I will discuss the challenges of autonomy, especially for autonomous flight in environments with obstacles in the absence of GPS. I will discuss our approaches to state estimation and perception-action loops for high speed navigation. Finally, I will highlight opportunities in artificial intelligence and limitations with current approaches in AI for autonomy.
Vijay Kumar is the Nemirovsky Family Dean of Penn Engineering with appointments in the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, Computer and In formation Science, and Electrical and Systems Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He served as the assistant director of robotics and cyber physical systems at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (2012 – 2014) and is the founder of Exyn Technologies, a company that develops solutions for autonomous flight. Dr. Kumar is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2003), a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (2005) and a member of the Nat ional Academy of Engineering (2013). Among his recent awards are the 2012 World Technology Network award, a 2013 Popular Science Breakthrough Award, a 2014 Engelberger Robotics Award, the 2017 IEEE Robotics and Automation Society George Saridis Leadership Award in Robotics and Automation and the 2017 ASME Robert E. Abbott Award.