Rate My Professor Devin Balkcom

Balkcom's academic interests lie in computer science, particularly robotics. His research encompasses robot motion planning and design, optimal trajectories for planar rigid bodies and mobile robots, manipulation of deformable objects including cloth, strings, knots, paper, and robotic origami folding, automated fabrication, robotic construction, and augmented reality for teaching human motion tasks. He co-directs the Reality and Robotics Lab. Key publications include "Time Optimal Trajectories for Bounded Velocity Differential Drive Vehicles" with Matthew T. Mason (International Journal of Robotics Research, 2002), "Robotic Origami Folding" (International Journal of Robotics Research, 2008), "Knot-tying with Four-piece Fixtures" with Matthew P. Bell, Weifu Wang, and Jordan Kunzika (International Journal of Robotics Research, 2014), "Optimal Trajectories for Planar Rigid Bodies with Switching Costs" with Yu-Han Lyu (International Journal of Robotics Research, 2015), and "A Fast Online Spanner for Roadmap Construction" with Weifu Wang and Amit Chakrabarti (International Journal of Robotics Research, 2015). Balkcom's scholarship has been cited more than 2,000 times on Google Scholar. He received the Dean of the Faculty Award for Outstanding Mentoring and Advising and the endowed Dartmouth Professor appointment in 2024, affirming his impact in the field of robotics.