Event Location: NSH 1305
Bio: I am an Assistant Professor in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. Prior to joining CMU, I was a Research Scientist working for Disney Research Zurich. I obtained my PhD in Computer Science from the University of British Columbia. My doctoral dissertation, which won the Alain Fournier Ph.D. Dissertation Annual Award, focused on models of motor control for physically-simulated virtual humans. I gave a TEDxZurich talk on this topic in 2012.

Abstract: Robots have fundamentally transformed industrial manufacturing over the past five decades. As they become increasingly affordable and safe, robotic devices will have an equally profound impact on day-to-day living. Robots that help with kitchen tasks, housekeeping, gardening and do-it-yourself projects, assistance devices for people with disabilities, interactive kinetic art, smart furniture that adjusts to individual needs, and compelling physical characters for therapy, education and entertainment will all fundamentally change the way we live, work, learn and play. To best serve their purpose, such robotic devices need to be carefully engineered and customized for different applications and for the needs and preferences of different users. Today, this is a time-consuming, largely manual task that requires highly-trained personnel and significant resources. Anticipating a future where a rich ecosystem of robotic devices are tightly integrated into the fabric of daily life, relying on traditional approaches to robot-making will likely not scale. In this talk, I will present several computational design approaches that leverage the 3D Printing revolution in order to allow the general public to create personalized mechanical automata and walking robotic creatures.