David Rye

Associate Professor David Rye is an Honorary Associate Professor in the School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering at the University of Sydney, affiliated with the Australian Centre for Field Robotics. His research focuses on interdisciplinary robotics, blending engineering, social sciences, and art to explore human-robot interaction, tactile sensing, and autonomous systems. Key areas include social robotics, cooperative robot behavior, and creative robotics design.

His work spans theoretical and applied robotics, including studies on robot collaboration dynamics, tactile feedback systems, and robotic excavation. Notable contributions include developing EIT-based sensitive skins for robots and analyzing human comfort in multi-agent interactions. He has led projects such as the Fish-Bird art-robotics collaboration and the experimental human-robot interaction facility funded by ARC grants.

Publications highlight advancements in human-robot collaboration ethics, motion planning for social robots, and control systems for autonomous machinery. His interdisciplinary approach bridges robotics engineering with creative arts, fostering innovations in both technical and artistic domains.