Honda Research and Development is leading advancements in the area of mobility, power units, energy, and robotics. The students on the Honda team will work to develop simultaneous localization and mapping algorithms for a small Parallax robot to identify and navigate 2D planes using a time-of flight camera.
Abstract:
Honda is working comprehensively to address challenges in the areas of the environment and safety. At the same time, for the future, Honda will strive to lead advancements, which will be made, in the areas of mobility, the power unit, energy and robotics. A key area of this is micro-mobility, and another key trend in the mobility industry is autonomy. This project intersects both of these areas. Students on this project will work to develop simultaneous localization and mapping algorithms for a small Parallax robot provided by the Honda Automobile Technology Research Group in Ann Arbor using only a camera to map its surroundings. The goal is for this robot to navigate to a waypoint by using a time-of-flight camera to identify navigable 2-D planes while detecting and avoiding obstacles that it may encounter during navigation.
Full Project Details
Perception, Computer Vision (1-2 students)
Specific Skills: Understanding of localization based on time of flight cameras. Interest in robotics.
Likely Majors: EE, CS, ROB, MATH, Any with skills/experience
AI Reasoning (2 students)
Specific Skills: Path finding, path design and control of the vehicle to realize planned behavior.
Likely Majors: EE, CS, ROB, MECHENG, Any with skills/experience
Algorithm Development (1-2 students)
Specific Skills: Algorithm development and testing methods. Understanding of localization. Prior SLAM experience is a plus. Must have completed EECS 281 or equivalent with a minimum grade of B.
Likely Majors: CS, ECE, Masters, ROB, Data Science
General Programming (1-2 students)
Specific Skills: General programming experience. Development and analysis will be performed in C++. Must have completed EECS 281 or equivalent.
Likely Majors: CS, Any
Sponsor Mentor
Tyler Naes
After Receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree from Georgia Southern University, Tyler Joined Honda as a research engineer. His research focuses on autonomous vehicle and micro-mobility applications. This is his second year participating in the Multidisciplinary Design Program.
Faculty Mentor
Alex Gorodetsky
Alex Gorodetsky is an Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering. His research interests include using applied mathematics and computational science to enhance autonomous decision-making under uncertainty. He is especially interested in controlling systems, like autonomous aircraft, that must act in complex environments that are often represented by expensive computational simulations. Toward this goal, he pursues research in wide-ranging areas including uncertainty
quantification, statistical inference, machine learning, numerical analysis, function approximation, control, and optimization.
Alex completed his Ph.D. (2016) and S.M. (2012) in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he worked on algorithms for stochastic optimal control and estimation in dynamical systems. He received his B.S.E (2010) in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan.
Course Substitutions: Honors, ChE Elective, CS MDE/Capstone, CE MDE, Data Science Capstone, EE MDE, IOE Grad Cognate, ISD AUTO 503, ISD GAME, MECHENG 490, MECHENG 590, ROB 590, SI Elective, SI Grad Cognate
Citizenship Requirements: This project is open to all students.
IP/NDA: Students will sign standard University of Michigan IP/NDA documents.
In Person/Remote Participation Options: Honda has an R&D Center located in Ann Arbor. We will provide the students with hardware and space to work (MDP will provide transportation to the facility). Faculty mentor meetings and development work will take place on campus or at the Honda facility as University, State of Michigan, and Honda R&D policies allow.
Students on this team must be able to be physically present on campus in Ann Arbor and able to work on physical prototypes as local safety protocols allow.
Internship/Summer Project Activities: Students will be guaranteed an interview for 2022 internships. Internships will be located at various Honda facilities in Michigan, Ohio and LA. The interviews will take place in early 2022 at the Honda R&D Office in Ann Arbor.