Henrik Gordon Petersen

Henrik Gordon Petersen is a Professor at the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute within the University of Southern Denmark (SDU), where he is a leading figure in SDU Robotics. With a prolific research output of 86 publications and active involvement in 14 projects including the major MADE REACT initiative (100 million DKK), Petersen's work centers on advancing robotic systems for industrial automation and sustainable production. His expertise spans robot engineering, actuator design, and computer vision with 100% fingerprint concentration in Robotics and significant contributions to Actuator Engineering (77%) and Vision Systems (68%).

Petersen's research focuses on practical robotics applications including robot manipulation techniques for peg-in-hole assembly and disassembly in circular economies, precision machining with trajectory correction systems, and computer vision solutions for pose estimation and surface tracking. His work bridges theoretical innovation with industrial implementation through projects like MADE REACT which develops AI-powered resilient manufacturing systems. Recent investigations also explore energy-aware teleoperation and deep learning-based human modeling for physical human-robot interaction.

Analysis of his 2022-2024 publications reveals strong trends toward sustainable robotics—designing disassembly systems for circular economies, developing resilient end effectors, and creating correction methods for precision machining. These efforts align with broader industrial resilience goals through integration of digital technologies and AI, particularly evident in the MADE REACT project's focus on flexible production systems.

Petersen actively supervises two PhD candidates: Luo R. on safe energy-aware robotic teleoperation (2025-2028) and Zhou Y. on deep learning human modeling for physical human-robot interaction (2024-2027). His substantial grant portfolio includes the 13-year CAPeX project for P2X materials discovery, EUROfusion BB RH DEMO for fusion power control, and the flagship MADE REACT initiative demonstrating consistent success in securing competitive national and EU funding.

Based at the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute, Petersen contributes to SDU Robotics' ecosystem which includes the MADE Open Lab for industry collaboration. This environment enables rapid prototyping and deployment of robotic solutions through strong partnerships with Danish manufacturing, as highlighted in 148 press/media features including the global robotics summer school in Odense and coverage of the MADE React project's 100-million-DKK impact on industrial resilience.