Lizzie Stone

Supervisors: David Barton & Nathan Lepora

PhD Project Title: Online Machine Learning with Tactile Feet for Walking Robots

Research Group: Tactile Robotics

Cohort 2017

Biography

My research so far has focused on developing a data efficient method for interpreting the tactile sensations of the TacTip tactile sensor mounted on a robotic arm, for control of the arm in a contour following task. Tactile sensors give highly dimensional data and this needs to be greatly reduced, often to a handful of dimensions, to be used in control tasks. This normally involves exposing the sensor to all possible stimuli for a task and training a machine learning model on this labeled data, a timely process that must be repeated for each new task and new sensor. Alternatively I've been exploring the use of online machine learning, where no data is collected before hand but is instead collected throughout the task to train the models.

The next phase of my research will be transferring these principles to tactile feet to aid control of walking robots on uneven terrain.

I studied BSc Space Science and Robotics at Aberystwyth University, graduating in 2017 with a first. During my studies I developed a control system for a novel design of back-packable robotic boat for scanning remote lakes. Along side this I worked with AberSailbot building fully autonomous sailing boats, competing in competitions around the world. I also became President of the computer science society (AberCompSoc) and took up a keen interest in open source software.

Alongside my PhD I volunteers with the HEARTS team developing software for a Tiago robot to assist the elderly around the home, competing in the European Robotics League Consumer Robotics Challenge.

I am interested in all things techy and loves the interdisciplinary, multifaceted nature of working in robotics.