Towards Influence-Aware Safe Human-Robot Interaction
NSH 3305Abstract: In recent years, we have seen through recommender systems on social media how influential (and potentially harmful) algorithms can be in our lives, sometimes creating polarization and conspiracies that lead to unsafe behavior. Now that robots are also growing more common in the real world, we must be very careful to ensure that they [...]
Learning to Manipulate beyond Imitation
NSH 3002Abstract: Imitation learning has been a prevalent approach for teaching robots manipulation skills but still suffers from scalability and generalizability. In this talk, I'll argue for going beyond elementary behavioral imitation from human demonstrations. Instead, I'll present two key directions: 1) Creating Manipulation Controllers from Pre-Trained Representations, and 2) Representing Video Demonstrations with Parameterized Symbolic [...]
Advanced robotics for manufacturing: challenges and opportunities
Newell-Simon Hall 4305Abstract: Presenting projects with ARM Institute (including robot grinding, human-robot collaboration, and modularized manufacturing) and discussing some new opportunities in applying AI and robotics in manufacturing domain.
Improving Robot Capabilities Through Reconfigurability
GHC 6501Abstract: Advancements in robot capabilities are often achieved through integrating more hardware components. These hardware additions often lead to systems with high power consumption, fragility, and difficulties in control and maintenance. However, is this approach the only path to enhancing robot functionality? In this talk, I introduce the PuzzleBots, a modular multi-robot system with passive [...]
RI Faculty Business Meeting
Newell-Simon Hall 4305Meeting for RI Faculty. Discussions include various department topics, policies, and procedures. Generally meets weekly.
Reduced-Gravity Flights and Field Testing for Lunar and Planetary Rovers
1305 Newell Simon HallAbstract: As humanity returns to the Moon and is developing outposts and related infrastructure, we need to understand how robots and work machines will behave in this harsh environment. It is challenging to find representative testing environments on Earth for Lunar and planetary rovers. To investigate the effects of reduced-gravity on interactions with granular terrains, [...]