Kristin Y. Pettersen

About

Kristin Y. Pettersen is a leading robotics and control systems researcher whose work spans two deeply interconnected domains: snake robotics and marine vehicle guidance. Based at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, she has fundamentally advanced our understanding of how biologically inspired robotic systems can move efficiently through complex environments, both on land and underwater. Pettersen's contributions to snake robotics are especially prolific. Her surveys, modeling frameworks, and experimental studies — including "A Survey on Snake Robot Modeling and Locomotion" (197 citations) and "A Review on Modelling, Implementation, and Control of Snake Robots" (246 citations) — have become essential references in the field. Her work on obstacle-aided locomotion (237 citations) demonstrated how snake robots can actively exploit terrain irregularities, mirroring strategies observed in nature. Her most-cited work (337 citations) introduced integral line-of-sight (ILOS) guidance for underactuated marine vehicles, elegantly solving the challenge of path-following under environmental disturbances. She extended this framework to underwater snake robots, bridging both research areas in a uniquely cohesive body of work. Through platforms like the waterproof robot Mamba, Pettersen has consistently validated theory through rigorous experimentation, making her scholarship equally valuable to theorists and engineers alike.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Integral Line-of-Sight Guidance and Control of Underactuated Marine Vehicles: Theory, Simulations, and Experiments

   337 citations · 2016
2. 2
   A review on modelling, implementation, and control of snake robots

   246 citations · 2011
3. 3
   Snake Robot Obstacle-Aided Locomotion: Modeling, Simulations, and Experiments

   237 citations · 2008
4. 4
   A survey on snake robot modeling and locomotion

   197 citations · 2009
5. 5
   Snake Robots

   152 citations · 2012
6. 6
   Integral Line-of-Sight Guidance for Path Following Control of Underwater Snake Robots: Theory and Experiments

   149 citations · 2017
7. 7
   Innovation in Underwater Robots: Biologically Inspired Swimming Snake Robots

   135 citations · 2016
8. 8
   Mamba - A waterproof snake robot with tactile sensing

   126 citations · 2014
9. 9
   Controllability and Stability Analysis of Planar Snake Robot Locomotion

   110 citations · 2010
10. 10
    Maneuvering Control of Planar Snake Robots Using Virtual Holonomic Constraints

    101 citations · 2015

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links