Bio
Byungchul Kim is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at MIT working with Professor Daniela Rus in the Computer Science and Artificial Laboratory (CSAIL), since Jan 2023. Before joining MIT, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Soft Robotic Research Center (SRRC), working with Professor Kyu-jin Cho in the department of Mechanical Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea. Dr. Kim completed his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, all from Seoul National University. His research interests include soft robotics, hand-wearable robotic systems, and under-actuated tendon-driven systems.
CV can be downloaded from here.
Research Interests
- Soft Robotics
- Soft wearable robotic system
- Hand wearable robot
- Under-actuated system
- Tendon-driven actuator
- Prosthetic hand
- Simulation and control
Experience
| Preiod | Experience |
|---|---|
| Jan.2023 - Present |
Postdoctoral Research Associate Distributed Robotics Lab, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Advisor: Prof. Daniela Rus |
| Mar.2023 - Present |
Research Affiliate Harvard Microrobotics Lab, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), Harvard Project Investigator: Prof. Robert Wood |
| Sep.2020 - Dec.2022 |
Postdoctoral Research Associate Soft Robotics Research Center (SRRC), Biorobotics Lab, Seoul National University Advisor: Prof. Kyu-Jin Cho |
Education
| Preiod | Education |
|---|---|
| Mar.2014 - Aug.2020 |
Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea Dissertation: Tendon-Driven Hand Wearable Robot using Slider-Tendon Linear Actuator Advisor: Prof. Kyu-Jin Cho |
| Mar.2012 - Feb.2014 |
M.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea Dissertation: A user-friendly assistive glove for SCI people performing natural writing posture Advisor: Prof. Kyu-Jin Cho |
| Mar.2008 - Feb.2012 |
B.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea Advisor: Prof. Minsu Kim |
Grant (as a PI)
| Preiod | Experience |
|---|---|
| Sep.2024 - Aug.2025 |
Sejong Science Fellowship (funded by the National Research Foundation of Korea) Generative Artificial Intelligence driven robot design and control (Role: PI) 70,000,000 KRW (~50,000 USD) certificate |
Invited Talks
| Preiod | Title |
|---|---|
| June.2024 | Advancing Computational Co-Design: Generative AI to design the Soft Robot Korea University |
| Jan.2024 | How will the “future” researchers design/fabricate the robots? Seoul National University |
| Jun.2023 | Under-actuated Tendon-driven Soft Robots For the Human Assistance UC Berkeley |
| Jun.2022 | Building Competent Tendon-driven Soft Robots even with fewer actuators MIT |
Workshop Organization
| Conference | Information |
|---|---|
| ICRA 2024 (accepted) |
• Organizing committee, “Advancing wearable devices and applications through novel design, sensing, actuation, and AI”, workshop, IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation (ICRA), May 2024. [site] |
| Biorob 2022 |
• Organizing committee, “Advancing Hand Wearable Robotics through novel design, actuation, sensing, and control algorithm”, workshop, IEEE RAS/EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics & Biomechanics, August 2022. [pdf][site] |
Research experience
- Detail explanstions are described in the research page.
| Preiod | Research experience |
|---|---|
| 2023 - Present |
Computational co-design framework • Generative AI for robot design **Oral presentation in 2023 NeurIPS** Contributed the real-world robot design and fabrication |
| 2023 - Present |
Project CETI • Understanding what whales are saying Contributed wearable tag design |
| 2023 - Present |
Hybrid rigid-soft hand development • Designing hybrid rigid-soft hand for kitchen work Contributed the robotic hand design |
| 2021 - 2023 |
Rehabilitation robot system for untact self-training Funded by National Research Foundation of Korea, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of Korea • Upper limb rehabilitation robot system for untact self-training. Contributed the actuator design (Slider-Tendon Linear Actuator) |
| 2020 - 2023 |
SoFT meta-Human Funded by National Research Foundation of Korea, Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning • Soft wearable robots for everyday use. Contributed the design, prototyping, and experiments. |
| 2020 - 2022 |
GUI for the Hand Wearable Robot • GUI for the user to manipulate the hand wearable robot Contributed the original idea, GUI design, coding |
| 2020 - 2021 |
Soft Hand Wearable Robot for Poliomyelitis Funded by National Rehabilitation Center of Korea • Customized hand wearable robot design for the poliomyelitis Contributed the design, control for the safety |
| 2017 - 2023 |
Exo-Glove Shell • Dissertation Topic for Ph. D • Hand wearable robot that assists the thumb opposition with under-actuation mechanism. Contributed the original idea, design, prototyping, experiments, and analyzing the data. |
| 2020 - 2023 |
POE Grasp • Tendon-driven robot simulation toolkit using Matlab Contributed the original idea, coding, and validation. |
| 2017 - 2021 |
Tendon-driven Actuators for the Soft Wearable Robots Funded by National Research Foundation of Korea, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of Korea • Slider-Tendon Linear Actuator (Dissertation Topic for Ph. D) **Exhibited in 2020 CES / 2019 RoboSoft / 2022 IROS** Contributed the original idea, design, prototyping, experiments, and analyzing the data. • Slack Enabling Actuator Stabilized the actuator performance and reduced the actuator size. • Series/Parallel Elastic Actuator Designed series/parallel elastic actuator for the tendon-driven soft wearable robot. |
| 2020 - 2021 |
