Past Events

Deep Learning for Robot Perception and Manipulation Lect. 3

Guest Lecture 3:
Who: Sai Vemprala, Senior Researcher, Microsoft, Seattle
When: Apr 25, 2023, 2:30 pm Central Time
Notable works: ChatGPT for RoboticsLATTePACT

MnRI Research Town Hall



Please join MnRI Director Nikos Papanikolopoulos at this event to discuss research opportunities and how teams can be formulated. 

Deep Learning for Robot Perception and Manipulation Lect. 2

Guest Lecture 2:
Who: Mohit Shridhar, Ph.D. Student, University of Washington, Seattle
When: Mar 23, 2023, 2:30 pm Central Time
Notable works: Perceiver-ActorCLIPortALFRED

Deep Learning for Robot Perception and Manipulation Lect. 1

Guest Lecture 1:
Who: Yu Xiang, Assistant Professor, University of Texas, Dallas
When: Mar 16, 2023, 2:30 pm Central Time
Notable works: PoseCNNDeepIMLatentFusion

MnRI Master In Robotics Program Open House

Prospective Students are invited to explore our Master of Science in Robotics (MSR) Program offered by the Minnesota Robotics Institute and find all information about it.

  • Explore the MSR program and how it can help you achieve your goals.
  • Learn how to apply and what you can do now to get the most out of the program. 
  • Enjoy light refreshments and interact with the director, advisor, and students.

Video Super-resolution for Low Bitrate Streams

Abstract: Presenting a novel model for the joint problems of video super-resolution, removing compression artifacts and overall video enhancement of low-bitrate streams and combining Generative Adversarial Networks with Dynamic Upsampling Filters and a novel progressive training strategy that uses perceptual metrics. Derive real-time models for the cloud and evaluate on publicly available high-resolution datasets.

Bio: Roland Miezianko is a Senior Applied Scientist and Technical Lead at Amazon Grand Challenge, working on computer vision and machine learning models. His projects include the Amazon Glow communication device, Amazon Comprehend Medical NLP medical document entity extraction service, Amazon Care healthcare telepresence, medical knowledge graphs and chatbots, low-level computer vision detection using IR and EO sensors, with model deployment on edge devices and in the cloud. Roland received his Ph.D. from Temple University, where he focused on artificial intelligence software systems and video-based analytics. He received a Master’s degree in CIS from La Salle University and BS in Electrical Engineering from Boston University.

Spring 2023 Student Social Hour

Join faculties and colleagues for coffee and cookies. 

MnRI Colloquium: Kevin Lynch

Title: Human-robot collaborative manipulation

Abstract: Research at the Center for Robotics and Biosystems at Northwestern University includes bio-inspiration, neuromechanics, human-machine systems, and swarm robotics, among other topics.  In this talk, I will give an overview of our work on manipulation, including autonomous robot manipulation, neuroprosthetics to restore human manipulation capability, and human-robot collaborative manipulation.

Biography: Kevin Lynch is a professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Center for Robotics and Biosystems at Northwestern University. His research is on robotic manipulation, locomotion, human-robot systems, and robot swarms. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Robotics, former Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Conference on Robotics and Automation Conference Editorial Board, and coauthor of three textbooks on robotics and mechatronics the instructor of six Coursera online courses forming the Modern Robotics specialization. He received a B.S.E. degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University.

MnRI Colloquium: Joshua Stopek

Image-guided Histotripsy, a novel non-invasive platform for future procedure automation

Abstract:

Histotripsy uses very high amplitude and short pulses (microseconds) of focused ultrasound to induce and control acoustic cavitation in the form of a histotripsy “bubble cloud.” The negative pressure, which can exceed -25MPa in the focal zone, allows the rapid formation and collapse of nano and microbubbles (within the bubble cloud) derived from endogenous gases naturally present in the targeted tissue. As the bubbles within the cloud form and collapse in microseconds, creating mechanical forces strong enough to destroy tissue at cellular and sub-cellular levels without the need for ionizing or thermal energy. An image-guided robotic platform is used to deliver the therapy. HistoSonics is currently focused on developing the broad platform capability to non-invasively treat across the body, initially focused on significant unmet needs in the abdominal and liver. The company is also researching and developing novel image-guided techniques to allow further procedure simulation, planning, and automation over setup and therapy delivery.  This talk will focus on recent research in these areas.

 

Bio:

Dr. Josh Stopek has 20+ years of R&D leadership experience, including a background in developing minimally invasive image-guided technologies, new cancer diagnostic and therapeutic platforms, biomaterial/biosurgery, and combination devices to market. He is currently the Vice President of R&D for HistoSonics, focused on new breakthrough oncology solutions. He formerly led R&D in various business areas at Medtronic, Covidien, and US Surgical. Before that, he was the co-founder and VP of a startup medical device company, VMSI, working on new minimally invasive and tissue regeneration therapies. Dr. Stopek has over 200 issued and pending patents. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida, where he also completed a fellowship in Neurosurgery and Neuroscience.

MnRI Colloquium: Bradley Nelson

Title: The Robotics Part of Micro and Nano Robots

Abstract: Micro and nanorobots have made great strides since becoming a focused research topic over two decades ago. Much of the progress has been in material selection, processing, and fabrication, and paths forward in developing clinically relevant biocompatible and biodegradable micro and nanorobots are becoming clear. Our group, as well as others, maintain that using biocompatible magnetic composites with externally generated magnetic fields and field gradients is perhaps closest to clinical application. One of the most challenging aspects of the field is the development of the magnetic navigation system (MNS) that generates the fields and field gradients needed for microrobot locomotion. In this talk, I will present an overview of MNSs and show how these systems are fundamentally robotic in the way they must be designed and controlled. Decades of work in robotic manipulation can be brought to bear on this problem as we bring MNS technology to the clinic. I will also look at recent efforts in creating more intelligent micro and nanorobots that exhibit increasingly complex behaviors, some of which can even be programmed in situ. The field appears to be on the cusp of realizing the fantastic voyage.

Bio: Brad Nelson is the Professor of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at ETH Zürich and has recently become the Chief Scientific Advisor of Science Robotics. He has over thirty years of experience in the field and has received several awards in robotics, nanotechnology, and biomedicine. He serves on the advisory boards of several academic departments and research institutes across North America, Europe, and Asia. Prof. Nelson has been the Department Head of Mechanical and Process Engineering at ETH twice, the Chairman of the ETH Electron Microscopy Center, and a member of the Research Council of the Swiss National Science Foundation. He also serves on the boards of three Swiss companies and is a member of the Swiss Academy of Engineering (SATW). Before moving to Europe, Nelson worked as an engineer at Honeywell and Motorola and served as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in Botswana, Africa. He has also been a professor at the University of Minnesota and the University of Illinois at Chicago.