DrEnrico Franco

Assistant Professor

Department of Mechanical Engineering - Faculty of Engineering

  • Assistant Professor
    Department of Mechanical Engineering - Faculty of Engineering
  • 414B, Bessemer Building, South Kensington Campus, United Kingdom

RESEARCH

CURRENT RESEARCH
My research interests include design, modeling, and control of soft continuum robots, and their application to healthcare.

I was named Researcher Co-Investigator for the EPSRC grant DEFCOBOT (Design for Control of Flexible Robots) led by Professor Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena (Mechanical Engineering Department) and Professor Alessandro Astolfi (Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department). Within this project I have investiaged the control of soft robots and flexible mechanisms.
Subsequently I was named Researcher Co-Investigator for the EPSRC grant ROBOGAST (Self-propelled soft robotic endoscopes for next-generation gastrointestinal surgery and beyond) led by Professor Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena.

My previous research has been focussing on MRI-compatible robotics for percutaneous intervention of the liver. This has resulted in a fully-functional prototype that was validated experimentally in a clinical pilot study.

GRANTS

  • STANDARD - CALL
    Self-propelled soft robotic endoscopes for next-generation gastrointestinal surgery and beyond
    Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (E1 Jul 2023 - 30 Jun 2028
    Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (E: Self-propelled soft robotic endoscopes for next-generation gastrointestinal surgery and beyond (2023-2028)