Colleagues of the Applied Physics Laboratory and the Whiting School of Engineering are invited to the February talk in a speaker series co-presented by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Assured Autonomy (IAA) and the Computer Science Department, featuring national scholars presenting new research and development at the intersection of autonomy and assurance.

This talk will be “Robot Navigation in Complex Indoor and Outdoor Environments” featuring speaker Dinesh Manocha, Paul Chrisman-Iribe Chair in Computer Science & ECE and Distinguished University Professor at University of Maryland College Park, presenting virtually on Tuesday, February 21st at 11 a.m.

Dr. Manocha’s abstract and bio are attached. This event is open to all APL and JHU staff, faculty, and students; please share!

ABSTRACT:
In the last few decades, most robotics success stories have been limited to structured or controlled environments. A major challenge is to develop robot systems that can operate in complex or unstructured environments corresponding to homes, dense traffic, outdoor terrains, public places, etc. In this talk, we give an overview of our ongoing work on developing robust planning and navigation technologies that use recent advances in computer vision, sensor technologies, machine learning, and motion planning algorithms. We present new methods that utilize multi-modal observations from an RGB camera, 3D LiDAR, and robot odometry for scene perception, along with deep reinforcement learning for reliable planning. The latter is also used to compute dynamically feasible and spatial aware velocities for a robot navigating among mobile obstacles and uneven terrains. We have integrated these methods with wheeled robot and legged platforms and highlight their performance in crowded indoor scenes and dense outdoor terrains.

About the Johns Hopkins Institute for Assured Autonomy: Led by APL and the Whiting School of Engineering, the IAA is becoming a nationally recognized center of excellence in autonomous systems, showcasing the robust portfolio of research and work from two premier divisions of JHU and creating strategic external partnerships. The IAA seeks to ensure the safe, secure, and reliable integration of autonomous systems and artificial intelligence (AI) in society. As autonomous systems proliferate, both physically and virtually, the institute seeks to ensure the systems will be trusted and safe in their operations, will withstand corruption by adversaries, and will integrate seamlessly into ecosystems and communities. In this burgeoning field, JHU strives to advance a clear vision for an autonomous future.