Skip to Main Content
You are now in the main content area

Research

Our research addresses fundamental challenges in algorithmic autonomy for continuum and mobile robotic systems. Below you will find our current and past projects focused on motion planning, control, state estimation, and human-robot interaction in complex environments.

Featured Projects

Continuum Robot Modeling and State Estimation

Relevant Publications

  • Lilge, S., Barfoot, T., & Burgner-Kahrs, J. (2024). State estimation for continuum multirobot systems on SE(3). IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 41, 905-925. Link to Paper  (external link) 
  • Lilge, S., Barfoot, T. D., & Burgner-Kahrs, J. (2022). Continuum robot state estimation using Gaussian process regression on SE (3). The International Journal of Robotics Research, 41(13-14), 1099-1120. Link to Paper  (external link) 
  • Rao, P., Peyron, Q., Lilge, S., & Burgner-Kahrs, J. (2021). How to model tendon-driven continuum robots and benchmark modelling performance. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 7, 630245. Link to Paper  (external link) 
Continuum Robot State Estimation Overview

Continuum Robot Design and Prototyping

Relevant Publications

  • Lilge, S., & Burgner-Kahrs, J. (2022). Kinetostatic modeling of tendon-driven parallel continuum robots. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 39(2), 1563-1579. Link to Paper  (external link) 
  • Böttcher, G., Lilge, S., & Burgner-Kahrs, J. (2021). Design of a reconfigurable parallel continuum robot with tendon-actuated kinematic chains. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 6(2), 1272-1279. Link to Paper  (external link) 
Parallel Continuum Robot Prototype

Robot Motion Planning and Control

Relevant Publications

  • Hachen, M., Shentu, C., Lilge, S., & Burgner-Kahrs, J. (2025). A non-linear model predictive task-space controller satisfying shape constraints for tendon-driven continuum robots. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 10(3), 2438-2445. Link to Paper  (external link) 
  • Zhang, H. J., Lilge, S., Chikhaoui, M. T., & Burgner-Kahrs, J. (2022, July). Cooperative control of dual-arm concentric tube continuum robots. In 2022 International Conference on Manipulation, Automation and Robotics at Small Scales (MARSS) (pp. 1-6). IEEE. Link to Paper  (external link) 
Continuum Robot Navigating Confined Environment

Human-Robot Interaction

Relevant Publications

  • Black, D., Lilge, S., Fellmann, C., Reinschluessel, A. V., Kreuer, L., Nabavi, A., ... & Burgner-Kahrs, J. (2019). Auditory display for telerobotic transnasal surgery using a continuum robot. Journal of Medical Robotics Research, 4(02), 1950004. Link to Paper  (external link) 
Continuum Robot Teleoperation Framework

Autonomous Navigation of Mobile Robots

Relevant Publications

  • Krawciw, A., Lilge, S., Antonyshyn, L., & Barfoot, T. D. (2025). Sharing the Load: Distributed Model-Predictive Control for Precise Multi-Rover Cargo Transport. arXiv e-prints, arXiv-2510. Link to Paper  (external link) 
  • Qiao, X., Krawciw, A., Lilge, S., & Barfoot, T. D. (2025). Radar teach and repeat: Architecture and initial field testing. In 2025 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) (pp. 13021-13027). IEEE. Link to Paper  (external link) 
Quadruped Mobile Robot