Introduction

Our lab focuses on the research and development of Robotics Technologies for Smart Cities. The research fields include autonomous robot navigation, spatial AI, machine learning, monitoring, inspection, control, and rehabilitation for smart cities and civil infrastructures. We also deal with big data informatics supporting sensing, analysis, and design activities needed to construct and operate smart and sustainable built environments.

Research Interests

Autonomous Robot Navigation

  • Vision, LiDAR, magnetic field, beacon-based SLAM (Simultaneous Localization And Mapping)
  • Autonomous navigation of mobile robots, drones, legged robots, swarm robots, self-driving cars
  • Optimal path planning and autonomous exploration
  • Locomotion control of legged robots
  • Indoor positioning in disaster situations
  • Localization in GNSS-denied environments
  • Underground localization

Spatial Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

  • Deep learning and machine learning for spatial AI: DNN (Deep neural networks), Bio-inspired NN, Spiking NN, etc.
  • Computational intelligence: Evolutionary computation, Neural networks, Fuzzy logic
  • Applications: Gesture recognition for HRI (Robot-Human Interaction), Object recognition

Intelligent Robots

  • 3D environment sensing & perception: Autonomous 3D map-building
  • 3D robot navigation: 3D localization, obstacle avoidance, and path planning
  • Fault detection based on 3D map-matching

Monitoring and Inspection for Smart Cities

  • Structural health monitoring (SHM) using robotics techniques (Vision, LRF) 
  • Localization and navigation of smart vehicles for structural inspection

Environmental Robotics

  • Ubiquitous robot design for environmental inspection and surveillance
  • Eco-systematic robot design: Rechargeable during its working, Power reproduction mechanism, etc.
  • Environmental rehabilitation robot: Automatic pollution detection and purification by using manipulation and mobility

Research Directions

New & Different, World First!

  • Do what others do not.
  • Don’t do what others are already done well and much.
  • Dig up the same well (Invest more than 10 years in one research topic).
  • Convergence with various fields (Discovery of various application fields based on in-depth research).

Fun & Impactive

  • Set up an interesting topic to work on.
  • Research with high social contribution (impactful).
  • Research to reduce the wealth (rich-poor) gap pursue the public interest.
  • Practical things that can be linked to industrialization (Economic and technological ripple effect).