RI Seminar
Toward Natural Interactions With Assistive Robots
Abstract Robots can help people live better lives by assisting them with the complex tasks involved in everyday activities. This is especially impactful for people with disabilities, who can benefit from robotic assistance to increase their independence. For example, physically assistive robots can collaborate with people in preparing a meal, enabling people with motor impairments [...]
On-Demand Machine Knitting for Everyone
Abstract: Knitting machines are general-purpose fabrication devices that can robustly create intricate 3D surfaces from yarn by cleverly actuating thousands of mechanical needles. Knitting machines are an established feature of the textiles production landscape, in use today to make everything from socks to sweaters. However, the current design tools for machine knitting are sorely lacking [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
Optimizing ankle prostheses to improve walking in transtibial amputees
Abstract: With a prosthetic device, people with a lower limb amputation can remain physically active, but most do not achieve medically recommended physical activity standards and are therefore at a greater risk of obesity and cardiovascular disease. Their reduced activity may be attributed to the 10 - 30% increase in energetic cost during walking compared [...]