue robotics

   361 citations · 2019
2. 2
   Proximity Human-Robot Interaction Using Pointing Gestures and a Wrist-mounted IMU

   42 citations · 2019
3. 3
   Wearable multi-modal interface for human multi-robot interaction

   34 citations · 2016
4. 4
   Cleaning by means of the HISMAR autonomous robot

   32 citations · 2011
5. 5
   Robot Identification and Localization with Pointing Gestures

   18 citations · 2018
6. 6
   Intuitive 3D Control of a Quadrotor in User Proximity with Pointing Gestures

   15 citations · 2020
7. 7
   Guiding Quadrotor Landing with Pointing Gestures

   5 citations · 2020
8. 8
   Learning to Detect Pointing Gestures From Wearable IMUs

   4 citations · 2018
9. 9
   PointIt: A ROS Toolkit for Interacting with Co-located Robots using Pointing Gestures

   4 citations · 2022
10. 10
    Demo: Pointing Gestures for Proximity Interaction

    3 citations · 2019

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links