Pierre-Brice Wieber
Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies du numérique, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Centre Inria de l'Université Grenoble Alpes, Université Grenoble Alpes, Institut polytechnique de Grenoble, Laboratoire Jean Kuntzmann, Robotics Research (United States)
Papers
53
Total Citations
3,745
H-Index
24
About
Pierre-Brice Wieber is a leading robotics researcher whose work has fundamentally shaped how humanoid and legged robots move, balance, and make decisions in real time. His research spans motion generation, model predictive control (MPC), hierarchical optimization, and the kinematics and dynamics of redundant robotic systems — areas where he has produced some of the most influential contributions in modern robotics. Wieber's 2006 paper on trajectory-free linear MPC for stable bipedal walking (515 citations) established a landmark framework for generating robust locomotion under perturbations, without relying on predefined trajectories. Building on this foundation, he extended MPC to enable automatic footstep placement and adaptive foot positioning, giving robots unprecedented autonomy in navigating unstructured environments. His 2014 work on hierarchical quadratic programming (529 citations) provided the field with fast, practical tools for resolving competing robot objectives — a critical capability for systems that must simultaneously balance, reach, and avoid obstacles. Beyond locomotion, his contributions to inequality-aware task-priority frameworks and optimal control algorithms (337 citations) have become standard references in robot motion planning. His 2016 survey on modeling and control of legged robots further demonstrates his role as both a pioneer and synthesizer of the field. Wieber's cumulative impact, with thousands of citations across a tightly focused research program, marks him as a defining figure in humanoid robotics.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Hierarchical quadratic programming: Fast online humanoid-robot motion generation529 citations · 2014
- 2
- 3
- 4Fast Direct Multiple Shooting Algorithms for Optimal Robot Control337 citations · 2007
- 5Online Walking Motion Generation with Automatic Footstep Placement330 citations · 2010
- 6
- 7Modeling and Control of Legged Robots165 citations · 2016
- 8Walking without thinking about it125 citations · 2010
- 9Viability and predictive control for safe locomotion121 citations · 2008
- 10