Isiah Zaplana Associate Professor, Institute of Industrial and Control Engineering, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech

Research

Applied mathematics, artificial intelligence and robotics.

Tangent space illustration

My research interests lie at the intersection of applied mathematics, artificial intelligence, and robotics. In particular, my main research focus is the development of intelligent and efficient strategies for robotic manipulation. This includes:

  • Applications of geometric algebra to geometric problems in general, with a focus on kinematic and dynamic robotics problems, such as forward and inverse kinematics, control of industrial robots, robotic grasping, and manipulation.
  • Applications of numerical optimization methods, particularly metaheuristic approaches, for robotics, such as optimal parameter computation for automated processing lines and optimal path-planning computation.
  • Applications of artificial intelligence, including machine learning and deep learning techniques, to computer vision and robotics (including knowledge representation and reasoning, smart perception, reinforcement learning for robot orcherstration and movement, etc.).
  • Other applications of artificial intelligence, such as biology.

Journal publications

  • Theodoropoulos, N.; Castro, A.; Dimitra Tragianni, S.; Andronas, D.; Zaplana, I.; Ayan, B.; Suarez, R.; Suppa, M. and Makris, S. (2026) AI-enabled digital twin framework for reconfigurable robotic palletizing of irregularly shaped products. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 144: 4875-4900. doi: 10.1007/s00170-026-18109-2
  • Din, M.U.; Rosell, J.; Akram, W.; Zaplana, I.; Roa, M.A. and Hussain, I. (2026) Onto-LLM-TAMP: Knowledge-oriented Task and Motion Planning using Large Language Models. Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 200: 105404. doi: 10.1016/j.robot.2026.105404.
  • Dòria-Cerezo, A.; Velasco, M.; Zaplana, I. and Martí, P. (2025) The Ohm’s Law for (non-symmetric) three-phase three-wire electrical circuits: from a complex-valued to a geometric algebra approach. Mathematics and Computers in Simulation, 241: 473-488. doi: 10.1016/j.matcom.2025.10.010.
  • Velasco, M.; Zaplana, I.; Dòria-Cerezo, A.; Duarte, J. and Martí, P. (2025) Introducing modelling, analysis and control of three-phase electrical systems using geometric algebra. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 72(11): 10906-10915. doi: 10.1109/TIE.2025.3553169.
  • Velasco, M.; Zaplana, I.; Dória-Cerezo, A. and Martí, P. (2025) Symbolic and User-friendly Geometric Algebra Routines (SUGAR) for Computations in Matlab. ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software, 51(2): 1-33. doi: 10.1145/3734693.
  • Sanchez-Munoz, R.; Depaepe, T.; Samalova, M.; Hejatko, J.; Zaplana, I. and Van Der Straeten, D. (2025) Machine-learning meta-analysis reveals ethylene as a central component of the molecular core in abiotic stress responses in Arabidopsis. Nature Communications, 16: 4778. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-59542-3.
  • Ventura, J.; Martinez, F.; Zaplana, I.; Eid, A.H.; Montoya, F.G.; Smith, J. (2024) Revisiting the Hansen Problem: A Geometric Algebra Approach. Mathematics, 12(13): 1999. doi: 10.3390/math12131999.
  • Van den Eynde, S.; Waumans, S.; Dimas, T.; Díaz-Romero, D.J.; Zaplana, I. and Peeters, J. (2024) Evaluating the effectiveness of density-based sorting of plastics from WEEE and ELVS. Journal of Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 209: 107753. doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2024.107753.
  • Ruiz-Celada, O.; Dalmases, A.; Zaplana, I. and Rosell, J. (2024) Smart perception for situation awareness in robotic manipulation tasks. IEEE Access, 12: 53974-53985. doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3389091.
