PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

R Prasanth Kumar

R Prasanth Kumar is a roboticist at IIT Hyderabad who works on walking robots, drone swarms and humanoids, and trains some of them with reinforcement learning. He earned a BTech in mechanical engineering in 2000, then an MTech in 2002 and a PhD in underwater robotics in 2007, both at IIT Kharagpur. From IIT Hyderabad's Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, he published a Robotica study of quadruped bounding in 2014 and published work on biped robots crossing wide ditches in 2017 and 2018. A reinforcement-learning paper on prismatic-knee biped walking received a Best Paper Award at INDISCON in 2023, and a four-quadcopter payload-transport paper received the Best Paper Award at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Mechatronics in 2025. He is a professor in IIT Hyderabad's Department of Artificial Intelligence, an affiliate professor in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, and head of the ASPIRE Lab.

Timeline

  1. 2000–2007

    A PhD in underwater robotics

    He earns a BTech in mechanical engineering from NBKRIST in 2000, an MTech in mechanical systems, dynamics, and control from IIT Kharagpur in 2002, and a PhD in underwater robotics from IIT Kharagpur in 2007.

  2. 2011

    A walking assistant patent

    In 2011, KIPO issues a patent for a Walking Assistant Apparatus for High Walking Stability, listing Jungwon Yoon and Prasanth Kumar.

  3. 2014

    Quadruped bounding energetics

    He and Murali Krishna P., both at IIT Hyderabad's Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, publish Energetics of constant height level bounding in quadruped robots in Robotica in 2014. The paper derives analytical expressions for mechanical specific resistance in two cases of bounding.

  4. 2017–2018

    Biped robots crossing wide ditches

    With V. Janardhan, he publishes two papers in 2017 on a biped robot crossing a wide ditch, in the Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems and in Robotics and Autonomous Systems. A Robotica paper by the pair, published online in September 2018, presents real-time joint trajectories for an underactuated planar biped with five degrees of freedom.

  5. 2023

    Best paper for biped walking

    In 2023, he, Krishnendu Roy and P Murali Krishna receive a Best Paper Award at the IEEE Flagship India Council International Subsections Conference (INDISCON) for Walking of Prismatic Knee Biped Robot Using Reinforcement Learning.

  6. February 2025

    A wheeled humanoid project

    In February 2025, he becomes principal investigator on the design and development of an autonomous wheeled humanoid robot for Anubhava Mantapa, funded by Bharath Aap Technologies.

  7. November 2025

    Best paper on quadcopter swarms

    In November 2025, he, N Shyam Sridhar, Aashish Sahu and S Rami Reddy receive the Best Paper Award at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Mechatronics 2025 for collaborative payload transport with a four-quadcopter swarm. His Robotics and Intelligent Systems Lab takes the new name ASPIRE Lab, short for Autonomous Systems, Perception, Intelligence, Robotics, and Exploration.

  8. As of October 2026

    Physical AI at IIT Hyderabad

    He is a professor in IIT Hyderabad's Department of Artificial Intelligence, an affiliate professor in its Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, and head of the ASPIRE Lab. His research interests include Physical AI, multi-robot systems, humanoid and biped robots, aerial and underwater robots, and reinforcement learning.

Career

  1. NowIndian Institute of Technology HyderabadProfessor

Education

  1. 2007Indian Institute of Technology KharagpurPhD
  2. 2002Indian Institute of Technology KharagpurMTech
  3. 2000N.B.K.R. Institute of Science and TechnologyBTech

From the biography.

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes R Prasanth Kumar. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  2. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  3. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorateIncludes Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorate. Across 2,116 people with both an undergraduate degree and a doctorate recorded, we trace which undergraduate schools feed which doctoral programs, how often students stay at the same school, and how paths differ by birth-country region.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.

Sources and credits

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  1. R Prasanth Kumar | IIT Hyderabad people.iith.ac.in. Checked 22 October 2026.
  2. Energetics of constant height level bounding in quadruped robots | Robotica | Cambridge Core cambridge.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  3. Generating real-time trajectories for a planar biped robot crossing a wide ditch with landing uncertainties | Robotica | Cambridge Core cambridge.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  4. News - ASPIRE Lab IIT Hyderabad aspirelabiith.github.io. Checked 22 October 2026.
  5. Research Team - ASPIRE Lab IIT Hyderabad aspirelabiith.github.io. Checked 22 October 2026.
  6. Faculty – Department of Artificial Intelligence ai.iith.ac.in. Checked 22 October 2026.