Kyoungchul Kong is a South Korean mechanical engineer, entrepreneur, academic, and author. He was selected as one of the Leader Scientists from the
National Research Foundation of Korea
The National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF; ) is a research institute for Korean studies.
It was established in 2009 through a merger between the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF; ), Korea Research Foundation (KRF; ; establ ...
in 2023. He is an associate professor at the
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
KAIST (originally the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) is a national university, national research university located in Daedeok Innopolis, Daejeon, South Korea. KAIST was established by the Korean government in 1971 as the ...
(KAIST) and is the
Chief Executive Officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization.
CEOs find roles in variou ...
(CEO) of Angel Robotics.
Kong's research focuses on
robust control
In control theory, robust control is an approach to controller design that explicitly deals with uncertainty. Robust control methods are designed to function properly provided that uncertain parameters or disturbances are found within some (typical ...
systems, human assistive
robotics
Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots.
Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer s ...
, and the design and control of legged robots. He is the author of the book ''Intelligent Assistive Robots: Recent Advances in Assistive Robotics for Everyday Activities''. Under his leadership, Angel Robotics has developed products, including the WalkON Suit for individuals with complete lower body paralysis, the Angel Suit for those with partial paralysis or weakened muscles, and the Angel Legs M, a robotic rehabilitation device used in hospitals. He won a bronze medal at the inaugural
Cybathlon
CYBATHLON, a project of ETH Zurich, acts as a platform that challenges teams from all over the world to develop assistive technologies suitable for everyday use with and for people with disabilities. The driving force behind CYBATHLON is internat ...
in 2016
and received both gold and bronze medals in the 2020 Cybathlon for his wearable robotic devices. Additionally, he received commendation awards from the
Prime Minister of South Korea
The prime minister of the Republic of Korea () is the deputy head of government and the second highest political office of South Korea. The prime minister is appointed by the president of the Republic of Korea, with the National Assembly's appro ...
, including the Prime Minister's Award in 2019 for his contributions to the
2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
Education
Kong completed his B.Eng. in
mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...
and B.S. in physics, both from
Sogang University
Sogang University (SU; ) is a private Jesuit research university in Mapo, Seoul, South Korea. Sogang University was established on April 18, 1960 by the Society of Jesus, with the school being the oldest and only Jesuit institution of higher e ...
in 2004. He earned his M.S. in mechanical engineering at Sogang University in 2006, with a thesis titled "Design and Control of Exoskeletal Robots for Patients and Elderly People," under the supervision of Doyoung Jeon.
During his master's studies, he developed a wearable robot named EXPOS.
[ In 2009, he received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the ]University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, with his dissertation "Mechatronic Considerations for Human Assistive and Rehabilitation Systems," advised by Masayoshi Tomizuka. His force-mode actuation and human intention recognition research received the best student paper award of the IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligence Mechatronics 2008.
Career
Kong began his career as a postdoctoral research fellow
A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a Doctor of Philosophy, PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, h ...
at the University of California, Berkeley, from 2009 to 2011. He then joined Sogang University as an assistant professor, from 2011 to 2014, and later was appointed as an associate professor
Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''.
In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...
, a position he held from 2015 to 2018. In 2017, he founded Angel Robotics company, and is its CEO.[ Since 2019, he has been concurrently holding the position of associate professor at KAIST.
]
Research
Kong's research primarily focuses on robust control systems, human assistive robotics, and the design and control of legged robots, for which he holds several patents.gait training
Gait training or gait rehabilitation is the act of learning how to walk, either as a child, or, more frequently, after sustaining an injury or disability. Normal human gait is a complex process, which happens due to co-ordinated movements of the wh ...
for individuals with severe disabilities, treatments for patients with muscle weakness, gait assistance for those with paraplegia
Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek ()
"half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neura ...
, and support for daily walking. He has also developed wearable robot technologies aimed at enhancing workers' capabilities.
