Events Calendar

CS Colloquium: Mehmet Dogar (CMU): Physics-Based Robotic Manipulation in Human Environments

Speaker: Mehmet Dogar, Carnegie Mellon

Talk Title: Physics-Based Robotic Manipulation in Human Environments

Series: CS Colloquium

Abstract: The list of physics-based actions that we humans use to push, pull, throw, tumble, and play with the objects around us is nearly endless.

My research strives to develop robots with similar capabilities by incorporating physical predictions into manipulation planning. Most existing manipulation planners do not use physical predictions and therefore are limited to pick-and-place actions. I develop manipulation algorithms which enable robots to move beyond pick-and-place.

In this talk I will focus on using physics-based pushing actions. I will describe how a robot can plan pushing actions that are robust to high degrees of uncertainty in the environment. I will show that pushing manipulation leads to very efficient plans in cluttered environments, while pick-and-place manipulation treats clutter like a game of chess where each piece is moved one-by-one. Finally, I will talk about how contact sensor feedback can be used during physics-based actions to reduce uncertainty and to account for errors in the robot's physical predictions.


Biography: Mehmet Dogar is a PhD student at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. His research focuses on using physics-based predictions in robotic manipulation which enables robots to accomplish useful tasks in dynamic and cluttered human environments. He received his M.S. and B.S. degrees in Computer Engineering from the Middle East Technical University, Turkey. He was a Finalist for the Best Paper Award at IROS 2010. He received the Fulbright Award for Outstanding Foreign Students in 2008.

Host: Stefan Schaal

Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Assistant to CS chair