Robotics and bionics used to be the subject of TV and movies, but they’re a reality now. So what’s happening in this space and how are researchers in New Zealand helping change the world?
Dr Minas Liarokapis is the Director of the New Dexterity research group at the University of Auckland, a group undertaking cutting-edge research in robotics and biomechatronics and with industry partners in Europe, USA, and Japan.
Minas’ focus is on equipping robots with dexterous manipulation capabilities and enabling humans to regain their lost dexterity or augment their performance, modelling, designing and controlling new robotics and bionics hardware
Senior Lecturer, University of Auckland
Dr Minas Liarokapis is a Senior Lecturer and researcher at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Auckland (New Zealand) and Director of the New Dexterity research group.
Previously he was a Postdoctoral Associate in the GRAB Lab at Yale University working with Prof. Aaron Dollar. His postdoctoral research focused on hybrid schemes that combine analytical models, constrained optimization methods, and machine learning techniques to simplify robust grasping, dexterous, in-hand manipulation and haptic object identification using adaptive robot hands.
During his PhD studies, he worked under the supervision of Prof. Kostas Kyriakopoulos in the Control Systems Lab and his research focused on EMG-based decoding of human motion and intention for the control of robotic and prosthetic devices in structured and dynamic environments.