Tanmay Shankar

tanmay.shankar@gmail.com, +91 78963 77092, http://tanmayshankar.weebly.com

Research
Objective

To use Robotics and Artificial Intelligence for social benefit, and to carry out innovative research in
robot autonomy, machine vision and cognition and decision making.

Education

Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, India.

2012 - 2016

B. Tech., Mechanical Engineering, minor in Electronics and Communication Engineering

Thesis: Semantic Context based Active Robot Exploration.
Advisors: Prof. Santosh K. Dwivedy, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Prof. Prithwijit Guha, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Semester Performance Index: 8.85/10 Cummulative Performance Index: 8.64/10
Bala Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Chennai, India.
Class 12 / Senior Secondary, CBSE.
Overall Percentage: 96.4 %
Class 10 / Matriculation, CBSE.
Overall Percentage: 91.8 %
Research
Internships

2011
2009

Stanford Intelligent Systems Lab, Stanford University

May - July 2015
Advisor: Prof. Mykel Kochenderfer, Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics
Vision Based Collision Avoidance for UAVs
Executed autonomous collision detection/avoidance behaviours for two cooperative UAV, formulated as a Q-MDP, based on SLAM/visual odometry state estimate, for GPS denied environments.
Visual SLAM, Co-localization and Autonomous Cooperative Behaviors for UAVs
Set up distributed Visual SLAM for co-localization across multiple UAVs. Enabled UAVs with
autonomous capabilities for cooperative tasks such as follow-the-leader.
Biorobotics Lab, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
May - July 2014
Advisor: Prof. Howie Choset, School of Computer Science
IWAMP: Interior Wing Assembly Mobile Platform
Mobile robot for automating interior assembly of aircraft wings. Worked on monocular vision and
3D CAD model based localization in known environments, based on a ray-tracing edge approach.
Pole Climbing Behaviour for Snake Robots
Worked on pole detection/cylinder segmentation algorithms using structured light sensors, and
optimization of the sidewinding path to the pole, and pole climbing behaviour.

Research
Projects

SAREx - Semantic Context based Active Robot Exploration *

July 2015 - Present
Senior Year Bachelors Thesis Project, IIT Guwahati.
Advisors: Prof. Santosh K. Dwivedy, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Prof. Prithwijit Guha, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Semantic Scene Understanding - Generation of hierarchical graphical models of the scene, based
on spatial relationships of objects and affordances. Labelling the scene with potential activities.
Active Decision Making - Using an apprenticeship learning - inverse reinforcement learning framework to estimate a reward function used by the robot to explore the scene.
* - I am also working with Prof. Aynur Unal, of IIT Guwahati, on adapting this project to exploration
of Nuclear Reactor sites for identifying potential hazards based on semantic understanding.
HyAWET - Hybrid Assistive Wheelchair Exoskeleton Transformer
2013 - Present
Advisor: Prof. S. K. Dwivedy, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Guwahati.
A hybrid exoskeleton wheelchair device, for assisted mobility of patients of motor/nerve conditions
over various terrain. Employs an underactuated gait generation and mode switching mechanism.
InViSyBlE - Intelligent Vision System for Blind Enablement
July 2014 - August 2015
Advisor: Prof. Amit Sethi, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, IIT Guwahati.
Head mountable stereo vision system for assistance of visually impaired individuals, capable of
object manipulation guidance, face detection, hand tag tracking, text detection and recognition.

Conference
Publications

Tanmay Shankar and S.K. Dwivedy, A Hybrid Assistive Wheelchair Exoskeleton, International
Convention on Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology (i-CREATe), 2015.
Tanmay Shankar, Abhijat Biswas and Venkat Arun, Development of an Assistive Stereo Vision System, International Convention on Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology,
(i-CREATe), 2015.
Tanmay Shankar and S.K. Dwivedy, Preliminary Design and Analysis of a Hybrid Rehabilitative
Device, 59th International Congress of the Indian Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics,
(ISTAM), 2014.

Papers Under
Review

Tanmay Shankar, S.K. Dwivedy and P. Guha, Semantic Context based Active Robot Exploration,
International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS), 2016.
Eric Mueller, Tanmay Shankar and Mykel J. Kochenderfer, Cooperative Vision based Collision
Avoidance for Unmanned Aircraft, AIAA Aviation and Aeronautics Forum and Exposition, 2016.

Technical Skills Languages Known:

Software Packages:
Operating Systems:
Hardware:

C, C++, Python, Matlab, Julia, XML, YAML, Shell Scripting.

OpenCV, PCL, MATLAB, LATEX, Rviz, Gazebo, Solidworks, MSC-Adams.
Windows, Ubuntu, Robot Operating System (ROS).
Intel NUC, Odroid XU3, Pixhawk Autopilot, Tarot Gimbal, Arduino, RPi.

Relevant
Coursework

Mathematics:

Linear Algebra and Real Analysis, Vector Calculus, Differential Equations,

Complex Calculus, Partial Differential Equations, Optimization Techniques* .
Computer Science: Data Structures and Algorithms* , Machine Learning* , Artificial Intelligence* ,
Introduction to Computing, Evolutionary Computing* , Game Theory.
Mechanical Engg.: Robotics* , Mechatronics and Industrial Automation* , Kinematics and Dynamics
of Machinery, Industrial Organization, Solid Mechanics, Engineering Mechanics,
Design of Machine Elements.
Electronics Engg.: Communication Systems* , Control Systems, Electrical Machines,
Electromagnetic Field Theory, Signal Processing, Analog & Digital Circuits.
* - To be completed by May 2016.
Online Courses:
Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to AI (UC Berkeley/EdX ), AI for Robotics (Udacity).
Machine Learning: Machine Learning (Stanford/Coursera, and Georgia Tech/Udacity).
Mobile Robotics: Autonomous Mobile Robotics (ETH Zurich/EdX ), Autonomous Navigation for
Flying Robots (TU Munich/EdX ), Control of Mobile Robots (Georgia Tech/Coursera).

Conferences
Attended

International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics, (ICORR)

2015
International Convention on Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology, (i-CREATe) 2015
Workshop on Programming Ethics in Autonomous Vehicles, Stanford University.
2015
Summer Seminar Series, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University.
2014
59th International Congress of the Indian Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
2014

Academic
Accolades

One of 33 students selected for Research Science Initiative (RSI) Chennai 2010, a 6 week program
conducted at IIT Madras along with IISc Bangalore, in association with MIT, USA and CEE, USA.
Awarded the Samsung Innovation Award, for excellence in research, IIT Guwahati.
2015
1 of 60 semi-finalists among 7500 entries in the Google International Science Fair.
2011
S Rama Iyer Memorial Academic Excellence Award, Proficiency in AISSCE.
2011
Master R Balakrishnan Memorial Award, Best All Rounder Student.
2011
Dr. Lt. Col. T S Kalyanam Award, Best Outgoing Student.
2011
AISSCE 2011 - Top 0.1 Merit Award for Physics and English.
2011
Ranked 2nd in school (Bala Vidya Mandir) in All India Senior School Certificate Exam.
2011