AME Seminar

Speaker: Keya Ghonasgi, Georgia Institute of Technology

Talk Title: Intelligent Wearable Systems for Synergistic Human-Robot Interactions

Abstract: Wearable robots hold immense, untapped potential to enhance human performance through physical interactions combining human and robot abilities. For instance, assistive robots can follow user intent while overcoming limitations like reduced strength due to neurological injuries. Surgical robots can enhance expert surgeons’ skill with precision and accuracy. In the future, wearable robots could become as ubiquitous as smart watches and phones. However, current state-of-the-art solutions face challenges – providing limited improvements in performance, being expensive and impractical for the real-world, or causing discomfort, leading to abandonment. This talk showcases three avenues to unlock the promised synergistic potential of humans and robots.
First, I explore the role of understanding human interaction behaviors in the development of responsive robots. For example, combining data-driven and model-based approaches can help us characterize behaviors and identify generalizable movement patterns. Next, I discuss how robots can be tailored to suit human biomechanics and abilities. For instance, can diverse users easily interact with the device? If not, can humans be taught to interact with non-intuitive robots? Finally, I motivate the need for simultaneous learning in the individual and the robot. Such co-evolving systems enable personalized interactions, especially beneficial for individualized rehabilitation or skill training applications. These research areas are interlinked, requiring an interdisciplinary approach at the intersection of human neuroscience and biomechanics, artificial intelligence, and robot design and control. This research empowers synergistic robot interactions and paves the way for the seamless integration of wearable robots into human life.

Biography: Keya Ghonasgi is a postdoctoral fellow at the Georgia Institute of Technology where she works with lower limb assistive devices. She received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin (UT) in 2023 and her M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University in 2018. Keya’s research on robotic exoskeletons has led to honors including being selected as a Rising Star in Mechanical Engineering (2022) and a CalTech Young Investigator Lecturer (2023). Keya’s work has been funded through various sources including a UT graduate student fellowship award, an NSF M3X grant, and industry collaborations with Meta Reality Labs and Google Brain. Keya is passionate about developing the next generation of human-interactive technology in the form of wearable robots that harness synergistic human and robot capabilities.

Host: AME Department

More Info: https://ame.usc.edu/seminars/

Webcast: https://usc.zoom.us/j/95892885119?pwd=QXZOZUhrcTJRYk5qZzZwVThrTytVZz09

Location: James H. Zumberge Hall Of Science (ZHS) - 252

WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/95892885119?pwd=QXZOZUhrcTJRYk5qZzZwVThrTytVZz09

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Tessa Yao

Event Link: https://ame.usc.edu/seminars/