About David Folio

Doctorate degree and post-doctorate

I have defended my PhD in Robotics in 2007 within the Robotics, Action, and Perception (RAP) group of the Laboratory for Analysis and Architecture of Systems² (LAAS), CNRS³, under the supervision of Viviane Cadenat, Associate Professor at the Paul Sabatier University of Toulouse, France. Specifically, my PhD thesis was entitled “Multi-sensor-based control strategies and visual signal loss management for mobile robots navigation” [10]. My thesis subject was to design multi-sensor-based control strategies allowing a mobile robot to perform vision-based tasks amidst possibly occluding obstacles. Indeed, the improvement of sensors gave rise to the sensor-based control which allows defining the robotic task in the sensor space rather than in the configuration space.
In addition, during my doctorate degree, I also had the opportunity to perform teaching activities, first as temporary teacher (3 years), and then as teaching assistant, specifically in French as “Attaché Temporaire d’Enseignement et de Recherche” (ATER, 1 year), both for the Paul Sabatier University of Toulouse. These global teaching experiences have led to a total volume of 308 hETD⁴.

Between 2007 and 2008, I joined the Lagadic team at Inria⁵ Rennes-Bretagne Atlantique as a post-doctoral fellow on sensory control for unmanned aerial vehicles. My postdoctoral fellow has been supported by Sensory Control for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (SCUAV) ANR project⁶. The main objective was to improve multi-sensor-based servoing tasks for unmanned aerial vehicles. The idea was to design robust control law that combine different sensory data directly at the control level. Especially, I have contributed to the design of a new online sensor self-calibration based on the sensor/robot interaction links [9].

Tenured as associate professor

In 2008, I was hired as Associate Professor for the 61^st CNU section at the (ENSI) of Bourges, which has been the INSA Centre Val de Loire since 2014. Since my appointment, I have been regularly involved in the life of the Institute. At the local level, I contribute to the scientific animation (e.g. organizing laboratory visits) and the relationship between education and research. For instance, I regularly participate in the International Relations Division by accompanying the various delegations of school and university partners during their visits. In March 2017, the direction of the INSA Centre Val de Loire gave me the mission of referent on racism and antisemitism.

As a lecturer, I am involved, among others, in developing of electronics and electrical sciences teaching activities within the Institute. Since becoming an associate professor, my average teaching load has been about 270 hETD per year.
In addition, I have been entrusted with various responsibilities that have influenced my teaching duties. Since September 2014, I have been in charge of the Nuclear Energy option for the 5^th year (engineer’s degree, M2) of the MRI Department. Between 2017 and 2020, I was elected member of the Council of the ERE Department. Since November 2020, I have been an elected member of the Department Council of the MRI, and was re-elected in November 2023. Additionally, since May 2023, I am an elected member of the Graduate Studies Council of the INSA Centre Val de Loire.

Furthermore, I carry out my research activity with the PRISME Laboratory⁷ in the Robotic team belonging to the Images, Robotics, Automatic control and Signal (IRAuS) Department. Since I have been an associate professor, my field of scientific research mainly focused on the modeling and control for nano and micro-robots in a biomedical context. Globally, my main contributions focus on the study of magnetic microrobots for medical applications.
Meanwhile, I have also contributed to the development of micromanipulation activities of the laboratory [2]–[8].

On December 3, 2021, I defended my Habilitation (in French “Habilitation à Diriger la Recherche” – HDR), entitled “Magnetic Microrobotics for Biomedical Applications” [1].

Since November 2023, I am a full member appointed to the 61^st Section of the CNU