David Gouaillier
SoftBank Robotics (France), Aldebaran Marine Research and Broadcast
Papers
8
Total Citations
908
H-Index
7
About
David Gouaillier is a pioneering robotics engineer whose career has been defined by his foundational contributions to humanoid robot design, most notably through his work at Aldebaran Robotics. He is best known as a principal architect of the NAO humanoid robot, a compact 57 cm, 4.5 kg platform that revolutionized accessible humanoid robotics research. His landmark 2009 paper on NAO's mechatronic design has garnered over 550 citations, cementing it as a cornerstone reference in the field, while earlier and complementary NAO publications have collectively attracted hundreds of additional citations from researchers worldwide. Gouaillier's expertise spans mechatronic system design, bipedal locomotion, and social robotics. His work on NAO's omni-directional walk algorithm demonstrated robust real-world gait implementation, while his research on Pepper's model predictive locomotion control extended his influence into wheeled humanoid platforms. Later in his career, he turned to dexterous robotic hand design, developing the ALPHA hand — a hybrid, self-adaptable system blending under-actuated and adaptive kinematics for social robots — alongside novel numerical methods for anthropomorphic finger placement. Together, his contributions have helped democratize humanoid robotics research and shaped the design philosophy of commercially deployed social robots globally.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Mechatronic design of NAO humanoid552 citations · 2009
- 2The NAO humanoid: a combination of performance and affordability131 citations · 2008
- 3Omni-directional closed-loop walk for NAO95 citations · 2010
- 4
- 5ALPHA: A hybrid self-adaptable hand for a social humanoid robot23 citations · 2016
- 6Design method for an anthropomorphic hand able to gesture and grasp21 citations · 2015
- 7A Mechatronic Platform, The Aldebaran Robotics Humanoid Robot17 citations · 2006
- 8Design method for an anthropomorphic hand able to gesture and grasp2 citations · 2015