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About

Andreas Verleysen is a leading researcher in robotic manipulation of deformable objects, with a particular focus on clothing and textiles. His work addresses one of robotics’ most persistent challenges: handling materials that can bend, fold, and stretch in unpredictable ways. Verleysen’s major contributions include the creation of the first video dataset of human clothing folding demonstrations (22 citations), which has become a foundational resource for learning-based robotic folding. He also developed UnfoldIR (13 citations), a dual-arm system that uses infrared sensing to unfold cloth—a significant advance over purely visual approaches. His innovative use of DIY smart textile technology (7 citations) simplifies the learning of robotic manipulation by embedding sensors directly into fabrics, while his modular piezoresistive smart textile design (5 citations) enables real-time state estimation of cloths. Notably, Verleysen’s system won the folding track at the IROS 2022 Cloth Manipulation and Perception Competition, demonstrating real-world applicability. With over 48 total citations and a trajectory of increasingly sophisticated work, Verleysen is helping to bridge the gap between laboratory research and practical assistive robots capable of handling everyday clothing tasks.