  • Képeš, K.; Vrábel, J.; Siozos, P.; Pinon, V.; Pavlidis, P.; Anglos, D.; Chen, T.; Sun, L.; Lu, G.; Díaz-Romero, D.J.; Van den Eynde, S.; Zaplana, I.; Peeters, J.; Kaňa, V.; Záděra, A.; Palleschi, A.; De Giacomo, A.; Pořízka, P.; Kaiser, J. (2023) Quantification of alloying elements in steel targets: The LIBS 2022 regression contest. Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy, 206: 106710. doi: 10.1016/j.sab.2023.106710.
  • Van den Eynde, S.; Díaz-Romero, D.; Zaplana, I. and Peeters, J.R. (2023) Deep Learning Regression for Quantitative LIBS Analysis of Aluminium Scrap. Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy, 202: 106634. doi: 10.1016/j.sab.2023.106634.
  • Díaz-Romero, D.; Van den Eynde, S.; Zaplana, I.; Zhou, C.; Sterkens, W.; Goedemé, T. and Peeters, J.R. (2023) Classification of Aluminum Scrap by Laser Induced Breakdown Spectrometry (LIBS) and RGB+D Image Fusion using Deep Learning Approaches. Journal of Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 190: 106865. doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2023.106865.
  • Zhou, C.; Sterkens, W.; Díaz-Romero, D.; Zaplana, I. and Peeters, J.R. (2023) You Only Demanufacture Once (YODO): WEEE Retrieval Using Unsupervised Learning. Journal of Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 190: 106826. doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106826.
  • Díaz-Romero, D.; Van den Eynde, S.; Sterkens, W.; Eckert, A.; Zaplana, I.; Goedemé, T. and Peeters, J.R. (2022) Real-time classification of aluminium metal scrap with laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy using deep and other machine learning approaches. Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy, 196: 106519. doi: 10.1016/j.sab.2022.106519.
  • Zaplana, I.; Hadfield, H. and Lasenby, J. (2022) Singularities of serial robots: identification and distance computation using geometric algebra. Mathematics, 10(12): 2068. doi: 10.3390/math10122068.
  • Zaplana, I.; Hadfield, H. and Lasenby, J. (2022) General closed-form solutions for the inverse kinematics of serial robots using conformal geometric algebra. Mechanism and Machine Theory, 173: 104835. doi: 10.1016/j.mechmachtheory.2022.104835.
  • Díaz-Romero, D.; Van den Eynde, S.; Sterkens, W.; Engelen, B.; Zaplana, I.; Dewulf, W.; Goedemé, T. and Peeters, J.R. (2022) Simultaneous mass estimation and class classification of scrap metals using deep learning. Journal of Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 181: 106272. doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106272.
  • Van den Eynde, S.; Bracquené, E.; Diaz-Romero, D.; Zaplana, I.; Engelen, B.; Duflou, J.R. and Peeters, J.R. (2022) Forecasting global aluminium flows to demonstrate the need for improved sorting and recycling methods. Journal of Waste Management, 137(5): 231-240. doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2021.11.019.
  • Guardiani, P.; Ludovico, D.; Pistone, A.; Zaplana, I.; Abidi, H.; Lee, J.; Caldwell, D. G. and Canali, C. (2022) Design and analysis of a fully actuated cable-driven joint for a hyper-redundant robot with optimal cable routing. ASME Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics, 14(2): 021006. doi: 10.1115/1.4052332.
  • Zaplana, I. and Basanez, L. (2018) A novel closed-form solution for the inverse kinematics of redundant manipulators through workspace analysis. Mechanism and Machine Theory, 121(2): 829-843. doi: 10.1016/j.mechmachtheory.2017.12.005.
  • Zaplana, I.; Claret, J.A. and Basanez, L. (2018) Kinematic analysis of redundant robotic manipulators: applications to Kuka LWR 4+ and ABB Yumi. Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática Industrial, 15(2): 192-202. doi: 10.4995/riai.2017.8822.

