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We are developing an intelligent agent that participates in first responder planning for disaster response deployments. The intelligent agent will be integrated into a web-based planning tool and will monitor plan formation via audio, video, chat, virtual map-based geo-referenced white boards and shared drawings. The goal is for the agent to interject in team planning to highlight weak agreement among team members and spur further planning to strengthen plan quality. The intelligent agent will also be used to automatically summarize the team’s plan. This research is sponsored by Lincoln Laboratory.

We are developing adaptive control techniques to efficiently coordinate work sharing and scheduling among multiple robots in advanced manufacturing applications such as building large airplane fuselages and wings or assisting in the final assembly of automobiles. Our aim is to harness newly developed “right-sized,” reconfigurable and/or mobile robot systems to ensure efficient operations despite inevitable disturbances due to robot servicing, work slow-downs, and people working in the space physical space. Applications include robotic material placement and drilling, manual work inspection, and anticipatory fetching of parts and tools. This research is sponsored in part by Boeing Research and Technology and BMW.

We are developing AI planning and scheduling techniques that will enable more fluid and natural human-robot collaboration in manufacturing. Our collaborative planning and execution algorithms are inspired by studies in human team coordination, with the goal of developing robot co-workers that are able to integrate within human workflow. This research is performed in collaboration with ABB, and has applications in automotive, aerospace, and other advanced manufacturing processes.