Robot systems & control
Manipulator control, trajectory and coverage path planning and optimisation, taken from simulation to the real robot.
Robotics engineer · PhD candidate, ENSTA Paris (IP Paris) · Palaiseau
Robotics engineer & researcher.
From embedded hardware and ROS 2 control to validated experiments with people. Mechatronics engineer and PhD candidate at IP Paris, with a medical-robotics patent already licensed to industry.
About
I'm Adnan, a mechatronics engineer who builds robots end to end, and a researcher who tests them with people.
I trained as a mechatronics engineer (5-year diploma, Tishreen University), then specialised in medical robotics at the University of Strasbourg. As a research engineer at ICube, I led the robotic side of a focused-ultrasound platform; the work was patented and licensed to Therasonic, where I now consult.
Since 2024 I've been doing a PhD at ENSTA Paris (IP Paris) on tactile sensing and physical human–robot interaction, still hands-on with the hardware: sensors, firmware, ROS 2 drivers and experiments. I became a roboticist because I wanted machines to be gentler with people; the PhD story tells that part.
- NowPhD candidate · U2IS, ENSTA Paris
- AlsoEngineering consultant · Therasonic
- BeforeResearch engineer · ICube, Strasbourg
- StudiedM2 Medical Robotics · Univ. of Strasbourg
- Based inPalaiseau · Île-de-France
- LanguagesEnglish · French · Arabic
Selected work
Things I've built, measured and shipped.
Medical robotics & imaging
Robotic Assistance for BBB OpeningRobot-assisted focused-ultrasound platform (UR5, ROS 2, NDI optical tracking) for drug delivery across the blood–brain barrier. Patented, and licensed to Therasonic in 2026.read moreRobotics softwarehid_ros2: a universal USB-HID hardware interface for ros2_controlAuthor of an open-source ros2_control hardware interface that connects any USB-HID device (Teensy, ESP32, STM32, custom sensors) to ROS 2 from a YAML file, with no C++ to write. Presented at ROSCon FR 2025. open sourceTactile sensing
Tactile Array for Humanoid Hand to Enable Socio-Affective TouchDesigned, built and validated a tactile sensor array embedded in a soft silicone substrate for humanoid hands, the hardware core of my PhD.read moreRobotics software
NDI Systems ROS2 DriverROS 2 / ros2_control driver for NDI Polaris and Aurora medical tracking systems: sub-millimetre 6-DoF poses at up to 60 Hz for surgical and rehabilitation robotics (ICube Robotics, open source). open source
Robotic Assistance for BBB OpeningRobot-assisted focused-ultrasound platform (UR5, ROS 2, NDI optical tracking) for drug delivery across the blood–brain barrier. Patented, and licensed to Therasonic in 2026.read moreRobotics softwarehid_ros2: a universal USB-HID hardware interface for ros2_controlAuthor of an open-source ros2_control hardware interface that connects any USB-HID device (Teensy, ESP32, STM32, custom sensors) to ROS 2 from a YAML file, with no C++ to write. Presented at ROSCon FR 2025. open sourceTactile sensingTactile Array for Humanoid Hand to Enable Socio-Affective TouchDesigned, built and validated a tactile sensor array embedded in a soft silicone substrate for humanoid hands, the hardware core of my PhD.read moreRobotics softwareNDI Systems ROS2 DriverROS 2 / ros2_control driver for NDI Polaris and Aurora medical tracking systems: sub-millimetre 6-DoF poses at up to 60 Hz for surgical and rehabilitation robotics (ICube Robotics, open source). open source Capabilities
What I bring to a robotics team.
Sensors, embedded & hardware
Tactile sensor arrays, embedded C firmware, PCB and CAD, and the drivers that bring new hardware into ROS 2.
Medical robotics
Robot-assisted focused ultrasound and medical-grade optical tracking. The work was patented and licensed to Therasonic, where I consult.
Human–robot interaction & data
Tactile perception, haptic interfaces and controlled user studies, with the signal processing and deep learning behind them.
1
medical-robotics patent, licensed to Therasonic (2026)
8
first-author papers, from ICRA to BMC Medical Imaging
4+
years of robotics R&D at ICube, ENSTA Paris and Therasonic
3
open-source ROS 2 drivers: hid_ros2, NDI tracking, PaXini
Publications
Selected papers.
- ICRA2026
Contributing Factors in Human-Robot Handshake: Compliance, Hand Grip, and Synchrony
2026 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) · 2026
BibTeX
@inproceedings{saood2026handshake, title={Contributing Factors in Human-Robot Handshake: Compliance, Hand Grip, and Synchrony}, author={Saood, Adnan and Tapus, Adriana}, booktitle={2026 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)}, year={2026} } - Patent2024
Focused Ultrasound Sonication with Mechanical and Electronic Steering along a Computed Trajectory
2024 · EP Patent EP4445859A1; licensed by Therasonic, a CEA Neurospin spin-off, in 2026
BibTeX
@misc{saood2024focused, title={FOCUSED ULTRASOUND SONICATION WITH MECHANICAL AND ELECTRONIC STEERING ALONG A COMPUTED TRAJECTORY}, author={SAOOD, Adnan and VAPPOU, Jonathan and NAGEOTTE, Florent and LARRAT, Benoit}, year={2024}, note={EP Patent EP4445859A1; licensed by Therasonic, a CEA Neurospin spin-off, in 2026} } - Journal2021
COVID-19 lung CT image segmentation using deep learning methods: U-Net versus SegNet
BMC Medical Imaging · 2021
DOIBibTeX
@article{saood2021covid, title={COVID-19 lung CT image segmentation using deep learning methods: U-Net versus SegNet}, author={Saood, Adnan and Hatem, Iyad}, journal={BMC Medical Imaging}, volume={21}, pages={1--10}, year={2021}, publisher={BioMed Central}, doi={10.1186/s12880-020-00529-5} } - Humanoids2024
Designing a Haptic Interface for Enhanced Non-Verbal Human-Robot Interaction: Integrating Heart and Lung Emotional Feedback
2024 IEEE-RAS 23rd International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids) · 2024
Abstract
This paper focuses on creating a haptic interface for humanoid robots to convey emotional feedback through heart and lung simulations, enhancing non-verbal interaction and emotional connection between humans and robots.
BibTeX
@inproceedings{saood2024designing, title={Designing a Haptic Interface for Enhanced Non-Verbal Human-Robot Interaction: Integrating Heart and Lung Emotional Feedback}, author={Saood, Adnan and Liu, Yang and Zhang, Heng and Tapus, Adriana}, booktitle={2024 IEEE-RAS 23rd International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids)}, pages={772--778}, year={2024}, organization={IEEE} }
Talks & media
Talks, workshops & media.
IEEE ICRA 2026
Contributing Factors in Human-Robot Handshake: Compliance, Hand Grip, and Synchrony
IEEE ICRA 2026 · Vienna, Austria · May 1, 2026
ROSConFr 2025
hid_ros2: a universal HID hardware interface for ros2_control
ROSConFr 2025 · Oct 30, 2025
Robots in 3D
Robots I've designed, in 3D.
Drag to rotate · scroll to zoom
3D demo
Demo robot
A placeholder robot built from cubes, to show how the 3D viewer works: drag it, zoom, or open it in augmented reality on a phone. My own robot designs will appear here.
Working on robots? Let's talk.
Robotics R&D, medical robotics, ROS 2 and embedded systems: I'm always happy to discuss projects, collaborations and ideas. My CV, papers and code are one click away.