I am an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Robotics Engineering Department at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).   I earned my PhD in Robotics from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where I was a member of the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines (IRIM).
My research focuses on solving fundamental challenges for autonomous robots to operate in unstructured and dynamic real-world settings. I have several years of experience in industry as an embedded systems engineer that informs my research, teaching, and service. I regularly teach undergraduate and graduate level courses and laboratories in the areas of Robotics, Mechatronics, Controls, and Embedded Systems.

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Jul '22

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Mar '14

Jun '13

My current research is focused on safety-critical motion planning and control of underactuated robotic systems, while providing formal guarantees on their performance in the presence of modeling uncertainties and disturbances. The list of publications is provided below.

Keywords: underactuated system, robust control Lyapunov function, adaptive concurrent learning, quadratic program

Keywords: Riccati equation, optimal least squares (OLS) algorithm, robust control

Keywords: robust control Lyapunov function, adaptive function approximation, robust control barrier function, quadratic programs, underactuated robotics

Keywords: sliding mode control, indirect adaptive estimation, direct adaptive control, underactuated robotics

Keywords: sum-of-squares (SOS) optimization, semidefinite programming (SDP), robust control, underactuated robotics

Keywords: path planning, parallel programming, harmonic potential fields, rubber band model, GPU

Keywords: time-varying LQR, brachiation, underactuated robotics

Keywords: mechanical design, brachiation

Keywords: trajectory optimization, high-fidelity dynamic modeling, brachiation, underactuated robotics

Keywords: inverse kinematics, evolutionary algorithms, serial manipulators, parallel computing, Denavit-Hartenberg

Keywords: inverse kinematics, parallel computing, serial manipulators, Denavit-Hartenberg, POSIX threads

I regularly teach undergraduate and graduate level courses and laboratories in the areas of Robotics, Mechatronics, Controls, and Embedded Systems. The list of recently developed courses is provided below.

Fall 2021, Spring 2022, WPI

This course is concerned with fundamentals of robotics. Topics include forward and inverse kinematics, velocity kinematics, introduction to dynamics and control theory, sensors, actuators, probabilistic robotics, fundamentals of robotic vision, and robot ethics. Concepts in these subjects will be applied to robot manipulators and mobile robots. In addition, Robot Operating System (ROS) will be covered, and the concepts learned will be verified using realistic simulators.

Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, WPI

This course explores the coupling between control theory and robotics through a balance of theory and application, and provides an in-depth coverage of control design for robotic manipulators and mobile robots. Topics include modeling of robot dynamics, linear and nonlinear control of robotic systems, robust and adaptive control, control of underactuated robots, and state-of-the-art advanced control concepts. Course projects will emphasize modeling, simulation and practical implementation of control systems for robotic applications.

Fall 2022, WPI

This course introduces students to robotics within manufacturing systems. Topics include: classification of robots, robot kinematics, motion generation and transmission, end-effectors, motion accuracy, sensors, safety systems, robot control and automation. The course is a combination of lecture, laboratory and project work, and utilizes industrial robots and programmable logic controllers (PLCs). Through the laboratory work, students will become familiar with robotic programming (using a robotic programming language RAPID), the robotic teaching mode, and PLC programming. The experimental component of the laboratory exercise measures the motion and positioning capabilities of robots as a function of several robotic variables and levels, and it includes the use of experimental design techniques.

Spring 2023, WPI

The focus of this course is on robotic arms and robotic manipulation, i.e. the coordinated motion of multiple actuators to execute complex manipulation tasks in the physical space. Topics of position and velocity kinematics will be discussed, and fundamental concepts of robot dynamics and control will be introduced. Additional course topics include motion planning and trajectory generation, vision-based tracking, error sources and propagation. The theoretical methods learned in the classroom will be applied during practical laboratory sessions, which will culminate in the construction and programming of a 3 DoF robotic manipulator. The necessary concepts for robot programming will be introduced in MATLAB and C++.

Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Georgia Tech and edX (co-developed with Jonathan Rogers)

In this course, students learn to harness the power of microcontrollers, sensors, and actuators to build useful and interesting robotic devices.

Spring 2018, Georgia Tech

Dynamic modeling and simulation of systems with mechanical, hydraulic, thermal, and/or electrical elements. Frequency response analysis, stability, and feedback control design of dynamic systems.

This template is a modification to Jon Barron's website.