Derek Orbaugh

About

Derek Orbaugh is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of underwater robotics and human-robot interaction, whose work is fundamentally reshaping how divers and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) communicate and collaborate in hazardous marine environments. His primary research areas include diver-robot interaction, wearable sensing technologies, and soft robotics for underwater applications. Orbaugh’s most significant contribution is the development of a sensor-based gesture recognition glove that enables intuitive, direct communication between divers and robots, replacing traditional tablet-based or camera-dependent methods that are often impractical in low-visibility conditions. His landmark paper, “Towards Advancing Diver-Robot Interaction Capabilities” (2019, 23 citations), established the foundational framework for this field, while his subsequent work on the Diver-Robot Communication Glove (2023, 8 citations) and the ROADMAP system for diver navigation in mapped environments (2022, 5 citations) have demonstrated practical, real-world applications. Orbaugh has also innovated in soft robotics, creating a proprioceptive dielectric elastomer (DE) sensor skin for fish-like continuum robots, advancing underwater robot proprioception. His work directly addresses the 15–30 deaths per 100,000 divers annually by enhancing safety through improved communication and navigation, making him a leading figure in making underwater exploration safer and more efficient.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Towards Advancing Diver-Robot Interaction Capabilities

   23 citations · 2019
2. 2
   Polymer sensors for underwater robot proprioception

   8 citations · 2023
3. 3
   Diver-Robot Communication Glove Using Sensor-Based Gesture Recognition

   8 citations · 2023
4. 4
   Diver-robot communication dataset for underwater hand gesture recognition

   6 citations · 2024
5. 5
   Towards Robot-Aided Diver Navigation in Mapped Environments (ROADMAP)

   5 citations · 2022
6. 6
   Diver‐Robot Communication Using Wearable Sensing: Remote Pool Experiments

   2 citations · 2022
7. 7
   A proprioceptive DE sensor skin for a fish-like continuum robot

   2 citations · 2021
8. 8
   Diver-Robot communication using wearable sensing diver glove

   2 citations · 2021

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links