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About

Varsha Shirwalkar is a leading researcher in robotic assembly and force-controlled manipulation, with a focus on solving the classic Peg-In-Hole problem. Her work addresses one of the most fundamental challenges in industrial robotics: achieving precise, environment-independent assembly without relying on expensive sensors or prior knowledge of the workspace. Her most cited paper (31 citations) introduces intelligent search strategies for cylindrical peg-in-hole assembly, breaking the process into a search phase and an orientation correction phase. She further advanced this field with a convex optimization approach (18 citations) that enables motion planning with minimal a priori environmental information. Beyond assembly, Shirwalkar has contributed to force/position control for contour tracking tasks like polishing and deburring, and to telepresence systems for remote manipulation, where she emphasizes wrench perception at structurally weak points. Her work bridges theoretical control algorithms with practical industrial applications, making robotic fine-motion tasks more robust and autonomous. With a career spanning both algorithmic innovation and real-world implementation, Shirwalkar’s research continues to influence the design of intelligent, force-aware robotic systems.