Personal Website: https://sumanthtangirala.com

Email: sumanth.t@rutgers.edu

I am a Ph.D. student in Computer Science at Rutgers University, where I work under the advisement of Dr. Kostas E. Bekris. As an NSF-NRT Fellow in the SOCRATES program, my research lies at the critical intersection of robotics, machine learning, and human-robot interaction. My primary focus is developing planning algorithms that enable robots to navigate effectively in dynamic, unstructured environments. I am particularly passionate about addressing the challenges of safe, verifiable planning and social navigation to ensure seamless human-robot interactions.

My recent work includes contributions to kinodynamic planning for high-velocity mobile robots, which formed the basis of my Master’s thesis at Rutgers. I’ve co-authored several papers and worked on projects ranging from sampling-based kinodynamic replanning to the analysis of high-dimensional robot controllers. My experience spans both theoretical and practical aspects of robotics, with expertise in deep reinforcement learning, computer vision, and GPU acceleration techniques.

Prior to my doctoral studies, I earned my Master’s in Computer Science from Rutgers University, specializing in Robotics. I had a brief stint in the industry as a Software Engineer at Tekion Corp. I also conducted research at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), working on satellite image analysis using machine learning techniques.

Publications:

2024

Bekris, K; Doerr, J; Meng, P; Tangirala, S

The State of Robot Motion Generation Inproceedings

International Symposium of Robotics Research (ISRR), Long Beach, California, 2024.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Sivaramakrishnan, A; Tangirala, S; Granados, E; Carver, N; Bekris, K

Roadmaps with Gaps Over Controllers: Achieving Efficiency in Planning under Dynamics Inproceedings

IEEE/RSJ Intern. Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2024.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Vieira, E; Sivaramakrishnan, A; Tangirala, S; Granados, E; Mischaikow, K; Bekris, K

MORALS: Analysis of High-Dimensional Robot Controllers Via Topological Tools in a Latent Space Conference

IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Yokohama, Japan (Nominated for Best Paper Award in Automation), 2024.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX