Michael Erdmann's Research Page Michael Erdmann's Research Page Interests Robotics. In particular, mechanics of manipulation, nonprehensile manipulation, parts assembly, cooperating robots, planning under uncertainty, probabilistic strategies, sensing strategies, and automatic planning. New Interest Computational Molecular Biology. Check out Gordon Rule's page and Bruce Donald's page . Description I am interested in making robots act purposefully and successfully in a world in which most everything is uncertain.
Sensors are noisy, actions are imprecise, and objects are often in the wrong location.
Despite such obstacles to purposeful action, there are many tasks that can be accomplished successfully. Humans, animals, and some machines are proof. Providing robots with the ability to operate autonomously and purposefully requires an understanding of how different tasks may be accomplished by different repertoires of actions. Grasping, hitting, and dropping are some actions that are useful in a robot's repertoire. More exotic actions include shaking, twirling, and other actions that randomize an object's state.