Murali Krishna
Curriculum Vitae
BIOGRAPHY
Murali Krishna has Undergraduate and Masters degrees in Mechanical Engineering and is getting a PhD. degree in Robotics from the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. His current interests and PhD thesis work are in the areas of dynamic modeling of robots, and optimal path planning using general purpose optimization algorithms. In his other lives he has worked in a broad range of topics including computer vision, machine learning, hydraulic controls, computer graphics and modeling, and mechanical design.
PERSONAL
Name: Murali Krishna
Office Address:
Home Address:
EDUCATION
| PhD | Robotics
Carnegie Mellon University 1994-present (Expect to graduate in May 1999) Thesis Advisor: John Bares |
|
| M.S. | Robotics
Carnegie Mellon University 1996 | |
| M.E. | Mechanical Engineering
Carnegie Mellon University 1994 | |
| B.Tech. | Mechanical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India 1988-1992 | |
INDUSTRY, RESEARCH, AND TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Aug '94 - Present
Researcher and
Ph.D. candidate at the Field Robotics Center and at the National
Robotics Engineering Consortium at Carnegie Mellon University. Thesis is on
using search approaches for optimal motion planning for robots. Have been
working on the Autonomous Loading System (ALS)program
funded by Caterpillar Inc. to develop technologies for autonomous mass
excavation tasks. (For more details of thesis, see the abstract of
thesis proposal.)
Summer '97
Summer Intern
at the Systems and Controls Research division of Caterpillar Inc.
Developed a controller for the hydraulic pumps in a novel hydraulic excavator
design. Used Caterpillar's proprietary dynamic modeling software for system
identification, and Matlab (from MathWorks Inc.) for controller design.
Spring '96
Teaching Assistant
for a class on Introduction to Computer Vision. Responsibilities included
creating and grading assignments and exams, developing support software for
the programming assignments and maintaining the class software heirarchy.
Spring '94
Researcher
on the preliminary design for the Lunar Rover Initiative, a NASA funded
project at the Field Robotics Center to develop an autonomous rover for lunar
exploration.
May '93 - August '94
Design Engineer
on the Dante II walking robot project at the Field Robotics Center. Was
responsible for the tethering system design which involved extensive vendor
interaction and the design and execution of a rigorous testing
program. Participated in the final two-moth deployment of the robot in a
volcano (Mt. Spurr) in Alaska during the summer of '94. (For more details, see
the conference paper
)
August '92 - April '93
Research Assistant
at the Data Storage Systems Center, an NSF-funded Center of Excellence at
Carnegie Mellon University. Studied high-level issues in the design of high
performance read/write heads for disk drives. In particular focused on the
lubrication and wear of disk drives.
1991 - 92
Undergraduate Student
at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), New Delhi, India. Retro-fitted a
conventional center lathe for computer control as part of the final year
undergraduate research project. Designed and fabricated the mechanical
components for the retrofit as well as the 80286-based electronic controller
board. The working lathe was demonstrated in April '92 after a year of effort
on the project.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
| Areas of Knowledge/Interest: |
- Robotics - Machine Vision - Machine Learning - Path Planning - Optimization - Computer Graphics - Dynamic Modeling - Mechanical Fabrication and Machining |
COMPUTER BACKGROUND
| Languages: | ||
| C, C++, LISP, BASIC, PASCAL |
| Operating Systems: | ||
| UNIX (SunOS/Solaris/IRIX/HPUX), MacOS, DOS/Windows |
| Graphics Environments: | ||
| OpenGL, WorldToolKit |
PERSONAL INTERESTS
| - Avid volleyball enthusiast - have played in the CMU Intramural Indoor Volleyball League for the last 5 years. |
| - Have been practising Hatha Yoga for the last 3 years. |
| - Have been learning South Indian Clasical Music (Carnatic Music) for many years. |
| - Started rock climbing a few months ago |
PUBLICATIONS
An Approach to Optimal Motion Generation for Hydraulic Robots Murali Krishna (1998), Ph.D. Thesis Proposal. (Abstract)
Constructing Hydraulic Robot Models using Memory-based Learning, Murali Krishna and John Bares, ASCE Journal of Aerospace Engineering, April 99, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 34-42.
Hydraulic System Modeling through Memory-based Learning, Murali Krishna and John Bares. Abridged version of above listed journal paper. Proc. of the IEEE/RSJ Intl. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems(IROS), 1998, pp. 1733-38.
Constructing fast hydraulic robot models for optimal motion planning, Murali Krishna and John Bares, To be presented at the Field and Service Robotics Conf. to be held in Pittsburgh, PA in Aug 99.
Composite Tether Design, Murali Krishna and John Bares, Presented at the Underwater Cable and Connector Workshop, Houston, TX, March 1995.
Tethering System Design for Dante II Murali Krishna and John Bares, IEEE Intl. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, Albuquerque, N.M., 1997, pp. 1100-05
CALCED - Computer-Aided Linear Control Engineering Kannan Krishna and Murali Krishna, Presented at Tryst '89, an All India Student Paper Contest in New Delhi, India.
PRESENTATIONS/DEMOS
Presented talks and demos for the sponsors (Caterpillar Inc.) of the Autonomous Loading System project at the National Robotics Engineering Consortium every quarter (3 months) from Jan. 1995 through Sept. 1998.
Presented a paper at the IEEE/RSJ Intl. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems Conf., Victoria, B.C., Oct 1998.
Presented a paper at the IEEE Intl. Conf. of Robotics and Automation, Albuquerque, N.M., April, 1997.
Invited Banquet Speaker at the Underwater Cable and Connector Workshop, Houston, TX, March 1995. Also presented a paper at the workshop during a technical session.
Participated in three major NASA design reviews for the Dante II Walking Robot project.
REFERENCES
Available upon request