People

Prof. Nikhil Chopra

Appointments:

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Systems Research, Maryland Robotics Centre

About: Dr. Nikhil Chopra is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park, with an affiliate appointment in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Before joining the University of Maryland, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Coordinated Science Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2006-2007. He received a Bachelor of Technology (Honors) degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, in 2001, an M.S. degree in General Engineering in 2003, and a Ph.D. degree in Systems and Entrepreneurial Engineering in 2006 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research is broadly in systems, control, and robotics. Current research interests include the estimation and control of robotic systems, soft robotics, bilateral teleoperation, and machine learning. He is the co-author of the book Passivity-Based Control and Estimation Networked Robotics. He was previously the Co-Chair of the IEEE Technical Committee on Telerobotics. He was previously an Associate Editor of Automatica, IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems, and IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control.

Email: nchopra@umd.edu

Dr. Tianchen Liu

Research Interests: Mathematical Optimization, State Estimation, Robotics (Marine & Agricultural), Optimal Control

About: Dr. Tianchen Liu is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate. He received Ph.D. and M.S. degrees from the University of Maryland, College Park, and B.S. degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, all majoring in Mechanical Engineering. His research interest is centered around mathematical optimization algorithms and their applications in robotics. His current research is on the theoretical aspects of (i) accelerated iterative optimization methods, (ii) filter-based and optimization-based state estimation algorithms, and (iii) perception-based control algorithms. For real-world applications, his current research includes algorithm implementations on autonomous underwater vehicles, robotic manipulators and quadruped robots.

Email: tianchen@umd.edu

Dr. Shraddha Barawkar

Research Interests:

Email:

Dr. Lasitha Weerakoon

Research Interests: Soft Robotics, Robotics, Nonlinear Controls, Autonomous Navigation

About: Lasitha holds a Ph.D.(2023) and an M.S.(2022) in Mechanical Engineering from University of Maryland and a B.Sc.(Hons.) in Engineering (2016) specializing Mechanical Engineering from University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. His Ph.D. dissertation was on dynamic control of dexterous soft robotic systems where he used controls concepts such as passivity-based adaptive and robust control, and energy based control and tailored them for soft robots. He also has experience on autonomous navigation. He likes travelling and cooking/baking is his free time. 

Email: lasitha@umd.edu  

Alex Beyer

About: Alex graduated from the University of Delaware in 2021 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. His work currently focuses on developing approaches for decentralized covert communications and robotic introspection for safe operation in unstructured environments. Alex is also currently in the Future Faculty Program at UMD. Outside of lab he likes to teach, go rock climbing and develop video games.

Email: abeyer@umd.edu

Kaustubh Joshi

About: Kaustubh is a 3rd year PhD student working primarily on localization, control and navigation for underwater robots. Prior to UMD, he finished his B.Tech in Naval Architecture & Ocean Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras.

His research involves developing novel observer-based control methods and integrating sensor data from IMUs, DVLs, and cameras to enhance the autonomous navigation of underwater robots in dynamic environments. 

Kaustubh is also currently in the Future Faculty Program.

In his spare time, you will find him on some trail, biking or running. He loves travelling and photography.

Email: kjoshi@umd.edu

Hemant Kumar

About: Hemant is a 3rd-year PhD student working on robotic decision-making for contact-rich manipulation tasks. Before joining UMD, he earned his B.Tech and M.Tech (Dual Degree) in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur.

His research focuses on developing autonomous disassembly systems using classic robotic methods and learning-based approaches for end-of-life (EoL) e-mobility vehicles.

In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball, and traveling to explore new cultures and cuisines

Email: hkumar14@umd.edu

Piyush Goenka

About: Piyush is a 2nd year MEng. Robotics student working on legged robots and arm manipulators. His research projects include 1) Autonomous Navigation using GPS RTK in farms using legged robots and 2)  Robotics disassembly of end-of-life e-mobility vehicles. In his research he uses hardware such as Unitree Go1, Franka FR3, Haply Inverse3 and Neuromeka Indy to name a few. In his spare time he practices boxing.

Email: pgoenka@umd.edu