1. Conclusion
- Interdisciplinary Approach: Many of these seminars showcase the interdisciplinary nature of robotics, highlighting the combination of engineering, computer science, and even biology and physics. Examples include “Snakes & Spiders, Robots & Geometry” by Ross L. Hatton, “Robots and Biosystems” by Kevin Lynch, and “DNA and gammaPNA in programmable nanomaterials…” by Rebecca Taylor.
- Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: A significant number of these seminars deal with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in the context of robotics. Talks like “Learning to Generalize beyond Training” by Deepak Pathak, “Deep Learning for Robotics” by Pieter Abbeel, and “Machine Learning and Model Predictive Control for Adaptive Robotic Systems” by Byron Boots reflect the current focus of the field.
- Human-Robot Interaction (HRI): Many seminars discuss aspects of how robots interact with humans, either physically or in terms of communication. For example, “Towards Robust Human-Robot Interaction” by Stefanos Nikolaidis, “Enabling Grounded Language Communication for Human-Robot Teaming” by Thomas Howard, and “Human-Robot Interactive Collaboration & Communication” by Heni Ben Amor, highlight the significance of HRI in modern robotics.
- Space and Field Robotics: Some talks focus on the use of robotics in space or fieldwork applications. “Mars Robots and Robotics at NASA JPL” by Vandi Verma and “Robotic Grippers for Planetary Applications” by Aaron Parness exemplify space robotics, while “Autonomous and Intelligent Robots in Unstructured Field Environments” by Girish Chowdhary and “The World’s Tiniest Space Program” by Zachary Manchester underscore field robotics.
- Design and Control: Several seminars delve into the design and control of robotic systems, which can range from the microscale to the macroscale, or even complex, autonomous vehicles. Examples include “Design and control of insect-scale bees and dog-scale quadrupeds” by Avik De, “Design, Modeling and Control of a Robot Bat” by Seth Hutchinson, and “Modeling, Design, and Analysis for Intelligent Vehicles…” by Chung-Wei Lin.
- Perception and Environment Interaction: Seminars such as “Next-Generation Robot Perception…” by Luca Carlone, “Understanding the Physical World from Images” by David Fouhey, and “Perception-Action Synergy in Uncertain Environments” by Jing Xiao highlight the importance of perception and the ability of robots to understand and interact with their environments.
- Sustainability and Social Impact: A few seminars also touch upon topics related to sustainability and social impact, like “Robots Should Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle” by Chelsea Finn and “What (else) can you do with a robotics degree?” by Nidhi Kalra.
2. List
Vandi Verma : Mars Robots and Robotics at NASA JPL
Brenna Argall : Mobility and Manipulation Independence with Interface-Aware Robotics Intelligence
Phillip Isola : Structures and Environments for Generalist Agents
Luca Carlone : Next-Generation Robot Perception…
Lerrel Pinto : A Constructivist’s Guide to Robot Learning
David Fouhey : Understanding the Physical World from Images
Jorgen Pedersen: RE2 Robotics: from RI spinout to Acquisition
Russ Tedrake : Motion Planning Around Obstacles with Graphs of Convex Sets
Dorsa Sadigh : Learning Representations for Interactive Robotics
Byron Boots : Machine Learning and Model Predictive Control for Adaptive Robotic Systems
Chelsea Finn : Robots Should Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
Nidhi Kalra : What (else) can you do with a robotics degree?
Ankur Mehta : Towards $1 robots
Soon-Jo Chung : Safe and Stable Learning for Agile Robots without Reinforcement Learning
Ross L. Hatton : Snakes & Spiders, Robots & Geometry
Teruko Yata Memorial Lecture : Jeannette Bohg : Leveraging Language and Video Demonstrations…
Jing Xiao : Perception-Action Synergy in Uncertain Environments
Zackory Erickson : Haptic Perspective-taking from Vision and Force
Leila Bridgeman : Distributed Dissipativity: Applying Foundational Stability Theory…
Matthew Johnson-Roberson : Lessons from the Field
Stefanos Nikolaidis : Towards Robust Human-Robot Interaction
Sebastian Scherer & Matthew Travers : Team Explorer’s Approach and Lessons Learned
Matthew T. Mason : Robotics and Warehouse Automation at Berkshire Grey
Siddharth Srivastava : The Unusual Effectiveness of Abstractions for Assistive AI
Shubham Tulsiani : Towards Reconstructing Any Object in 3D
Matthew Walter : Robots that Learn through Language
Thomas Howard : Enabling Grounded Language Communication for Human-Robot Teaming
The Search for Ancient Life on Mars Began with a Safe Landing
Cynthia Sung : Dynamical Robots via Origami-Inspired Design
Avik De : Design and control of insect-scale bees and dog-scale quadrupeds
Jun-Yan Zhu : GANs for Everyone
Rohan Paul : Towards an Intelligence Architecture for Human-Robot Teaming
Herman Herman : Robots “R” Us: 25 years of NREC
Heni Ben Amor : Human-Robot Interactive Collaboration & Communication
Gustav Eje Henter : Move over, MSE! – New probabilistic models of motion
Melisa Orta Martinez: Design and Analysis of Open-Source Educational Haptic Devices
RI Seminar : Alberto Rodriguez : Role of Manipulation Primitives in Building Dexterous…
Mac Schwager : Enabling Robots to Cooperate & Compete: Distributed Optimization…
Deepak Pathak : Learning to Generalize beyond Training
Chelsea Finn : Data Scalability for Robot Learning
Brittany A. Duncan : Drones in Public: distancing and communication with all users
Kevin Lynch : Robotics and Biosystems
Raquel Urtasun : A future with affordable Self-driving vehicles
Zachary Manchester : The World’s Tiniest Space Program
Robert D. Gregg IV : kinematic/energetic design/robots for agile human locomotion
Scott Niekum : Scaling Probabilistically Safe Learning to Robotics
Rebecca Taylor : DNA and gammaPNA in programmable nanomaterials…
Anca Dragan : Optimizing for coordination with people
Sarjoun Skaff : Yes, That’s a Robot in Your Grocery Store. Now what?
Hadas Kress-Gazit : Formal Synthesis for Robots
Sam Burden : Toward telelocomotion: human sensorimotor control of contact-rich robot…
Jeff Clune : Improving Robot and Deep Reinforcement Learning via Quality Diversity…
Girish Chowdhary : Autonomous and Intelligent Robots in Unstructured Field Environments
RI40 Seminar: Harry Asada : From Direct-Drive to SuperLimb Bionics
Chung-Wei Lin : Modeling, Design, and Analysis for Intelligent Vehicles…
RI Seminar : Pieter Abbeel : Deep Learning for Robotics
RI Seminar : Seth Hutchinson : Design, Modeling and Control of a Robot Bat
Tucker Hermans : Improving Multi-fingered Robot Manipulation…
Aaron Parness : Robotic Grippers for Planetary Applications
Sarah Bergbreiter : Microsystems-inspired robotics