Human-Robot Teams

Humans

Robots

Principal Investigator

M. Bernardine Dias, Ph.D.

M. Bernardine Dias is an assistant research professor at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, primarily affiliated with the Field Robotics Center at the Pittsburgh campus and with the Computer Science department at the Doha campus. She earned her B.A. from Hamilton College, Clinton NY, with a dual concentration in Physics and Computer Science and a minor in Women's Studies in 1998, followed by a M.S. (2000) and Ph.D. (2004) in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University.

Dr. Dias is a leading researcher in autonomous team coordination, building on her dissertation work in market-based multirobot coordination. Together with Professor Anthony Stentz, she co-created and co-directs the rCommerce group whose goal is to advance the state-of-the-art in autonomous team coordination. She is also dedicated to creating culturally appropriate computing technology accessible and relevant to developing communities. Towards this end she founded and directs the TechBridgeWorld research group to enable technology research in partnership with underserved communities throughout the globe. She also leads robotics research in Carnegie Mellon's campus in Doha, Qatar where she co-founded and co-directs the Qri8 robotics lab. Dr. Dias actively encourages women in science and technology, and is a founding member of, and graduate faculty advisor to the women@SCS group at Carnegie Mellon University.

Staff

Balajee Kannan, Ph.D.

Balajee Kannan is a Research Engineer in the rCommerce Lab at the Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Prior to joining the Carnegie Mellon University, he obtained his Ph.D. under Dr. Lynne E. Parker in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in fault-tolerance and autonomy in distributed multi-robot teams. He has been working on robotics related research projects for the past 7 years with his research interests veering towards distributed autonomous coordination mechanisms for highly heterogeneous indoor and outdoor robot teams, as well as adaptation as a means to overall improvement in system performance and autonomous navigation in outdoor environments. Current research interests lie with identifying performance metrics of human-robot teams, and specifically with the use of fault-tolerance to improve system performance. Research experience includes working with pioneers, ATRV-Jrs, amigobots, E-Gators and LAGR robots.

M. Freddie Dias

M. Freddie Dias, Research Engineer, is based in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science. He assists with robotics research in the Field Robotics Center, supporting projects related to multi-robot coordination. He also serves as a technical consultant for projects related to technology and development under the TechBridgeWorld initiative. His work in both categories bridges Carnegie Mellon University's campuses in Doha and Pittsburgh. Originally from Sri Lanka, he graduated from Hamilton College in New York with a double major in physics and computer science.

Students

Sairam Yamanoor

Jaime Bourne

Jaime Bourne is a student intern in the rCommerce Lab at the Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. He is a junior working on his bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. He was first introduced to robotics while in high school and has since continued immerse himself into the field of robotics through his work in the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Club and the rCommerce Lab.

Nisarg Kothari

Nisarg Kothari is a student intern in the rCommerce Lab at the Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. He is a senior, pursuing his undergraduate degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He has previously worked on integrating a camera system into an E-Gator, a research platform for autonomous navigation. His current research involves using the Android smartphone platform to integrate humans as first class agents into the rCommerce framework. This includes work in human-computer interfaces and algorithms for GPS-free localization of pedestrians.

Victor Marmol

Victor Marmol is an undergraduate student at Carnegie Mellon University seeking a Bachelors in Computer Science. He is an intern at the rCommerce Laboratory in the Robotics Institute. Current research interests include: autonomous multi-robot exploration and coverage, multi-robot coordination, and interfaces for multi-robot coordination.