Bhaskar Vaidya

Carnegie Mellon University, Robotics Research (United States)

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Bhaskar Vaidya is a roboticist whose work centers on the control and human interaction of dynamically stable mobile robots, with a particular focus on the novel "ballbot"—a human-sized machine that balances on a single spherical wheel. His major contributions lie in advancing the practical deployment of this unique platform. In his most-cited work (2015, 14 citations), Vaidya addressed critical real-world limitations by developing control frameworks that allow the ballbot to operate effectively on sloped surfaces and despite center-of-mass offsets, moving beyond the restrictive assumption of a perfectly level environment. This work is foundational for enabling ballbots to navigate realistic, unstructured spaces. Complementing this, his 2014 study (7 citations) explored the human-robot interaction challenge of how a large, heavy, dynamically-stable robot should approach people during collaborative tasks. Through a design study with 15 participants, Vaidya investigated perceived effort and collaboration quality, providing crucial insights for designing safe and intuitive trajectories for person-sized robots. His research directly bridges the gap between theoretical dynamic stability and practical, human-centric deployment, making him a key figure in the evolution of agile, interactive mobile robotics.