Clemens C. Christoph

ETH Zurich, Robotics Research (United States)

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Clemens C. Christoph is a robotics researcher advancing the frontier of soft, dexterous, and proprioceptive robotic systems. His work centers on electrohydraulic actuation, self-sensing control, and anthropomorphic manipulation—pushing toward robots that move with the compliance and precision of biological systems. Christoph’s most-cited paper (5 citations) introduces high-frequency capacitive sensing for Hydraulically Amplified Self-Healing Electrostatic (HASEL) actuators, enabling soft actuators to sense their own state without external sensors. His self-sensing feedback control of an electrohydraulic robotic shoulder (3 citations) addresses a critical gap in robotic shoulder design: achieving the compactness and compliance of the human glenohumeral joint. Most notably, Christoph is the lead developer of ORCA—an Open-Source, Reliable, Cost-Effective, Anthropomorphic Robotic Hand (2 citations). ORCA tackles the hardware bottleneck in dexterous manipulation, offering a human-like form factor that can leverage large datasets of human hand interactions for learning. By combining soft actuation with integrated sensing and accessible hardware, Christoph is helping to build robots that are not only more capable but also more human-like in their interaction with the world.