Diego Castro

Assistant professor and researcher in Robotics
ESME

Overview of research area

My research interests focus on cooperative and multi-agent robotics, with a particular emphasis on bio-inspired systems. My work investigates the use of biologically plausible sensory cues—particularly vision—to model, control, and reproduce multi-agent behaviors in non-omniscient robotic environments. These approaches draw inspiration from naturally occurring collective phenomena such as flocking and swarming.

Short biography

I am a Colombian researcher in cooperative biorobotics and artificial vision. I obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Electronic Engineering in 2015 and a Master of Science in Electronic Engineering in 2017 from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia. I subsequently completed a year of graduate studies in artificial intelligence and computer vision at DePaul University, where I worked on the design and control of soft articulated robotic arms (2018). I defended my doctorate in January 2025 at Aix-Marseille Université, with a focus on bio-inspired multi-agent robotics.

I have an interdisciplinary background spanning robotics, artificial intelligence, computer vision, and embedded systems. My research has contributed to the design and control of both rigid and soft robotic platforms, including vision-guided spherical robots and soft continuum manipulators with variable stiffness.

In addition to my academic background, I have extensive experience in applied research and technology transfer. I have worked on industrial computer-vision systems, IoT-based monitoring solutions, and large-scale robotic integration projects in both academic and industrial settings across Europe, North America, and Latin America.

Publications

• William Coral, Claudio Rossi, Oscar M Curet and Diego Castro, Design and assessment of a flexible fish robot actuated by shape memory alloys, Bioinspiration & biomimetics 2018, volume 13, p. 56009
• Diego Castro, William Coral, Camilo Rodriguez, Jose Cabra and Julian Colorado, Wearable-based human activity recognition using an iot approach, Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks 2017, volume 6, p. 28
• Diego Castro, William Coral, José Cabra, Julián Colorado, Diego Méndez and Luis Trujillo, Survey on IoT solutions applied to Healthcare, DYNA 2017, volume 84, pp. 192-200
• Diego Castro, Franck Ruffier and Christophe Eloy, Modeling collective behaviors from optic flow and retinal cues, Phys. Rev. Research 2024, volume 6
• Diego Castro, Christophe Eloy and Franck Ruffier, Visual collective behaviors on spherical robots, Bioinspiration & Biomimetic 2025, volume 20, p. 26006
• Jose Cabra, Diego Castro, Julián Colorado, Diego Mendez and Luis Trujillo, An IoT approach for wireless sensor networks applied to e-health environmental monitoring, 2017 IEEE international conference on internet of things (iThings), pp. 578-583, Exeter, United Kingdom
• Camilo Rodriguez, Diego Castro, William Coral, Jose L Cabra, Nicolas Velasquez, Julian Colorado, Diego Mendez and Luis C Trujillo, IoT system for human activity recognition using BioHarness 3 and smartphone, Proceedings of the International Conference on Future Networks and Distributed Systems, pp. 01-07, Cambridge United Kingdom
• Nicolas Velasquez, Camilo Medina, Diego Castro, Juan Camilo Acosta and Diego Mendez, Design and development of an IoT system prototype for outdoor tracking, Proceedings of the International Conference on Future Networks and Distributed Systems, pp. 01-06, Cambridge United Kingdom
• Ali A. Nazari, Diego Castro and Isuru S. Godage, Forward and Inverse Kinematics of a Single Section Inextensible Continuum Arm, DePaul School of Computing & Digital Media (SCD) Research Symposium, 2019, pp. 01-08, Chicago, United States

Ph.D. In Bio-inpired Robotics

• 2019-2025

  Ph.D. In Bio-inpired Robotics

  Aix-Marseille Université
• 2018-2019

  Specialization in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision

  DePaul University
• 2016-2017

  M.Sc. In Electronic Engeneering

  Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
• 2010-2015

  Bachelor’s In Electronic Engeneering

  Pontificia Universidad Javeriana

Assistant professor and researcher in Robotics

• 2025

  Robotics Doctoral Engineer

  Qenvi Robotics
• 2019-2025

  Ph.D. Researcher

  Aix-Marseille Université
• 2018-2023

  Remote Architec of R&D Solutions

  Electromhs
• 2019

  Post-grad Researcher

  DePaul University
• 2018

  Junior IoT-solution Researcher

  CEA-IoT
• 2017-2018

  Technical Lead

  Electromhs
• 2016-2017

  IoT-solution Researcher

  CEA-IoT
• 2015-2016

  Lead engineer

  Electromhs
• 2014

  Intern

  Electromhs

Awards and Prizes

• Best Paper Award

  International Conference on Future Networks and Distributed Systems