CS Colloq: Volkan Isler

Time: 3:30 PM - 5 PMLocation: SSL 150Talk title: Sensing Limitations in Robotic Sensor Network Tasks
Speaker: Volkan Isler (Univ. of Minnesota)
Host: Prof. Gaurav SukhatmeAbstract:
Often, the individual components of a sensor network have limited sensing capabilities. For example, if a network node has a single camera, it can obtain only bearing information. Therefore, it is important to understand what effect these limitations have on fundamental robotic sensor network tasks. In this talk, I will present two recent results addressing these limitations.
First, I will present an algorithm for a sensor placement problem which arises in monitoring and surveillance tasks: We are given an environment and an error threshold. The objective is to place a minimum number of cameras so that no matter where the target is located in the environment, the uncertainty in localizing the target is less than the threshold. For this problem, I will present a placement algorithm for the case where two cameras are assigned to each candidate target location, and show that the deviation of its performance from the optimal placement is bounded by a constant factor.
Second, I will present a solution to a pursuit problem which arises in tracking applications. Can a pursuer with a bearing-only sensor capture an evader?
I will conclude the talk with an overview of our ongoing research in environmental robotics and human-robot interaction.Bio:
Volkan Isler is an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science Department, and a resident fellow at the Institute on Environment at the University of Minnesota. In 2008, he received the National Science Foundation's Young Investigator Award (CAREER). His research interests are in robotics, sensor networks and computer vision.
Isler's webpage:
http://www.cs.umn.edu/~isler/
Robotic Sensor Networks (RSN) Lab:
http://rsn.cs.umn.edu/

Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: CS Front Desk