PhD Thesis Proposal
Stefanos Nikolaidis
Carnegie Mellon University

Decision-Theoretic User Modeling for Human-Robot Mutual Adaptation

Event Location: GHC 4405Abstract: In many application domains, robots co-exist in the same physical space with humans and aim to become trustworthy partners. We particularly envision personal robots arranging furniture with a human partner, manufacturing robots performing spar assembly with human co-workers, or rehabilitation robots assisting spinal cord injury patients. In such collaborative settings, humans [...]

PhD Thesis Proposal
Robert Paolini
Carnegie Mellon University

Data-Driven Statistical Models of Robotic Manipulation

Event Location: NSH 3305Abstract: Improving robotic manipulation is critical for robots to be actively useful in real-world factories and homes. While some success has been shown in simulation and controlled environments, robots are slow, clumsy, and not general or robust enough when interacting with their environment. By contrast, humans effortlessly manipulate objects. One possible reason [...]

PhD Thesis Defense
Michael C. Koval
Carnegie Mellon University

Robust Manipulation via Contact Sensing

Event Location: NSH 3305Abstract: Humans effortlessly manipulate objects in cluttered and uncertain environments. In contrast, most robotic manipulators are limited to carefully engineered environments to circumvent the difficulty of manipulation under uncertainty. Contact sensors can provide robots with with the feedback vital to addressing this limitation. This thesis proposes a framework for using feedback from [...]

PhD Thesis Defense
Samantha Horvath
Carnegie Mellon University

The Optical Coherence Tomography Microsurgical Augmented Reality System (OCT-MARS): a novel device for microsurgeries

Event Location: NSH 3305Abstract: We describe the development and testing of the Optical Coherence Tomography Microsurgical Augmented Reality System (OCT-MARS). This system allows surgeons to view real-time medical image data as an in-situ overlay within the surgical field. There are a number of clinical applications for which real time, in situ visualization of otherwise transparent [...]

RI Seminar
Lerrel Pinto
Ph.D. Student
Carnegie Mellon-RI

Supersizing Self-supervision: Learning to Grasp from 50K Tries and 700 Robot Hours

Event Location: NSH 1305Bio: Lerrel recently graduated as a Masters student from CMU RI where he was advised by Professor Abhinav Gupta. His research interests revolve around big data, computer vision and robotics. He is currently a PhD student at CMU RI.Abstract: Current learning-based robot grasping approaches exploit human-labeled datasets for training the models. However, [...]

RI Seminar
Jiaji Zhou
Ph.D. Student
Carnegie Mellon-RI

A Convex Polynomial Force-Motion Model for Planar Sliding: Identification and Application

Event Location: NSH 1305Bio: Jiaji Zhou is a PhD student in the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University advised by Professor Matt Mason and Professor Drew Bagnell. His research interests lie in the intersection of manipulation, machine learning and control, with a focus on system identification, stability condition and planning for contact-rich manipulation. Jiaji has [...]

RI Seminar
Brenna D. Argall
Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Northwestern University

Human Autonomy through Robotics Autonomy

Event Location: NSH 1305Bio: Brenna Argall is the June and Donald Brewer Junior Professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science at Northwestern University, and also an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. Her research lies at the intersection of robotics, machine learning and human rehabilitation. [...]

VASC Seminar
Nobuyuki Umetani
Research Scientist
Autodesk Research

Simulation-guided Interactive Exploration of Functional Design

Event Location: Newell Simon Hall 1507Bio: Nobuyuki Umetani is a research scientist at Autodesk Research. Previously, he was a postdoctoral researcher in Autodesk Research and Disney Research Zurich. He received his Ph.D. degree in 2012 from The University of Tokyo under supervision of Takeo Igarashi. He also spent one year in Columbia University and in [...]