LCSR Seminar: Zac Manchester

Description

Zac Manchester, an assistant professor of robotics at Carnegie Mellon University, will give a talk titled "Numerical Methods for Things That Move" for the Laboratory for Computational Sensing + Robotics.

Abstract:

Recent advances in motion planning and control have led to dramatic successes like SpaceX's autonomous rocket landings and Boston Dynamics' humanoid robot acrobatics. However, the underlying numerical methods used in these applications are typically decades old, are not tuned for high performance on control problems, and are often unable to cope with the types of optimization problems that arise naturally in modern robotics applications like locomotion, manipulation, and autonomous driving. This talk will focus on numerical optimization tools built explicitly to solve such challenging motion planning and control problems at real-time rates to enable robotic systems that move with the same agility, efficiency, and safety as humans and animals. I'll also highlight recent applications including humanoid robots, quantum computers, and satellite swarms.