Hetal Jethani

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Papers

Total Citations

152

H-Index

About

Hetal Jethani is a leading researcher in human-robot interaction and wearable sensing, with a focus on developing intuitive, natural interfaces for robot control. Her most influential work centers on the creation and validation of the JPL BioSleeve, a novel wearable device that packages dry-contact surface electromyography (EMG) sensors and an inertial measurement unit (IMU) into a sleeve worn on the forearm. In her highly cited 2013 paper (103 citations), Jethani demonstrated how the BioSleeve enables gesture-based robot control with variable autonomy, allowing operators to seamlessly transition between direct teleoperation and autonomous assistance. Her subsequent work (49 citations) advanced the field by decoding both static and dynamic arm and hand gestures from the same device, providing a robust framework for inferring user intent. These contributions have been foundational for the development of non-invasive, wearable interfaces that enhance human-robot collaboration in complex environments. Jethani’s research has significant implications for applications ranging from space exploration to assistive robotics, establishing her as a key innovator in the intersection of biosignal processing and human-machine systems.