PhD Thesis Defense
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Mathematical Models of Adaptation in Human-Robot Collaboration

Newell Simon Hall 1507

Abstract: While much work in human-robot interaction has focused on leader- follower teamwork models, the recent advancement of robotic systems that have access to vast amounts of information suggests the need for robots that take into account the quality of the human decision making and actively guide people towards better ways of doing their task. [...]

PhD Thesis Proposal
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Learning to learn from simulation: Using simulations to expedite learning on robots

GHC 8102

Abstract: Robot controllers, including locomotion controllers, often consist of expert-designed heuristics. These heuristics can be hard to tune, particularly in higher dimensions. It is typical to use simulation to tune or learn these parameters and test on hardware. However, controllers learned in simulation often don't transfer to hardware due to model mismatch. This necessitates controller [...]

PhD Thesis Defense
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Training Strategies for Time Series: Learning for Prediction, Filtering, and Reinforcement Learning

Newell-Simon Hall 3305

Abstract: Data driven approaches to modeling time-series are important in a variety of applications from market prediction in economics to the simulation of robotic systems. However, traditional supervised machine learning techniques designed for i.i.d. data often perform poorly on these sequential problems. This thesis proposes that time series and sequential prediction, whether for forecasting, filtering, [...]

PhD Speaking Qualifier
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Expressive Real-time Intersection Scheduling

Newell Simon Hall 1507

Abstract: Traffic congestion is a major annoyance throughout global metropolitan areas. This talk will present Expressive Real-time Intersection Scheduling (ERIS), a schedule-driven control strategy for adaptive intersection control to reduce traffic congestion. ERIS maintains separate estimates for each lane approaching a traffic intersection allowing it to more accurately estimate the effects of scheduling decisions than [...]

PhD Speaking Qualifier
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Scaling up Self Supervised Robot Learning

Newell Simon Hall 1507

Abstract Robot learning holds promise in alleviating several real world problems, by performing complex behaviors in complex environments. But what is the right way to train these robots? Our methods on self supervision shows encouraging results on several tasks like grasping objects, pushing objects and even flying drones. One key challenge with these methods is [...]

PhD Thesis Defense
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Planning for a Small Team of Heterogeneous Robots: from Collaborative Exploration to Collaborative Localization

GHC 6501

Abstract: Robots have become increasingly adept at performing a wide variety of tasks in the world. However, many of these tasks can benefit tremendously from having more than a single robot simultaneously working on the problem. Multiple robots can aid in a search and rescue mission each scouting a subsection of the entire area in [...]

PhD Speaking Qualifier
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Data Collection for Screwdriving

Gates Hillman Center 4405

Abstract: As the use of robotic manipulation in manufacturing continues to increase, the robustness requirements for fastening operations such as screwdriving increase as well. To investigate the reliability of screwdriving and the diverse failure categories that can arise, we collected a dataset of screwdriving operations and manually classified them into stages and result categories. I [...]

PhD Thesis Proposal
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Visual Learning without Exhaustive Supervision

Newell-Simon Hall 3305

Abstract Machine learning models have led to remarkable progress in visual recognition. A key driving factor for this progress is the abundance of labeled data. Over the years, researchers have spent a lot of effort curating visual data and carefully labeling it. However, moving forward, it seems impossible to annotate the vast amounts of visual [...]

PhD Thesis Proposal
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Learning with Clusters

Gates Hillman Center 4405

Abstract As machine learning becomes more ubiquitous, clustering has evolved from primarily a data analysis tool into an integrated component of complex machine learning systems, including those involving dimensionality reduction, anomaly detection, network analysis, image segmentation and classifying groups of data. With this integration into multi-stage systems comes a need to better understand interactions between [...]

PhD Thesis Proposal
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Intra-Robot Replanning and Learning for Multi-Robot Teams in Complex Dynamic Domains

Abstract: In complex dynamic multi-robot domains, we have a set of individual robots that must coordinate together through a team planner that inevitably makes assumptions based on probabilities about the state of world and the actions of the individuals. Eventually, the individuals may encounter failures, because the team planner’s models of the states and actions [...]