Oussama Kanoun

About

Oussama Kanoun is a prominent robotics researcher whose work has fundamentally advanced the field of humanoid robot motion planning and control. His research centers on inverse kinematics, redundant manipulator control, and whole-body motion generation for humanoid robots — areas in which he has produced some of the most influential contributions of the past two decades. Kanoun's most celebrated work, "Kinematic Control of Redundant Manipulators: Generalizing the Task-Priority Framework to Inequality Task" (2011), has garnered nearly 400 citations, establishing a cornerstone methodology for managing multiple simultaneous tasks in robotic systems. Alongside his complementary work on prioritizing linear equality and inequality systems (99 citations), he effectively redefined how robots navigate competing task demands in real time. His research further extends to practical humanoid challenges, including foot placement planning, collision avoidance for complex geometries, and whole-body manipulation of bulky objects — notably demonstrated through pivoting-based manipulation tasks. His experimental work with the HRP-2 humanoid robot showcased real-world autonomy, bridging theoretical frameworks with physical implementation. With a citation record spanning hundreds of references across motion planning, kinematics, and humanoid control, Kanoun's contributions remain essential reading for researchers and students working at the intersection of robotics, optimization, and autonomous systems.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Kinematic Control of Redundant Manipulators: Generalizing the Task-Priority Framework to Inequality Task

   396 citations · 2011
2. 2
   Prioritizing linear equality and inequality systems: Application to local motion planning for redundant robots

   99 citations · 2009
3. 3
   Planning foot placements for a humanoid robot: A problem of inverse kinematics

   67 citations · 2010
4. 4
   A Local Collision Avoidance Method for Non-strictly Convex Polyhedra

   66 citations · 2008
5. 5
   Task-driven Support Polygon Reshaping for Humanoids

   62 citations · 2006
6. 6
   Pivoting based manipulation by a humanoid robot

   53 citations · 2009
7. 7
   Whole-body motion planning for pivoting based manipulation by humanoids

   33 citations · 2008
8. 8
   Real-time prioritized kinematic control under inequality constraints for redundant manipulators

   31 citations · 2011
9. 9
   An optimization formulation for footsteps planning

   19 citations · 2009
10. 10
    “Give me the purple ball” - he said to HRP-2 N.14

    17 citations · 2007

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links