糖心原创

Contact

• workRoom B2 Computer Science
  Jubilee Campus
  Wollaton Road
  Nottingham
  NG8 1BB
  UK
• MariaElena.Giannaccini@nottingham.ac.uk

Biography

Dr Maria Elena Giannaccini's work focuses on designing soft robotic devices. She specialises in wearable devices, tactile sensing and human-robot interaction. Her Master's thesis focused on the control of a soft, variable stiffness actuator conducted at Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Italy, as part of the EU-funded OCTOPUS project. In 2015, she obtained her PhD in Robotics at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory as an Early Stage Researcher in the Marie-Curie project INTRO. Her PhD focused on developing safe, variable stiffness robotic devices. She worked at the University of Bristol on the soft, bioinspired Tactip sensor and in developing a soft robotics artificial larynx. In 2019, Maria Elena was appointed as a Lecturer in Robotics at the University of Aberdeen, where she pioneered research in soft robotics and set up the robotics laboratory. Work in soft robotics from her group was featured by the . In 2025, she joined the School of Computer Science and the UKRI-funded Somabotics project at the 糖心原创 as an associate professor.

Teaching Summary

In my academic career, I have leveraged my expertise as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy to design and coordinate three courses: one for first-year students and two for MSc students. The MSc… read more

Research Summary

In my research, I aim to explore how soft and tactile robotics can augment the human body enabling embodied intelligence. I envision systems that enhance physical capabilities and enable real-time,… read more

In my academic career, I have leveraged my expertise as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy to design and coordinate three courses: one for first-year students and two for MSc students. The MSc courses focused on robotics. The first course covered mobile robotics, robotic sensors, actuators, and bioinspiration. The second course covered the kinematics and dynamics of robot arms. My approach involves prompting students to discover solutions through guided questioning, fostering active learning. I also adapt my teaching style to accommodate diverse learning preferences.

In addition, I designed and delivered a Continuous Professional Development robotics course, accredited by the National Manufacturing Institute of Scotland.

Current Research

In my research, I aim to explore how soft and tactile robotics can augment the human body enabling embodied intelligence. I envision systems that enhance physical capabilities and enable real-time, adaptive interactions between humans and machines.

In my work, I have successfully utilised soft robotics as a powerful tool in designing novel robotic devices for human-robot interaction, as demonstrated in my three main research topics:

• Soft Robotics Wearable Devices for Upper Limb Augmentation. I lead a project on a soft wearable device that assists elbow mobility. The wearable was designed so that it successfully adapts to different anatomies and was used by over 40 participants. This project is guided by my supervision of two PhD students and was covered by the .
• Bioinspiration and Embodied Intelligence for Soft Grasping and Tactile Sensing. This work led to a soft robotic gripper and tactile sensing systems. The latter was designed at the University of Bristol and has resulted in a Soft Robotics Journal paper;
• Human-Robot Interaction. Through collaboration with the University of Aberdeen's School of Psychology and the Italian Institute of Technology, I co-supervise a PhD student studying multimodal interaction and perspective taking in human-robot interaction, with recent publications in the International Journal of Social Robotics and the Human-Robot Interaction conference.