Robohub Podcast #246: Smart Swarms, with Vijay Kumar



In this episode, Jack Rasiel interviews Vijay Kumar, Professor and Dean of Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania.  Kumar discusses the guiding ideas behind his research on micro unmanned aerial vehicles, gives his thoughts on the future of robotics in the lab and field, and speaks about setting realistic expectations for robotics technology.

 

Vijay Kumar

Vijay Kumar is the Nemirovsky Family Dean of Penn Engineering with appointments in the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, Computer and Information Science, and Electrical and Systems Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Kumar received his Bachelor of Technology degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in 1987. He has been on the Faculty in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics with a secondary appointment in the Department of Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania since 1987. In his time at the university, Dr. Kumar has held numerous positions including director of the GRASP Laboratory, Chairman of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, and Deputy Dean for Education in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. From 2012 to 2013, he served as the assistant director of robotics and cyber physical systems at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

 

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Robots Podcast #241: Tensegrity Control, with Kostas Bekris

In this episode, Jack Rasiel speaks with Kostas Bekris, who introduces us to tensegrity robotics: a striking robotic design which straddles the boundary between hard and soft robotics. A structure uses tensegrity if it is made of a number of isolated rigid elements which are held in compression by a network of elements that are in tension. Bekris, an Associate Professor of Computer Science, draws from a diverse set of problems to find innovative new ways to control tensegrity robots.

Kostas Bekris

Kostas Bekris, Associate Professor of Computer Science at Rutgers University

Kostas Bekris is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. He is working in the area of algorithmic robotics, especially on problems related to robot motion planning and coordination. He received his PhD from Rice University in 2008 under the guidance of Lydia Kavraki. He was an Assistant Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno until 2012. His research has been supported by NSF, NASA, the DoD and DHS, including an NASA Early Career Faculty award.

 

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