AIM2024 Workshop

ABSTRACT:

While robotics and AI are rapidly changing the landscape of jobs and work, there are numerous obstacles to overcome to establish new industries and job roles, all while striving to improve productivity and the overall quality of work life. This workshop is designed to bring together individuals involved in robotics across various sectors. Its goal is to facilitate discussions on cutting-edge robotics research, including topics like human-robot collaboration, motion planning and control, and artificial intelligence. By examining these advancements, we seek to understand how robotics and AI will impact future work across industries such as manufacturing, construction, transportation, warehousing, and more. Through collaborative exploration and discussion, the workshop aims to shed light on the potential implications of these technologies for the workforce of tomorrow.

TENTATIVE PROGRAM:

SPEAKERS:

Ben Armstrong, Executive Director and Research Scientist

MIT’s Industrial Performance Center

Title: Why Automation Fails: Barriers to Robot Adoption in Manufacturing.

Bio: Ben Armstrong is the executive director of MIT’s Industrial Performance Center, where he co-leads the Work of the Future initiative. His research examines how workers, firms, and regions adapt to technological change. His current projects include a working group on generative AI, as well as a book on American manufacturing competitiveness. His work has been published or featured in academic and popular outlets including the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Sloan Management Review, Times Higher Education, the Boston Review, Daedalus, and Economic Development Quarterly. He received his PhD from MIT and formerly worked at Google Inc.

Jingang Yi, Professor

Rutgers University

Title: Wearable Safety Sensing and Knee Assistive Exoskeletons for Construction Workers

Bio: Professor Jingang Yi received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Zhejiang University in 1993, the M.Eng. degree in precision instruments from Tsinghua University in 1996, and the M.A. degree in mathematics and the Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2001 and 2002, respectively. He is currently a Full Professor in mechanical engineering and Peter D. Cherasia Faculty Scholar at Rutgers University. His research interests include physical human-robot interactions, autonomous robotic and vehicle systems, mechatronics, dynamic systems and control, automation science and engineering. Prof. Yi is a Fellow of ASME and a Senior Member of IEEE. He has received several awards, including the 2018 Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Invitational Fellowship for Research, 2017 Rutgers Chancellor’s Scholars, 2014 ASCE Charles Pankow Award for Innovation, the 2013 Rutgers Board of Trustees Research Fellowship for Scholarly Excellence, and the 2010 NSF CAREER Award. He has coauthored several best papers in IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering and at IEEE/ASME AIM, ASME DSCC, and IEEE ICRA, etc. He currently serves as a Senior Editor for IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering and Editor-in-Chief of Conference Editorial Board for IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE). He also served as Associate Editor of IFAC journals Control Engineering Practice, Mechatronics, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, and ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control and a Senior Editor of IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.

Taskin Padir, Professor

Northeastern University

Title: Experiential Robotics for Accelerating the Future of Work

Bio: Taskin Padir holds concurrent positions as a Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Northeastern University, and an Amazon Scholar. He received his PhD and MS degrees from Purdue University. He is the Founding Director of the Institute for Experiential Robotics at Northeastern University. His research focuses on shared autonomy, human-in-the-loop robotics, embodied AI, and human-robot teaming at the extremes.

Jonathon E. Slightam, Senior Technical Staff

Sandia National Laboratories

Title: Data-driven and Physics Informed AI approaches for Manipulation

Bio: Jonathon E. Slightam is a roboticist at Sandia National Laboratories and leverages physics informed AI for next generation robot manipulation applications. His work at Sandia is aimed to create novel solutions for manipulation problems having rich contact dynamics, which can enable real-world applications such as disaster response and waste cleanup.

Ellen Mazumdar, Assistant Professor

Georgia Institute of Technology

Title: Additive Manufacturing for Electromagnetic Actuators and Mechatronic Systems.

Bio: Dr. Ellen Mazumdar is an Assistant Professor at Georgia Tech in the School of Mechanical Engineering with a courtesy appointment in the School of Aerospace Engineering. She graduated with her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from MIT and was a postdoc at Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She currently leads the Sensing Technologies Laboratory, which focuses on developing new sensor and actuator topologies, mechatronic systems, and diagnostic techniques. She is a recipient of the ORAU Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award and the AFOSR Young Investigator Award. Her group has received multiple best paper awards, including a best paper award at the 2023 IEEE/ASME Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM) conference.

