[Robot Learning Team Seminar] ”Lifelong Collaborative Autonomy” Talk by Prof. Hao Zhang (UMass Amherst)

This talk will be held in a hybrid format, both in person at AIP Open Space of RIKEN AIP (Nihonbashi office) and online by Zoom. AIP Open Space: *only available to AIP researchers.

DATE & TIME
April 28, 2025: 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm (JST)

TITLE
Lifelong Collaborative Autonomy

SPEAKER
Prof. Hao Zhang (UMass Amherst)

To materialize the vision of intelligent robots in the real world, it is imperative that robots exhibit the ability to operate over extended durations and engage in collaborative endeavors across diverse scenarios, often alongside human counterparts within a shared environment. This presentation will elucidate our ongoing research within the field of lifelong collaborative autonomy, which serves as a pivotal step towards realizing these robotic capabilities. Firstly, I will present our work on context-aware self-reflective adaptation, which empowers lifelong robots to dynamically adapt not only to changes in their external surroundings but also to modifications in their own functionalities. Following this, I will delve into our research on adaptive peer-to-peer teaming within scenarios involving multi-robot formation control, tightly-coupled cooperation, and multimodal human-robot collaboration. Finally, the presentation will conclude with a discussion of potential open questions and unmet capabilities in lifelong collaborative robotics.

BIO:
Hao Zhang is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the U.S., where he directs the Human-Centered Robotics Laboratory. His research focuses on lifelong collaborative autonomy, with particular emphasis on robot adaptation, multirobot collaboration, and human-robot teaming. His research has earned him several prestigious awards, including the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award (YFA), and DARPA Director's Fellowship. Prof. Zhang has made significant contributions to top robotics and AI conferences and journals with over 50 co-authored papers at venues such as RSS, CoRL, ICRA, IROS, and IJRR, along with multiple best paper awards and nominations.