Adrian Agogino

About

Adrian Agogino is a pioneering robotics researcher whose work has fundamentally advanced the field of tensegrity robotics — a design paradigm built from interconnected rigid rods and tension cables that produces systems that are lightweight, compliant, and remarkably robust. His research spans soft robot design, locomotion control, and space exploration applications, with a particular focus on how biologically inspired structural principles can yield transformative robotic capabilities. Agogino's most influential contributions center on spherical tensegrity robots, with landmark papers on rod-centered actuation (101 citations), rolling locomotion (89 citations), and rapid prototyping (71 citations) collectively shaping how researchers approach soft mobile robotics. His work on the NASA-backed Super Ball Bot concept demonstrates real-world ambition, proposing collapsible tensegrity probes capable of planetary landing and exploration. Beyond mobility, his research extends to wearable technology, including a compliant upper-extremity exosuit (52 citations) for human augmentation. A consistent thread across his portfolio is the integration of machine learning and evolutionary algorithms to solve the notoriously complex control challenges that tensegrity structures present. With over 600 cumulative citations across his top works, Agogino's research sits at a compelling intersection of structural engineering, adaptive control, and space robotics, making him an essential figure for students exploring the frontiers of soft and compliant robotics.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Soft Spherical Tensegrity Robot Design Using Rod-Centered Actuation and Control

   101 citations · 2017
2. 2
   Rolling Locomotion of Cable-Driven Soft Spherical Tensegrity Robots

   89 citations · 2020
3. 3
   Rapid prototyping design and control of tensegrity soft robot for locomotion

   71 citations · 2014
4. 4
   Hopping and rolling locomotion with spherical tensegrity robots

   66 citations · 2016
5. 5
   Goal-Directed CPG-Based Control for Tensegrity Spines with Many Degrees of Freedom Traversing Irregular Terrain

   58 citations · 2015
6. 6
   Super Ball Bot - Structures for Planetary Landing and Exploration

   53 citations · 2018
7. 7
   CRUX: A compliant robotic upper-extremity exosuit for lightweight, portable, multi-joint muscular augmentation

   52 citations · 2017
8. 8
   Robust learning of tensegrity robot control for locomotion through form-finding

   49 citations · 2015
9. 9
   Flop and roll: Learning robust goal-directed locomotion for a Tensegrity Robot

   45 citations · 2014
10. 10
    Controlling tensegrity robots through evolution

    41 citations · 2013

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links