Smriti Chopra
PhD, Swarm Robotics
PhD, Swarm Robotics
I am a recent graduate of the Georgia Institute of
Technology. I received a Ph.D degree in Electrical and Computer
Engineering, while working at the Georgia Robotics and Intelligent Systems
(GRITS) lab, with Magnus Egerstedt as my advisor. My research focused on
multi-agent robotics, and in particular, routing algorithms for large teams of
mobile robots.
I received an MS degree in Electrical and Computer
Engineering from Georgia Tech, and a BTech degree in Electronics and Communications
from the Manipal Institute of Technology, India. It was during my undergraduate
studies, at one of our many college technical festivals, that I discovered my
fascination with robotics, and decided to set off for the US, to
pursue a more formal education.
Besides spending hours figuring out “swarming” algorithms for robots, I love discovering old bookstores, reading novels at local coffee shops, playing pool in dusty taverns, exploring new cities and hijacking pianos at hotel lobbies to play a tune or two.
SPATIO-TEMPORAL ROUTING
Spatio-temporal routing requires multiple robots to visit
spatial locations at specified time instants, while optimizing certain criteria
like the total distance traveled, or the total energy consumed. In our
research, we analyze spatio-temporal routing under various constraints specific
to multi-robot applications.
We consider music as an intuitive medium for demonstrating
the spatio-temporal theme of our work. For instance, consider a person
presented with the task of playing a particular piano piece. The sheet music
for such a piece acts as a set of instructions for the person, providing
information on which piano notes need playing at which time instants. However, the
person needs to figure out “how” to play the piece, for example, decide which
finger goes where, or how many fingers should be used. Drawing inspiration from
such notions, we use spatio-temporal requests as a high level instruction set
for multiple robots, and analyze the ensuing routing problem under different
constraints specific to multi-robot applications.
PUBLICATION JOURNALS
Distributed Dynamic Spatio-Temporal Routing
Automatica 2015 (to be submitted)
S. Chopra, M. Rice, and M. Egerstedt
Spatio-Temporal Multi-Robot Routing
Automatica 2014
S. Chopra and M. Egerstedt
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
A Multi-Robot Orchestra: Dynamic Spatio-Temporal Routing
IEEE American Control Conference (ACC) 2016 (to be submitted)
S. Chopra, M. Rice, and M. Egerstedt
Heterogeneous Multi-Robot Routing
IEEE American Control Conference (ACC) 2014
S. Chopra and M. Egerstedt
Multi-Robot Routing under Connectivity Constraints
IFAC Workshop on Networked Systems 2012
S. Chopra and M. Egerstedt
Multi-Robot Routing for Servicing Spatio-Temporal Requests: A Musically Inspired Problem
IFAC Conference on Analysis and Design of Hybrid Systems 2012
S. Chopra and M. Egerstedt
Using Floating-Gate Based Programmable Analog Arrays for Real-Time Control of a Game-Playing Robot
IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man & Cybernetics 2011
S. Koziol, D. Lenz, S. Hilsenbeck, S. Chopra, P. Hasler, and A. Howard
Media coverage of the hardware realization of my research a.k.a. the “Music Wall”
A sample set of related web articles:
Tiny Swarm Robots play
Beethoven, Wired
Swarm Robots Perform
Classical Scores, Engadget
Robots Swarm for Beethoven,
Spiegel
When Machines See (Video
Bonus), Smithsonian
A representative profile of different programs, projects and assignments that I was involved in, besides research.
Co-FOUNDER & LEAD DEVELOPER | Motorpsych
A startup aimed at providing software tools (RoboTools) for
designing, monitoring and interfacing with large-sale teams of mobile robots,
using human-swarm interaction theory.
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEAD |
I-Corps
An 8-weeks long program organized by the National Science
Foundation (NSF) for encouraging commercialization of technology developed in
academic labs.
TEACHING ASSISTANT | Control
of Mobile Robots
A 7 weeks long Coursera Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)
taught by Magnus Egerstedt and attended by over 40,000 students worldwide. I
would manage the 24/7 lecture forums, and conduct video “Glue Lectures” that
would summarize each weeks teachings, delve deeper into choice topics and help
prepare the students for quizzes.
TEAMMATE | Innovative Robotic Projects
In particular, two fun projects that I was a part of at
Georgia Tech. First, “Popshot” – an automated
canned drink launcher and second, “Robotic Tower of Hanoi” – A game playing autonomous robot, which
resulted in the following publication:
Using Floating-Gate Based
Programmable Analog Arrays for Real-Time Control of a Game-Playing
CO-CREATOR | Control-Theoretic Swarm Joysticks
GRITSLab won second
place in the IEEE Control Systems Society Video
Clip Contest
VOLUNTEER | National
Robotics Week
Showed off our lab and demos to a bunch of young
and eager budding roboticists.
