About

Sachit Butail is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of bio-inspired robotics, animal behavior, and multi-agent systems. His work fundamentally explores how robots can interact with and influence living organisms, particularly zebrafish, to understand collective behavior and information flow. In his highly cited 2013 study (103 citations), Butail demonstrated that a free-swimming robotic fish could regulate zebrafish shoaling behavior using biologically inspired visual cues. He further advanced this field by showing that zebrafish exhibit differential avoidance responses to live predators versus robotic and animated stimuli (77 citations), and by developing methods to quantify information transfer in animal-robot interactions (68 citations). Butail’s research extends beyond biology into industrial applications, where he has developed data-driven approaches for gearbox failure detection in industrial robots (51 citations). His work on 3D-printed conspecifics for behavioral studies (52 citations) has provided accessible tools for hypothesis-driven research. With over 400 total citations across his publications, Butail continues to shape our understanding of how engineered systems can interface with biological and social environments, from zebrafish shoals to search-and-rescue missions and child-robot collaborative engagement.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

10
H-Index
17
Papers
508
Total Citations
30
Avg Citations/Paper
🏆 Most Cited Paper
Collective Response of Zebrafish Shoals to a Free-Swimming Robotic Fish
103 citations · 2013
📈 Most Prolific Year: 2015 (4 Papers)
🤝 Key Collaborators: 28
🏛 Institutions: New York University, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Northern Illinois University

Top Papers

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Key Collaborators

Contact & Links

Available for collaboration
Content generated · 13 days ago