Conference publications

  • Casanovas-Cordero, A. M.; Pujol-Closa, M. and Zaplana, I. (2025) A modified Jacobian pseudo-inverse algorithm for finger inverse kinematics in anthropomorphic hands. In: ROBOT'2025: Eight Iberian Robotics Conference. Accepted.
  • Molina, V.; Ruiz-Celada, O.; Suarez, R.; Rosell, J. and Zaplana, I. (2025) Robot Situation and Task Awareness Using Large Language Models and Ontologies. In: 2025 55th Annual IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks Workshops (DSN-W), Naples, Italy, pp. 96-103. doi: 10.1109/DSN-W65791.2025.00045.
  • Ramon-Canyameres, P.; Palomo-Avellaneda, L.; Zaplana, I. and Rosell, J. (2024) Dual-arm robotic manipulation using visual guidance. In: 2024 IEEE 29th International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA), Padova, Italy, pp. 1-4. doi: 10.1109/ETFA61755.2024.10710687.
  • Shirzadi, M.; Zaplana, I. and Suárez, R. (2024) Analytical approach to reorienting unknown objects via in-hand manipulation. In: 2024 IEEE 29th International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA), Padova, Italy, pp. 1-4. doi: 10.1109/ETFA61755.2024.10711088.
  • Dalmases, A.; Ruiz-Celada, O.; Rosell, J. and Zaplana, I. (2023) Automated depth dataset generation with integrated quality metrics for robotic manipulation. In: 2023 IEEE 28th International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA), Sinaia, Romania, pp. 1-4. doi: 10.1109/ETFA54631.2023.10275481.
  • Palomo-Avellaneda, L.; Rosell, J.; Suárez, R. and Zaplana, I. (2023) Resolución geométrica de la cinemática inversa de un robot sin muñeca esférica / Geometric solution for the inverse kinematics of robots without spherical wrist. In: XLIV Jornadas de Automática, Zaragoza, Spain, pp. 708-713. doi: 10.17979/spudc.9788497498609.708.
  • Díaz-Romero, D.; Zaplana, I.; Van den Eynde, S.; Sterkens, W.; Goedemé, T. and Peeters, J.R. (2022) Enhanced Plastic Recycling using RGB+Depth Fusion with MassFaster and MassMask R-CNN. In: 2022 Fourth International Conference on Transdisciplinary AI (TransAI), Laguna Hills, California, USA, pp. 22-29. doi: 10.1109/TransAI54797.2022.00010.
  • Zhou, C.; Engelen, B.; Zaplana, I.; and Peeters, J.R. (2022) Design of a robotic system for battery dismantling from tablets. Procedia CIRP, 105: 273-277. doi: 10.1016/j.procir.2022.02.045.
  • Engelen, B.; De Marelle, D.; Diaz-Romero, D.J.; Van den Eynde, S.; Zaplana, I.; Peeters, J.R. and Kellens, K. (2022) Techno-economic assessment of robotic sorting of aluminium scrap. Procedia CIRP, 105: 152-157. doi: 10.1016/j.procir.2022.02.026.
  • Van den Eynde, S.; Diaz-Romero, D.; Engelen, B.; Zaplana, I.; and Peeters, J.R. (2022) Sorting of post-consumer aluminium scrap using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) and machine learning. In: Proceeding of the 9th Sensor-based Sorting & Control (SBSC) 2021 Conference, Aachen, Germany, pp. 1-5.
  • Van den Eynde, S.; Diaz-Romero, D.; Engelen, B.; Zaplana, I.; and Peeters, J.R. (2022) Assessing the efficiency of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectrometry (LIBS) based sorting of post-consumer aluminium scrap. Procedia CIRP, 105: 278-283. doi: 10.1016/j.procir.2022.02.046.
  • Cepolina, E.; Zaplana, I.; D’Imperio, M.; Gagliardi, R.; Baizid, K.; Scaccia, M.; Dai, J.; Muscolo, G. and Cannella, F. (2021) Scalable six-bar linkage mechanism for re-orienting and aligning objects: design methodology. Procedia CIRP, 97: 66-70. doi: 10.1016/j.procir.2020.05.205.
  • Gloriani, C.; Zaplana, I.; Cannella, F.; D’Imperio, M. and Cepolina, E. (2020) A novel system for grasping and handling flat and deformable objects. In: Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Autonomic and Autonomous Systems (ICAS), Lisbon, Portugal, pp. 41-44.
  • Zaplana, I.; Cepolina, E.; Gagliardi, R.; Faieta, F.; D’Imperio, M. and Cannella, F. (2020) A novel strategy for workload balance of industrial processes based on a genetic algorithm. In: Proceeding of the 25th IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA), Vienna, Austria, pp. 785-792. doi: 10.1109/ETFA46521.2020.9212038.
  • Rosell, J.; Nuño, E.; Claret, J.; Zaplana, I.; Garcia, N.; Akbari, A.; Ud Din, M.; Palomo, L.; Pérez, A.; Mas, O.; Basañez, L. (2017) Mobile manipulators as robot co-workers: autonomy and interaction in the human-robot collaboration. In: Libro de Actas de las Jornadas Nacionales de Robótica 2017, Valencia, Spain, pp. 1-6.
  • Claret, J.A.; Zaplana, I. and Basanez, L. (2016) Teleoperating a mobile manipulator and a free-flying camera from a single haptic device. In: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Safety, Security and Rescue Robotics, Lausanne, Switzerland, pp. 291-296. doi: 10.1109/SSRR.2016.7784318.

Organization of sessions in conferences

  • Organization of the 9th Iberian Robotics Conference (ROBOT2026), which will take place in Barcelona from 18 to 20 November 2026.
  • Organization of the symposium Geometric calculi and deep learning: A long-term relationship, part of the 12th International Conference on Clifford Algebras and Their Applications in Mathematical Physics - ICCA12, held online on August 2020.
  • Organization of the session To machine learning and beyond: data science in mathematics, physics and engineering, part of the 13th International Conference on Clifford Algebras and Their Applications in Mathematical Physics - ICCA13, held on June 2023.

