Antonio Bicchi

Antonio Bicchi is a robotics researcher whose work on artificial hands and haptics helps robots grasp objects and interact with people. After earning an engineering degree at Pisa, he pursued doctoral work on robot hands at Bologna and completed postdoctoral research at MIT's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. His ERC-funded SOFT HANDS project developed soft synergies for more adaptive artificial hands, and he organized the first WorldHaptics Conference in 2005. He served as founding editor-in-chief of IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters and has served as editor-in-chief of The International Journal of Robotics Research since 2023. He received IEEE's 2025 Pioneer in Robotics and Automation Award; as of October 2026, he is Professor of Robotics at Pisa and Senior Scientist at the Italian Institute of Technology.

Now at: University of Pisa and Italian Institute of Technology
Works: 974
Citations: 29,318
h-index: 77
Badges: Boomerang
Loyal

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 18 October 2026.

Timeline

1984–1990

Engineering, robot hands and AI

He earns a mechanical engineering degree at the University of Pisa in 1984 and pursues a PhD on robot hands at the University of Bologna. From 1988 to 1990, he works as a postdoctoral scholar at MIT's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
1990–2012

Leading Pisa's robotics group

From 1990, he leads the Robotics Group at the University of Pisa's Enrico Piaggio Research Center and directs the center through 2012. In 2005, he organizes the first WorldHaptics Conference.
2012–2017

SoftHand and soft synergies

His ERC Advanced Grant supports SOFT HANDS from 2012 to 2017, a theory of soft synergies for artificial hands. SoftHands are more adaptive and simpler to control; in 2015, SoftHand is being adapted for prosthetic use.
2015–2019

Founding editor of IEEE RA-L

He serves as founding editor-in-chief of IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters from 2015 to 2019.
Since 2023

Editor-in-chief of IJRR

Since January 2023, he serves as editor-in-chief of The International Journal of Robotics Research.
2025

IEEE's Pioneer in Robotics award

In 2025, he receives the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society's Pioneer in Robotics and Automation Award for contributions to artificial hands, haptics, and human-robot collaboration.
As of October 2026

Professor and senior scientist

As of October 2026, he is Professor of Robotics at the University of Pisa and Senior Scientist at the Italian Institute of Technology. He coordinates the Soft Robotics for Human Cooperation and Rehabilitation unit at IIT.