Santanu Kumar Pradhan

National Institute of Science and Technology, National Institute of Technology Rourkela

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Santanu Kumar Pradhan is a researcher whose work sits at the intersection of robotics, control theory, and machine learning. His primary research areas include nonlinear adaptive control, system identification, and reinforcement learning, with a particular focus on flexible robotic manipulators. Pradhan’s major contributions lie in developing innovative control strategies for complex, flexible robotic systems. Notably, he pioneered a direct adaptive control method for a two-link flexible manipulator that leverages reinforcement learning via adaptive dynamic programming, achieving robust adaptivity under varying payload conditions. He also advanced system identification by applying NARMAX (Nonlinear Autoregressive Moving Average with Exogenous Input) modeling to flexible robots, offering a more efficient parameterization than traditional functional series models. Beyond theoretical work, Pradhan has made significant pedagogical contributions, designing a flexible robotic control experiment that effectively teaches nonlinear adaptive control to Master’s students. His most cited paper (15 citations) and other highly cited works (11 citations each) demonstrate the practical and educational impact of his research, establishing him as a key figure in the development of intelligent, adaptive control systems for next-generation robotics.