Shreyas Kumar

About Me

I am a predoctoral fellow at the Robert Bosch Centre for Cyber-Physical Systems (RBCCPS), IISc Bangalore, where I am advised by Prof. Ravi Prakash. My research lies at the intersection of robotics, control, and learning. I have been fortunate to collaborate with researchers worldwide, including Prof. Anh Nguyen, Prof. Fares Abu-Dakka, and Prof. Dibakar Datta.

Previously, I was a staff researcher at IITGN Robotics Laboratory, where I worked under the guidance of Prof. Harish P.M., and was supported by Addverb Technologies. I hold an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST).

Research Interests

Much of my thinking is shaped by a deep curiosity of how systems adapt, interact, and evolve, and I've always been drawn to understanding them using the language of physics and mathematics. I tend to find beauty in structured systems, and yet am drawn to thier unpredictability and uncertainty.

Robotics

My vision is to build generalizable robotic systems capable of physically interacting with complex environments in ways that are robust, safe, and adaptable. I am particularly fascinated by how we can combine conventional control theory with data-driven learning to achieve reliable, real-world manipulation. I aim to contribute towards making contact-rich robot behavior both intelligent and reliable, not just in the lab, but in everyday human settings.

Publications

Safe and Optimal Variable Impedance Control via Certified Reinforcement Learning

Shreyas Kumar, Ravi Prakash

Under Review in IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2026
Velocity-Based Admittance-Impedance Control with Contact Compliance Modeling for Robust Dual-Arm Manipulation

Samriddhi Dubey, Yash Kashiv, Shreyas Kumar, Rajesh Kumar, Harish J. Palanthandalam-Madapusi

Under Review in IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2026
PACER: Progress-Aligned Curation for Error-Resilient Imitation Learning

Shreyas Kumar, Ravi Prakash

CoRL 2025 Workshop on Making Sense of Data in Robotics

Paper
Grasping at the Edge of Instability

Barat S, Shreyas Kumar, Harish J. Palanthandalam-Madapusi

In Preparation for The International Journal of Robotics Research (2025)
A Coordinated Framework for Dual-Arm Snap-Fit Assembly of Delicate Components

Shreyas Kumar, Barat S, Rajesh Kumar, Harish J. Palanthandalam-Madapusi

Under Review in IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering (2025)
Towards Coordinated Dual-arm Snap-fit Assembly Skill for Delicate Applications

Shreyas Kumar, Barat S, Debojit Das, Siddhi Jain, Rajesh Kumar, Harish J. Palanthandalam-Madapusi

Late Breaking Report Paper at 2025 IEEE-RAS 24th International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids)

Paper
Iterative Learning for Manipulation and Grasping Against Unknown Resistance Fields That is Generalizable to Arbitrary Trajectories

Barat S, Suyash Patidar, Debojit Das, Shreyas Kumar, Shail Jadav, Harish J. Palanthandalam-Madapusi

Under Review in Autonomous Robots (2024)
Adaptive Fuzzy Predictor Based Fast Terminal Sliding Mode Controller Design for Two-Link Robot Manipulator

Shreyas Kumar, Bishesha Dash, Roshni Maiti, Dipayan Guha

2024 Tenth Indian Control Conference (ICC)

Paper

Robots

I have worked with the following robots across a variety of embodiments and contexts:

Franka FR3
from Agile Robots

Heal Cobot
from Addverb

LEAP Hand
from CMU

Kinova Gen3 7-DoF
from Kinova

Writing

The Weight of Imaginary Burdens

Creative Outlet

Outside of robotics, I'm deeply interested in nature, music, and philosophy. I enjoy playing guitar, reading/writing about the human behavior, and travelling (with which photography comes as a bundle)!