PhD Thesis Defense

Archived video Abstract Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) is the problem of estimating the state of a moving agent with sensors on it while simultaneously reconstructing a map of its surrounding environment, which has been a popular research field due to its wide applications. As many state-of-the-art SLAM algorithms can already achieve high accuracy in […]

Archived Zoom Video Abstract Water ice at the lunar poles could be the most valuable resource beyond planet Earth. However, that value is not foregone, and can only be determined by rovers that evaluate the distributions of abundance, concentration, and characteristics of this ice. The near-term explorations will be solar and unlikely to endure night, [...]

Zoom Link Accurate and reliable state estimation is essential for safe mobile robot operation in real-world environments because ego-motion estimates are required by many critical autonomy functions such as control, planning, and mapping. Computing accurate state estimates depends on the physical characteristics of the environment, the selection of suitable sensors to capture that information, and [...]

Zoom Link Abstract: The desire to operate robots in unstructured environments, side-by-side with humans, has created a demand for safe and robust sensing skins. Largely inspired by human skin, the ultimate goal of electronic skins is to measure diverse sensory information, conform to surfaces, and avoid interfering with the natural mechanics of the host or [...]