Where are the Field Robots?
Date: December 6, 2024 @ 3:00-4:00PM | Location: Gates B1 | Speaker: Girish Chowdhary | Affiliation: UIUC
Abstract:
Rapid advances in generative AI, reinforcement learning, and supervised learning have indeed transformed robotics across many industries. One domain that remains within reach, but still elusive, is when robots need to operate autonomously in harsh, dynamic, and unpredictable field environments over long durations. Cracking this domain is critical for solving some of the most pressing problems in sustainability, agriculture, and climate resilience. For instance, teams of autonomous robots hold the potential to address key challenges in modernizing agriculture. Yet, fully autonomous robots that operate without supervision for weeks, months, or for a whole growing season are not yet practical. In this talk I will outline a vision for the future of field robotics, highlighting key breakthroughs designed that advance robot AI without sacrificing reliability and practicality. I will explore advances in visual navigation, self-supervised learning, and robot onboard AI for increasing levels of autonomy. I will also discuss innovations in soft robotics for manipulation in cluttered environments. I will also share our progress in commercializing these technologies to benefit agriculture and solar energy industries through entrepreneurial activities. Including creating innovative products in high-throughput phenotyping, disease and pest monitoring, under-canopy cover crop planting for soil regeneration, automated spraying in orchard and tree crops for small and large farmers, and automating operations and maintenance in large solar farms.
Bio:
Girish Chowdhary is an associate professor and Donald Biggar Willet Faculty Fellow at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the director of the Field Robotics Engineering and Science Hub (FRESH) at UIUC and the Director of the USDA/NIFA Farm of the Future. Girish holds a joint appointment with Agricultural and Biological Engineering and Computer Science, he is a member of the UIUC Coordinated Science Lab. Girish earned his PhD from Georgia Tech (2010) and conducted postdoctoral research at MIT’s Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS). He previously worked at the German Aerospace Center's (DLR's) Institute of Flight Systems, and served as an Assistant Professor at Oklahoma State University. Girish is the recipient of the Air Force Young Investigator Award, and several best paper awards. He is the co-founder of EarthSense Inc., a company that has deployed over 150 agricultural robots for phenotyping, cover-cropping, and other agricultural management, and more recently of TerraWise Inc., a company creating innovative robotic solutions for the solar industry.