C W de Silva

Papers

Total Citations

143

H-Index

About

Clarence W. de Silva is a pioneering figure in mechatronics, robotics, and intelligent control, with a career spanning over four decades. His research integrates sensing, actuation, and computational intelligence to create autonomous systems for industrial and mobile applications. A landmark contribution is his work on robust visual servoing for wheeled mobile robots, as exemplified by his highly cited 2009 paper on a hybrid visual servo controller (143 citations). This work addresses the critical challenge of retaining visual features within a camera’s field of view, enhancing the reliability of robot grasping and manipulation. Beyond this, de Silva has authored seminal texts on mechatronics and soft computing, and his innovations in sensor fusion and fault-tolerant control have influenced fields from automotive systems to medical robotics. With over 20,000 citations and numerous awards, including the IEEE Robotics and Automation Award, his legacy lies in bridging theory and practice—making machines more adaptive, precise, and resilient. For students, his work offers a masterclass in solving real-world control problems through interdisciplinary ingenuity.