Directions of the project (not all are part of the scope of the project, but depending on the progress, this can be varied):

• Development of a simulated tendon driven robotic arm
• Development of a simulated full-humanoid
• Sim-to-real matching with existing hardware
• Compliant interactions modelled in simulation

Useful skills / prior experience to have:

• Using Isaac sim (preferably on complex robots)
• Developing simulated robots
• Software engineering tools (linux, git, python)
• Familiarity with physical hardware

(Planned as a joint project with the CREATE Lab and Embodied AI, however conversion into an industry-led thesis is possible upon discussion.)

• Humanoid teleoperation

As capable humanoid robots become omnipresent, the ability to effectively operate one is a critical step towards putting such systems into performing useful tasks. Teleoperation serves as a key step towards immediate operation of such robots alongside a tool for data collection for learning based controllers.

In this project, you will explore and develop teleoperation interfaces for a lightweight, tendon-driven humanoid robot. Starting from a leader-follower arm design, we will explore the possibilities of other control inputs and feedback mechanisms that can be implemented.

Directions of the project (not all are part of the scope of the project, but depending on the progress, this can be varied):

• Leader-arm style control for a humanoid (two arms, head, torso, wheels base)
• Experiment on teleoperation interfaces (motion capture, velocity input, joysticks, etc)
• Experiment on feedback systems (haptic feedback, vibration, visual, etc)
• Benchmarking and quantitative analysis

Useful skills / prior experience to have:

• Working with real robots (prototyped and purchased)
• Mechatronics prototyping (integrating 3D prints, electronics boards, raspberry pi, etc)

(Planned as a joint project with the CREATE Lab and Embodied AI, however conversion into an industry-led thesis is possible upon discussion.)

• Robot learning

Learning based controllers (specifically those based on imitation learning) present a promising direction towards autonomous applications in real world situations. Despite these advances, robots struggle on a number of fronts: long horizon tasks, recovery, large task adaptations, etc.

For practical deployment, an intermediate step is considered human-supervised semi-autonomy, where a robot is able to execute small segments of autonomous tasks, which are coordinated by a human. In this project, you will explore how to blend cutting edge learning algorithms with teleoperation.

Directions of the project (not all are part of the scope of the project, but depending on the progress, this can be varied):

• Explore state of the art learning based algorithm on real robots
• Implement and experiment on different transition methods between autonomous and teleoperated motion.

Useful skills / prior experience to have:

• Working with real robots (prototyped and purchased)
• Implementation of learning based controllers
• Software and embedded hardware interfacing

(Planned as a joint project with the CREATE Lab and Embodied AI, however conversion into an industry-led thesis is possible upon discussion.)

• Humanoid head development

The head of a humanoid has a unique dual function of practicality and aesthetics/feel. Cameras and other interfaces must be controlled for the robot’s operation, while the subtle motion of the head should communicate its intentions to surrounding humans through its motion (or otherwise).

In this project, you will prototype and iterate on the head of a humanoid robot in development. This includes the two aspects mentioned above. More specifically, you will perform component selection / implementation such as cameras and servo motors that enable the animatronic motions. Furthermore you will explore possible ways of controlling the head in a ‘Disney / star-wars droid’ like movements for effective non-verbal communication.

Useful skills / prior experience to have:

• Working with real robots (prototyped and purchased)
• Mechatronics prototyping (integrating 3D prints, electronics boards, raspberry pi, etc)
• Software and control prototyping

(Planned as an industry-led thesis project, however, conversion into a joint thesis with the CREATE Lab and Embodied A is possible upon discussion.)