Brent Griffin

University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

Papers

10

Total Citations

375

H-Index

6

About

Brent Griffin is a robotics researcher whose work spans two compelling domains: bipedal locomotion control and robot perception for manipulation. He is perhaps best known for his foundational contributions to underactuated 3D bipedal walking, where he helped bridge the critical gap between planar theoretical models and real-world three-dimensional implementation. His landmark 2016 paper on 2D-to-3D gait design (110 citations) and his experimental demonstrations with the MARLO robot (78 citations) established him as a key contributor to dynamic legged locomotion. Central to this work is his development and refinement of virtual constraints and nonholonomic control frameworks, which enable robots to walk robustly over uneven terrain — a persistent challenge in the field. His gait optimization methods, which systematically account for terrain uncertainty, have been widely adopted by the community. In later work, Griffin expanded into robot perception and manipulation, exploring object detection, video segmentation, and self-supervised learning to enable robots to recognize and interact with novel objects in unstructured environments. With over 370 cumulative citations, his research reflects a rare breadth — from elegant mathematical control theory to practical, data-driven robot autonomy.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

6
H-Index
10
Papers
375
Total Citations
38
Avg Citations/Paper
🏆 Most Cited Paper
From 2D Design of Underactuated Bipedal Gaits to 3D Implementation: Walking With Speed Tracking
110 citations · 2016
📈 Most Prolific Year: 2016 (2 Papers)
🤝 Key Collaborators: 11
🏛 Institutions: University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

Top Papers

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Key Collaborators

Contact & Links

Available for collaboration
Content generated · 13 days ago