Enabling autonomous robots to access, navigate and broadly operate with trust and reliability in any type industrial or natural environment represents a strenuous challenge. Motivated by this fact, this talk focuses on methods and systems - in perception, planning and learning - toward instilling resilient autonomy across diverse robot configurations. A host of results from field experiments, and the associated lessons learned, will also be presented with a particular focus on exploration and other informative planning tasks.
Kostas Alexis is Full Professor at the Department of Engineering Cybernetics of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Highlights of his research include leading Team CERBERUS winning the DAPRA Subterranean Challenge and a host of contributions in the domain of resilient robotic autonomy – in perception, planning and control. Earlier research includes contributions in setting the endurance world-record for UAVs in the below 50kg class with AtlantikSolar flying continuously for 81.5 hours. Since becoming professor, initially in the US and then in Norway, he has been the PI for a host of grants from NSF, DARPA, NASA, DOE, USDA, Horizon Europe, the Research Council of Norway and other public and private sources.
