About

Kirstin Hagelskjaer Petersen is an Associate Professor at Cornell University in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, with affiliations in Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Systems Engineering. Her research explores how principles observed in natural swarms, such as ants, bees, and termites, can be leveraged to achieve advanced autonomy in robot collectives. Her work focuses on understanding the morphology, physical interactions, and environmental shaping that contribute to the error-tolerant and scalable behaviors of biological colonies, and applying these insights to the development of collective robotic systems through hardware and software co-development. Petersen's research themes include collective robotic construction, human-swarm interaction, soft robot collectives, biological swarms, and bio-hybrid collectives. She completed her Ph.D. at Harvard University in 2014 under Professor Nagpal, with her thesis work conducted at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. She did her postdoctoral work at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems from 2014 to 2016, where she was a fellow with the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems. Her academic background also includes a master's degree in Computer Systems Engineering from the University of Southern Denmark and a bachelor's in electro-technical engineering from Odense University College of Engineering. Her research has contributed to understanding collective behavior in biological and robotic systems, with notable publications in high-impact journals.

Research topics

• Computer science
• Artificial intelligence
• Human–computer interaction
• Materials science
• Engineering

Selected publications

• Cross-link collective: Entangled robotic matter with cohesive motion

  Science Robotics · 2026-05-13

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  Robotic applications increasingly demand systems that are resilient, adaptable, and scalable. One promising route is through collectives of simple modules, where complex group-level behavior emerges from local interactions. By omitting fixed topologies and tight coordination, this approach sacrifices predictability and conventional tools for behaviors inherently optimized through stochastic mechanical interactions. A key challenge is maintaining cohesion and functionality without fixed connections and explicit coordination. We introduce the cross-link collective, a physically entangled robotic system inspired by cross-linking in active gels. Through shape morphing and transient entanglement, individually immobile modules produce sustained collective motion. The mechanically intelligent robot matter favors chains and phase relationships that reduce joint torques and reconfigures in response to perturbations. We show that distributed control can be added to this substrate to further enhance cohesion. Leveraging weak, reversible connections, the cross-link collective is adaptable, scalable, and fault tolerant, offering insights to applications from soft matter and robotics.

  PublisherDOI

• Data from: Fluidic torque-enabled object manipulation by microrobot collectives

  Open MIND · 2026-01-26

  dataset

  Micro-scale systems experience strong viscous interactions because of the low-Reynolds-number regime in which they exist. This means that fluidic manipulation and actuation of passive objects can be enabled and influenced by the individual spin rate of micro-scale agents, the number of agents, and their positions relative to the objects. We explore these parameter spaces and find that the fluidic torque generated by a magnetic microrobot collective can be exploited to apply bidirectional torque to concentric ring structures and demonstrate this through physical experiments and numerical simulations. Additionally, we demonstrate how the fluidic torque of the microrobots can be exploited to actuate gear trains, rotate comparatively large 3D objects, dynamically self-assemble internally driven ring structures, and absorb and expel large numbers of circular objects. Finally, we show emergent behaviors where the microrobot collective’s morphology and method of locomotion change as a function of the spin rate of the microrobots and the size and shape of the surrounding objects.

  DOI

• Fluidic torque–enabled object manipulation by microrobot collectives

  Science Advances · 2026-02-25

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Microscale systems experience strong viscous interactions because of the low-Reynolds-number regime in which they exist. This means that fluidic manipulation and actuation of passive objects can be enabled and influenced by the individual spin rate of microscale robots, the number of microrobots, and their positions relative to the objects. We explore these parameter spaces and find that the fluidic torque generated by a magnetic microrobot collective can be exploited to apply bidirectional torque to concentric ring structures and demonstrate this through physical experiments and numerical simulations. Additionally, we demonstrate how the fluidic torque of the microrobots can be exploited to actuate gear trains, rotate comparatively large three-dimensional objects, dynamically self-assemble internally driven ring structures, and absorb and expel large numbers of circular objects. Last, we show emergent behaviors where the microrobot collective's morphology and method of locomotion changes as a function of the spin rate of the microrobots and the size and shape of the surrounding objects.

  PublisherDOI

• Early Detection of Botrytis Cinerea Growth via GHz Ultrasonic Imaging of Agar Depletion

  2025-09-15

  article

  Botrytis Cinerea is a destructive fungal pathogen responsible for significant agricultural losses worldwide. In this paper, we demonstrate a GHz ultrasonic imaging method to detect early fungal growth by monitoring nutrient agar depletion. A sessile droplet drying model was developed to establish baseline evaporation dynamics, which were validated experimentally. Using a custom-built portable 1.85 GHz ultrasonic imager provided by Geegah Inc., we correlated return voltage signals with agar thickness, allowing quantification of Botrytis-induced agar depletion. Control droplets exhibited predictable drying and stabilization, while inoculated samples displayed accelerated agar reduction and demonstratable thickness variation in comparison to control experiments. These results suggest that GHz ultrasonic imaging offers potential for a rapid, portable, easy to use platform for on-site pathogen detection, enabling earlier intervention compared to traditional methods.

