Naresh Kumar Thanigaivel

About

Naresh Kumar Thanigaivel is a researcher whose work spans robotics, advanced manufacturing, and materials engineering, with particular focus on soft robotics, augmented reality-assisted programming, and multi-material fabrication. His most influential contribution, "Augmented Reality-Assisted Robot Programming System for Industrial Applications" (2019, 172 citations), established him as a leading voice in making industrial robot programming more intuitive and accessible, a theme he extended through related work on AR-assisted welding programming. Alongside this, Thanigaivel has made significant strides in soft robotics manufacturing, developing novel silicone/epoxy hybrid resins with tunable mechanical properties for additive manufacturing and pioneering automated fiber embedding techniques that eliminate the laborious, error-prone manual processes traditionally used to integrate fibers into soft robotic components. His more recent investigations into soft mechanical metamaterials and vertebrate-inspired soft robot design reflect a deepening commitment to bridging biological principles with engineering fabrication workflows. Collectively, his publications—accumulating over 280 citations—demonstrate a consistent effort to reduce complexity in advanced manufacturing while expanding the functional capabilities of next-generation robotic systems, making his research highly relevant to engineers and designers working at the intersection of robotics, materials science, and human-machine interaction.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Augmented reality-assisted robot programming system for industrial applications

   172 citations · 2019
2. 2
   Silicone/epoxy hybrid resins with tunable mechanical and interfacial properties for additive manufacture of soft robots

   45 citations · 2021
3. 3
   AR-assisted robot welding programming

   34 citations · 2019
4. 4
   Automated Fiber Embedding for Tailoring Mechanical and Functional Properties of Soft Robot Components

   15 citations · 2019
5. 5
   Automated Fiber Embedding for Soft Mechatronic Components

   12 citations · 2021
6. 6
   Architected Design and Fabrication of Soft Mechanical Metamaterials

   5 citations · 2024
7. 7
   Design and Fabrication Workflow for Vertebrate Soft Robots

   1 citations · 2025

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links