Nicolas Mansard
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, Laboratoire d'Analyse et d'Architecture des Systèmes, Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies du numérique, Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier, Institut de Mathématiques de Toulouse, École Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Roche (Switzerland), University of Edinburgh, École Normale Supérieure de Rennes
Papers
103
Total Citations
4,653
H-Index
34
About
Nicolas Mansard is a leading robotics researcher whose work has fundamentally shaped how humanoid and legged robots plan and execute complex motions. Based at LAAS-CNRS in France, his research spans whole-body motion generation, hierarchical optimization, and rigid body dynamics — fields where he has established himself as one of the most influential contributors of his generation. Mansard's most celebrated contribution is his development of hierarchical quadratic programming frameworks, particularly the "Stack of Tasks" paradigm, which enables robots to simultaneously satisfy multiple competing objectives with elegant mathematical rigor. His 2014 paper on hierarchical QP has garnered over 529 citations, reflecting its widespread adoption across the robotics community. Equally impactful is Pinocchio, the open-source C++ library he co-developed for rigid body dynamics with analytical derivatives, now a de facto standard in robotics research with over 344 citations since 2019. His work extends into contact planning, multicontact locomotion, and optimization-based control for dynamic legged systems, with influential contributions totaling over 1,700 citations collectively. The development of the TALOS humanoid robot further demonstrates his commitment to bridging theoretical advances with real-world industrial application. Mansard's research has proven indispensable for anyone working at the intersection of robot control, dynamics, and autonomous movement.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Hierarchical quadratic programming: Fast online humanoid-robot motion generation529 citations · 2014
- 2
- 3A Unified Approach to Integrate Unilateral Constraints in the Stack of Tasks244 citations · 2009
- 4
- 5Task Sequencing for High-Level Sensor-Based Control198 citations · 2007
- 6Optimization-Based Control for Dynamic Legged Robots160 citations · 2023
- 7TALOS: A new humanoid research platform targeted for industrial applications150 citations · 2017
- 8An Efficient Acyclic Contact Planner for Multiped Robots144 citations · 2018
- 9Analytical Derivatives of Rigid Body Dynamics Algorithms133 citations · 2018
- 10Multicontact Locomotion of Legged Robots124 citations · 2018