Aaron Edsinger, CEO and co-founder
Charlie Kemp, CTO and co-founder
Hello Robot

Abstract
Mobile manipulators have the potential to improve life for everyone, yet adoption of this emerging technology has been limited. To encourage an inclusive future, Hello Robot developed the Stretch RE1, a compact and lightweight mobile manipulator for research that achieves a new level of affordability. The Stretch RE1 and Hello Robot’s open approach are inspiring a community of researchers to explore the future of mobile manipulation. In this talk, we will present the Stretch RE1, its academic origins, and the growing community and ecosystem around it. We will also touch on connections with Oregon State University, including participation in our first summer internship program, and Hello Robot’s role in the new NSF AI Institute, AI-CARING. We will conclude with a live demo and a question and answer session.

Bios
 
Aaron Edsinger, CEO and co-founder
Aaron has a passion for building robots and robot companies. He has founded four companies focused on commercializing human collaborative robots. Two of these companies, Meka Robotics and Redwood Robotics, were acquired by Google in 2013. As Robotics Director at Google, Aaron led the business, product, and technical development of two of Google’s central investments in robotics. Aaron received his Ph.D. from MIT CSAIL in 2007.

Charlie Kemp, CTO and co-founder
Charlie (https://charliekemp.com) is a recognized expert on mobile manipulation. In 2007, he founded the Healthcare Robotics Lab at Georgia Tech, where he is an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. His lab has conducted extensive research on mobile manipulators to assist older adults and people with disabilities. Charlie earned a B.S., M.Eng., and Ph.D. from MIT. He first met Aaron while conducting research in the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).

Note:
If you would prefer not to attend in person, but would like some unstructured interaction time with others in the OSU Robotics community, join the seminar's Gather space before or after the seminar, https://gather.town/app/HeC6WAB1zL6cKWp5/OSU%20Robotics%20Seminar.