Student Talks
Formulation and Calibration of Fast, Accurate Vehicle Motion Models
Event Location: NSH 3002Abstract: High performance wheeled mobile robots (WMRs) require fast, accurate motion models for planning and control. This thesis addresses two challenges to producing these models: the tradeoff between fidelity and speed in model formulation, and the need for laborious calibration procedures. To address the first challenge, I propose the formulation of “enhanced” [...]
Coherent Scene Understanding with 3D Geometric Reasoning
Event Location: NSH 1305Abstract: Going beyond object detection and semantic segmentation, coherent scene understanding simultaneously considers multiple potential objects and surfaces in the image and reasons over them in a 3D geometric context to derive a coherent interpretation of the scene behind the image, during which many visual ambiguities can be resolved. To achieve this [...]
Multi-agent Pickup and Delivery Planning with Transfers
Event Location: NSH 1305Abstract: Many logistics problems require mobile agents to retrieve and deliver a set of items. For example, postal services and couriers retrieve and deliver letters and packages, while taxis pick up and drop off passengers. These problems are instances of the Pickup and Delivery Problem (PDP), in which a set of mobile [...]
Object Instance Discovery from Scenes of Daily Living
Event Location: NSH 1507Abstract: This thesis tackles the problem of automatically discovering objects from a collection of images from the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) environment. We contribute, 1) a framework for discovering object instances under severe clutter, occlusion, changes of view point, heterogeneity of object appearance and imperfect segmentation; 2) a data-driven approach for [...]
Self-Supervised Learning on Mobile Robots Using Acoustics, Vibration, and Visual Models to Build Rich Semantic Terrain Maps
Event Location: NSH 1305Abstract: Humans and robots would benefit from having rich semantic maps of the terrain in which they operate. Mobile robots equipped with sensors and perception software could build such maps as they navigate through a new environment. This information could then be used by humans or robots for better localization and path [...]
Toward an Automated System for the Analysis of Cell Behavior: Cellular Event Detection and Cell Tracking in Time-lapse Live Cell Microscopy
Event Location: GHC 4405Abstract: Time-lapse live cell imaging has been increasingly employed by biological and biomedical researchers to understand the underlying mechanisms in cell physiology and development by investigating behavior of cells. This trend has led to a huge amount of image data, the analysis of which becomes a bottleneck in related research. Consequently, how [...]
Perceptually Valid Dynamics for Smiles and Blinks
Event Location: NSH 3002Abstract: Human observers are particularly adept at detecting anomalies in realistic computer-generated (CG) facial animations. With an increased demand for CG characters in education and entertainment applications, it is important to animate accurate, realistic facial expressions. In this thesis proposal, we develop a framework to explore representations of two key facial expressions: [...]
Cross-cultural believability of robot characters
Event Location: GHC 4405Abstract: Believability of characters is an objective in literature, theater, animation, film, and other media. Virtual characters, believable as sharing their ethnic background with users, improve their perception of the character and, sometimes, even their task performance. Social scientists refer to this phenomenon as homophily---humans tend to associate and bond with similar [...]
Hybrid Markov / Non-Markov Localization for Long-Term Autonomy of Mobile Robots in Varying Indoor Environments
Event Location: NSH 1109Abstract: There is considerable interest in having robots continue to perform autonomously over time in human environments despite changes in their environment. Most state-of-the-art robot localization and mapping approaches assume that the world can be represented as a static map. However, real human environments are not static - some areas like corridors [...]
Lightweight Robotic Excavation
Event Location: GHC 8102Abstract: Planetary excavators face unique and extreme engineering constraints relative to terrestrial counterparts. In space missions mass is always at a premium because it is the main driver behind launch costs. Lightweight operation, due to low mass and reduced gravity, hinders excavation and mobility by reducing the forces a robot can effect [...]