Human-Aware Aerial Collaborative Transportation and Manipulation of Payloads using Micro Quadrotors
Abstract: Teams of aerial robots can assist humans in completing several complex or dangerous tasks. For instance, aerial robots can physically collaborate with each other or with human operators to transport or manipulate objects for tasks like search and rescue, construction, package delivery, etc. However, physical human-robot interaction with aerial robots remains relatively under-explored compared to ground robots. Moreover, aerial robots show additional flexibility and maneuverability brought by their 3D mobility and small size. Hence, in this talk, I will first present some recent results on novel perception, planning, and control methods to enable a team of aerial robots to collaboratively manipulate a payload. Further, I will show how to exploit the dynamic system structure to incorporate the human into the system. The method empowers the aerial robot team to collaborate with a human to manipulate a payload in any direction, including rotation. The talk will conclude with a discussion of the future research directions in this area and the potential impact of this research on various applications.
Bio: Guanrui Li earned his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering at New York University, USA, with a focus on robotics and aerial systems. Prior to Ph.D., He obtained his Bachelor degree in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China, where he was recognized as an Honors Undergraduate, and his Master degree in Robotics from the GRASP Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. His research is centered on the dynamics, planning, and control of robotics systems, with applications in aerial transportation and manipulation, as well as human-robot collaboration. Guanrui has an extensive publication record in top-tier robotics conferences and journals like ICRA, RA-L, and T-RO, and his work has garnered attention in various media, including IEEE Spectrum and the Discovery Channel. He also received several notable recognitions, including the NSF CPS Rising Stars in 2023, the Outstanding Deployed System Paper Award finalist at 2022 IEEE ICRA, and the 2022 Dante Youla Award for Graduate Research Excellence at NYU.
Zoom Link: https://wpi.zoom.us/s/92946413217