Papers
14
Total Citations
365
H-Index
8
About
Rico Belder is a leading robotics researcher whose work spans two critical frontiers: human-safe physical human-robot interaction (pHRI) and autonomous multi-robot systems for planetary exploration. His most impactful contribution, the ARCHES Space-Analogue Demonstration Mission (98 citations), pioneers heterogeneous teams of autonomous robots for collaborative scientific sampling on extraterrestrial surfaces—a paradigm that could redefine how we explore the Moon and Mars. Belder’s development of RAFCON (61 citations), a graphical tool for engineering complex robotic tasks, has become a standard for orchestrating autonomous systems. On the safety front, his foundational studies on injury analysis during robot-human impacts (e.g., the passive mechanical lower arm tool, 11 citations) and his paradigm-shifting paper “It Is (Almost) All about Human Safety” (13 citations) have influenced how robots are designed for close collaboration with people. His work on GPU-accelerated collision avoidance (32 citations) and dynamic motion planning in partially unknown environments (56 citations) further demonstrates his technical breadth. With over 350 total citations, Belder’s research is essential reading for anyone interested in making robots both capable enough for space and safe enough for the factory floor.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 2RAFCON: A graphical tool for engineering complex, robotic tasks61 citations · 2016
- 3Dynamic Motion Planning for Robots in Partially Unknown Environments56 citations · 2011
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- 6Holistic design and analysis for the human-friendly robotic co-worker17 citations · 2010
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