Donghai Ma

MPB Technologies & Communications (Canada), McGill University

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Donghai Ma is a robotics researcher whose work centers on advancing robot calibration and control, with a particular focus on gravity compensation and torque sensor accuracy. His major contributions include developing practical, autonomous methods for identifying link mass parameters and calibrating joint torque sensors—critical for enabling precise and safe robot motion in advanced applications. His highly cited 2002 paper, “Identifying mass parameters for gravity compensation and automatic torque sensor calibration” (35 citations), introduces a simple yet powerful recursive procedure that identifies mass parameters by rotating single joints from distal to proximal, eliminating the need for complex external equipment. Building on this, his “Gravity based autonomous calibration for robot manipulators” (13 citations) demonstrates how sinusoidal variations in gravity torque during joint rotation can be exploited to simultaneously calibrate torque and position sensors without human intervention. These innovations are foundational for modern collaborative and industrial robots, reducing downtime and improving reliability. Ma’s work is especially notable for its elegance and practicality, offering engineers straightforward solutions to traditionally cumbersome calibration challenges. His research continues to influence the development of more intelligent, self-calibrating robotic systems.