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About

Sunny Amatya is a robotics researcher whose work bridges soft robotics, human-robot interaction, and autonomous planning. Her research focuses on three key areas: fabric-based soft robotic systems, game-theoretic modeling of human-robot collaboration, and integrated task-motion planning under uncertainty. In soft robotics, she pioneered the design of untethered knit fabric continuum modules inspired by elephant trunks, achieving multi-degree-of-freedom articulation with embedded fabric sensing—a contribution that has garnered citations for its novelty in lightweight, compliant actuation. She also developed a fabric-based soft ankle module that replicates human ankle stiffness for walking assistance. In human-robot interaction, Amatya advanced bounded rationality game-theoretical models to predict joint actions with incomplete information, and explored empathetic parameter estimation in multi-agent interactions, addressing how robots can adapt to human partners. Her earlier work on real-time Kinect-based robotic arm manipulation demonstrated gesture control for five-degree-of-freedom systems. With multiple papers accumulating citations in soft robotics and HRI, Amatya’s contributions are notable for integrating fabric sensing with continuum design and for formalizing empathetic, bounded-rational decision-making in collaborative robotics.