Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Josef Schmitz is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of neuroscience, biomechanics, and robotics, with a career dedicated to understanding and replicating the elegance of insect locomotion. His work centers on hexapod walking systems, drawing deeply from biological models — particularly the stick insect — to develop computational frameworks and robotic platforms that mirror nature's solutions to complex movement challenges. Schmitz's most celebrated contribution is the Walknet controller, a bio-inspired neural network architecture capable of simulating the rich behavioral repertoire of walking stick insects, accumulated over 168 citations since its 2013 publication. His earlier foundational work, dating back to 1991 and 1995, established the stick insect as a premier biological model for legged robotics and demonstrated how complex locomotion can emerge from surprisingly simple neural networks — an insight that has shaped the field for decades. His research philosophy champions integrative biomimetics, bridging neuroscience and engineering to address the enduring challenge of autonomous hexapedal locomotion. This vision materialized in hardware through the HECTOR robot platform, a compliant, biologically inspired hexapod that embodies his theoretical principles. With over 670 cumulative citations, Schmitz's work remains essential reading for researchers pursuing embodied intelligence and legged robotics.