Hello! My name is Antun and I am a recent PhD graduate on the subject of human-robot interaction.

The focus of my thesis was to quantify and exploit the robot’s and human’s physical abilities in the context of human-robot interaction, and try to create more human-centered robot control strategies. I was fortunate to be able to do my thesis within the AUCTUS team a part of INRIA Bordeaux. And my thesis supervisors were Vincent Padois and David Daney.

My scientific journey started with the master’s degree in the field of mechatronics and control theory from the Faculty of the electrical engineering and computing (FER) in Zagreb, Croatia. Along the way, I had an opportunity to spend some time abroad, as an intern at the research centers of Siemens (Princeton, USA) and Bosch (Stuttgart, Germany). And just before starting my PhD, I’ve had an opportunity to work as a research associate at the Mechatronics lab of the University of Zagreb, on a project with professors Jadranko Matusko and Sandor Iles.

Research interests

• Physics of the human-robot interaction
• Human and robot physical ability estimation
• Polytope enumeration/evaluation methods
• Human-centered robot control
• Optimal control strategies ( Quadratic programming - QP )

So far my research has been focused on the human-robot interaction in the industrial context. However, I am also interested in the human-robot interaction in the context of the assistive robotics (especially prosthetics and rehabilitation robotics), and I’m looking forward to exploring this field in the future.

On a more practical note:
My favorite way of learning is by hands-on experimenting and creating educational projects which enable me to test and improve my knowledge (embedded systems, mechanics, electronics, control theory, user interaction, …) at the same time. When they go well, I really enjoy documenting and sharing them in a form of the open-source projects, making them available to the wider community. Even making an occasional Youtube video 😃.

One of these projects that I am particularly proud of, is the SimpleFOClibrary, which aims to demystify the Field oriented control for the Arduino community. The project has exceeded all my expectations both in terms of community interest (more than 1000 members) and involvement (30+ contributors). Find out more

Feel free to make a contact if you have any questions or share some of the same interests. I’d be happy to hear from you!