Vincent Hugel
SoftBank Robotics (France), Université de Toulon, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Laboratoire d'Ingénierie des Systèmes de Versailles, Institut Lavoisier de Versailles, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Laboratoire de Conception et d'Intégration des Systèmes, Conception de Systèmes Mécaniques et Robotiques, École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Versailles, Université Paris Cité, Anstalt für Verbrennungskraftmaschinen List, Maison de la Simulation, Eiffage (France)
Papers
53
Total Citations
1,218
H-Index
15
About
Vincent Hugel is a prominent robotics researcher whose work spans humanoid robotics, bio-inspired locomotion, underwater systems, and advanced manufacturing. He is perhaps best known for his foundational contributions to the NAO humanoid robot, developed with Aldebaran Robotics — a compact, lightweight platform that became one of the most widely adopted research and educational robots in the world. His papers on NAO's mechatronic design and performance characteristics have garnered over 680 citations combined, cementing his legacy in humanoid robotics development. Beyond humanoid systems, Hugel has demonstrated remarkable breadth, pioneering work on bio-inspired locomotion including wheel-less snake-like robots and bird-inspired bipedal kinematics derived from quail X-ray motion data. His research on quadruped gait efficiency and adaptive reward learning for humanoid walking further reflects his commitment to bridging biological principles with robotic implementation. In more recent years, Hugel has expanded into tethered underwater robotics, developing innovative catenary-based visual servoing techniques for controlling tether shapes between underwater vehicles, and into robotized additive manufacturing. His consistently cross-disciplinary approach — integrating neuroscience, biology, mechanics, and control theory — has established him as a versatile and influential voice in modern robotics research.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Mechatronic design of NAO humanoid552 citations · 2009
- 2The NAO humanoid: a combination of performance and affordability131 citations · 2008
- 3
- 4Design and Control of Biologically Inspired Wheel-less Snake-like Robot39 citations · 2006
- 5
- 6Towards efficient implementation of quadruped gaits with duty factor of 0.7534 citations · 2003
- 7
- 8Catenary-based visual servoing for tethered robots23 citations · 2017
- 9Pivoting a Large Object: Whole‐Body Manipulation by a Humanoid Robot22 citations · 2006
- 10Kinematic Modeling of Bird Locomotion from Experimental Data17 citations · 2011