RAIL Lab

People

RAIL is a growing lab at Chalmers. We welcome motivated researchers who share our passion for athletic intelligence, optimal control, and open reproducible science.

Principal Investigator

Shivesh Kumar — Photo: Lisa Jabar

Shivesh Kumar

Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) · Division of Dynamics · Chalmers University of Technology

Shivesh Kumar's research focuses on multi-body dynamics and optimal control theory with the aim of developing next-generation physical and athletic intelligence for robotic systems. He received his doctorate (summa cum laude) from the University of Bremen in 2019, and led the Team Mechanics & Control and the Underactuated Robotics Lab at the Robotics Innovation Center in DFKI Bremen (2020–2024) before joining Chalmers in October 2023.

He is the PI of the SSF Future Research Leader grant (15 MSEK, 2025–2030) and the WASP PhD project grant (4 MSEK, 2024–2029). He serves as Associate Editor for IEEE RA-L and IROS, and co-chairs the IEEE RAS Technical Committee on Optimization for Robotics. He was named a New Generation Star in Robotics at IEEE/RSJ IROS 2024 and has won several best paper awards.

shivesh.kumar@chalmers.se Google Scholar ORCID Chalmers Profile

Postdoctoral Researchers

Farhad Mehdifar

Farhad Mehdifar

Postdoctoral Researcher

AI-based Holistic Co-Design of Legged Robots · SSF FFL-9

PhD Students

Yu-Hung Pai

Yu-Hung Pai

PhD Student (Co-supervised)

Machine-learning based fault diagnosis for rotordynamic systems. Co-supervised with Prof. Petri Piiroinen.

Raphael Stockner

Raphael Stockner

PhD Student

AI-based holistic co-design of legged robots. Funded by the SSF Future Research Leader grant (FFL-9).

Sahand Wagemakers

Sahand Wagemakers

PhD Student

Dynamics and Control of Legged Robots with Flexible Elements. Funded by the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Chalmers.

Joan Badia

Joan Badia

PhD Student

AI-driven constrained optimal control for bi-manual loco-manipulation. Funded by the WASP PhD project grant.

Master's Thesis Students

Leonardo Barberan

Leonardo Barberan

Project

Body Segment Parameter Identification for Human Digital Twins.

Jalal Sankar

Jalal Sankar

Project

Robust Visitor Tracking and Wait-For-User Behavior for Campus Tour Guide Robot Dog.

Wei Peng

Ruochen Shi

Wei Peng

Ruochen Shi

Project

Humanoid Balance and Step Recovery in Public Transportation Scenarios.

Xin Yi

Shimin Hu

Xin Yi

Shimin Hu

Project

Real-Time Procedural Audio-Motion Synchronization for the FIDO Quadruped.

XiaoYang Chen

Zifeng Lao

XiaoYang Chen

Zifeng Lao

Project

Learning Deployable Multi-Skill Legged Locomotion with Visual-Language Skill Selection.

Interns

Ethan Farrior

Ethan Farrior

Research Intern

Texas A&M University, USA

Tyler Nutt

Tyler Nutt

Research Intern

Texas A&M University, USA

Shane Gorski

Shane Gorski

Research Intern

Texas A&M University, USA

Daniel Garza

Daniel Garza

Research Intern

Texas A&M University, USA

Edvin Sternvik

Edvin Sternvik

Research Intern

Chalmers University of Technology

Abdourahmane Barro

Abdourahmane Barro

Research Intern

Chalmers University of Technology

Hadi Chouman

Hadi Chouman

Research Intern

Chalmers University of Technology

Mengjie Li

Mengjie Li

Research Intern

Chalmers University of Technology

Venkateswarlu Reddy

Venkateswarlu Reddy

Research Intern

Chalmers University of Technology

Alumni

PhD

Bingbin Yu Design, Modeling and Control of Robots with Link or Joint Flexibilities · Co-supervised with Prof. Frank Kirchner University of Bremen, Germany · Mar 2025
Ibrahim Tijjani Design Enhancements and Control of a Lower Extremity Exoskeleton · Co-supervised with Prof. Frank Kirchner University of Bremen, Germany · Sep 2024

Master's Thesis

Piero Tuffili Rigid Flexible Modeling of PACOMA Leg Chalmers · Dec 2025
Hannah Isermann Adaptive Footstep Planning for MPC of a Quadruped Robot Univ. of Bielefeld · Sep 2024
Vinayvivian Pedrick Rodrigues Kinetostatic Analysis of a 6-RUS Parallel Continuum Robot RWTH Aachen · Dec 2023
Chi Zhang RL Based Control of an Underactuated Double Pendulum TU Munich · Nov 2023
Maximilian Albracht Control of Dynamic Parkour Motions for a Hopping Leg on a Broomstick FH Aachen · Aug 2023
Grama Srinivas Shourie Mechatronic Design and Control of an Underactuated Three-link Brachiation Robot Ecole Centrale de Nantes · Aug 2023
Federico Girlanda Robust Co-design of Underactuated Mechanical Systems Univ. Padova · Apr 2023
Mahdi Javadi Mechatronic Design and Control of an Underactuated Brachiation Robot TU Kaiserslautern · Jul 2022
Mareike Foerster Perception Thresholds and Discrimination: Force Feedback in Exoskeleton-based Teleoperation City Univ. of Applied Sciences Bremen · May 2022
Rohit Kumar A Hybrid Numerical and Analytical Approach towards Resolving Loop Closure Constraints Univ. Genoa · Aug 2021
Julian Esser Highly-Dynamic Movements of a Humanoid Robot Using Whole-Body Trajectory Optimization Univ. Duisburg-Essen · Sep 2020
Durgesh H. Salunkhe Optimal Kinematic Design of Parallel Mechanism for Otological Surgery Ecole Centrale de Nantes · Aug 2020
Tim von Oehsen Machine Learning for Inverse Kinematics Univ. Bremen · Jun 2019
C. Stoeffler Conceptual Design of a Variable Stiffness Mechanism in a Humanoid Ankle Univ. Liège · Jun 2018

Bachelor's Project

Augusta Fhager, Parsa Khodabakhsh, Sanna Lingsten, Theodor Roegner Kinnmark, Elinor Schwartz Predicting Body Segment Properties: Using Height, Mass and Gender to Estimate the Mass, Center of Mass, and Moment of Inertia of Body Segments Chalmers · May 2025

Research Interns

Chase Gallovich Texas A&M University, USA · Summer 2025
Michelle Cheng Texas A&M University, USA · Summer 2025
Jonas Haack University of Bremen, Germany · Summer 2025
Maha Mahdi Constructor University, Bremen, Germany · Summer 2025
Jinghao Li Chalmers · Summer 2025
Emiliano Cron-Lima INSA Toulouse, France · Summer 2025
Damodar Chalmers · Summer 2024

Join the Lab

We are always looking for motivated PhD students and postdoctoral researchers interested in underactuated robotics, optimal control, reinforcement learning, and hardware benchmarking. Master's thesis students at Chalmers are also welcome to reach out.

Open Position · Postdoctoral Researcher

Postdoc in Modeling of Human-like Balance and Step Recovery

Apply →

We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher to join our research group at the Division of Dynamics, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology. This is an exciting opportunity to transfer cutting-edge methods from humanoid robotics to biomechanics and transport safety, in a collaborative and dynamic environment. Application deadline: 15 August 2026. Expected start: January 2027.

Postdoc Biomechanics Humanoid robotics Transport safety

For general enquiries, send an email to shivesh.kumar@chalmers.se with your CV and a short description of your research interests.