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GRASP Seminar Series: Fall 2005
September 30, 11:00 AM, 307 Levine Hall
Oussama Khatib
Stanford University
“Human-Centered Robotics"
Abstract: Robotics is rapidly expanding into human environments and vigorously engaged in its new emerging challenges. Interacting, exploring, and working with humans, the new generation of robots will increasingly touch people and their lives. The successful introduction of robots in human environments will rely on the development of competent and practical systems that are dependable, safe, and easy to use. To effectively work, interact, and cooperate with humans, these robots must display abilities and skills that are compatible with those of humans. This discussion focuses on our ongoing effort to synthesize natural human movements to produce human-like robot behaviors. The objective is to unveil the underlying characteristics of human motion through an elaboration of its physiological basis, and to formulate general strategies for whole-body robot control. This exploration employs models of human musculoskeletal dynamics and makes use of extensive experimental studies of human subjects with motion capture techniques. Our investigation has revealed the dominant role physiological characteristics play in shaping human motion. This knowledge has allowed the development of generic motion behaviors that efficiently and effectively encode human motion behaviors. The implementation of these behaviors on robots with complex human-like structures relies on a novel whole-body task-oriented control structure that addresses dynamics in the context of multiple tasks, multi-point contacts, and multiple constraints. In this presentation, we will also examine other fundamental issues in human-centered robotics. These include new design concepts for the development of safe and human-friendly robotic systems, and efficient algorithms that address the computational challenges associated with human-like structures in environments with multiple contacts.
Biography: Oussama Khatib is Professor of Computer Science
at Stanford University. He received his Ph.D. in 1980 from Sup'Aero, Toulouse,
France. His current research is in human-centered robotics, human motion
synthesis, humanoid robots, dynamic simulations, haptic interactions,
and human-friendly robot design, His exploration in this research ranges
from the autonomous ability of a robot to cooperate with a human to the
haptic interaction of a user with an animated character or a surgical
instrument. His research in these emerging areas builds on a large body
of studies he pursued over the past 25 years and published in over 200
contributions in the field. Professor Khatib was Program Chair of ICRA2000
(San Francisco) and Editor of "The Robotics Review'' (MIT Press).
He has served as the Director of the Stanford Computer Forum, an industry
affiliate program. He is currently the President of the International
Foundation of Robotics Research, IFRR, and Editor of STAR, Springer Tracts
in Advanced Robotics. Professor Khatib is an IEEE Fellow, a Distinguished
Lecturer of IEEE, and a recipient of the JARA Award.
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