PhD Thesis Proposal
R. Arun Srivatsan

Probabilistic Approaches for Pose Estimation

NSH 1305

Abstract: Pose estimation is central to several robotics applications such as registration, manipulation, SLAM, etc. In this thesis, we develop probabilistic approaches for fast and accurate pose estimation. A fundamental contribution of this thesis is formulating pose estimation in a parameter space in which the problem is truly linear and thus globally optimal solutions can [...]

PhD Thesis Proposal
Ada J. Zhang

Ada J. Zhang: Personalized Human Motion Classification

NSH 1305

Abstract: Algorithms for human motion understanding have a wide variety of applications, including health monitoring, performance assessment, and user interfaces. However, differences between individual styles make it difficult to achieve robust performance, particularly for individuals who were not in the training population. We believe that adapting algorithms to individual behaviors is essential for effective human [...]

PhD Thesis Defense
Marynel Vázquez
Carnegie Mellon University

Reasoning About Spatial Patterns of Human Behavior During Group Conversations with Robots

GHC 4405

Abstract: The goal of this dissertation is to develop computational models for robots to detect and sustain the spatial patterns of behavior that naturally emerge during free-standing group conversations with people. These capabilities have often been overlooked by the Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) community, but they are essential for robots to appropriately interact with and around [...]

PhD Thesis Defense
Shervin Javdani
Carnegie Mellon University

Acting under Uncertainty for Information Gathering and Shared Autonomy

GHC 8102

Abstract: Acting under uncertainty is a fundamental challenge for any decision maker in the real world. As uncertainty is often the culprit of failure, many prior works attempt to reduce the problem to one with a known state. However, this fails to account for a key property of acting under uncertainty: we can often gain [...]

Student Talks
Supreeth Achar
Carnegie Mellon University

Active Illumination for the Real World

GHC 8102

Abstract: Active illumination systems use a controllable light source and a light sensor to measure properties of a scene. For such a system to work reliably across a wide range of environments it must be able to handle the effects of global light transport, bright ambient light, interference from other active illumination devices, defocus, and [...]

PhD Thesis Defense
Nathan Brooks
Carnegie Mellon University

Situational Awareness and Mixed Initiative Markup for Human-Robot Team Plans

NSH 1305

Abstract: As robots become more reliable and user interfaces (UI) become more powerful, human-robot teams are being applied to more real world problems. Human-robot teams offer redundancy and heterogeneous capabilities desirable in scientific investigation, surveillance, disaster response, and search and rescue operations. Large teams are overwhelming for a human operator, so systems employ high level [...]

Field Robotics Center Seminar
Shobhit Srivastava

High-Fidelity Perceptual Representations via Hierarchical Gaussian Mixture Models

Event Location: NSH 1507Bio: Shobhit Srivastava is an M.S. student in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, advised by Prof. Nathan Michael. The primary focus of his research is to enable high-fidelity and efficient multimodal environment modeling on mobile autonomous systems to enable efficient inference with respect to the environment. He previously received his [...]

Field Robotics Center Seminar
Timothy Lee

State Estimation and Localization for ROV-Based Reactor Pressure Vessel Inspection Using a Pan-Tilt-Zoom Camera

Event Location: NSH 1305Bio: Timothy E. Lee is a M.S. in Robotics graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University, advised by Prof. Nathan Michael. Timothy's field robotics research seeks to enable robust, efficient, and autonomous inspection of critical infrastructure. Specifically, he is working towards improving the efficiency of nuclear power by enabling camera-based navigation of underwater [...]

Special Events

2017 Robotics Institute Administrative Support Staff Retreat

TBA

By Invitation Only - Please save the date and plan to join us for the Robotics Institute Staff Retreat to be held Friday, August 4, 2017. More information for the day meeting agenda will follow once it becomes available.

PhD Thesis Defense
Abhinav Shrivastava
Carnegie Mellon University

Discovering and Leveraging Visual Structure for Large-scale Recognition

GHC 8102

Abstract: Our visual world is extraordinarily varied and complex, but despite its richness, the space of visual data may not be that astronomically large. We live in a well-structured, predictable world, where cars almost always drive on roads, sky is always above the ground, and so on. As humans, the ability to learn this structure [...]

Field Robotics Center Seminar
Merritt Jenkins

Detecting and Grasping Sorghum Stalks in Outdoor Occluded Environments

Event Location: GHC 6501Bio: Merritt Jenkins is an M.S. student in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, advised by Dr. George Kantor. Merritt's field robotics research focuses on perception and intelligent manipulation of plants in outdoor environments, enabling plant breeders and geneticists to make better-informed breeding decisions. Prior to CMU, Merritt received a B.E. [...]

Field Robotics Center Seminar
Alberto Candela Garza

Adaptive Spectroscopic Exploration Driven by Science Hypotheses for Geologic Mapping

Event Location: NSH 1507Bio: Alberto Candela Garza is an M.S. in Robotics student at Carnegie Mellon University, advised by Prof. David Wettergreen. Alberto is affiliated to the Field Robotics Center and is interested in science autonomy for planetary rovers. Prior to CMU, Alberto received a B.S. in Mechatronics Engineering and a B.S. in Industrial Engineering [...]

PhD Thesis Defense
Venkatraman Narayanan
Carnegie Mellon University

Deliberative Perception

Newell-Simon Hall 3305

Abstract: A recurrent and elementary robot perception task is to identify and localize objects of interest in the physical world. In many real-world situations such as in automated warehouses and assembly lines, this task entails localizing specific object instances with known 3D models. Most modern-day methods for the 3D multi-object localization task employ scene-to-model feature [...]

Special Events

2017 Robotics Institute Picnic – location changed to Vietnam Veteran’s Pavilion @ Schenley Park

Schenley Park Vietnam Veteran's Pavilion , United States

By Invitation Only - SOCIALIZE, EAT, DRINK & BE MERRY! It's that time of year again and all folks affiliated with the Robotics Institute are invited along with their families to the 2017 Robotics Institute Picnic. Please note our new location, date and time. Due to flooding at RiverPlex that has closed the park for [...]

RI Seminar
Sven Koenig
Professor, Computer Science Department
University of Southern California (USC)

Sven Koenig: Progress on Multi-Robot Path Finding

NSH 1305

Abstract Teams of robots often have to assign target locations among themselves and then plan collision-free paths to their target locations. Examples include autonomous aircraft towing vehicles and automated warehouse systems. For example, in the near future, autonomous aircraft towing vehicles might tow aircraft all the way from the runways to their gates (and vice [...]