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About

Seppe Sels is a robotics and non-destructive testing researcher whose work sits at the intersection of robotic automation, inspection path planning, and advanced sensing technologies. His research has made notable contributions to the development of intelligent robotic inspection systems, particularly leveraging active thermography to detect structural defects in complex aerospace and industrial components. His gradient-based and near-optimal path planning algorithms represent significant advances in automating inspection workflows, enabling robots to efficiently cover complex geometries while maintaining measurement quality — work that has collectively attracted over 22 citations. Sels has also pioneered 4D thermography systems that extend thermal imaging into three dimensions using time-of-flight sensors, pushing the boundaries of what non-destructive evaluation can achieve. Perhaps his most broadly impactful contribution is the CoppeliaSim VR Toolbox (35 citations), which bridges robot simulation and virtual reality to accelerate prototyping and verification of robotic systems — a tool with applications well beyond inspection. Across his portfolio, Sels demonstrates a rare ability to connect fundamental algorithmic research with practical industrial implementation, making his work valuable to both academic researchers and engineers seeking to automate complex quality-control tasks.