Ananya Rao

I'm a PhD candidate at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, advised by Dr. David Wettergreen and Dr. Howie Choset. My research is primarily focused on motion planning, coordination of multi-agent systems, and autonomous exploration. I'm excited about space exploration and search and rescue applications.

I graduated with School of Computer Science College Honors from Carnegie Mellon University with a B.S. in Computer Science, and an M.S. in Robotics. I am a recipient of the Best Paper Award at the International Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARS21).

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Selected Research Projects

Sparse Sensing in Ergodic Optimization

Optimizing usage of limited resources while effectively exploring an area is vital in scenarios where sensing is expensive, has adverse effects, or is exhaustive. We approach this problem by reformulating ergodic search to optimize for when and where to take sensing measurements.

Heterogeneous Multi-Agent Ergodic Search

This work introduces a new method to extend ergodic coverage to teams of heterogeneous agents with varied sensing and motion capabilities. It develops a multi-agent heterogeneous search approach that leverages the sensing and motion capabilities of different agents to improve search performance

Analysis of Interior Rubble Void Spaces

An improved understanding of the environment in which a robot would have to operate to be able to search the interior of a rubble pile would help roboticists develop better suited robotic platforms and control strategies. To this end, this work offers an approach to characterize and visualize the interior of a rubble pile and conduct a preliminary analysis of the occurrence of voids using data collected by responders at the 2021 Champlain Towers South Condominiums collapse in Surfside, FL.

Teaching

16-311: Introduction to Robotics

Co-Instructor (2024), Head Teaching Assistant (2022, 2023), Teaching Assistant (2020, 2021)

A hands-on labs driven course that provides a overview of robotics in practice and research with topics including vision, motion planning, mobile mechanisms, kinematics, inverse kinematics, and sensors.

16-384: Robot Kinematics and Dynamics

Teaching Assistant (2021)

This course focuses on the kinematics, dynamics and programming of robotic mechanisms, with hands-on assignments and a capstone project.

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