Papers
38
Total Citations
1,174
H-Index
16
About
Agostino Stilli is a prominent robotics researcher whose work spans soft robotics, variable stiffness mechanisms, surgical robotics, and rehabilitation engineering. He is perhaps best known for pioneering bio-inspired soft manipulator designs that combine pneumatic and tendon-driven actuation in an antagonistic framework — a concept inspired by the octopus musculature — enabling robots to steer, elongate, and actively control their stiffness. His 2016 paper on tendon-based stiffening for pneumatic soft manipulators has garnered over 200 citations, reflecting the field's enthusiasm for his approach to overcoming a fundamental limitation of soft robotics: lack of rigidity when needed. Stilli has also made significant contributions to safe human-robot interaction through his Variable Stiffness Link (VSL) framework, offering inherently safe collaborative robot designs that have collectively attracted hundreds of citations. His translational impact extends into clinical domains, including a pneumatic exoskeleton glove for post-stroke hand rehabilitation and a fluidic soft robot for ear surgery needle guidance. He further contributed to a landmark ten-year review of the da Vinci Research Kit, cited over 150 times, underscoring his influence in surgical robotics. Across his portfolio, Stilli consistently bridges fundamental soft robotics research with meaningful real-world medical and industrial applications.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Tendon-Based Stiffening for a Pneumatically Actuated Soft Manipulator207 citations · 2016
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- 5A Novel Concept for Safe, Stiffness-Controllable Robot Links82 citations · 2016
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- 7Variable Stiffness Link (VSL): Toward inherently safe robotic manipulators60 citations · 2017
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- 10Force and proximity fingertip sensor to enhance grasping perception28 citations · 2015