Fall 2024 GRASP SFI: Tushar Kusnur, The AI Institute, “Robotic Information Gathering: Experiences and Perspectives”

This was a hybrid event with in-person attendance in Levine 307 and virtual…

ABSTRACT

Despite all the interest and hype both from within and outside our community, robotics is a relatively new and highly specialized field. We embody substantial diversity in research direction and style, the focus and flavor of industrial companies, and academic departments and programs. There is no single way to “do” robotics. Similarly, the journeys of any two people in this field are unlikely to look the same. My work so far has shared a theme of “active information gathering” in academic research for novel approaches in specific contexts, as well as industry research that balances novel and practical systems in broader contexts. Consistent with that distinction, I will first talk about my past work at Carnegie Mellon including planning for robotic coverage and active sensing grounded in a system of multiple aerial vehicles. Next, I will briefly highlight some technical challenges relevant to my current work on the “Watch, Understand, Do” project at the AI Institute, grounded in mobile manipulation. I will share what I have learned about how different styles of research, collaboration, and project planning lend themselves to these different settings, with an eye on how we can make more informed decisions in our individual and collective journeys as roboticists.