IPAB Seminar - 27/10/2016

Speaker:  Maurice Fallon

Talk Title:  Developing Perception Systems for Dynamic Robots

Talk Abstract:  In this talk, Maurice will overview the research projects of the Robot Perception Group.  The group are interested in reliable and robust perception for robots moving quickly and dynamically. They are exploring research problems such as LIDAR localization, dense visual mapping, articulated tracking.   Applications are characterized as being demanding and requiring precise accuracy so as to enable precise footstep planning or dexterous grasping. Demonstrations will be show the results of experiments with a quadrupeds (the IIT HyQ), a mobile robot as well as the NASA Valkyrie humanoid.

Speaker: Kris Verdeyen

Talk Title: NASA Humanoids Project Overview

Talk abstract: Valkyrie is NASA’s walking humanoid robot, initially created in 2013 to compete in the DARPA robotics challenge. NASA’s interest in humanoids, especially walking humanoids, is specifically directed in the arena of caretaker robots – robots that care for human-tended facilities during periods when no humans are present. We believe that any permanent or semi-permanent human presence on Mars will require the use of such facilities and robots. Kris be discussing NASA’s interest in caretaker robots, our current portfolio of humanoids and other robots, and current work and future plans for Valkyrie.