Research Statement
Robot technology has come a far way from large, unsafe manufacturing machines, to highly sophisticated androids with human-like appearance. Yet, in order for humans and robots to engage in direct physical interaction several requirements have to be met. Among others, robots need to be able to adapt their behavior in order to facilitate the interaction with a human partner. My research is focused on machine learning techniques that allow robots to both improve their motor skills as well as their interaction skills. By observing the behavior of others, robots learn how to cooperate or compete with a human opponent/partner. Because of my background in both computer animation and robotics I generally try to bridge the gap between these two areas and develop innovative hybrid approaches, e.g. use a CAVE virtual environment for training of robots.
Current Position
Postdoctoral Fellow
Educational Background | |||
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2010-2011 | Postdoc | ||
Project: Interaction Learning for Responsive Humanoid Robots | |||
Chair of Virtual Reality and Multimedia, Freiberg, Germany | |||
2006-2010 | Ph.D. Student | ||
supervised by Prof. Bernhard Jung | |||
Chair of Virtual Reality and Multimedia, Freiberg, Germany | |||
Thesis Title: Imitation of Motor Skills for Synthetic Humanoids | |||
2000-2005 | Diploma thesis | ||
supervised by Prof. Ulrich Furbach | |||
University of Koblenz-Landau | |||
Thesis Title: Intelligent Exploration in Evolutionary Algorithms |
Internships | |||
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2009 | JST ERATO ASADA Project | ||
Experiments on Physical Interaction Learning | |||
University of Osaka, Japan | |||
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Minoru Asada, Prof. Hiroshi Ishiguro | |||
2007 | JST ERATO ASADA Project | ||
Imitation Learning Techniques for Android Robots | |||
University of Osaka, Japan | |||
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Minoru Asada, Prof. Hiroshi Ishiguro | |||
2005 | Intelligent Robotics Lab | ||
Neural Control Architecture for an Android Robot | |||
Department of Adaptive Machine Systems | |||
University of Osaka, Japan | |||
Supervisor: Prof. Hiroshi Ishiguro | |||
Awards and Honors | |||
2011 | Bernhard-v.-Cotta Award for Best Dissertation, Technical University Freiberg | ||
2007 | Leisler-Kiep Award, Technical University Freiberg | ||
2003 | Best Student Award, University of Koblenz-Landau |