Stelian Coros

About

Stelian Coros is a leading researcher at the intersection of robotics, computational design, and physics-based simulation, whose work has profoundly shaped how intelligent machines are designed, controlled, and optimized. His research spans quadrupedal locomotion, differentiable dynamics, soft robotics, and automated robot design, consistently bridging the gap between theoretical computation and real-world physical systems. Coros first garnered significant attention with his foundational work on dynamic gait control for quadrupedal robots (202 citations), demonstrating how robots could adaptively select gaits to handle varying speeds and unexpected disturbances — a challenge long considered the exclusive domain of biological systems. His follow-up optimization-based approach to agile quadrupedal motion (117 citations) drew inspiration from biological motor learning to automatically refine controller parameters through repetition, mirroring how animals naturally develop skilled movement. Beyond locomotion, Coros has made substantial contributions to computational robot design, developing interactive tools that allow users to generate 3D-printable robotic creatures (91 citations) and co-optimize morphology alongside motion trajectories (90 citations). His differentiable dynamics solver (144 citations) has become an important resource for the simulation community, enabling gradient-based optimization across complex contact scenarios. With over 1,000 cumulative citations, Coros represents a uniquely interdisciplinary voice advancing the frontiers of embodied intelligence.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Control of dynamic gaits for a quadrupedal robot

   202 citations · 2013
2. 2
   ADD

   144 citations · 2020
3. 3
   Practice Makes Perfect: An Optimization-Based Approach to Controlling Agile Motions for a Quadruped Robot

   117 citations · 2016
4. 4
   Go Fetch! - Dynamic Grasps using Boston Dynamics Spot with External Robotic Arm

   106 citations · 2021
5. 5
   Soft Robot Control With a Learned Differentiable Model

   95 citations · 2020
6. 6
   Skaterbots

   94 citations · 2018
7. 7
   Interactive design of 3D-printable robotic creatures

   91 citations · 2015
8. 8
   Computational co-optimization of design parameters and motion trajectories for robotic systems

   90 citations · 2018
9. 9
   Offline motion libraries and online MPC for advanced mobility skills

   76 citations · 2022
10. 10
    Computational Design of Robotic Devices From High-Level Motion Specifications

    74 citations · 2018

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links