about me

I just graduated with a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin. I was a member of the Intelligent Robotics Lab (UT page) where I worked with Prof. Benjamin Kuipers.

Contact me at: aniket at cs utexas edu

research

My dissertation research was on building 3D models and semantically annotated 2D grid maps called local safety maps, using vision, to enable mobile robots to navigate safely and autonomously in urban environments. This involves detecting and modeling obstacles, inclines, drop-off edges, and overhangs, using stereo and motion cues. My experimental platform is a wheelchair robot called Vulcan. The following movie shows the local safety map of an environment, consisting of an incline and a drop-off edge at a downward staircase, in the process of being constructed by the wheelchair robot.

You can find more details in publications and my dissertation.