Exo-Index • Hand wearable robot generating three different postures using machine learning technic. Contributed the original idea, design, prototyping, experiments, and analyzing the data. |
| 2020 - 2021 |
Exo-Glove Poly II **Exhibited in 2020 CES / 2022 IROS** • Polymer based hand wearable robot for SCI people. Contributed the actuator design. |
| 2017 - 2020 |
Development of Biomimetic Bionic Hand Mechanism Funded by National Research Foundation of Korea, Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning • Prosthetic hand for the amputee Contributed the design of tendon-driven actuators, tendon routings, and electric circuit. |
| 2014 - 2015 |
Under-actuated bionic arm system **Technology transfer** Funded by National Research Foundation of Korea, Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning • Under-actuated prosthetic hand for the amputee Contributed the under-actuated tendon routing design. |
| 2013 - 2017 |
GRIPIT **Minister`s Prize, 16th Industrial Technology Award of the Month** • Active Hand Assist Device for the People with Spinal Cord Injury Contributed the original idea, design, prototyping, experiments, and analyzing the data. Co-worked with SMT Inc. Received $2,000 investment through social funding (KaKao Story Funding) |
| 2013 - 2014 |
Development of an Embedded Control Module for Rehabilitation Devices Funded by National Rehabilitation Center of Korea • Rehabilitation devices for the stroke people. Participated in clinical trials with muscular disease patients and SCI patients Co-work with National Rehabilitation Center of Korea and NT Research Inc. |
| 2012 - 2015 |
Exo-Glove Funded by National Rehabilitation Center of Korea Funded by National Research Foundation of Korea, Ministry of Education and Science Technology • Hand wearable robot for the spinal cord injury Participated in clinical trials with muscular disease patients and SCI patients Co-work with National Rehabilitation Center of Korea |
Technical Skills
| Categories | Technical Skills |
|---|---|
| Various prototyping experiences |
• Exo-Glove • Bionic arm • GRIPIT • Embedded control module for rehabilitation devices • Experimental setups |
| Actuator design and control |
• Tendon-driven actuators for the soft wearable robots • Low-level control • CAN open communication |
| Clinical test experiences |
• Clinical test of Exo-Glove • GRIPIT • Bionic arm • Rehabilitation devices for the stroke patient |
| Controller design and simulation |
• MATLAB • Labiew • QTcreator |
| Control system prototyping |
• ROS • CompactRIO • FPGA • STM • Arduino |
| Analysis | • MATLAB • Working model 2D |
| CAD design | • SOLIDWORKS • CATIA |
| Manufacturing | • CNC milling • laser cutter • 3D printing |
| Circuitdesign and Artworks |
• KiCAD • Eagle CAD |
Scholarship
| Preiod | Scholarship |
|---|---|
| Jan. 2023 - Jan. 2024 | Biomedical Global Talent Nurturing Program Funded by Korea Health Industry Development Institute |
| Sep. 2016 - Dec. 2016 Sep. 2012 - Dec. 2012 Mar. 2012 - Jun. 2012 |
Brain Korea 21 Research Scholarship Funded by National Research Foundation of Korea |
| Mar. 2014 - Jun. 2014 | Lecture & Research Scholarship Funded by Seoul National University |
| Sep. 2011 - Dec. 2011 Sep. 2010 - Dec. 2010 Sep. 2009 - Dec. 2009 |
Superior Academic Performance Funded by Seoul National University |
Awards
| Preiod | Awards |
|---|---|
| Dec.2016 | Excellence award, Government 3.0 National Participation and Collaboration Contest Ministry of Health and Welfare, Korea |
| Nov.2012 | Excellence award, Creative design competition Seoul National University, Korea |
| Nov.2012 | Bronze prize, International Co-Creative Design Competition Seoul National University, Korea |
Teaching Experience
| Preiod | Teaching Experience |
|---|---|
| Mar. 2017 - Jun. 2017 | Teaching Assistant Introduction for soft robotics (Prof. Kyu-Jin Cho) Seoul National University |
| Mar. 2012 - Jun. 2012 | Teaching Assistant Mechanical System Modeling and Control (Prof. Kyu-Jin Cho) Seoul National University |
| Mar. 2020 - Dec. 2020 Mar. 2019 - Jun. 2019 Mar. 2018 - Dec. 2018 Mar. 2017 - Dec. 2017 Mar. 2012 - Dec. 2012 |
B.S Thesis/UROP Tutoring Led the B.S. Thesis of three undergraduate students (Prof. Kyu-Jin Cho) Led four students for the Undergraduate Research Opportunities (Prof. Kyu-Jin Cho) Seoul National University |
| Sep. 2023 - Dec. 2023 | Kaufman Teaching Certificate Program at MIT Participated the Kaufman Teaching Certificate Program at MIT. [Certificate] |
Verified Peer Reviews
| Year | Journal/Confernece & Number of reviews |
|---|---|
| Total | Total number of the verified peer reviews: 21 RAS paper review record (without the Paper ID and Paper title) is here. The other paper review record is here. |
| 2024 | Soft Robotics: 1 IEEE RAS/EMBS International Conference for Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob): 3 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA): 1 |
| 2023 | Soft Robotics: 2 IEEE Transactions on Haptics (ToH): 1 IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RAL): 1 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA): 1 |
| 2022 | IEEE RAS/EMBS International Conference for Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob): 1 IEEE Transactions on Haptics (ToH): 2 IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation (TNSRE): 2 |
| 2021 | IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RAL): 1 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA): 1 International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots (UR): 1 IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation (TNSRE): 1 |
| 2018 | IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS): 1 IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation (TNSRE): 1 |
Contact & CV
For any inquires, you can reach me via email: bckim@mit.edu.
CV can be downloaded from here.
Update: 2024/01/13