  PublisherDOI

• 2D Construction Planning for Swarms of Simple Earthmover Robots

  Springer proceedings in advanced robotics · 2025-11-01

  book-chapterSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Strain-Coordinated Formation, Migration, and Encapsulation Behaviors in a Tethered Robot Collective

  2025-05-19

  articleSenior author

  Tethers are an underutilized tool in multi-robot systems: tethers can provide power, facilitate retrieval and sensing, and be used to manipulate and gather objects. Starting with the simplest possible configuration, our work explores how agents linked in series by flexible, passive, fixed-length tethers, can use those tethers as sensors to achieve distributed formation control. In this study, we extend upon previous work to show the applicability of strain-coordinated formation control for encapsulation and migration along a global gradient as well as the trade-offs between formation control and taxis in an obstacle-laden environment. Our results indicate significant potential for tethered robot collectives: versatile behaviors that can work on simple, resource-constrained robots or serve as a fallback mechanism in case more sophisticated means of coordination fail.

  PublisherDOI

• Robust Robotic Assembly of Reusable, Rectangular Blocks

  2025-10-19

  article

  This paper investigates the importance and design implications for use of rectangular blocks in collective robotic construction systems with distributed control. Specifically, we introduce an automated solver for optimizing the overlaps in user-specified structures; a new robot design capable of manipulating, fastening, and climbing over blocks as wide as the robot; detailed analysis of robot primitives and demonstration of rectilinear, curved, cantilever, and corbeled arch structures; and results from a physics simulator showing how overlaps improve structural integrity when the depositions are noisy. This work represents an important step towards efficient and versatile large-scale robotic construction.

  PublisherDOI

• 2D construction planning for swarms of simple earthmover robots

  Autonomous Robots · 2025-11-15

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Use of Quadcopter Wakes to Supplement Strawberry Pollination

  ArXiv.org · 2025-10-04

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  Pollinators are critical to the world's ecosystems and food supply, yet recent studies have found pollination shortfalls in several crops, including strawberry. This is troubling because wild and managed pollinators are currently experiencing declines. One possibility is to try and provide supplemental pollination solutions. These solutions should be affordable and simple for farmers to implement if their use is to be widespread; quadcopters are a great example, already used for monitoring on many farms. This paper investigates a new method for artificial pollination based on wind pollination that bears further investigation. After determining the height where the lateral flow is maximized, we performed field experiments with a quadcopter assisting natural pollinators. Although our results in the field were inconclusive, lab studies show that the idea shows promise and could be adapted for better field results.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Toward Estimating the Crop Coefficient of Vineyards Using a Smartphone Camera

  American Journal of Enology and Viticulture · 2025-08-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  <h3>Abstract</h3> <h3>Background and goals</h3> Measuring evapotranspiration (ET_c) in vineyards is important to optimize vineyard irrigation and water management practices. Previous work demonstrated a strong correlation between the amount of shaded area under the vine at high noon and crop coefficient. This parameter can be measured with a photovoltaic sensor (Paso Panel) or by hand using grid paper. We aimed to develop a low-cost and easy-to-use smartphone-based alternative to measure shaded area under a vine. <h3>Methods and key findings</h3> Videos of the ground under a row of vines were recorded with a smartphone camera on a sunny day in the presence of resident vegetation which consisted of grasses and weeds. A novel computer vision-based algorithm using a segmentation machine learning model and structure-from-motion was developed to estimate the amount of shaded area present. Measurements were collected using a Paso Panel at the same time for comparison. Other Paso Panel measurements were collected to measure the relationship between electrical current and shaded area. Linear regression of this CV-based method to Paso Panel readings yields R² = 0.68. <h3>Conclusions and significance</h3> A new model for relating Paso Panel current readings to shaded area was derived empirically. Adoption of the CV-based crop coefficient estimation method could improve spatial resolution of ET_c estimates, potentially aiding adoption of variable rate irrigation.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• CAREER: Environmentally-Mediated Coordination in Natural and Robot Swarms

  NSF · $584k · 2021–2027

• CPS: Medium: Leveraging Honey Bees as Bio-Cyber Physical Systems

  NSF · $957k · 2017–2021

Frequent coauthors

• Steven Ceron

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  17 shared

• Nils Napp

  Cornell University

  13 shared

• Metin Sitti

  13 shared

• Radhika Nagpal

  Princeton University

  8 shared

• Michael L. Smith

  Auburn University

  7 shared

• Robert F. Shepherd

  Cornell University

  6 shared

• Justine E. Vanden Heuvel

  Cornell University

  5 shared

• Yoav Matia

  Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

  5 shared

Labs

• Collective Embodied Intelligence LabPI

Education

• Postdoc, Physical Intelligence Department

  Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems

  2016

• PhD, EECS

  Harvard University

  2014

• MS, Maersk McKinney Moeller Institute

  Syddansk Universitet

  2008

• BS, Electro-technical Engineering

  Syddansk Universitet

  2005

Awards & honors

• Douglas Whitney ’61 Excellence in Teaching Award, College of…
• Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering, the David an…
• Elisabeth Schiemann Kolleg Fellow with the Max Planck Societ…
• Max Planck Fellowship for Postdoctoral work (10/22/2014-07/0…
• Research ranked 4th in Science Magazine's Top 10 Scientific…