Marshall Floyd

About

Marshall Floyd is a leading figure in humanoid robotics, best known for his pivotal contributions to disaster response robotics through his work with the Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC). His research focuses on bipedal locomotion, dynamic control, and human-robot interaction in unstructured environments. Floyd’s most significant impact stems from his leadership in the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC), where he co-authored the highly cited “Team IHMC's Lessons Learned from the DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials” (242 citations). This paper distilled critical insights from developing robots capable of navigating disaster zones, including driving, traversing rubble, and manipulating tools—work that helped IHMC secure a top finish. Earlier, Floyd played a key role in winning the DARPA Virtual Robotics Challenge (VRC), documented in his 2013 paper (86 citations), which demonstrated advanced simulation-based control for complex tasks. His foundational research on impulse-based dynamic rolling, as explored in the Rolling Disk Biped (2010), further showcases his innovative approach to robot locomotion. With over 330 combined citations, Floyd’s work has shaped modern humanoid robotics, bridging simulation and real-world deployment to advance autonomous disaster response.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Team IHMC's Lessons Learned from the DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials

   242 citations · 2015
2. 2
   Summary of Team IHMC's virtual robotics challenge entry

   86 citations · 2013
3. 3
   Impulse based dynamic rolling in the Rolling Disk Biped

   6 citations · 2010

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links