RI Seminar
Ravi Balasubramanian
Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering, Oregon State University

Robotics-Inspired Implantable Passive Mechanisms to Surgically Re-Engineer the Human Body

1305 Newell Simon Hall

Abstract: Tendon-transfer surgeries are performed for a variety of conditions such as stroke, palsies, trauma, and congenital defects. The surgery involves re-routing a tendon from a nonfunctioning muscle to a functioning muscle to partially restore lost function. However, a fundamental aspect of the current surgery, namely the suture that attaches the tendon(s) to the muscles, [...]

RI Seminar
Roberta L. Klatzky
Professor of Psychology
Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition , Carnegie Mellon University

Rendering Material Properties through Touch

1305 Newell Simon Hall

Abstract:  Humans haptically perceive the material properties of objects, such as roughness and compliance, through signals from sensory receptors in skin, muscles, tendons, and joints.  Approaches to haptic rendering of material properties operate by stimulating, or attempting to stimulate, some or all of these receptor populations.  My talk will describe research on haptic perception of [...]

RI Seminar
Alex John London
Clara L. West Professor of Ethics and Philosophy, Director of the Center for Ethics & Policy
Carnegie Mellon University

From Automation to Autonomy and the Ubiquity of Moral Decision Making

Newell-Simon Hall 1305

Abstract:  I argue that there is an important sense in which all decisions are moral decisions and I explore some implications of this insight (and its denial) for the design and human impacts of increasingly complex automated systems and emerging autonomous systems.  This insight is obscured when we think about automated systems by the social [...]

RI Seminar
Vladlen Koltun
Senior Principal Researcher
Director of Intelligent Systems Lab, Intel

Learning to Drive

1305 Newell Simon Hall

Abstract: Why is our understanding of sensorimotor control behind our understanding of perception? I will talk about structural differences between perception and control, and how these differences can be mitigated to help advance sensorimotor control systems. Judicious use of simulation can play an important role and I will describe some simulation tools that we have [...]

RI Seminar
Assistant Professor
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Imaging the World One Photon at a Time

1305 Newell Simon Hall

Abstract: The heart of a camera and one of the pillars for computer vision is the digital photodetector, a device that forms images by collecting billions of photons traveling through the physical world and into the lens of a camera.  While the photodetectors used by cellphones or professional DSLR cameras are designed to aggregate as [...]

RI Seminar
Principal Systems Scientist / Director, NREC
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Lesson Learned from Two Decades of Robotics Development and Thoughts on Where We Go from Here

GHC 6115

Abstract: In this talk, Herman Herman will offer various lessons learned from developing various robots for the last 2 decades at the National Robotics Engineering Center. He will also offer his perspective on the future of autonomous robots in various industries, including self-driving cars, material handling and consumer robotics. Bio: Dr. Herman Herman is the [...]

RI Seminar
Associate Professor
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Factor Graphs for Robot Perception

1305 Newell Simon Hall

Abstract: Factor graphs have become a popular tool for modeling robot perception problems. Not only can they model the bipartite relationship between sensor measurements and variables of interest for inference, but they have also been instrumental in devising novel inference algorithms that exploit the spatial and temporal structure inherent in these problems. I will overview [...]