Vinitha Ranganeni
I am the Human-Robot Interaction Lead at Hello Robot Inc where I lead the technical development and real-world testing of human-centric features for the Stretch robot. I am fortunate to work in an interdisciplinary team with an occupational therapist and engineers to make Stretch accessible to people with different abilities.
I received my PhD in Computer Science from University of Washington where I was advised by Maya Cakmak. My research focused on human-robot interaction and physically assistive robots and was supported in part by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. I received my B.S. in Information Systems from Carnegie Mellon University.
In my free time you can find me hiking, dancing, travelling and taking film photos.
Recent News
Aug, 2025
Vy Nguyen and I were featured in a CBS Sunday Morning Special about Henry and Jane Evans.
June, 2024
I joined Hello Robot as the Human-Robot Interaction Lead.
May, 2024
I successfully defended my PhD thesis titled, "Developing Accessible Teleoperation Interfaces for Assistive Robots with Stakeholders".
Mar, 2024
Our video titled "Robots for Humanity: In-Home Deployment of Stretch RE2" won Best Video Award at HRI 2024.
Press & Recognition
Aug, 2025
A robotics activist's remarkable crusade, CBS Sunday Morning
Apr, 2025
50 most innovative robotics companies, The Robot Report
Mar, 2024
Oct, 2023