Carlos Cifuentes

Carlos Cifuentes is an Associate Professor in Human-Robot Interaction at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL), part of the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol). He also serves as the Deputy Director of the VIVO Hub, a £13.4M UK-funded research initiative (2024-2030) focused on robotics for rehabilitation and healthcare.

His research spans Human-Robot Interaction, Rehabilitation Robotics, Healthcare Robotics, and Socially Assistive Robotics, with applications for conditions such as cardiac diseases, post-stroke recovery, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, Parkinson's disease, musculoskeletal disorders, and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Carlos has over 15 years of experience and 200+ publications in robotics for rehabilitation and assistive technologies.

His recent work explores smart walkers with multimodal feedback, soft prosthetics using polymeric optical fiber sensors, and machine learning models for fatigue and stress estimation. He also investigates inclusive design for social robots in global contexts, including a CASTOR Robot for ASD therapy and collaborative design processes with Colombian communities.

Carlos serves as an Associate Editor for IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine (since 2021), ICRA, and IROS (since 2023). He leads projects integrating wearable sensors, deep learning, and haptic feedback to enhance mobility, autonomy, and quality of life for individuals with disabilities.

As Deputy Director of the VIVO Hub, he focuses on long-term deployment of robotic systems in real-world healthcare settings, emphasizing collaboration with clinicians, caregivers, and neurodiverse communities. His work bridges robotics, biomedical engineering, and human-centered design.