Rick Norcross

National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Institute of Standards

Papers

Total Citations

203

H-Index

About

Dr. Rick Norcross is a leading figure in collaborative robotics and human-robot interaction, best known for his foundational work on safety systems for human-robot workcells. His most influential paper, “Implementing speed and separation monitoring in collaborative robot workcells” (2016), has garnered 174 citations, establishing the core principles for ensuring safe, productive collaboration between humans and industrial robots. This research directly informs modern safety standards and deployment practices in manufacturing environments. Dr. Norcross has also contributed to the rigorous benchmarking of robotic systems, as seen in his work on force control capabilities (20 citations), providing essential metrics for evaluating robot performance. Earlier in his career, as part of the Army Research Laboratory’s Robotics Collaborative Technology Alliance, he tackled the critical challenge of autonomous perception in unstructured environments. His 2009 study on multi-human detection and tracking systems (9 citations) advanced real-time pedestrian detection using LADAR and video data from moving platforms, a key capability for field robotics. Through this body of work, Dr. Norcross has helped bridge the gap between theoretical safety and perception algorithms and their practical, real-world implementation, making him a pivotal contributor to the safe and effective integration of robots into human spaces.