Bio

Benjamin Stephens is a Ph.D. candidate at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. He is originally from Oklahoma, but received his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern University. His current research focuses on humanoid robots, or robots that have a human-like form. He wants them to perform agile tasks such as balancing, walking, running, and jumping using natural dynamics and efficient control. Using the models and controllers developed for these robots, he will study human motion impairments and how to correct them.

Research Interests

  • Humanoid Robotics
  • Nonsmooth Dynamics
  • Optimal Control
  • Underactuated Locomotion
  • Impedance Control

Publications

Christopher Atkeson, Benjamin Stephens, "Random Sampling of States in Dynamic Programming," NIPS 2007

Christopher Atkeson, Benjamin Stephens, "Multiple Balance Strategies from One Optimization Criterion," The IEEE-RAS 2007 International Conference on Humanoid Robots, Pittsburgh, PA, November 2007

Benjamin Stephens, "Humanoid Push Recovery," The IEEE-RAS 2007 International Conference on Humanoid Robots, Pittsburgh, PA, November 2007

Benjamin Stephens, "Integral Control of Humanoid Balance," The IEEE/RSJ 2007 International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS'07), San Diego, CA, October 2007 (pdf)