Antonio Bicchi, Senior Researcher at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) and Professor at the University of Pisa, has been named one of the recipients of the 2025 Pioneer in Robotics and Automation Award by the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (IEEE RAS). The award was presented during the 2025 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), held in Atlanta, United States.
The IEEE RAS recognized Bicchi for his work in artificial hands, haptics, and human-robot collaboration, and for the application of these technologies in robotics and prosthetics. The Pioneer in Robotics and Automation Award, established in 1999, honors individuals who have initiated new areas of research, development, or engineering in robotics or automation and are in the mid to late stages of their careers.
Bicchi is the third Italian and one of seven European researchers to receive the award. In addition to his role at IIT, where he leads the Soft Robotics for Human Cooperation and Rehabilitation Research Unit, he conducts research at the Centro di Ricerca Enrico Piaggio at the University of Pisa. His work focuses on both theoretical and applied aspects of robotics, including the design of robotic hands and prosthetic limbs with advanced functionalities.
His contributions include the development of the SoftHand, a robotic hand based on soft robotics principles, which has been adapted for both humanoid robots and clinical prosthetics. A commercial version of the SoftHand is produced by qbrobotics, a company spun out from IIT in 2021. Bicchi’s research has been supported by multiple European Research Council grants, including a 2018 Synergy Grant for the Natural BionicS project and several Proof-of-Concept grants, most recently in 2025 for the VSoftPro project, which focuses on upper limb prostheses. Bicchi has previously served as Director of the E. Piaggio Research Center in Pisa from 2003 to 2012.
Photo credit: IIT
