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About

Jonathan L. du Bois is a robotics and aerospace engineering researcher whose work sits at the intersection of autonomous systems, hybrid simulation, and dynamic control. Based at the University of Bristol, he has made significant contributions to the development of technologies for autonomous air-to-air refueling (AAR), an extraordinarily demanding challenge requiring precise relative motion control between aircraft. His most influential work, a 2013 paper on vision-based strategies for autonomous aerial refueling (82 citations), established robust computer vision frameworks for guiding unmanned vehicles through the delicate docking process without human intervention. Complementing this, du Bois pioneered the concept of Robotic Pseudodynamic Testing (RPsDT) for AAR, coupling physical laboratory experiments with validated numerical models to safely predict complex coupled dynamics before real-world deployment — a powerful tool for de-risking high-stakes aerospace systems. His thirteen-degree-of-freedom relative motion facility at Bristol has supported testing across multiple domains, including satellite rendezvous and space debris collection. More recently, he has extended his control expertise to legged robotics, developing adaptive hopping height controllers for pneumatic robots navigating discontinuous terrain. Across these varied pursuits, du Bois consistently demonstrates a talent for bridging rigorous simulation with practical, safety-critical experimental validation.