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The Dynamic Robotics Laboratory (DRL) at UCSB develops novel methods for both control and analysis of robot motions. Our primary foci are locomotion and manipulation, and underactuation and stochasticity are key challenges we address. Example research topics include:     - Deep Reinforcement Learning     - Legged Locomotion     - Agile Robot Skating     - Lower-Limb Exoskeletons     - Learning Contact Dynamics     - Manipulation     - Dynamic Motions of Wheeled Vehicles Katie Byl, Principal Investigator.

Curent and past projects include:     . NSF CAREER - Robust Bipedal Locomotion     . NSF NRI - Versatile Locomotion (with RoboSimian)     . Army ICB: Biomimetic Gecko-inspired Robots     . Army Robotics CTA: Agile Locomotion with RoboSimian     . UCSB: Agile/Robust Hopping on Rough Terrain     . DARPA Robotics Challenge (Team RoboSimian, with JPL/Caltech)          - youtube video of RoboSimian     . Army ICB: Bio-Inspired Biped Robot Locomotion     . Army Robotics CTA: Robust Flexible-spine Bounding The Dynamic Robotics Lab at UCSB is affiliated with:           the Dept. of Electrical and Computer Eng. (ECE), the Dept. of Mechanical Eng. (ME), and the Center for Control, Dyn. Sys. and Computation (CCDC).

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Current Members:   Roman Aguilera   Guillaume Bellegarda    Katie Byl, PI   Min Dai   Sean Gillen   Thomas Ibbetson   Matthias Kargl   Jonathan Koury   Asutay Ozmen   Nate Rudolph   Nihar Talele (Click on images to enlarge.)

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We typically have multiple project in which undergraduate researchers and/or masters students can participate. Most undergraduates start as unpaid vollunteers, but (with appropriate planning) summer funding is sometimes also possible. On average, I typically recruit about one new doctoral student each year. (Could be zero. Could be three.) Our research focuses on dynamics, control and machine learning, and our lab (analogously) includes students from the ECE, ME and CS Departments. See "New Members" link at top left of page for additional comments.

Katie's doctoral work was under that guidance of Prof. Russ Tedrake at the Robot Locomotion Group at MIT, with Neville Hogan as committee chair. As a postdoctoral fellow, Katie was researching microrobotic flapping-wing robots with Prof. Rob Wood at Harvard.