Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Bernd Bickel is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of computer graphics, computational fabrication, and physical simulation, whose work bridges the gap between digital design and real-world physical systems. He is best known for his groundbreaking contributions to physically-based character fabrication, most notably his work on "Physical Face Cloning" (2012), which garnered nearly 50 citations and introduced a complete pipeline for designing, simulating, and manufacturing synthetic skin that faithfully replicates human facial expressions for animatronics applications. His research extends into soft robotics, where his FEM-based simulation framework for modeling robots as kinematic chains (2018, 44 citations) has become an important reference for the field of soft manipulation and contact-rich robotic interaction. Bickel further advances computational design through investigations into elastic rod mechanics — exploring inverse design problems within the Kirchhoff rod model — and integrated systems for fabricating skinned quadruped robots that couple multibody dynamics with elastic skin behavior. Across his portfolio, Bickel consistently tackles challenging inverse problems, empowering designers and engineers to translate complex physical behaviors into manufacturable artifacts, making him a distinctive and influential voice in computational design and digital fabrication research.