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GRASP on Robotics: Shai Revzen, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, “Multi-legged slipping is simpler than you think”
March 4, 2022 at 10:30 AM - 11:45 AM
Multi-contact sliding mechanics in general and multilegged slipping in particular have long been considered difficult to model. As a consequence roboticists have avoided building multilegged systems and designing motion plans which include intentional slipping. I present a series of experiments and mathematical advances that demonstrate how these problems become easier with more contacts. These advances have allowed us to create fast learning algorithms that identify highly predictive models for the interaction physics of multi-contact gaits from a few dozen cycles of motion. The consequences are multifold: gait optimization algorithms for slipping and soft robots, speeding up simulations from linear to logarithmic dependence in the planning horizon, a deeper understanding of the relationship between Coulomb and Viscous friction, and perhaps some tantalizing hints as to the evolutionary origins of animals’ motor control. The work presented was funded by the NSF CMMI 1825918, ARO W911NF-14-1-0573, ARO W911NF-17-1-0306, and the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Michigan-Israel Partnership for Research and Education Autonomous Systems Mega-Project.
Shai Revzen
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Shai Revzen is an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in the College of Engineering of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He also holds a courtesy faculty appointment in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and positions in the Robotics Institute and the Applied Physics Program. Currently, he is also a Visiting Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering in the Technion, Israel. He received his PhD in Integrative Biology from Berkeley, and a B.Sc. and M.Sc. from Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He did his postdoctoral work here, in the GRASP Laboratory of the University of Pennsylvania. Shai is also CSO of Acculine, an Israeli biomedical technology start-up. In his spare time he is in the second year of law school, studying toward a JD at Wayne State University.