Thursday / CS/ME Seminar

January 16th / 3:00 PM

Hybrid / Ford ITW

Speaker

Baxi Chong, Georgia Tech

Talk Title

Embodied Intelligence in Highly-capable Mesoscale Robots

Abstract

Mesoscale robots (1-10 cm in height, 0.01-2 kg in weight) offer unique advantages over their macro and micro counterparts, particularly their ability to navigate confined spaces while maintaining high mobility. Despite their potential, mesoscale robotics remains an underexplored area of research. In the first part of my talk, I will outline the challenges associated with mesoscale locomotion, such as terrain uncertainty and complex dynamics. To address these challenges, I will introduce the paradigms I developed in my prior work to study embodied intelligence (EI) at the mesoscale. Specifically, I will discuss how mechanical intelligence (MI) emerges from passive dynamics in reptile- and centipede-like robots, enabling novel capabilities such as guaranteed robustness, sand-swimming, and obstacle-aided locomotion. I will also present my research vision to integrate computational intelligence with MI, inspired by theories and algorithms from signal transmission, to further advance EI in mesoscale robots. In the second part of my talk, I will explore a co-design problem: how variations in morphology can enhance MI for specialized tasks such as burrowing, load-carrying, and climbing. Using tools from geometric mechanics, I will demonstrate how these insights can inform robot design. I will conclude by discussing the broader implications of mesoscale robotics, including advancing our understanding of evolutionary biology and enabling modular, reconfigurable robot systems for diverse real-world applications.

Biography

Dr. Baxi Chong is a postdoctoral fellow at the CRAB (Complex Rheology And Biomechanics) Lab in the School of Physics at Georgia Tech. His research focuses on locomotion with mechanical intelligence. Specifically, Dr. Chong studies a diversity of unconventional (e.g., multi-legged, elongated, or cable-driven) robots, and how/why their special body plans can introduce benefits to locomotion in specific environments. Dr. Chong contributed to over 10 research articles on high-impact journals such as Science, Science Robotics, PNAS, and IJRR. His scientific work has been featured in several media outlets, including BBC, Physics World, Forbes, and Nature Research Highlight. Besides the contribution to science, Dr. Chong's research laid the theoretical foundation for a start-up company (Ground Control Robotics, Ltd) where he currently serves as the leader in the robophysics research team. Dr. Chong has been recently recognized by the Forbes 30 Under 30 List for his contribution in fundamental science and industry.

Research/Interest Areas

Robotics, biomechanics, geometric mechanics

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DEI Minute: tinyurl.com/cspac-dei-minute