PhD Thesis Proposal

Event Location: NSH 3305Abstract: This thesis proposal presents an online approach that is based on hierarchical optimization for controlling humanoid robots. While our primary focus is on developing a fast and robust walking system that is able to follow desired footsteps, full body manipulation capability is also achieved. The proposed hierarchical system consists of three [...]

Event Location: NSH 3305Abstract: As social and collaborative robots move into everyday life, the need for algorithms enabling their acceptance becomes critical. The proposed work will create a framework for Expressive Motion generation that allows a robot to use modified task motions to communicate its state naturally and efficiently, including mental state, task state, and [...]

Event Location: GHC 4405Abstract: For robots to be deployable, robot systems need to operate reliably for long periods. Reliable operation requires robots to reason about events that impede task progression. Robots that consider failure recovery strategies are more dependable and robust to unforeseen events. Recovery strategies allow the robot to continue consistent task operation even [...]

Event Location: GHC 4405Abstract: Each year, hybrid vehicles command a larger portion of total vehicles on the road. These vehicles combine multiple sources of energy, such as batteries and gasoline, which have different strengths and weaknesses. Active management of these energy sources can increase vehicle efficiency, longevity, or performance. Optimizing energy management is highly sensitive [...]

Event Location: NSH 1507Abstract: In many real-world applications, motion estimation and mapping must be conducted online and in real-time. The real-time motion estimates are important for controlling and maneuvering autonomous vehicles, and the maps generated online are critical for obstacle avoidance and path planning. Further, the final map can be used as a representation of [...]

Event Location: GHC 4405Abstract: I am proposing the development and testing of a novel augmented reality system for stereomicroscopic surgeries. This system will allow surgeons to view real-time medical image data as an in-situ overlay within the surgical field. Our application for the device is in-situ intraoperative OCT during surgeries on the anterior segment of [...]

Event Location: GHC 6501Abstract: In order to assist humans with dangerous or menial tasks, autonomous robots will need to act under significant time and energy constraints. At task time, the amount of effort a robot spends planning directly detracts from its total performance. Manipulation tasks, however, present challenges to efficient motion planning. They are often [...]

Event Location: GHC 2109Abstract: In this thesis, I aim to present a new perspective on looking at classical problems in Computer Vision. Instead of spending efforts on finding novel objective functions and improving existing optimization algorithms, I aim to demonstrate that formulating those problems as policy learning yields more flexible and efficient algorithms. Our recently [...]

Event Location: NSH 3002Abstract: To make intelligent decisions, robots often use models of the effects of their actions on the world. Unfortunately, in complex environments, it is often infeasible to create models that are accurate in every plausible situation, which can lead to suboptimal performance. In these cases, online correction of model inaccuracies can lead [...]

Event Location: NSH 1507Abstract: The goal of this thesis is to further our understanding of nonverbal communication by developing methods and representations to quantify and predict human body motion during social interactions. We design a data collection protocol and capture system to obtain 3D body pose and facial annotations for groups of interacting people engaged [...]