Speaker: Pratap Tokekar Affiliation: University of Maryland Location: Innovation Center, Room 1400 Time: Friday 10/18/2019 (2:20 - 3:10pm) Abstract: A connected network of robots and smart sensors can solve grand challenges in domains such as agronomy, oceanography, and infrastructure monitoring. Robots can collect data from hard-to-reach places at unprecedented spatio-temporal scales. In this talk, I will present our recent work on devising efficient algorithms for data collection with heterogeneous robot teams. We will use tools from stochastic optimization, Bayesian statistics, combinatorial optimization, and information theory to design these algorithms. I will present our experiments results on bridge inspection with aerial robots, precision agriculture with aerial and ground robots, monitoring marine environments with aerial robots and robotic boats. I will conclude by discussing our recent efforts that aim to bridge the gap between algorithmic and field robotics. Bio --- Pratap Tokekar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Maryland. Between 2015 and 2019, he was an Assistant Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the GRASP lab of University of Pennsylvania. He obtained his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota in 2014 and Bachelor of Technology degree in Electronics and Telecommunication from College of Engineering Pune, India in 2008. He is a recipient of the NSF CISE Research Initiation Initiative award and an Associate Editor for the IEEE Robotics & Automation Letters and Transactions of Automation Science & Engineering.