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About

Manolo Garabini is a robotics researcher whose work spans soft robotics, variable stiffness actuators, humanoid platforms, and human-robot collaboration. He has made foundational contributions to the design and control of compliant robotic systems, recognizing early that mechanical flexibility is essential for safe, capable, and energy-efficient robots operating alongside humans and in unstructured environments. Garabini's research on Variable Stiffness Actuators (VSA) has been particularly influential, with seminal papers on low-cost VSA design and optimality principles in stiffness control accumulating over 450 combined citations. His work on the WALK-MAN humanoid platform (266 citations) demonstrated how advanced actuation translates into robust, real-world capable robots. He has also shaped the broader soft robotics field through highly cited reviews on control strategies and open prototyping platforms, helping define best practices for a rapidly growing community. Beyond hardware, Garabini has addressed energy efficiency in legged locomotion and safety-critical trajectory planning for collaborative robots, reflecting a consistent commitment to bridging theoretical insight with practical deployment. With over 1,300 citations across his most recognized works, his research has meaningfully advanced the field's understanding of how mechanical intelligence — building compliance and adaptability directly into robot bodies — can unlock the next generation of versatile, human-friendly machines.