Soft Kinetic - Dr. Ardian Jusufi

ardian@ini.uzh.ch

Agile Soft Robotics through Physical AI

We develop bio-inspired robotic systems that use soft materials, embedded sensing, active structures, and control for contact-rich environment interaction.

Our research investigates how bodies contribute to intelligence. Biological systems use compliant morphology and distributed sensing to stabilize motion by absorbing impact and exploiting contact. We translate these principles into robotic systems that combine dynamical systems, control, and mechanical metamaterials.

Rather than treating the body as passive hardware, we study it as an active part of computation and control. How motor-controlled tuning of soft body mechanics helps robots stabilize, absorb impact, and exploit contact through the coupled dynamics of body, control, and environment.

Biosketch Prof. Dr. Ardian Jusufi

PhD | University of California at Berkeley, under supervision of Prof. Robert Full at the CiBER center.
Postdocs | University of Cambridge Queens’ College. MicroRobotics Lab at Harvard University with Prof. Robert Wood.
Lecturer [Assist. Prof.] | Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney from 2016.
Group Leader [Assoc. Prof.] | Independent Max Planck Research Group Leader at MPI for Intelligent Systems through 2023. Founded Soft Kinetic Group at Engineering Sciences Department at the Swiss Federal Labs for Materials Science and Technology in 2022.

Affiliated Group Leader | ETH Center for Learning Systems, and University of Zurich Institute for NeuroInformatics INI, current.
Hon. Associate Professor | Macquarie University Sydney since 2022.
Grants | Swiss National Science Foundation (2 projects), the Cyber Valley Research Fund, and the Max Planck Society.

Prof. Dr. Ardian Jusufi | Institute for NeuroInformatics University of Zurich

Head of Soft Kinetic Group, Engineering Sciences Department | Swiss Federal Labs for Materials Science and Technology Empa

formerly Independent Max Planck Research Group Leader at the MPI for Intelligent Systems
and Associate Faculty Member at ETH Center for Learning Systems

Hon. Associate Professor | Macquarie University

Prof. Dr. Ardian Jusufi Institute for NeuroInformatics, University of Zurich; Engineering Sci. Dept., Swiss Federal Labs Mat. Sci. Technology; Hon. Assoc. Prof., Macquarie University

Prof. Dr. Jusufi moderated Panel Discussion on “Soft Robotics & AI” involving Profs. Oliver Brock, Koh Hosoda, and other leaders.

Ardian also chaired a Soft Robotics Symposium at PPS38 that was attended by Profs. Rob Shepherd, Yong Lae Park, Caecilia Laschi, among others.

He has chaired sessions in several conferences including IEEE RoboSoft, Robotics Science and Systems, AMAM, as well as IEEE ICRA workshop presentations.