{"687057":{"#nid":"687057","#data":{"type":"event","title":"PhD Proposal by Milad Azizkhani","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETitle:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EModeling, Planning, and Control of Multi-Section Soft Robots for Contact-Rich Manipulation and Field Deployment\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDate:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EJanuary 9, 2026\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETime:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E12:30 pm - 2:30 pm\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELocation:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EU.A. Whitaker Building, Room 1103\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EVirtual Link:\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gatech.zoom.us\/j\/99673924445?pwd=8RJl8nuCBzZRwmiz8NuhhapQ9hwi6v.1\u0022 title=\u0022https:\/\/gatech.zoom.us\/j\/99673924445?pwd=8RJl8nuCBzZRwmiz8NuhhapQ9hwi6v.1\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EZoom\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EMeeting ID: 996 7392 4445\u003Cbr\u003EPasscode: 753360\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMilad Azizkhani\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EPh.D. Student, Robotics\u003Cbr\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003Cbr\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommittee:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EDr. Yue Chen (Advisor)\u003Cbr\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003Cbr\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Nader Sadegh\u003Cbr\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003Cbr\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Ye Zhao\u003Cbr\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003Cbr\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Shreyas Kousik\u003Cbr\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003Cbr\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Isuru Godage\u003Cbr\u003EEngineering Technology \u0026amp; Industrial Distribution\u003Cbr\u003ETexas A\u0026amp;M University\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbstract:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003ESoft robots were introduced to enable safe interaction, continuous deformation, and adaptability in unstructured environments where rigid robots are limited. While these properties make soft robots attractive for field and manipulation tasks, they also introduce challenges associated with nonlinear, high-dimensional dynamics and computationally expensive modeling, which hinder real-time implementation. As a result, much of the existing work has focused on isolated components such as modeling, design, or sensing, rather than addressing the end-to-end requirements necessary for reliable field deployment, while contact interactions have remained largely unexplored within soft-robot planning and control frameworks. This proposal focuses on the synergistic development of modeling and control methods that complement one another to enable real-time, stable, and high-speed operation of multi-section soft robots. Efficient reduced-order models are paired with control formulations that explicitly account for the robots\u2019 geometry and kinematic structure, enabling reliable task-space execution with high success rates. Building on these developments, the proposal further extends the same modeling and control foundations toward contact-aware planning, where interaction with the environment can be intentionally leveraged to enhance manipulation capabilities. By unifying real-time deployability with contact-aware planning under a consistent modeling perspective, this work advances soft robots toward practical and effective use in real-world applications.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EModeling, Planning, and Control of Multi-Section Soft Robots for Contact-Rich Manipulation and Field Deployment\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Modeling, Planning, and Control of Multi-Section Soft Robots for Contact-Rich Manipulation and Field Deployment"}],"uid":"27707","created_gmt":"2026-01-05 15:17:34","changed_gmt":"2026-01-05 15:18:11","author":"Tatianna Richardson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2026-01-09T12:30:00-05:00","event_time_end":"2026-01-09T14:30:00-05:00","event_time_end_last":"2026-01-09T14:30:00-05:00","gmt_time_start":"2026-01-09 17:30:00","gmt_time_end":"2026-01-09 19:30:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2026-01-09 19:30:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"location":"U.A. Whitaker Building, Room 1103","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":"78771","name":"Public"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}