John Heng

About

Dr. John Heng is a robotics researcher whose work spans mechanical design, motion planning, and rehabilitation robotics. His most influential contribution, the "Mechanical design of multifunctional quadruped" (2003, 25 citations), established foundational principles for lightweight, high-workspace walking machines—a theme he continued with his "Multifunctional walking quadruped" (2002, 11 citations). In motion planning, Heng developed a configuration space approach for manipulators in dynamic environments (2007, 18 citations), later advancing this with a precomputed obstacle database method (2006, 11 citations) and a fuzzy reasoning-based path planner for high-DOF robots (2005, 5 citations). Notably, his work on "A step towards home-based robotic rehabilitation" (2009, 12 citations) proposed an EEG/SEMG-actuated orthosis interface, aiming to extend hospital-grade therapy to stroke patients' homes—a vision that bridges robotics and clinical care. Heng also contributed to multi-agent systems, designing behavior-based search with small autonomous robots (2002, 11 citations) and real-time control for walking robot groups (2006, 8 citations). With over 100 total citations across his top papers, Heng's career reflects a commitment to practical, scalable robotic systems, from legged locomotion to rehabilitation, making him a notable figure in Singapore's robotics community.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Mechanical design of multifunctional quadruped

   25 citations · 2003
2. 2
   Development of a configuration space motion planner for robot in dynamic environment

   18 citations · 2007
3. 3
   A step towards home-based robotic rehabilitation: An interface circuit for EEG/SEMG actuated orthosis

   12 citations · 2009
4. 4
   Multifunctional walking quadruped

   11 citations · 2002
5. 5
   On the construction of discretized configuration space of manipulators

   11 citations · 2006
6. 6
   Behavior-based search using small autonomous mobile robot vehicles

   11 citations · 2002
7. 7
   Real-time-based control system for a group of autonomous walking robots

   8 citations · 2006
8. 8
   Development of a general manipulator path planner using fuzzy reasoning

   5 citations · 2005
9. 9
   A new algorithm for construction of discretized configuration space obstacle and collision detection of manipulators

   5 citations · 2006
10. 10
    Development of a vector-based fuzzy logic approach for motion planning

    3 citations · 2005

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links