Udit Halder

Assistant Professor

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

University of South Florida

4202 E. Fowler Avenue, BEH 312

Tampa, FL 33620

udithalder@usf.edu

+1-813-396-0587

About me

Welcome to my homepage! I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering of the University of South Florida.

I was previously a Postdoctoral Research Associate, supervised by Prof. Prashant Mehta, at the Coordinated Science Laboratory of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I received my MS and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. My doctoral thesis advisor was Prof. P. S. Krishnaprasad.

Research summary

My primary research focus is in the field of bioinspired soft systems. In particular, I study the mathematics of complex dynamical systems in biology, ranging from the collective behavior of avian flocks to the movement of marine invertebrates, along with their applications in robotics. These problems necessitate a fundamental understanding of the intricate interplay between continuum mechanics, sensing, neuronal dynamics, and biological control strategies. A major component of my research agenda is to address intrinsic scientific questions (e.g., optimality, sensorimotor control) that often arise in the study of biological systems. Furthermore, my research also attempts to apply knowledge gained from studying biological systems to the area of robotics, especially soft robotics. Check out my research page for more descriptions!

Ph.D. position openings: Currently there are openings for two fully funded Ph.D. students to begin in Spring/Fall 2025. Please see here for more details.

News and announcements

[7/25] Our paper "Statics of continuum planar grasping" is now accepted at IEEE CDC 2025!
[7/25] Our paper "Neural models and algorithms for sensorimotor control of an octopus arm" is now accepted for publication at Biological Cybernetics. Congratulations to all the co-authors.
[4/25] I have been elevated to the Senior Membership status of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
[1/25] Our paper "A Neural Network-based Framework for Fast and Smooth Posture Reconstruction of a Soft Continuum Arm" is now accepted to IEEE ICRA 2025. Congratulations to all the co-authors.
[11/24] A news article from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign features our collaborative work on realistic computer simulation of a soft octopus arm.
[10/24] Our latest paper is now published online in PNAS. It is also featured on the cover of the journal!
[10/24] I gave a talk on "Modeling, estimation, and control strategies for an octopus-inspired soft arm" at the Semiautonomous Seminar at the University of California, Berkeley.
[8/24] Our paper "Topology, dynamics, and control of a muscle-architected soft arm" is now accepted for publication at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences! Congratulations to all the co-authors.
[7/24] I started as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of South Florida!
[7/24] Our interview at the Journal of Experimental Biology as a part of the Early Career Researcher (ECR) Spotlight series is now online!
[6/24] Our paper "Passive elasticity properties of Octopus rubescens arm" has been accepted for publication at the Journal of Experimental Biology!
[11/23] A news article published by Advanced Science News features our collaborative work on hierarchical aspect of octopus arm control.
[9/23] I am giving a talk at the Science Café Seminar Series, organized by the Institute for Genomic Biology, UIUC. This series is aimed to bring together scientists and members of general public.
Click here for the talk.
[5/23] Our paper "Hierarchical control and learning of a foraging CyberOctopus" is accepted for publication at Advanced Intelligent Systems! Congratulations to all the co-authors.
[3/23] A news article from the University of Maryland, College Park features our paper on flocking, game, and cognition.
[2/23] A news article from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign features our paper and discusses the collaborative aspects of our work.
[2/23] A news article from the University of Maryland, College Park discusses our paper on energy-shaping control of octopus arms.
[2/23] Our paper "Flocks, Games, and Cognition: A Geometric Approach" is accepted for publication at Systems and Control Letters! Congratulations to all the co-authors.
[2/23] Our paper "Energy-shaping Control of a Muscular Octopus Arm Moving in Three Dimensions" is now published in Proceedings of the Royal Society A. It is also featured on the journal's February cover. See a video demonstration here. Congratulations to all the co-authors!
[7/22] Our paper "A Sensory Feedback Control Law for Octopus Arm Movements" is accepted to IEEE CDC 2022. Congratulations to all the co-authors!
[1/22] Our paper "A physics-informed, vision-based method to reconstruct all deformation modes in slender bodies" is accepted to IEEE ICRA 2022. Congratulations to all the co-authors!
[1/22] Our paper "Control-oriented modeling of bend propagation in an octopus arm" is accepted to IEEE ACC 2022. Congratulations to all the co-authors!
[7/21] I am co-organizing an invited session on "Theory and Applications of Energy-based Control" at the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), 2021.
[7/21] Our paper "Controlling a Cyberoctopus Soft Arm with Muscle-like Actuation" is accepted to IEEE CDC 2021. Congratulations to all the co-authors!
[5/21] I am co-organizing a minisymposium on "Energy Shaping Control and its Applications" at the SIAM Conference on Dynamical Systems (DS), 2021.