Papers
10
Total Citations
156
H-Index
7
About
Elisha Sacks is a leading figure in computational kinematics and robotic motion planning, whose work has fundamentally advanced how machines understand and navigate physical space. His primary research areas include configuration space computation, path planning for articulated robots, and the kinematic design of mechanisms. Sacks’s most significant contribution is the development of practical, sliced configuration space algorithms for curved planar bodies—a breakthrough that transformed a theoretically complex problem into a usable engineering tool. His seminal 1998 paper on this topic (37 citations) and its 1999 follow-up (32 citations) remain foundational references in the field. He further extended this work to path planning for articulated robots and compliant motion (20 citations), and later synthesized his approach in the influential book *The Configuration Space Method for Kinematic Design of Mechanisms* (2010, 17 citations). Sacks has also explored nonholonomic manipulation with mobile manipulators and robust path planning in the plane. His research is distinguished by its rare combination of theoretical rigor and practical implementation, providing engineers with complete, robust algorithms for tasks ranging from mechanical design to autonomous robot navigation.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Sliced Configuration Spaces for Curved Planar Bodies37 citations · 1998
- 2Practical Sliced Configuration Spaces for Curved Planar Pairs32 citations · 1999
- 3
- 4The Configuration Space Method for Kinematic Design of Mechanisms17 citations · 2010
- 5Practical Sliced Configuration Spaces for Curved Planar Pairs14 citations · 1999
- 6Experiments with nonholonomic manipulation14 citations · 2003
- 7Robust Complete Path Planning in the Plane11 citations · 2013
- 8RRT path planner with 3DOF local planner6 citations · 2006
- 9Selecting an Effective Task-Specific Contact Analysis Algorithm3 citations · 1997
- 10