John “Peter” Whitney
Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Office
- 519 ISEC
- 617.373.3427
Lab
- 560B ISEC
Research Focus
Human-safe robots, medical robotics, soft robotics and soft material manufacturing, MEMS, microrobotics, bio-inspired design, flapping aerodynamics and insect flight
About
Joins the Mechanical & Industrial Engineering department in January 2016.
Education
- PhD Engineering Sciences, Harvard University, 2012
- SM Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT, 2006
Honors & Awards
- Best paper award finalist, International Conference on Robotics and Automation
Research Overview
Human-safe robots, medical robotics, soft robotics and soft material manufacturing, MEMS, microrobotics, bio-inspired design, flapping aerodynamics and insect flight
Selected Research Projects
- NRI: FND: Controllable Compliance: A New Robotic Arm for Contact-Rich Manipulation
- – Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
- Remote-Direct-Drive Haptic Manipulators for Learning Augmented Explosive Ordinance Disposal In Unstable and Visually-Denied Environments
- – Principal Investigator, Office of Naval Research
- CHS: Small: Collaborative: Teleoperation with Passive, Transparent Force Feedback for MR-Guided Interventions
- – Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
Research Centers and Institutes
Selected Publications
- E. Schwarm, K. Gravesmill, J.P. Whitney, A Floating-Piston Hydrostatic Linear Actuator and Remote-Direct-Drive 2-DOF Gripper, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2019
- E. Mendoza, J.P. Whitney, A Testbed for Haptic and Magnetic Resonance Imaging- Guided Percutaneous Needle Biopsy, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 4(4), 2019, 3177-3183
- N. Burkhard, S. Frishman, A. Gruebele, J.P. Whitney, R. Goldman, B.L. Daniel, M.R. Cutkosky, A Rolling-Diaphragm Hydrostatic Transmission for Remote MR-Guided Needle Insertion, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2017
- J.P. Whitney, T. Chen, J. Mars, J.K. Hodgins, A Hybrid Hydrostatic Transmission and Human- Safe Haptic Telepresence Robot, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2016
- N.O. Perez-Arancibia, J.P. Whitney, R.J. Wood, Lift Force Control of Flapping-Wing Microrobots Using Adaptive Feedforward Cancellation Schemes, IEEE Transactions on Mechatronics, 18, 2013, 1-14
- P.S. Sreetharan, H. Tanaka, J.P. Whitney, et al., Progress on “Pico” Air Vehicles, International Journal of Robotics Research, 31(11), 2012, 1292-1302
Sep 10, 2021
Creating a Human Avatar in Remote Locations
A group of Northeastern University students led by MIE Assistant Professor Peter Whitney, has made it to the semifinals of the global Avatar XPrize competition which aims to create an avatar system that can transport human presence to a remote location in real-time.
Jul 28, 2021
Northeastern Engineers Developing Nimble Robotic Arms
MIE Assistant Professor Peter Whitney was featured in the Robotics & Innovation article “Northeastern engineers developing nimble robotic arms.”
Jul 28, 2021
Advancing Remote Robotic Technology
MIE Assistant Professor Peter Whitney has been working to design lightweight nimble robotic arms that could be capable of remote surgery or other situations where safety might be a factor. Nimble robotic arms that perform delicate surgery may be one step closer to reality Main photo: Robotics researchers at Northeastern are advancing a technology to […]
Jun 10, 2021
Northeastern Team Selected as a Finalist in the 2021 RASC-AL Competition
The Northeastern University team has been selected as a finalist in NASA’s 2021 RASC-AL Competition, which stands for Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts-Academic Linkage. They will showcase their aerospace concepts via a virtual platform during the 2021 RASC-AL Forum, scheduled June 15 – 17, 2021. Specifically, the Northeastern team will present to NASA and aerospace industry […]
Jul 31, 2020
Remotely Operated Robot Takes Straight Razor to Face of Brave Roboticist
MIE Assistant Professor Peter Whitney had his face shaved with a straight razor by a remotely controlled robotic device.
Sep 25, 2018
Creating Robots for Safer Human Interactions
MIE Assistant Professor John Whitney and Khoury/MIE Affiliated Faculty Robert Platt were awarded $750K NSF grant for creating “A New Robotic Arm for Contact-Rich Manipulation”. Abstract Source: NSF People with disabilities, the infirm, and the elderly would benefit from capable service robots in the home that could assist with daily living tasks. Robots with arms […]
Apr 24, 2018
The Rise of Northeastern Robotics
MIE Assistant Professor Peter Whitney, ECE/MIE Professor Hanumant Singh, and MIE Affiliated Faculty Robert Platt were hand-selected to attend Amazon’s MARS conference which brings together leaders in AI, automation, robotics, and space exploration.
Feb 23, 2018
Working Alongside Robots
MIE Assistant Professor Peter Whitney is developing a mechanical system for robots which combines precision with the gentleness needed to work with humans. Source: News @ Northeastern It’s the Holy Grail in robotics: an android that can perform complex tasks beside humans in a real-world environment. The problem is that when robots are asked to […]
Sep 15, 2016
Creating Robots with Lifelike Movements
MIE Assistant Professor John Whitney led the Disney Research team that created Jimmy, a robot that moves with lifelike speed and grace.
May 16, 2016
Designing Lifelike Robotic Movements
MIE Assistant Professor John Whitney worked with Disney Corporation to create a robot with lifelike movements that could perform such tasks as threading a needle or closely interact with humans.