Books and book chapters

  • Velasco, M.; Duarte, J.; Zaplana, I.; Dòria-Cerezo, A. and Martí, P. (2026) Singular Value Decomposition for Geometric Algebra Modeled AC Electrical Systems. In: Generalizations of Complex Analysis and Applications. ECM 2024. Hitzer, E., Legatiuk, D., Xambó-Descamps, S., Kraußhar, R.S. (eds) Trends in Mathematics. Birkhäuser, Cham. doi: 10.1007/978-3-032-09159-8_12
  • Marzabal, A. and Zaplana, I. (2024) Closed-form inverse kinematics solutions for a class of serial robots without spherical wrist using conformal geometric algebra. In: Advances in Mechanism Design IV, Beran, J.; Bílek, M.; Václavík, M. and Žabka, P., editors. Mechanisms and Machine Science, Springer Series, pp. 231-240. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-70251-8_25.
  • Zaplana, I. (2021) New perspectives on robotics with geometric calculus. In: Systems, patterns and data engineering with geometric calculi, Delshams, A. and Xambo-Descamps, S., editors. ICIAM 2019 SEMA SIMAI Springer Series, pp. 1-17. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-74486-1_1.
  • Lavor, C.; Xambo-Descamps, S. and Zaplana, I. (2018) A Geometric Algebra Invitation to Space-Time Physics, Robotics and Molecular Geometry. Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-90665-2.

Patents

  • Lucia, O.; Cipriani, A.; Spiriticchio, M.; Cepolina, E.E.; Baizid, K.; Scaccia, M.; Gagliardi, R.; Zaplana, I.; D’Imperio, M. and Cannella, F. (2024) Method and apparatus for preparing edges of reels of web material. Patent no. US11858768B2. US Patent Office.
  • Lucia, O.; Cipriani, A.; Spiriticcho, M.; Baizid, K.; Cepolina, E.E.; Scaccia, M.; Gagliardi, R.; D’Imperio, M.; Zaplana, I.; Cannella, F. and Caldwell, D.G. (2025) Apparatus and method for dispensing sections of double-sided adhesive tape. Patent no. US12325608B2. US Patent Office.

Awards and recognitions

  • LIBS Regression Contest - 2022 Edition: out of 21 participating teams, the KU Leuven team conformed of Dillam Diaz-Romero, Simon van den Eynde and Isiah Zaplana was ranked among the three best teams and consequently was one of the three contest winners.
  • Sener’s Bot Talent - 2024 Edition: the UPC team, supervised by professors Isiah Zaplana and Anaís Garrell, ranked first in two of the three awards granted, winning the award for the most outstanding technological innovation and achieving the highest score in the execution of five robotic tasks with a Rover robot similar to those used on Mars.
  • Best Work-in-Progress Paper Award FACTORY AUTOMATION (2024), given by the organizers of the 29th International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation to the paper Analytical approach to reorient unknown objects via in-hand manipulation.
  • Best Paper ROBOT2025 Award (2025), given by the Spanish Society for Research and Development in Robotics and the Portuguese Robotics Society to the paper A modified Jacobian pseudo-inverse algorithm for finger inverse kinematics in anthropomorphic hands.

Service

  • June 2023 - Current: Associate Editor of the journal Advances in Applied Clifford Algebras (AACA) of the Birkhäuser/Springer editorial.
  • June 2023 - Current: Member of the Advisory Board of the International Conference Series on Clifford Algebras and Their Applications in Mathematical Physics (ICCA).
  • June 2025: Member of the Program Committee of the 1st International Workshop on Safe and Sustainable AI-Aided Manufacturing (S2AIM), held in Naples, Italy, on 26 June 2025.

Oral communications

  • Closed-form inverse kinematics solutions for a class of serial robots without spherical wrist using conformal geometric algebra. Applied Geometric Algebras in Computer Science and Engineering 2024, organized by the University of Amsterdam and the University of Cambridge, August 2024.
  • Geometric algebra: a novel powerful tool to solve robotic kinematic problems. Spectra LGBTQ+ in Mathematics Conference, August 2021.
  • Clifford neural networks: Past, present and future. Symposium Geometric calculi and deep learning: A long-term relationship, 12th International Conference on Clifford Algebras and Their Applications in Mathematical Physics - ICCA12, August 2020.
  • Bringing new perspectives to robotics and computer vision. Symposium Systems, patterns and data engineering with geometric calculi, 9th International Congress on Industrial and Applied Mathematics - ICIAM 2019, July 2019. Invited talk.
  • Identification and avoidance of the singularities of serial manipulators using conformal geometric algebra. 11th International Conference on Clifford Algebras and their Applications in Mathematical Physics, University of Gent, August 2017.
  • General closed-form solutions for the inverse kinematics of serial manipulators using conformal geometric algebra. 11th International Conference on Clifford Algebras and their Applications in Mathematical Physics, University of Gent, August 2017.
  • New tools for the kinematics of serial robots: Conformal geometric algebra. 2016 Winter research workshop on ongoing work and development tools, Technical University of Catalonia - BarcelonaTech, December 2016.
  • Inverse kinematics for redundant manipulators: A new approach. 2015 Summer research workshop on ongoing work and development tools, Technical University of Catalonia - BarcelonaTech, July 2015.
  • Mathematical models for cardiovascular physiology. Seminar in pure and applied mathematics, University of Valencia, March 2013. Invited talk.