Field Robotics Center Seminar
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Improving Multirotor Trajectory Tracking Performance using Learned Dynamics Models

3305 Newell-Simon Hall

Abstract: Multirotors and other aerial vehicles have recently seen a surge in popularity, partly due to a rise in industrial applications such as inspection, surveillance, exploration, package delivery, cinematography, and others. Crucial to multirotors' successes in these applications, and enabling their suitability for other applications, is the ability to accurately track trajectories at high speed [...]

PhD Speaking Qualifier
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Learning to Align without Geometric Supervision

GHC 4405

Abstract: Extracting geometric information from image data is a highly nonlinear problem that exhibits in a number of visual recognition tasks such as object localization, facial landmark tracking and human pose estimation. Successful alignment across image data often serves as a crucial component in making them possible. In this talk, I will present how one [...]

PhD Thesis Proposal
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Hybrid Soft Sensing in Robotic Systems

NSH 4305

Abstract: The increasing prevalence of wearable technology in our daily lives 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 user. These demands [...]

Field Robotics Center Seminar
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Automatic Real-time Anomaly Detection for Autonomous Aerial Vehicles

3305 Newell-Simon Hall

Abstract: The recent incidents with Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft have raised concerns about the safety and reliability of autopilots and autonomous operations. There is a growing need for methods to monitor the status of aircraft and report any faults and anomalies to the human pilot or to the autopilot to deal with the emergency [...]

RI Seminar
Amir Barati Farimani
Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University

Creative Robots with Deep Reinforcement Learning

1305 Newell Simon Hall

Recent advances in Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) algorithms provided us with the possibility of adding intelligence to robots. Recently, we have been applying a variety of DRL algorithms to the tasks that modern control theory may not be able to solve. We observed intriguing creativity from robots when they are constrained in reaching a certain [...]

Special Events

2019 Robotics Institute Semi-formal

Pittsburgh Golf Club 5280 Northumberland Street, Pittsburgh, PA, United States

By invitation only: The 2019 Robotics Institute Semi-formal Robotics Institute members and a guest are invited to join us for our annual semi-formal! Join us for an evening of music, fun, food and friends! Food and beverage will include: hot hors d’oeuvres, stations for carving, pasta, fruit, cheese, coffee and dessert and hosted non-alcoholic beverages. [...]

SCS Distinguished Lecture
Associate Professor
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Teruko Yata Memorial Lecture – Understanding Human Behavior for Robotic Assistance and Collaboration

Gates-Hillman Center 4401

Speaker: Henny Admoni, Assistant Professor, Robotics Institute Carnegie Mellon University Title: Understanding Human Behavior for Robotic Assistance and Collaboration . Human-robot collaboration has the potential to transform the way people work and live. Researchers are currently developing robots that assist people in public spaces, on the job, and in their homes. To be effective assistants, these robots [...]

Special Events

2019 RI National Robotics Week Celebration

Newell-Simon Hall 3305

The Robotics Institute will celebrate the tenth annual National Robotics Week on April 11 & 12 with lectures, project demonstrations, the annual Mobot (mobile robot) races, and a reception for RI affiliated people. REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN REGISTER HERE If you have any specific questions about the National Robotics Week open house please email Debbie [...]

PhD Speaking Qualifier
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Towards Safe and Robust Behavior Mixing for Multi-Robot Systems

GHC 8102

Abstract: Multi-robot systems have been widely studied for extending its capability of accomplishing complex tasks through cooperative behaviors. In large-scale multi-robot behavior mixing, the heterogeneous robotic team executes simultaneously multiple behaviors or sequences of behaviors with various task-prescribed controllers in real time to increase efficiency in parallel tasks. Key to the success of behavior mixing [...]

PhD Thesis Defense
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Design and Evaluation of Robust Control Methods for Robotic Transfemoral Prostheses

NSH 3305

Abstract: Amputees face a number of gait deficits due to a lack of control and power from their mechanically-passive prostheses. Of crucial importance among these deficits are those related to balance, as falls and a fear of falling can cause an avoidance of activity that leads to further debilitation. In this thesis, we investigate the [...]

MSR Speaking Qualifier
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Vigneshram Krishnamoorthy – MSR Thesis Talk

Newell-Simon Hall 3305

Title: A Computational Framework for Norm-Aware Reasoning in Autonomous Systems   Abstract: Autonomous agents are increasingly deployed in complex social environments where they not only have to reason about their domain goals but also about norms that can impose constraints on task performance. Integrating task planning with norm aware reasoning is a challenging problem due to [...]

PhD Thesis Proposal
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Deep Reinforcement Learning Representations for Robotics

GHC 8102

Abstract: A long standing goal of robotics research is to create algorithms that can automatically learn complex control strategies from scratch. Part of the challenge of applying such algorithms to robots is the choice of representation. While RL algorithms have been successfully applied to many robotics tasks such as Ball-in-a-Cup and various RoboCup soccer domains, [...]

PhD Speaking Qualifier
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Speeding Up Search-based Motion Planning Via Conservative Heuristics

GHC 6501

Abstract: Weighted A* search (wA*) is a popular tool for robot motion-planning. Its efficiency however depends on the quality of heuristic function used. In fact, it has been shown that the correlation between the heuristic function and the true cost-to-goal significantly affects the efficiency of the search, when used with a large weight on the [...]

PhD Thesis Proposal
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Learning multi-robot behaviors for online control

NSH 3305

Abstract: Finding dynamically feasible and safe global plans for multi-agent teams in real world applications is enormously difficult because the decision branching factor, when considering all possible interactions across agents and an environment, is usually intractable. Humans, however, have great success in the multi-agent planning domain by using behaviors: practiced, coordinated responses for groups of [...]

PhD Thesis Proposal
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Routing for Persistent Exploration in Dynamic Environments with Teams of Energy-Constrained Robots

GHC 8102

Abstract: In domains requiring effective situational awareness with limited resources, prioritizing focus is critical. Search and rescue tasks require fast identification of safe avenues for rescuers to traverse the area. Inspection tasks must realize trends over long durations to identify issues caused by the confluence of high-stress modes that compound into catastrophic failure. Deploying robots [...]

PhD Thesis Defense
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

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

GHC 6501

Abstract: In complex dynamic multi-robot domains, there is a set of individual robots that must coordinate together through a centralized planner that inevitably makes assumptions based on a model of the environment and the actions of the individual. Eventually, the individuals may encounter failures, because the centralized planner’s models of the states and actions are [...]