PhD Thesis Proposal

Abstract: Recent successes in model-based reinforcement learning (MBRL) have demonstrated the enormous value that learned representations of environmental dynamics (i.e., models) can impart to autonomous decision making. While a learned model can never perfectly represent the dynamics of complex environments, models that are accurate in the "right” ways may still be highly useful for decision [...]

Abstract: Assistive robots should take actions that support people's goals. This is especially true as robots enter into environments where personal agency is paramount, such as a person's home. Home environments have a wide variety of "optimal' solutions that depend on personal preference, making it difficult for a robot to know the goal it should [...]

Abstract: Interactions with the physical world are at the core of robotics. However, robotics research, especially in manipulation, has been mainly focused on tasks with limited interactions with the physical world such as pick-and-place or pushing objects on the table top. These interactions are often quasi-static, have predefined or limited sequence of contact events and [...]

Abstract: Robotic systems are being leveraged to explore environments too hazardous for humans to enter. Robot sensing, compute, and kinodynamic (SCK) capabilities are inextricably tied to the size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints of the vehicle. When designing a robot team for exploration, the diversity and types of robots used must be carefully considered because [...]