Kong's work has received media coverage and has been featured by numerous media outlets, including ''Physics Magazine'', ''IEEE Spectrum
''IEEE Spectrum'' is a magazine edited and published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
The first issue of ''IEEE Spectrum'' was published in January 1964 as a successor to ''Electrical Engineering''.
In 2010, ''IEEE Spe ...
'', '' Phys.org'', ''irobotnews'', ''engineering.com'', and ''ScienceAlert
ScienceAlert is an independently run online publication and news source that publishes articles featuring scientific research, discoveries, and outcomes. The site was founded in 2004 by Julian Cribb, a science writer, to aggregate research find ...
''.
Human assistive robots
Kong has made contributions to the field of human assistive robotics through his research and development efforts. Together with his laboratory and company, his research has covered fundamentals and commercialization of wearable robots. Angel Legs M20, one his research outcomes, has been commercialized.
Kong also proposed the design and robust control of a compact rotary series elastic actuator (cRSEA) for human assistive robots, addressing challenges such as torque amplification and friction, and validated the performance through experiments. He developed a tendon-driven exoskeletal device (EXPOS), a wearable robot designed to assist elderly individuals and patients with mobility issues by minimizing the weight and volume of wearable components by using a caster walker to carry heavy items.[
Kong's research on human assistive robots included designing a high-speed robotic leg that optimized tangential mobility and radial force producibility through specific actuator configurations and limb length ratios. This design was demonstrated through experimental running motions. Additionally, he introduced a new fuzzy logic-based method for continuous and smooth detection of human gait phases using ground contact force sensors in smart shoes, along with an algorithm to monitor and quantify gait abnormalities for advanced rehabilitation systems.
In his book, ''Intelligent Assistive Robots: Recent Advances in Assistive Robotics for Everyday Activities'', Kong focused on the challenges and applications of assistive robots in healthcare and wellness. The book explored topics such as elderly care, support for dependent persons, and smart environments, addressing issues in control theory, design, mechatronics, and security. He also examined the improvement of force control performance of Series Elastic Actuators (SEAs) using dynamic models and model-based control algorithms to achieve high-precision force control, robust stability, and performance despite the limitations imposed by elasticity. Furthermore, he delved into the design and control algorithms of a rotary series elastic actuator (RSEA) for precise torque generation in human-robot interactions, employing a torsional spring and disturbance observer method to compensate for motor friction and inertia.
]
Awards and honors
*2016 – Bronze Medal, Cybathlon
*2019 – Prime Minister's Award, Prime Minister of Korea[
*2020 – Bronze Medal, Cybathlon][
*2022 – Commendation by Minister, Ministry of Science and ICT, Korea][
]
Bibliography
Books
*''Intelligent Assistive Robots: Recent Advances in Assistive Robotics for Everyday Activities'' (2015) ISBN 978-3319129211
Selected articles
*Kong, K., & Jeon, D. (2006). Design and control of an exoskeleton for the elderly and patients. IEEE/ASME Transactions on mechatronics, 11(4), 428–432.
*Kong, K., Bae, J., & Tomizuka, M. (2009). Control of rotary series elastic actuator for ideal force-mode actuation in human–robot interaction applications. IEEE/ASME transactions on mechatronics, 14(1), 105–118.
*Kong, K., & Tomizuka, M. (2009). A gait monitoring system based on air pressure sensors embedded in a shoe. IEEE/ASME Transactions on mechatronics, 14(3), 358–370.
*Kong, K., Bae, J., & Tomizuka, M. (2011). A compact rotary series elastic actuator for human assistive systems. IEEE/ASME transactions on mechatronics, 17(2), 288–297.
*Oh, S., & Kong, K. (2016). High-precision robust force control of a series elastic actuator. IEEE/ASME Transactions on mechatronics, 22(1), 71–80.
References
{{reflist
External links
Angel Robotics
South Korean engineers
Mechanical engineers
Sogang University alumni
Academic staff of KAIST
South Korean chief executives
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)