Moritz Bächer

Moritz Bächer

Research Scientist

Disney Research

About Me

As a Research Scientist and group leader at Disney Research, I am deeply passionate about solving real-world problems in computational robotics, fabrication, and architecture.

My core expertise is the development of differentiable simulators to tackle complex design, control, and characterization problems in (soft) robotics, architecture, and computer graphics.

More specifically, I model rigid and flexible multibody systems kinematically, quasi-statically, and dynamically, and utilize the differentiability of the simulators to (1) numerically optimize design, control, and material parameters, or to (2) learn control strategies if stochasticity is present in the modeling task.

Most recently, I have developed differentiable simulators for the design of proprioceptive soft robots, the equilibrium-constrained shape optimization of CAD models, the vibration-minimizing animation of robotic characters, and the structural optimization of architectural-scale models under worst-case loads.

Send me a note if you are interested in an internship in my group.

Interests

  • Computational Robotics, Fabrication, and Architecture
  • Computational Design, Control, and Characterization Problems
  • Differentiable Kinematics and Dynamics of Flexible Multibody Systems
  • Automated Soft Sensor and Actuator Design
  • Shape and Structural Optimization
  • Mechanism Design

Education

  • PhD in Computer Science

    Harvard University

  • Master in Computer Science

    ETH Zurich

Publications

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Stylized Robotic Clay Sculpting

A computational tool for stylized robotic clay sculpting.

RobotSculptor: Artist-Directed Robotic Sculpting of Clay

A computational design tool for robotically sculpted clay models.

Designing Cable-Driven Actuation Networks for Kinematic Chains and Trees

An optimization-based approach for the design of cable-driven kinematic chains and trees.

A Computational Design Tool for Compliant Mechanisms

A computational tool for designing compliant mechanisms.

Contact

  • Stampfenbachstrasse 48
    8006 Zurich
  • Disney Research is located on the 4th floor