Frederik W. Heger
August 2004 -
present
present
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA
School Of Computer Science, The Robotics Institute
Ph.D. Candidate, Robotics
August 2004 - present
MS, Robotics
May 2007
Autonomous planning for robotic assembly of large structures in constrained environments
Planning for assemblies of structures larger than the workspace of the robot performing the task. The structures are subject to component ordering constraints, and the task takes place in a workspace that is tight relative to the goal configuration, which imposes feasibility constraints on potential actions. During planning, the structure is disassembled into increasingly detailed sub-assemblies to the level of individual components being moved cooperatively by a team of robots.
TA for Kinematics, Dynamical Systems and Control graduate-level course
Robot Motion Planning; AI Planning, Execution and Learning; Kinematics, Dynamical Systems and Control; Introduction to Mobile Robots; Machine Learning; Math Fundamentals for Robotics
Tour guide for official and important visitors to the Robotics Institute
September 2000 -
May 2004
May 2004
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
School of Engineering and Applied Science
MSE, Mechanical Engineering
May 2004
BSE summa cum laude, Mechanical Engineering
December 2003
TA for project-based senior/graduate-level mechatronics course
Concentration in Robotics; Computer Vision and Perception; Real-time Image Processing for Robotic Systems; Advanced Dynamics; Linear Control; Advanced Engineering Mathematics
Research assistant at the GRASP Lab
Member and projects chair of the Science and Technology Wing (STWing)
Engineering peer advisor for incoming freshmen
September 1998 -
May 2000
May 2000
The Peddie School
Hightstown, NJ
Graduation with High Honors
May 2000
August 1992 -
July 1998
July 1998
Gymnasium Neureut
Karlsruhe, Germany
August 2004 -
present
present
Field Robotics Center
Carnegie Mellon University
Graduate Research Assistant
Mobile manipulation in an automotive assembly line setting
Work on the inside of cars inaccessible by tranditional automotive assembly line robots to perform assembly, installation and cabling tasks
Hardware component selection, hardware design and system integration
Assembly using space-rated hardware in a neutral buoyancy environment
Adaptation of task control capability developed for Trestle project to enable the Ranger robot to perform autonomous assembly of large-scale truss structure in simulated space conditions
Joint work with Stanford University and the Space Systems Laboratory at the University of Maryland
Hardware design, software development, field testing
Robots performing tightly coordinated tasks under a "sliding autonomy" paradigm
Development of the architectural framework necessary to coordinate robots performing complex assembly tasks
"Sliding Autonomy" allows blending of human intuition and flexibility with robot performance and efficiency to achieve both reliable and efficient operation of the team as a whole
Experimental validation using three heterogeneous robots in a large-scale assembly test bed
Software development, gripper modification and assembly component hardware development, system modeling, experimentation in multi-robot test bed, performance analysis and prediction, human subject studies
Heterogeneous robots performing space-relevant assembly tasks
Adaptation of architecture developed for Trestle project to support tasking and coordination of three heterogeneous robots developed at different NASA centers throughout their assembly mission
Joint work with NASA's Johnson Space Center and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Task coordination software development, integration with NASA robots' control software, implementation and testing
June 2002 -
June 2004
June 2004
GRASP Laboratory
University of Pennsylvania
Research Assistant
Cooperative navigation, localization and behavior of a group of autonomous ground robots.
Integration of a 30ft autonomous blimp as aerial component to supplement and support the ground robots.
Mechanical Design and Maintenance of Blimp Gondola, Software Development, Field Testing.
Design and implementation of a rollerblading robot that imitates human skating as its form of propulsion.
Design, Machining, Manufacturing, Modeling and Simulation, Control and Software Development, Testing.
October 2001 -
August 2002
August 2002
Penn Perception Laboratory
University of Pennsylvania
Administrative and Lab Assistant for three psychology professors
May 2001 -
August 2001
August 2001
SEW Eurodrive GmbH
Bruchsal, Germany
Intern, Product Management Department
Analyzed and presented the results of a professional
market research study on the projected development
of PC-based control technologies between 2000 and
2004.
June 2000 -
July 2000
July 2000
SEW Eurodrive GmbH
Graben, Germany
Practical Training in electrical and mechanical engineering
[7]
[6]
[5]
[4]
Frederik W. Heger, Laura
M. Hiatt, Brennan Sellner, Reid Simmons and Sanjiv Singh,
"Results in Sliding Autonomy for Multi-robot Spatial
Assembly," in Proceedings of the 8th International
Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and
Automation in Space (iSAIRAS) 2005, Munich, Germany. (pdf) (bibtex)
[3]
[2]
[1]
Reviewer for ICRA 2004, 2006
Student Member of ASME and IEEE
University of Pennsylvania
Francis G. Tatnall Prize in Mechanical Engineering 2004 (best senior design project)
School of Engineering and Applied Science Faculty Appreciation Award 2003
School of Engineering and Applied Science Dean's List 2001-2002, 2002-2003
Herbert J. & Selma W. Bernstein Class of 1945 Summer Internship Recipient 2002
University Scholar (Research-based Honors Program), December 2002 - May 2004
Honor Societies
Pi Tau Sigma, National Mechanical Engineering Honors Society
Tau Beta Pi, National Engineering Honors Society
Languages: Native German, fluent in English and French, proficient in Spanish
Programming: C, C++, C#, Java, SPARC Assembly, O'Caml, HTML, PHP, some MySQL
Applications: MATLAB, Maple, Mathematica, Pro/ENGINEER, MS Visual Studio
Platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, UNIX/Linux
available on request