{"690526":{"#nid":"690526","#data":{"type":"event","title":"PhD Defense by Manisha Natarajan","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETitle: Methods and Models for Robots to Support Variable Human Task Performance\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDate: \u003C\/strong\u003EWednesday, Jun 10th, 2026\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETime: \u003C\/strong\u003E2:00 - 4:00 PM EDT\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELocation: \u003C\/strong\u003EKlaus 2456 (Classroom Wing)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EVirtual Link:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgatech.zoom.us%2Fj%2F97929362994\u0026amp;data=05%7C02%7Ctm186%40gtvault.onmicrosoft.com%7Ccb8bdd1e5c4e44dc4c3408debc295e2d%7C482198bbae7b4b258b7a6d7f32faa083%7C1%7C0%7C639155083051606037%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C\u0026amp;sdata=WgIKcEkJLjZEafb9b5iYHZVq4MdZnGR1bntQAgEFn2c%3D\u0026amp;reserved=0\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/gatech.zoom.us\/j\/97929362994\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EManisha\u0026nbsp;Natarajan\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERobotics PhD Student\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\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommittee:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Matthew Gombolay (Advisor) - School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Sonia Chernova\u0026nbsp;-\u0026nbsp;School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Karen Feigh- School of Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Henny Admoni - The Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Laurel Riek - Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California San Diego\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbstract:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERobots are increasingly deployed in high-stakes collaborative settings where success depends not only on what a robot can do but on how well it can work with people. Human-robot teams hold tremendous potential, yet team performance often degrades due to miscalibrated trust, errors in judgment, and failures in mutual understanding. This dissertation argues that effective robot teammates must model human variability: what people know, how they act, when they trust, and which strategies they pursue. I further argue that the value of such modeling is not uniform but is governed by the structure of the collaborative task itself.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo support this claim, I present five contributions that span the problem of inferring and adapting to humans, from predicting agent motion under partial observability, to tracking how user capabilities evolve, and deciding when and how a robot should intervene or offer support. These contributions examine robotic teammates across a spectrum of collaborative roles: as passive observers, as partners with explicit divisions of labor, as reactive collaborators that intervene dynamically, and as mutual collaborators engaged in joint decision-making. Collectively, my work contributes novel algorithms and empirical insights for designing intelligent, adaptive robot teammates that can support appropriate reliance, improve coordination, and enhance team performance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMethods and Models for Robots to Support Variable Human Task Performance\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Methods and Models for Robots to Support Variable Human Task Performance"}],"uid":"27707","created_gmt":"2026-05-28 12:25:34","changed_gmt":"2026-05-28 12:26:08","author":"Tatianna Richardson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2026-06-10T14:00:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2026-06-10T16:00:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2026-06-10T16:00:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2026-06-10 18:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2026-06-10 20:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2026-06-10 20:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"location":"Klaus 2456 (Classroom Wing)","extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"221981","name":"Graduate Studies"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"100811","name":"Phd Defense"}],"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":""}}}