Seminar
Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial Robotics in the Age of Autonomy
Liam Pedersen leads the autonomous vehicle group at Nissan’s Research Center in Silicon Valley, focusing on the AI software for driverless operations in urban areas. Prior to this he worked on robotic systems for planetary exploration at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California. He holds a Ph.D. in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University, and is the recipient [...]
AI, Robotics, and Autonomous Vehicle Development at Ford Motor Company
Notice: The Location for these event has changed! The event will now take place in 6115 Gates Hillman Center. Education: Ph.D. in Physics, University of Michigan M.S. in Physics, Michigan State University B.S. in Physics & Mathematics, University of Wisconsin – River Falls Abstract: This presentation will highlight the history of autonomous vehicle development at [...]
Fun with Fluids
Abstract: Visual simulation of fluids has become an indispensable tool for computer graphics. Many fluid phenomena can be simulated by solving Navier-Stokes equations. In computer graphics, the NS equations are mostly used for simulating smoke, water and fire. However, it is useful for other different purposes. In this talk, we show our usage of [...]
Challenges Facing Computational Face
Abstract: Recent advances in computational face research make possible a growing range of scientific, behavioral, and commercial applications. Many companies are focusing on the future of computational face products and services, but number of critical research questions remain to be solved. These include 3D face alignment from 2D image, face analysis under extreme pose variation [...]
Modeling Human Movements for Robotics
Abstract: Creating realistic virtual humans has traditionally been considered a research problem in Computer Animation primarily for entertainment applications. With the recent breakthrough in collaborative robots and deep reinforcement learning, accurately modeling human movements and behaviors has become a common challenge faced by researchers in robotics, artificial intelligence, as well as Computer Animation. In this [...]
Don’t forget to have fun
Abstract: I like to think that robots should be rational agents, modeled on human behavior. I teach a course about using optimization to plan over time by maximizing utility. I note that a series of Nobel Prizes in Economics, starting with CMU's own AI pioneer Herb Simon and including one to Daniel Kahneman and this [...]
What Matters for Deformable Object Manipulation
Abstract: Deformable objects such as cables and clothes are ubiquitous in factories, hospitals, and homes. While a great deal of work has investigated the manipulation of rigid objects in these settings, manipulation of deformable objects remains under-explored. The problem is indeed challenging, as these objects are not straightforward to model and have infinite-dimensional configuration spaces, [...]