Seminars

Autonomous micro aerial robots can operate in three-dimensional, indoor and outdoor environments, and  have applications to search and rescue, first response and precision farming. I will describe the challenges in developing small, agile robots and the algorithmic challenges in the areas of (a) control and planning, (b) state estimation and mapping, and (c) coordinating large teams of robots.

Vijay Kumar is the UPS Foundation Professor in the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his Bachelors of Technology 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 since 1987 with a secondary appointment in the Department of Computer and Information Science and Electrical and Systems Engineering. He was the assistant director for robotics and cyber physical systems at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from 2012-2014.

Dr. Kumar's research interests are in robotics, specifically multi-robot systems, and micro aerial vehicles. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2003), a Fellow of the Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (2005) and a member of the National Academy of Engineering (2013).