Jumping insect-scale machines, security robots, and robot fashion to protect personal space
Plus we're searching for new faculty to join our new Robotics Department
Welcome to the Michigan Robotics newsletter, a summary of what’s happening in the University of Michigan Robotics community.
We are currently hiring faculty and accepting applications to fill multiple positions. Come help define the discipline!
Research
Choosing exoskeleton settings like a Pandora radio station
Taking inspiration from music streaming services, a team of engineers at the University of Michigan, Google and Georgia Tech, including Ung Hee Lee, Varun Shetty, and Elliott Rouse, has designed the simplest way for users to program their own exoskeleton assistance settings.
"Would I Feel More Secure With a Robot?”
Robots are being deployed as security agents helping law enforcement. Unfortunately, the deployment is not without problems and controversies–from research led by Lionel Robert and Florian Schaub.
How human-machine interfaces influence decision making and task performance
Caleb Jeanniton was taked by Leia Stirling to run a series of human-factors tests using a powered exoskeleton and the motion-capture capabilities of the Lincoln Laboratory's STRIVE Center.
Powerful, soft combustion actuators for insect-scale robots
A key challenge for microrobotic systems is the efficient delivery of power and the conversion of that power into mechanical forces and displacements. Cameron Aubin and team developed a lightweight actuator that can be driven at high frequencies by the combustion of chemical fuels.
Enhancing Suspicion Drivers’ Trust in Autonomous Vehicles
Lionel Robert summarizes a recent paper to answer vital questions about how the way we receive information from AVs can impact our understanding, engagement, and safety.
A Study of the Wind Sensing Performance of Small Pusher and Puller Hexacopters
In this paper, Javier González-Rocha, Prashin Sharma, Ella Atkins and Craig Woolsey discuss how small autonomous aerial systems can help improve weather forecasting by increasing lower-atmosphere wind observations.
Watch
Grant Gibson presents work on designing a terrain-aware foot placement locomotion controller and optimization fabrics that enable balancing and walking of bipedal robots.
Alphonsus Adu-Bredu presents work on making an autonomous humanoid robot capable of planning the right set of actions in the often messy real-world environments.
Part of our Undergraduate Robotics Pathways & Careers Speaker Series, Leon Pryor talks about his lifelong interest in robotics with a desire to promote better outcomes in Detroit through competitive FIRST robotics.
Peter Mitrano and the ARM Lab use their Spot robot to explore reasoning about how to recover from problems when dragging a hose.
M-Fly conducting Systems Design Review
Wednesday, November 29th, 7 - 9 pm at FXB 1109, Boeing Auditorium, Ann Arbor, MI. Dinner will be provided! Please RSVP here. Zoom option at https://umich.zoom.us/my/mfly2324.
Read
U-M partners with CAAMS for advanced autonomous air mobility
This recognized National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (I-UCRC), established in 2022, conducts cutting-edge research and training in autonomous air mobility and sensing technology.
Chipotle’s latest burrito bowl robot
Making custom burritos is actually “very, very difficult for a robot,” says Dmitry Berenson.
Listen
Jason Corso talks about how to get students to embrace it while also understanding accuracy with generative AI.
Congrats
Robotics names newest cohort of Outreach Ambassadors
While each of us do our part in furthering this spirit through actions great and small, there are those who dedicate an extra amount of time in doing so: this is this year’s class of Robotics Outreach Ambassadors.
Joshua Mangelson earns Robotics Alumni Award
Dr. Mangelson was the very first person to earn a PhD degree in Robotics from the University of Michigan, and presented the Robotics Alumni Award Lecture, “Steps Towards Intelligent Large-Scale Marine Robotic Autonomy.”
Shihao Cheng, Curt Laubscher, Robert Gregg on a Best Student Paper Award at IROS 2023 for "Controlling Powered Prosthesis Kinematics over Continuous Transitions Between Walk and Stair Ascent.”
U-M Functional Fashion wins 2nd place at IROS
The team, comprised of Nick Robinson, Saima Jamal, Adam Hung, David Kim and mentor Xiaonan Huang, was tasked with producing a wearable that can detect and respond to people or objects entering the wearer's personal space.
3 Minute Thesis Engineering Innovation Award
Wami Ogunbi competed in the 3 Minute Thesis competition, earning the Engineering Innovation Runner-Up Award.
Robot art takes over Detroit & Ford Robotics Building
An art exhibition titled Artificial Horizons: Exploring Alternative Robotic Futures resided in Detroit in the first half of October, and is now moving to our Ford Robotics Building in Ann Arbor. The show hopes to examine how emerging technologies in automation, robotics, and AI are impacting culture and society.
Parting shot
