VASC Seminar
Dr. Randall Balestriero
Post-Doctorate Researcher
Meta AI

Max-Affine Spline Insights into Deep Learning

Abstract:  We build a rigorous bridge between deep networks (DNs) and approximation theory via spline functions and operators. Our key result is that a large class of DNs can be written as a composition of max-affine spline operators (MASOs) that provide a powerful portal through which we view and analyze their inner workings. For instance, [...]

SCS Distinguished Lecture
Jeannette Bohg
Assistant Professor of Computer Science
Stanford University

Teruko Yata Memorial Lecture

Rashid Auditorium - 4401 Gates and Hillman Centers

Leveraging Language and Video Demonstrations for Learning Robot Manipulation Skills and Enabling Closed-Loop Task Planning Humans have gradually developed language, mastered complex motor skills, created and utilized sophisticated tools. The act of conceptualization is fundamental to these abilities because it allows humans to mentally represent, summarize and abstract diverse knowledge and skills. By means of [...]

RI Seminar
Kirstin H. Petersen
Assistant Professor
Electrical & Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, Cornell University

Designing Robotic Systems with Collective Embodied Intelligence

Abstract: Natural swarms exhibit sophisticated colony-level behaviors with remarkable scalability and error tolerance. Their evolutionary success stems from more than just intelligent individuals, it hinges on their morphology, their physical interactions, and the way they shape and leverage their environment. Mound-building termites, for instance, are believed to use their own body as a template for [...]

VASC Seminar
David Fouhey
Assistant Professor
EECS Department , University of Michigan

Understanding 3D Scenes and Interacting Hands

Abstract:  Abstract: The long-term goal of my research is to help computers understand the physical world from images, including both 3D properties and how humans or robots could interact with things. This talk will summarize two recent directions aimed at enabling this goal.   I will begin with learning to reconstruct full 3D scenes, including [...]

RI Seminar
Ross L. Hatton
Associate Professor
Robotics & Mechanical Engineering , Oregon State University

Snakes & Spiders, Robots & Geometry

Newell-Simon Hall 4305

Abstract: Locomotion and perception are a common thread between robotics and biology. Understanding these phenomena at a mechanical level involves nonlinear dynamics and the coordination of many degrees of freedom. In this talk, I will discuss geometric approaches to organizing this information in two problem domains: Undulatory locomotion of snakes and swimmers, and vibration propagation [...]

VASC Seminar
Boyi Li
Research Scientist
NVIDIA Research and Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley

Multimodal Modeling: Learning Beyond Visual Knowledge

Newell-Simon Hall 3305

Abstract:  The computer vision community has embraced the success of learning specialist models by training with a fixed set of predetermined object categories, such as ImageNet or COCO. However, learning only from visual knowledge might hinder the flexibility and generality of visual models, which requires additional labeled data to specify any other visual concept and [...]

RI Seminar
Systems Scientist
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Robotic Cave Exploration for Search, Science, and Survey

1305 Newell Simon Hall

Abstract: Robotic cave exploration has the potential to create significant societal impact through facilitating search and rescue, in the fight against antibiotic resistance (science), and via mapping (survey). But many state-of-the-art approaches for active perception and autonomy in subterranean environments rely on disparate perceptual pipelines (e.g., pose estimation, occupancy modeling, hazard detection) that process the same underlying sensor data in different [...]

VASC Seminar
Alexander Richard
Research Scientist
Reality Labs Research

Audio-Visual Learning for Social Telepresence

Newell-Simon Hall 3305

Abstract Relationships between people are strongly influenced by distance. Even with today’s technology, remote communication is limited to a two-dimensional audio-visual experience and lacks the availability of a shared, three-dimensional space in which people can interact with each other over the distance. Our mission at Reality Labs Research (RLR) in Pittsburgh is to develop such [...]

VASC Seminar
Postdoctoral Fellow
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Representations in Robot Manipulation: Learning to Manipulate Ropes, Fabrics, Bags, and Liquids

3305 Newell-Simon Hall

Abstract: The robotics community has seen significant progress in applying machine learning for robot manipulation. However, much manipulation research focuses on rigid objects instead of highly deformable objects such as ropes, fabrics, bags, and liquids, which pose challenges due to their complex configuration spaces, dynamics, and self-occlusions. To achieve greater progress in robot manipulation of [...]

RI Seminar
Soon-Jo Chung
Bren Professor of Aerospace and Control and Dynamical Systems
Department of Aerospace , Caltech

Safe and Stable Learning for Agile Robots without Reinforcement Learning

1305 Newell Simon Hall

Abstract: My research group (https://aerospacerobotics.caltech.edu/) is working to systematically leverage AI and Machine Learning techniques towards achieving safe and stable autonomy of safety-critical robotic systems, such as robot swarms and autonomous flying cars. Another example is LEONARDO, the world's first bipedal robot that can walk, fly, slackline, and skateboard. Stability and safety are often research problems [...]