{"688037":{"#nid":"688037","#data":{"type":"event","title":"PhD Proposal by Bogdan Vlahov","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETitle:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;Advancing Stochastic Trajectory Optimization to Achieve Human-Level Capabilities\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDate: \u003C\/strong\u003EMonday, February 16,\u0026nbsp;2026\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETime: \u003C\/strong\u003E9:30AM - 10:30AM ET\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELocation: \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003ECODA 1215 Midtown\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EVirtual Link:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gatech.zoom.us\/j\/99310170679\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022https:\/\/gatech.zoom.us\/j\/99310170679\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/gatech.zoom.us\/j\/99310170679\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMeeting ID:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E993 1017 0679\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPasscode:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E9088308\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBogdan Vlahov\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPh.D. Robotics Student\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommittee:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Evangelos Theodorou (Advisor)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Aerospace Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Glen Chou\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Aerospace Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u00b7\u0026nbsp; Dr. Frank Dellaert\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Interactive Computing\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Lu Gan\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Aerospace Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Animesh Garg\u003Cbr\u003EDepartment of Interactive Computing\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u00b7\u0026nbsp; Georgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u00b7\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbstract:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOver the past several years, optimization has become a crucial component to our daily lives. With a focus on stochastic trajectory optimization, \u0026nbsp;a variety of methods to improve the current state-of-the-art and achieve human-like capabilities in the field of autonomous off-road driving are presented. These methods include a new sampling distribution for the Model Predictive Path Integral (MPPI) algorithm, a software library for MPPI that provides control task flexibility and improved performance, and a new hierarchical planning architecture that takes into account dynamical uncertainty, perceptual uncertainty, and approximation biases. These methods have been tested in real-time hardware applications with great success. Finally, new adaptation schemes to better balance the differences between the different planners as well as machine learning techniques to improve the tuning of the cost function and controller for autonomous driving will be proposed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAdvancing Stochastic Trajectory Optimization to Achieve Human-Level Capabilities\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Advancing Stochastic Trajectory Optimization to Achieve Human-Level Capabilities"}],"uid":"27707","created_gmt":"2026-02-05 13:48:51","changed_gmt":"2026-02-05 13:49:23","author":"Tatianna Richardson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2026-02-16T09:30:00-05:00","event_time_end":"2026-02-16T10:30:00-05:00","event_time_end_last":"2026-02-16T10:30:00-05:00","gmt_time_start":"2026-02-16 14:30:00","gmt_time_end":"2026-02-16 15:30:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2026-02-16 15:30:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"location":"CODA 1215 Midtown","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":""}}}