PhD Speaking Qualifier
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Direct Drive Hands: Force-Motion Transparency in Gripper Design

NSH 3305

Abstract: The Direct Drive Hand (DDHand) project is exploring a new design philosophy for grippers. The conventional approach is to prioritize clamping force, leading to high gear ratios, slow motion, and poor transmission of force/motion signals. Instead, the DDHand prioritizes transparency: we view the gripper as a signal transmission channel, and seek high-bandwidth, high-fidelity transmission [...]

Faculty Candidate
Angjoo Kanazawa
BAIR postdoctoral researcher
UC Berkeley

Faculty Candidate: Angjoo Kanazawa

Gates Hillman Center 6115

Title: Perceiving Humans in the 3D World Abstract: Since the dawn of civilization, we have functioned in a social environment where we spend our days interacting with other humans. As we approach a society where intelligent systems and humans coexist, these systems must also interpret and interact with humans that reside in the 3D world. [...]

RI Seminar
Tim Bretl
Associate Professor
Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

Three surprises and a story of prison education

1305 Newell Simon Hall

Abstract: I will talk about three results that surprised me. First, I will show that the free configuration space of an elastic wire is path-connected, a result that makes easy a manipulation planning problem that was thought to be hard. Second, I will show a linear relationship between stimulation parameters, skin impedance, and sensation intensity [...]

Faculty Candidate
Abe Davis
Postdoctoral Researcher
Stanford University

Augmenting Imagination: Capturing, Modeling, and Exploring the World Through Video

Gates Hillman Center 6115

Abstract: Cameras offer a rich and ubiquitous source of data about the world around us, providing many opportunities to explore new computational approaches to real-world problems. In this talk, I will show how insights from art, science, and engineering can help us connect progress in visual computing with typically non-visual problems in other domains, allowing [...]

PhD Thesis Proposal
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Terrain Relative Navigation for Lunar Polar Roving: Exploiting Geometry, Shadows, and Planning

NSH 3305

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, and hence are [...]

Faculty Candidate
Matthias Niessner
Professor
Visual Computing Lab, Technical University of Munic

AI-Driven Videos Synthesis and its Implications

Gates Hillman Center 6115

Abstract: In this talk, I will present my research vision in how to create photo-realistic digital replica of the real world, and how to make holograms become a reality. Eventually, I would like to see photos and videos evolve to become interactive, holographic content indistinguishable from the real world. Imagine taking such 3D photos to [...]

Field Robotics Center Seminar
Robotics Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University

Toward intuitive human controlled MAVs: motion primitives based teleoperation

GHC 6501

Abstract: Humans excel at composing high-level plans that achieve a complex, multimodal objective; however, achieving proficiency in teleoperating multi-rotor aerial vehicles (MAVs) in unstructured environments with stability and safety requires significant skill and training. In this talk, we present human-in-the-loop control of a MAV via teleoperation using motion primitives that addresses these concerns. We show [...]

Faculty Candidate
Angela Dai
Postdoctoral Fellow
Technical University of Munich

Understanding 3D Scans

Gates Hillman Center 6115

Abstract: With recent developments in both commodity range sensors as well as mixed reality devices, capturing and creating 3D models of the world around us has become increasingly important. As the world around us lives in a three-dimensional space, such 3D models will not only facilitate capture and display for content creation but also provide [...]

RI Seminar
Andrea Thomaz
Associate Professor
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin

Robots Learning from Human Teachers

1305 Newell Simon Hall

Abstract: In this talk I will cover some of the recent work out of the Socially Intelligent Machines Lab at UT Austin (http://sim.ece.utexas.edu/research.html). The vision of our research is to enable robots to function in dynamic human environments by allowing them to flexibly adapt their skill set via learning interactions with end-users. We explore the ways in which [...]

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 [...]