I'man assistant professor at Georgia Tech in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. I study how to make robots safe and practical.
I'man assistant professor at Georgia Tech in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. I study how to make robots safe and practical.
Contact: shreyas.kousik(at)me.gatech.edu
Lab Website: https://sites.gatech.edu/saferoboticslab/
About Me
About Me
I work on bridging the gap between theory and application to ensure that formal safety guarantees are practical to implement on real-world systems. I use techniques from control theory, robot motion planning, and data-driven design.
I work on bridging the gap between theory and application to ensure that formal safety guarantees are practical to implement on real-world systems. I use techniques from control theory, robot motion planning, and data-driven design.
I received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech in December 2014, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 2020. I finished my postdoctoral training at Stanford. For more details, check out my CV.
I received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech in December 2014, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 2020. I finished my postdoctoral training at Stanford. For more details, check out my CV.
Research
Research
I direct the Safe Robotics Lab at Georgia Tech. See our latest work here: saferoboticslab.me.gatech.edu/
I direct the Safe Robotics Lab at Georgia Tech. See our latest work here: saferoboticslab.me.gatech.edu/
Teaching and Outreach
Teaching and Outreach
One of the main reasons I have stayed in academia is to teach and mentor students. I first realized my passion for teaching with Georgia Tech's Public Speaking Club. As a volunteer and graduate student instructor, I've continued pursuing opportunities to spread STEM in Michigan and at Stanford.
One of the main reasons I have stayed in academia is to teach and mentor students. I first realized my passion for teaching with Georgia Tech's Public Speaking Club. As a volunteer and graduate student instructor, I've continued pursuing opportunities to spread STEM in Michigan and at Stanford.
While at Michigan, I worked with the Michigan Engineering Zone, Michigan Xplore Engineering, and the REACT workshop. I have also helped teach the ROB 599 Autonomous Vehicles course, and have mentored several undergrad and Master's students.
While at Michigan, I worked with the Michigan Engineering Zone, Michigan Xplore Engineering, and the REACT workshop. I have also helped teach the ROB 599 Autonomous Vehicles course, and have mentored several undergrad and Master's students.
At Stanford, my labmate Derek Knowles gave me the chance to teach kids (over Zoom) about soft robots and how math is music for the Stanford Science Bus. With Derek, Anni Zhang, and Larraine Zappert, I hosted several "Sharing Stories" community-building discussion sessions. I also volunteered with AI4ALL.
At Stanford, my labmate Derek Knowles gave me the chance to teach kids (over Zoom) about soft robots and how math is music for the Stanford Science Bus. With Derek, Anni Zhang, and Larraine Zappert, I hosted several "Sharing Stories" community-building discussion sessions. I also volunteered with AI4ALL.
Effecting Positive Cultural Change
Effecting Positive Cultural Change
In the long term, I see autonomous systems as a way to increase equity in society, because they have the potential to help people across boundaries of ability or advantage. As I have found in my outreach work, robots in particular are a great way to bring a wide variety of people together in inclusive environments.
In the long term, I see autonomous systems as a way to increase equity in society, because they have the potential to help people across boundaries of ability or advantage. As I have found in my outreach work, robots in particular are a great way to bring a wide variety of people together in inclusive environments.
But, it's also critical that we as engineers do the hard work now of creating diverse and inclusive communities that strive towards equitable applications of technology. I am eager to discuss these topics and efforts, so feel free to send me an email!
But, it's also critical that we as engineers do the hard work now of creating diverse and inclusive communities that strive towards equitable applications of technology. I am eager to discuss these topics and efforts, so feel free to send me an email!
Selected Publications
Selected Publications
S. Kousik*, S. Vaskov*, F. Bu, M. Johnson-Roberson, and R. Vasudevan. “Bridging the gap between safety and real-time performance in receding-horizon trajectory design for mobile robots.” The International Journal of Robotics Research, September 2020. [link].
S. Kousik, P. Holmes,and R. Vasudevan. “Safe, aggressive quadrotor flight via reachability-based trajectory design.” DSCC 2019. [link].
P. Holmes, S. Kousik, B. Zhang, D. Raz, C. Barbalata, M. Johnson-Roberson, and R. Vasudevan. "Reachable sets for safe, real-time manipulator trajectory design." R:SS 2020. [link].