Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine
Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance
Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences
Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust
Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine
Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History
Luxembourg Centre for European Law
Luxembourg Centre for Socio-Environmental Systems
鈥 We celebrate successes. In our lab, when a robot finally moves, we sometimes do a victory dance.鈥
Meet Carol Martinez-Luna, a robotics professor from Colombia, who spends her days giving robotic arms 鈥渟uperpowers鈥 to work in space. Inspired by Discovery Channel documentaries and a love for maths, she now leads research on dexterous robots that can see, feel, and adapt to harsh extraterrestrial environments. Whether celebrating a successful experiment with a spontaneous victory dance or inspiring the next generation of engineers, Carol brings curiosity, perseverance and plenty of energy to science.
Relive the conversation – highlights below!
Tell us a little about your journey.
I am from Bucaramanga, Colombia, and I arrived in Luxembourg five years ago, during the COVID period in 2020, when I also joined SnT asa mechatronics engineer. After my bachelor’s degree, I worked in industry for two years and then moved to Spain to pursue a Master’s and a PhD in Robotics and Automation at the Technical 8xav福利导航 of Madrid.
What is the first word that comes to mind when you think about your research?
Dexterity. We are finding ways to make robotic manipulator systems interact better with the environment, similar to the way humans use their hands. By combining different sensing modalities, such as vision and touch, we give robots the ability to better understand, adapt to and respond to the world around them.
What are you currently working on?
I lead research in robotic manipulation for space applications. We focus on three areas:
1) how to improve perception capabilities by combining vision and touch sensing;
2) how to incorporate intelligent behaviours, so robots can adapt to harsh space conditions;
3) and, how to test these technologies through high-fidelity simulations and facilities such as the Zero-G Lab and the LunaLab at SnT. Our goal is to verify that robots can really withstand the challenges of space.
Why is dexterity so important for robots in space?
We don’t want to pre-program robots for every single task. Instead, we want them to adapt based on what they see and perceive in the environment. Like humans, robots should know, for example, how much force to apply when holding an object. Better perception and learning capabilities will increase their autonomy, which is essential in space because communication delays mean humans cannot always be in the loop controlling the robots.
What inspired you to pursue a career in robotics?
I was very good at maths and science in high school, and I watched many Discovery Channel programmes, like MegaStructures. I was fascinated by how things are made. Robotics was not offered in my city, so I chose mechatronics engineering because it included some robotics components. Later, I received a scholarship to pursue my Master’s and PhD in robotics, and I simply continued along the research path.
How would your teenage self react if she saw what you do today?
She would be super proud of me and of the cool work that I’m doing in space robotics. I was always a bit of a nerd. I really enjoyed studying, making summaries for exams with difference colours and pictures. People often think researchers are boring, but research requires many different skills. We communicate, write, present our work and learn to bring people into our area of research. We celebrate successes. In our lab, when a robot finally moves, we sometimes do a victory dance. Not everyone follows me, but I do it.
Have you experienced being one of the few women in your field?
I am almost always the only woman in the room, whether in meetings or conferences, but I got used to it. I only started questioning it now that I have a leadership role. Now, I try to bring more women into the team, but it is difficult because there aren鈥檛 many women studying these topics. I believe we need to work on this much earlier, starting in primary school and at home, by showing children that all careers are open to everyone.
鈥 Diversity brings together different points of view, and then maybe we will end up creating things that we didn’t expect.鈥
Why is diversity important in research?
Everyone comes from somewhere else, so you don’t even think about it. You are just part of the community. We are from different parts of the world and are here together with one purpose in mind: to do research and to advance in our own field.
What is the most underrated skill in tech research?
Communication. We need to learn how to explain our work in a very simplified manner and attract people to our field. We also need to tell our stories visually. One unexpected skill I learned as a researcher is creating good graphics. Today, journals often ask for graphical abstracts, and condensing an entire paper into a single image is not easy. If I had to explain my research to a five-year-old, I would say that I give superpowers to robotic arms so they can withstand harsh space conditions.