From the College of Engineering at Oregon State University, this is "Engineering Out Loud" — a podcast telling the stories of how our research and innovation here are helping change the world out there.
Self-driving cars and planes are in our future. What are we doing to make them safe? Assistant Professor Houssam Abbas uses tiny race cars to test autonomous driving systems. And Oregon State graduate Robert Rose is using his past experience with SpaceX to develop a safe system to automate existing aircraft.
Assistant Professor Houssam Abbas (right) works with students on building a one-tenth scale autonomous race car in the College of Engineering at Oregon State University. Photo by Hannah O'Leary.
What will it take for robot assistants to become more integrated in our daily lives? Assistant Professor Naomi Fitter thinks they’ll need to master the physical aspects of social interactions, while Associate Professor Cindy Grimm cautions against programming them to behave just like us.
Naomi Fitter, assistant professor of robotics, holds Cozmo, a workplace assistant robot programmed to encourage people to take breaks throughout their work day.
Cindy Grimm, associate professor of mechanical engineering, thinks through numerous issues, including privacy, liability, and implicit bias, that need to be considered as robots become a more integrated part of our daily lives.
Will robots someday replace farm workers? Do we want them to? Joe Davidson, assistant professor of robotics, talks about the potential benefits of using robots in agriculture, and what goes into designing the perfect robotic apple picker.
Joe Davidson, assistant professor of robotics (left), and doctoral student Alexander You work with a robotic gripper that mimics the “power grasp” of a human hand.
Why should robots have artificial social intelligence? According to Heather Knight, assistant professor of computer science, if robots are going to help in hospitals or work with people in factories, they will need to be adapted to our social conventions.
Heather Knight and her team in the CHARISMA Robotics Lab at Oregon State are working on developing artificial social intelligence for robots.
For robots to be more useful around people, they’ll need to go where we go. But how? Associate Professor Jonathan Hurst thinks the answer is simple. Walking. But actually making a walking robot is no simple feat.
Jonathan Hurst, associate professor of mechanical engineering and robotics, with Cassie, a bipedal robot created in his lab.
Can we trust artificial intelligence to make good decisions? The answer is a resounding maybe. More and more, society and individuals are entrusting AI to make potentially life-changing decisions. Rather than putting blind trust in the judgment of these remarkable systems, Professor Alan Fern and a team of computer scientists want to reveal their reasoning processes.
Artificial intelligence systems are being entrusted with critical choices that can change lives. Alan Fern, a professor of computer science, wants them to explain themselves.
How do you integrate ethics, policy, and practicality into the design of revolutionary robotics and artificial intelligence systems? Professors Kagan Tumer and Tom Dietterich are collaborating to find out as they help lead the Oregon State Collaborative Robotics and Intelligent Systems Institute.
Professors Kagan Tumer (left) and Tom Dietterich discuss their research at the Collaborative Robotics and Intelligent Systems Institute.
"Engineering Out Loud" is a production of the Oregon State University College of Engineering.
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