NCCR Automation seminar series - Dr. Arash Ajoudani
Our NCCR Automation seminar series continues with Arash Ajoudani from the Italian Institute of Technology.
Title: Anticipatory human models and reactive robot control as key ingredients to personalisable human-robot collaboration
Abstract: This talk will give a brief overview of the new technologies developed at the HRI2 lab of the Italian Institute of Technology to i) estimate human socio-physical load during work, ii) provide real-time feedback about the estimated level of risks, and iii) generate anticipatory robotic behaviors that contribute to the reduction of such risks and increasing productivity. In particular, the application of humanoids theory to modeling of human kinodynamic states will be first presented. Next, the development and control of Mobile Collaborative robot assistant (MOCA) in HRC scenarios will be highlighted.
Biography: Arash Ajoudani is a tenured senior scientist at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), where he leads the Human-Robot Interfaces and physical Interaction (HRI2) laboratory. He received his PhD degree in Robotics and Automation from University of Pisa and IIT in 2014. He is a recipient of the European Research Council (ERC) starting grant 2019 (Ergo-Lean), the coordinator of the Horizon-2020 project SOPHIA, and the co-coordinator of the Horizon-2020 project CONCERT. He also coordinates the AI for Manufacturing (AI4M) lab of the Leonardo labs, and is a principal investigator of the IIT-Intellimech JOiiNT lab.
He is a recipient of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) Early Career Award 2021, and winner of the Amazon Research Awards 2019, of the Solution Award 2019 (MECSPE2019), of the KUKA Innovation Award 2018, of the WeRob best poster award 2018, and of the best student paper award at ROBIO 2013. His PhD thesis was a finalist for the Georges Giralt PhD award 2015 - best European PhD thesis in robotics. He was also a finalist for the Solution Award 2020 (MECSPE2020), the best conference paper award at Humanoids 2018, for the best interactive paper award at Humanoids 2016, for the best oral presentation award at Automatica (SIDRA) 2014, and for the best manipulation paper award at ICRA 2012. He is the author of the book "Transferring Human Impedance Regulation Skills to Robots" in the Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics (STAR), and several publications in journals, international conferences, and book chapters.
He is currently serving as the executive manager of the IEEE-RAS Young Reviewers' Program (YRP), and as chair and representative of the IEEE-RAS Young Professionals Committee. He has been serving as a member of scientific advisory committee and as an associate editor for several international journals and conferences such as IEEE RAL, ICRA, IROS, ICORR, etc.
His main research interests are in physical human-robot interaction, mobile manipulation, robust and adaptive control, assistive robotics, and tele-robotics.
You can find Dr. Ajoudani's talk on our YouTube channel.
