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About

Andrew Blake is a pioneering computer vision and robotics researcher whose work has fundamentally shaped how machines perceive and interact with the world. His key research areas include visual geometry, active vision, and visually guided robotic manipulation. Blake’s major contributions center on the mathematical analysis of apparent contours—the boundaries of objects as seen from a moving viewpoint. His seminal 1992 paper, "Surface shape from the deformation of apparent contours," with 237 citations, demonstrated how surface curvature could be inferred from image motion, a breakthrough that laid the groundwork for real-time 3D reconstruction. He further extended this theory to compute surface orientation and time-to-contact from image divergence and deformation (165 citations), enabling robots to gauge distance and shape from a single moving camera. In robotics, Blake developed computational models for hand-eye coordination and introduced the concept of "caging" for planar objects, allowing grippers to securely enclose objects before grasping—a strategy that reduces reliance on precise sensing. His later work on visually guided grasping in 3D and error-tolerant grasp planning has been highly influential in autonomous manipulation. With over 800 citations across his top ten papers, Blake’s research bridges elegant mathematical theory and practical robotic systems, making him a foundational figure in active vision and dexterous manipulation.