Ramesh Kolluru

About

Ramesh Kolluru is a robotics researcher whose work spans autonomous mobile robot navigation, robotic gripper systems, and intelligent control methodologies. Based at the University of Louisiana, Kolluru made significant contributions to two defining areas of applied robotics over roughly a decade of sustained research. His most widely cited contribution — garnering 100 citations — introduced an electrostatic potential field (EPF) approach to collision-free path planning for mobile robots operating in dynamic 2D environments, offering a novel resistor-network-based solution that requires no prior assumptions about environmental information. This work remains a landmark reference in autonomous navigation research. Equally notable is Kolluru's extensive body of work on robotic handling of limp materials such as fabric — a notoriously difficult manipulation challenge. Leading a five-year funded project from 1994 to 1999, he and his team developed a series of reconfigurable gripper systems integrating suction-based mechanisms, fuzzy logic control, and neuro-fuzzy approaches to achieve reliable, distortion-free material handling. These contributions, accumulating citations across multiple publications totaling over 150, addressed a critical gap in industrial automation for textile and soft-goods manufacturing. His interdisciplinary blend of mechanical design, control theory, and intelligent systems reflects a career dedicated to bridging theoretical robotics with real-world industrial application.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Mobile robot navigation in 2-D dynamic environments using an electrostatic potential field

   100 citations · 2000
2. 2
   Design fundamentals of a reconfigurable robotic gripper system

   55 citations · 2000
3. 3
   Modeling, analysis, and performance evaluation of a robotic gripper system for limp material handling

   37 citations · 1998
4. 4
   A flat surface robotic gripper for handling limp material

   27 citations · 1995
5. 5
   Suction Control of a Robotic Gripper: A Neuro-Fuzzy Approach

   25 citations · 2000
6. 6
   An overview of the University of Louisiana robotic gripper system project

   15 citations · 2002
7. 7
   A Real-Time, Hierarchical, Sensor-Based Robotic System Architecture

   13 citations · 1998
8. 8
   Position and Suction Control of a Reconfigurable Robotic Gripper*

   11 citations · 2009
9. 9
   Design and analysis of a reconfigurable robotic gripper for limp material handling

   9 citations · 2002
10. 10
    Fuzzy control of a suction-based robotic gripper system

    7 citations · 2002

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links