Hao Su, Associate Professor

North Carolina State University

Title: AI-Powered Soft Wearable Robots for Augmenting and Restoring Human Performance.

Bio: Dr. Hao Su, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at North Carolina State University. He is also a faculty at the Joint UNC/NCSU Department of Biomedical Engineering. He is the Director of Biomechatronics and Intelligent Robotics Lab, which brings together researchers from engineering, computer science, apparel, biomechanics, and physical therapy to develop and translate new disruptive robotic technologies for rehabilitation and surgery. He is a Switzer Research Distinguished Fellow of the Department of Health and Human Services. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard University and Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. Before this role, he was a Research Scientist at Philips Research North America, designing robots for lung and cardiac surgery. Dr. Su received the NSF CAREER Award, Best Paper in Mechatronics, the Best Medical Robotics Paper (Runner-up) Award at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, and the Philips Innovation Transfer Award. He is a principal investigator of grants sponsored by NSF, two NIH R01, National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDLRR), and Toyota Mobility Foundation.

Yufeng (Kevin) Chen, Associate Professor

MIT

Title: Muscle-like Soft Actuators for Human-robot Interaction

Bio: Kevin Chen is an associate professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT. He earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University and undergraduate degree from Cornell University. His research interests include developing high power soft actuators and building biomimetic robots that embody animal-like agility and robustness. Dr. Chen is a recipient of the NSF CAREER award, the Steven Vogel Young Investigator Award, and the Ruth and Joel Spira Teaching Excellence Award. He also received multiple best paper awards within the robotics community (TRO 2021, RAL 2020, IROS 2015).

Kamal Youcef-Toumi, Professor

MIT

Title: AI or Human Brain: Who will lead the future of Intelligence?

Bio: Kamal Youcef-Toumi is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is Co-Director of the Center for Complex Systems at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) Saudi Arabia and MIT, Director of the Ibn Khaldun Fellowship Program for Saudi Arabian Women, and Director of the MIT Mechatronics Research Laboratory. He earned his M.S. and Sc.D. degrees from MIT. Youcef-Toumi’s research has focused primarily on modeling, design, control theory, and learning techniques with fast adaptation, and systems intelligence. The applications include robotics, automation, intelligent systems with artificial intelligence, metrology, and nanoscale video imaging. He made significant contributions to MIT’s international research and education collaborations, including Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates. He served on many professional committees and as a consultant for several multinationals. He is an IEEE Senior and Life member, an ASME Fellow, and a Fellow of the International Association of Advanced Materials. He served as Editor of several symposia/conference proceedings.

Jordan M. Berg, Program Officer

National Science Foundation

Title: Robots in the Workplace: The NSF After Sunset

Bio: Jordan M. Berg is a Program Officer at the US National Science Foundation since 2014. NSF programs he has been associated with include Foundational Research in Robotics (FRR); Dynamics, Control, and System Diagnostics (DCSD); Mind, Machine, and Motor Nexus (M3X); Future Manufacturing (FM); the Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier (FW-HTF); EFRI C3 Soft Robotics (C3SoRo); EFRI Brain-Inspired Dynamics for Engineering Energy-Efficient Circuits and Artificial Intelligence (BRAID); EFRI Biocomputing through EnGINeering Organoid Intelligence (BEGIN OI); the National Robotics Initiative (NRI); Cyber Physical Systems (CPS); and the National AI Research Institutes (NAIRI). Prior to joining NSF, Dr Berg was professor of Mechanical Engineering at Texas Tech University for 25 years. Dr Berg received the BSE and MSE in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University, and the MS in Mathematics and PhD in Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics from Drexel University. He has held visiting appointments at the US Air Force Research Labs, the Institute for Mathematics and Its Applications at the University of Minnesota, and the Universities of Ruhuna and Peradeniya in Sri Lanka. His research interests include nonlinear control, modeling and control of micro- and nanosystems and material systems, mechatronics, robotics, human-technology interactions, and social and economic consequences of technological innovation.

POSTER LIST:

ORGANIZERS:

Minghui Zheng
Associate Professor
Texas A&M University

Hao Su
Associate Professor
North Carolina State University

Tan Chen
Assistant Professor
Michigan Technological University

Ellen Mazumdar
Assistant Professor
Georgia Institute of Technology

Jingang Yi
Professor
Rutgers University