Mixed-integer Convex Formulations for Planning Nonlinear Dynamics in Complex Environments

Humanoid robots walking across intermittent terrain, robotic arms grasping multifaceted objects, or UAVs darting left or right around a tree" | many of the dynamics and control problems we face today have an inherently combinatorial structure. In this talk, I'll review some recent work on planning and control methods which address this combinatorial structure without sacrificing the rich underlying nonlinear dynamics. I'll present some details of our explorations with mixed-integer convex- and SDP-relaxations applied to hard problems in legged locomotion over rough terrain, grasp optimization, and UAVs flying through highly cluttered environments.
Russ is the X Consortium Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Mechanical Engineering at MIT, the Director of the Center for Robotics at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab, and the leader of Team MIT's entry in the DARPA Robotics Challenge. He is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, the MIT Jerome Saltzer Award for undergraduate teaching, the DARPA Young Faculty Award in Mathematics, the 2012 Ruth and Joel Spira Teaching Award, and was named a Microsoft Research New Faculty Fellow.
Russ received his B.S.E. in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1999, and his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT in 2004, working with Sebastian Seung. After graduation, he joined the MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department as a Postdoctoral Associate. During his education, he has also spent time at Microsoft, Microsoft Research, and the Santa Fe Institute.