John G. Bollinger

Papers

Total Citations

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About

John G. Bollinger’s pioneering work in the early 1980s laid the groundwork for sensor-guided robotic automation, particularly in manufacturing. His research centered on integrating tactile and capacitive displacement sensors to enable robots to autonomously follow complex contours—a challenge that previously required laborious manual programming. Bollinger’s most cited paper, “Using a tactile sensor to guide a robotic welding machine” (1981, 10 citations), describes a prototype system developed in collaboration with a U.S. university and an automotive company, demonstrating how real-time sensor feedback could simplify multi-axis robot programming. His subsequent work, “A sensor based technique for automated robot programming” (1984, 8 citations) and “Advanced Drives and Control of Robotics” (1985, 7 citations), further advanced the fields of sensor integration and robotic control. Though his citation counts are modest by modern standards, Bollinger’s contributions were foundational at a time when industrial robotics was transitioning from rigid, pre-programmed sequences to adaptive, sensor-driven systems. His efforts directly influenced the development of flexible automation in automotive assembly lines, marking him as an early innovator in practical robotic sensing and control.