Richard Gourdeau

About

Richard Gourdeau is a researcher whose work spans robotics, control systems, and medical robotics, with particular strengths in robotic manipulator control and biomedical applications of navigation technology. His most influential contribution—"Real-Time MRI-Based Control of a Ferromagnetic Core for Endovascular Navigation" (2008, 126 citations)—demonstrated that a PID controller could guide a ferromagnetic bead through living arterial tissue using a clinical MRI system, a landmark result bridging control engineering and minimally invasive medicine. Gourdeau also made a lasting mark on the robotics community through ROBOOP, a platform-independent, object-oriented robotic simulation package introduced in 1997 (79 citations) that offered competitive computational performance and became a practical resource for researchers and educators alike. His sustained interest in adaptive control produced an Extended Kalman Filter-based computed torque method requiring only position measurements—work refined across multiple publications from 1991 through 2002—advancing practical, sensor-efficient robot control. Additional contributions include optimal time-energy path planning, velocity-observer-based controllers, flexible kinematic modeling, and cooperative multi-robot architectures. Collectively, his research reflects a career dedicated to making robotic systems smarter, more precise, and clinically relevant.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Real-Time MRI-Based Control of a Ferromagnetic Core for Endovascular Navigation

   126 citations · 2008
2. 2
   Object-oriented programming for robotic manipulator simulation

   79 citations · 1997
3. 3
   Optimal control of a robot manipulator using a weighted time-energy cost function

   27 citations · 2003
4. 4
   Adaptive Control of Robotic Manipulators Using an Extended Kalman Filter

   18 citations · 1993
5. 5
   Adaptive control of robotic manipulators: experimental results

   14 citations · 2002
6. 6
   Computed torque control of robots without joint velocity measurements

   7 citations · 2003
7. 7
   Parameter identification of a semi-flexible kinematic model for serial manipulators

   4 citations · 1996
8. 8
   Adaptive control of robotic manipulators.

   3 citations · 1991
9. 9
   COOPERATIVE ROBOTIC SYSTEM USING DISTRIBUTED DECISION MECHANISMS WITH DELIBERATIVE CENTRAL SUPERVISOR

   2 citations · 2007
10. 10
    Dual conformance index-based robotic arm placement and adaptation

    2 citations · 1996

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links