Dean D. Molinaro
Georgia Institute of Technology, Robotics Research (United States)
Papers
8
Total Citations
353
H-Index
7
About
Dean D. Molinaro is a pioneering researcher in wearable robotics and human-machine interfaces, with a focus on developing intelligent control systems for robotic lower-limb exoskeletons. His work sits at the intersection of biomechanics, machine learning, and rehabilitation engineering, addressing one of the central challenges in the field: creating exoskeleton controllers that work seamlessly across diverse real-world environments and user populations. Molinaro's most impactful contributions include a real-time gait phase estimator for multimodal locomotion control (153 citations) and a unified exoskeleton control framework that estimates human joint moments to autonomously adapt assistance without context-specific tuning (104 citations). These advances represent a significant step toward clinically viable, generalizable exoskeleton systems. His deep learning approaches to slope prediction, locomotion mode classification, and biological hip torque estimation further demonstrate his commitment to data-driven, user-adaptive solutions. More recently, his work has extended to stroke rehabilitation, proposing online adaptation frameworks that personalize assistance for individuals with varying gait impairments. With over 350 total citations and a body of work spanning sensing, estimation, and control, Molinaro is establishing himself as a leading voice in next-generation assistive robotics research.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2Estimating human joint moments unifies exoskeleton control, reducing user effort104 citations · 2024
- 3
- 4Biological Hip Torque Estimation using a Robotic Hip Exoskeleton19 citations · 2020
- 5Continuous locomotion mode classification using a robotic hip exoskeleton13 citations · 2020
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