PhD Thesis Proposal
PhD Student
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Generative Robotics: Self-Supervised Learning for Human-Robot Collaborative Creation

NSH 4305

Abstract: While Generative AI has shown breakthroughs in recent years in generating new digital contents such as images or 3D models from high-level goal inputs like text, Robotics technologies have not, instead focusing on low-level goal inputs. We propose Generative Robotics, as a new field of robotics which combines the high-level goal input abilities of [...]

PhD Thesis Proposal
PhD Student
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

3D Video Models through Point Tracking, Reconstructing and Forecasting

NSH 3305

Abstract: 3D scene understanding from 2D video is essential for enabling advanced applications such as autonomous driving, robotics, virtual reality, and augmented reality. These fields rely on accurate 3D spatial awareness and dynamic interaction modeling to navigate complex environments, manipulate objects, and provide immersive experiences. Unlike 2D, 3D training data is much less abundant, which [...]

PhD Thesis Proposal
PhD Student
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Towards a Robot Generalist through In-Context Learning and Abstractions

NSH 1305

Abstract: The goal of this thesis is to discover AI processes that enhance cross-domain and cross-task generalization in intelligent robot agents. Unlike the dominant approach in contemporary robot learning, which pursues generalization primarily through scaling laws (increasing data and model size), we focus on identifying the best abstractions and representations in both perception and policy [...]

PhD Thesis Proposal
PhD Student
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Vision-based Human Motion Modeling and Analysis

NSH 4305

Abstract: Modern computer vision has achieved remarkable success in tasks such as detecting, segmenting, and estimating the pose of humans in images and videos, reaching or even surpassing human-level performance. However, they still face significant challenges in predicting and analyzing future human motion. This thesis explores how vision-based solutions can enhance the fidelity and accuracy [...]

PhD Speaking Qualifier
PhD Student
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Recent Progress in Graph-Search Methods for Multi-Robot-Arm Motion Planning

NSH 4305

Abstract: An exciting frontier in robotic manipulation is the use of multiple arms at once. However, planning concurrent motions is a challenging task using current methods. A major obstacle is the high-dimensional state space of this planning problem, which renders many traditional motion planning algorithms impractical. This opens the door for alternatives to the common [...]

PhD Thesis Proposal
PhD Student
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Physical Process-Informed Mapping for Robotic Exploration

NSH 4305

Abstract: Mobile robots used for information gathering tasks rely on dense, predictive mapping of large-scale regions to determine where to take measurements. Current approaches to mapping commonly rely on Gaussian process regression to spatially correlate data, extrapolate from sparse samples, and estimate uncertainty. However, these approaches do not incorporate meaningful information about physical processes that [...]

PhD Thesis Defense
PhD Student
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Moving Lights and Cameras for Better 3D Perception of Indoor Scenes

GHC 6501

Abstract: Decades of research on computer vision have highlighted the importance of active sensing -- where an agent controls the parameters of the sensors to improve perception. Research on active perception in the context of robotic manipulation has demonstrated many novel and robust sensing strategies involving a multitude of sensors like RGB and RGBD cameras [...]

PhD Thesis Proposal
PhD Student
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Learning to create 3D content

NSH 4305

Abstract: With the popularity of Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and other 3D applications, developing methods that let everyday users capture and create their own 3D content has become increasingly essential. Current 3D creation pipelines often require either tedious manual effort or specialized setups with densely captured views. Additionally, many resulting 3D models are [...]

PhD Thesis Defense
PhD Student
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Trustworthy Learning using Uncertain Interpretation of Data

GHC 6501

Abstract: Motivated by the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in high-cost and safety-critical applications, and recently also by the increasing presence of AI in our everyday lives, Trustworthy AI has grown in prominence as a broad area of research encompassing topics such as interpretability, robustness, verifiable safety, fairness, privacy, accountability, and more. This has created [...]

MSR Thesis Defense
PhD Student
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

VoxDet: Voxel Learning for Novel Instance Detection

NSH 3305

Abstract: Detecting unseen instances based on multi-view templates is a challenging problem due to its open-world nature. Traditional methodologies, which primarily rely on 2D representations and matching techniques, are often inadequate in handling pose variations and occlusions. To solve this, we introduce VoxDet, a pioneer 3D geometry-aware framework that fully utilizes the strong 3D voxel [...]