
Monroe Kennedy III
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Bio
Monroe Kennedy III is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering. He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, and a Masters in Robotics from the University of Pennsylvania where he was a recipient of both the NSF and GEM graduate research fellowships. His area of expertise is in robotics, specifically the development of theoretical and experimental approaches to perform control and estimation for robotic systems, in particular, robotic manipulation and human-robot collaborative tasks. He applies expertise in dynamical systems analysis, control theory (classical, non-linear and robust control), state estimation and prediction, motion planning, vision for robotic autonomy and machine learning.
He is the director of the Assistive Robotics and Manipulation Lab (ARMLab) whose broad research objective is to develop technology that improves everyday life by anticipating and acting on the needs of human counterparts. ARMLab specializes in developing intelligent robotic systems that can perceive and model environments, humans and tasks and leverage these models to predict system processes and understand their assistive role. The research can be divided into the following sub-categories: robotic assistants, connected devices and intelligent wearables. ARMLab research requires the use of a combination of tools in dynamical systems analysis, control theory (classical, non-linear and robust control), state estimation and prediction, motion planning, vision for robotic autonomy and machine learning. ARMLab focuses heavily on both the analytical and experimental components of assistive technology design. While the application area domain is autonomous assistive technology, the primary focus is robotic assistants (mobile manipulators and humanoids) with the goal of deployment for service tasks that may be highly dynamic and require dexterity, situational awareness, and human-robot collaboration.
Academic Appointments
-
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
-
Member, Bio-X
-
Faculty Affiliate, Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI)
Honors & Awards
-
Graduate Research Fellowship, National Science Foundation (2013-2018)
Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations
-
Member, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2015 - Present)
-
Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (2016 - Present)
Professional Education
-
PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (2019)
-
MS, University of Pennsylvania, Robotics (2016)
-
BS, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Mechanical Engineering (2012)
Current Research and Scholarly Interests
My research is to develop technology that improves everyday life by anticipating and acting on the needs of human counterparts. The research can be divided into the following sub-categories: robotic assistants, connected devices and intelligent wearables. I use a combination of tools in dynamical systems analysis, control theory (classical, non-linear and robust control), state estimation and prediction, motion planning, vision for robotic autonomy and machine learning. My Assistive Robotics and Manipulation lab (arm.stanford.edu) focuses heavily on both the analytical and experimental components of assistive technology design. While our application area domain is autonomous assistive technology, our primary focus is robotic assistants (mobile manipulators and humanoids) with the goal of deployment for service tasks that may be highly dynamic and require dexterity, situational awareness, and human-robot collaboration.
2020-21 Courses
- Advanced Dynamics, Controls and System Identification
ME 334 (Spr) - Dynamics
ENGR 15 (Aut) -
Independent Studies (6)
- Engineering Problems
ME 391 (Aut, Win) - Engineering Problems and Experimental Investigation
ME 191 (Aut, Win) - Experimental Investigation of Engineering Problems
ME 392 (Aut) - Ph.D. Research Rotation
ME 398 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum) - Problems in Aero/Astro
AA 290 (Aut, Win) - Problems in Aero/Astro
AA 290S (Sum)
- Engineering Problems
-
Prior Year Courses
2019-20 Courses
Stanford Advisees
-
Doctoral Dissertation Reader (AC)
Alex Gruebele, Benoit Landry, Maneekwan Toyungyernsub -
Doctoral Dissertation Advisor (AC)
Wilson Ruotolo -
Master's Program Advisor
Gabriela Bravo Illanes, Derek Knowles, Albert Li, Andrew Low, Tianheng Shi, Kexin Weng, Wentao Zhong -
Doctoral Dissertation Co-Advisor (AC)
Nathan Spielberg, Maneekwan Toyungyernsub -
Doctoral (Program)
Nicholas Broadbent, William Chong, Won Kyung Do, Shivani Guptasarma, Eley Ng
All Publications
-
Robots are not immune to bias and injustice.
Science robotics
2020; 5 (48)
Abstract
Human-human social constructs drive human-robot interactions; robotics is thus intertwined with issues surrounding inequity and racial injustices.
View details for DOI 10.1126/scirobotics.abf1364
View details for PubMedID 33208524
-
Autonomous Precision Pouring From Unknown Containers
IEEE ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION LETTERS
2019; 4 (3): 2317–24
View details for DOI 10.1109/LRA.2019.2902075
View details for Web of Science ID 000462380600010
- Modeling And Control For Robotic Assistants: Single And Multi-Robot Manipulation Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 2019 (3299):
-
Optimal Paths for Polygonal Robots in SE(2)
ASME. 2018
View details for DOI 10.1115/1.4038980
View details for Web of Science ID 000426985200006
-
Object Picking Through In-Hand Manipulation Using Passive End-Effectors With Zero Mobility
IEEE ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION LETTERS
2018; 3 (2): 1096–1103
View details for DOI 10.1109/LRA.2018.2795652
View details for Web of Science ID 000424646100033
-
Precise dispensing of liquids using visual feedback
IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)
2017
View details for DOI 10.1109/IROS.2017.8202301
-
Precise Dispensing of Liquids Using Visual Feedback
IEEE. 2017: 1260–66
View details for Web of Science ID 000426978201091
-
A Triangle Histogram for Object Classification by Tactile Sensing
IEEE. 2016: 4931–38
View details for Web of Science ID 000391921704140
-
Decentralized Algorithm for Force Distribution With Applications to Cooperative Transport
International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference
2015
View details for DOI 10.1115/DETC2015-47752
-
Automated biomanipulation of single cells using magnetic microrobots
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ROBOTICS RESEARCH
2013; 32 (3): 346–59
View details for DOI 10.1177/0278364912472381
View details for Web of Science ID 000317693400005