Speaker: Andrew Vardy, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Title: Minimalist Robot Controllers for Planar Construction
4/16/24 – 2pm in WEB L102

Abstract: The Bio-Inspired Robotics Lab (BOTS) at Memorial University has been working to develop robotic swarms that can modify their environments.  Potential applications range from household cleaning to clearing sea ice from shipping channels.  In the planar construction task, mobile robots manipulate ambient objects into a desired shape.  In this talk, I will review our recent research on planar construction and related problems.  I will also provide a preview of a new approach that makes use of a minimalist robot controller.

Bio: Andrew Vardy is a Professor of Computer Science and Computer Engineering at Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Canada. He received his PhD in Computer Science in 2005 from Carleton University, Canada and his M.Sc in Evolutionary & Adaptive Systems in 2000 from the University of Sussex, United Kingdom. His main research interests are swarm robotics, visual robot navigation, and autonomous underwater vehicles