{"620481":{"#nid":"620481","#data":{"type":"event","title":"PhD Proposal by Ching-An Cheng","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETitle:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;Efficient and Principled Robot Learning:\u0026nbsp;Theory and Algorithms\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EChing-An Cheng\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERobotics PhD student\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of\u0026nbsp;Interactive Computing\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDate:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;Tuesday, April 30, 2019\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETime:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;1:00pm - 3:00pm (EST)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELocation:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;CCB 340\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommittee:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDr. Byron Boots (advisor), School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDr. Seth Hutchinson, School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDr. Karen Liu, School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDr. Evangelos Theodorou, School of Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDr. Geoff Gordon, Microsoft Research and Machine Learning Department, Carnegie Mellon University\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbstract:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERoboticists have long envisioned fully-automated robots that can operate reliably in unstructured environments. This is an exciting but extremely di\ufb03cult\u0026nbsp;problem; in order to succeed, robots must reason about sequential decisions and their consequences in face of uncertainty. As a result, in practice, the engineering e\ufb00ort required to build reliable robotic systems is both demanding and expensive. This research aims to provide a set of techniques for efficient and principled robot learning. It tackles this challenge from a theoretical perspective, in order to provide a panoramic perspective on the underlying di\ufb03culties and indicate systematic directions for improvement. A better theoretical formulation for system design, that more closely integrates analysis and practical needs, is a key to address current de\ufb01ciencies. Here these theoretical principles are applied to design better algorithms in three important aspects of robot learning: policy optimization, uncertainty modeling, and development of structural policies. It uses and extends online learning,\u0026nbsp;optimization, and control theory, and is demonstrated on applications including reinforcement and imitation learning, Gaussian process learning, and integrated motion planning and control. A shared feature across this research is the reciprocal interaction between the development of practical algorithms and the advancement of abstract analyses. Real-world challenges force the rethinking of proper theoretical formulations, which in turn lead to re\ufb01ned analyses and new algorithms that can rigorously leverage these insights to achieve better performance.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Efficient and Principled Robot Learning: Theory and Algorithms"}],"uid":"27707","created_gmt":"2019-04-16 17:26:26","changed_gmt":"2019-04-16 17:26:26","author":"Tatianna Richardson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2019-04-30T14:00:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2019-04-30T16:00:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2019-04-30T16:00:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2019-04-30 18:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2019-04-30 20:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2019-04-30 20:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"221981","name":"Graduate Studies"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"102851","name":"Phd proposal"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1788","name":"Other\/Miscellaneous"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78761","name":"Faculty\/Staff"},{"id":"78771","name":"Public"},{"id":"174045","name":"Graduate students"},{"id":"78751","name":"Undergraduate students"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}