Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center

Jesse Kirkpatrick

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Blimps and business collide at the Mason Innovation Exchange

Sarah Holland — Fri, 24 May 2024 15:01:55 +0000

Blimps and business collide at the Mason Innovation Exchange Sarah Holland Fri, 05/24/2024 - 11:01

Building a drone and building a business are, at first glance, two very different tasks. Academically, you’d be hard pressed to find a robotics course in a business school, and vice versa. But at the Mason Innovation Exchange (MIX), all that separates these two is a staircase.

From the fabrication floor to the incubator’s loft, the MIX is demonstrating how principles of entrepreneurship and innovation aren’t so easily siloed with two new courses: BLIMP and Student Innovator Mastermind.

The MIX BLIMP workshop was an outgrowth of an Office of Naval Research-funded Bio-inspired Lighter-than-air Instructional Mechatronics Program, developed to expand unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)—or drone—education, with a desire to build a pipeline for students to participate in the biannual Defend the Republic lighter-than-air robotics competition. In this course, students learn introductory concepts of UAVs and, within small interdisciplinary groups, build their own blimps with flapping wing mechanisms.

Daigo Shishika helps students flight test their blimps in the Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center (MARC). Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

“We use organic life as the inspiration for these builds,” said instructor Daigo Shishika, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. “Students study the biomechanics of fish, insects, and birds, and then use those principles of flight and motion to create their own blimps.”

Each group learns how to build, program, and control flying robots. Using balloons made of mylar films, the students construct the blimp bodies and mount the electronic components—circuitry, motors, and microcontrollers—while ensuring that the blimp is well balanced.

At the end of the course, groups present their design and describe what creatures inspired their works: butterflies, stingrays, tuna, and even dragons were referenced when building.

“This process is meant to be exploratory,” explained Shishika. “I didn’t want to discourage the groups from trying out-of-the-box ideas. The dragon, for example: I wasn’t confident it would work. But they proved me wrong, and demonstrated some technical benefits of that type of wing.”

“As much as we’re teaching them the basics,” Shishika continued, “they’re teaching us new ways of thinking about design and fabrication.”

Along with the microcredential the students earn upon completion of the course, Shishika hopes they leave with a better sense of creative design and confidence in their ability to design, develop, and deploy robotics.

“It’s fun to build something from scratch and see it fly,” he said.

BLIMP flight testing in the MARC aviary. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

The Student Innovator Mastermind course uses a similar approach: building foundations while allowing space for creativity and innovation. George Mason alum Lisa Shapiro, BA Psychology ’03, Med ’06, is a seasoned business owner and entrepreneur. When she started at Mason as the MIX’s assistant director of entrepreneurship programs, the entrepreneurship incubator on the MIX’s second floor was empty.

“I wanted to reinvigorate the space and provide student innovators with a place to share ideas, develop their businesses, and form a community with other entrepreneurs,” she said.

The Student Innovator Mastermind program is a six-week mastermind group where 10 Mason student innovators and business founders gather for peer-to-peer collaboration and workshops. The inaugural mastermind cohort included students developing video games, a skincare line, mobile applications, and a business that supports the elderly population with nutritional needs—which was one of the finalists in the 2024 Patriot Pitch competition.

A key part of the programming was what Shapiro calls “transformational talks”: presentations from industry professionals that the students can immediately apply to their work. Speakers cover topics such as mindset, marketing and branding, goal setting, customer segment, and advice for business ownership.

“Being able to take what they’ve learned and immediately apply it is super important,” said Shapiro. “Entrepreneurship is super hard. You need the right mindset to be able to handle the ups and downs. I want to get them started off in the right way so they’re better prepared.”

The incubator is also a space for the students to learn from each other. Sharing ideas and challenges is, Shapiro said, a necessary part of the process. “We’ve had a phenomenal response from the students,” she said. “They’re helping each other, recommending professors and other people to meet that could help with their ideas.”

Honors College student Sahil Jagtap, who is majoring in computer science, participated in the Mastermind and the drone-prototyping programs this semester. “I have a passion for building, making, and breaking stuff. I love doing research on new and unique technologies and their potential to solve real-world problems,” he said.

The course offerings at the MIX were an opportunity for Jagtap to get hands-on experience in developing and launching tech-based solutions. “The skills I acquired from both programs, such as project management, teamwork, and technical expertise, are invaluable,” he said. “In addition, the mentorship and networking opportunities have connected me with industry professionals and potential collaborators, which will be beneficial as I continue my career in technology and entrepreneurship.”

Most of all, Shapiro and Shishika both hope that this type of programming keeps students coming back to the MIX.

“Now that they’ve had a taste of the full process,” Shishika said, “they can focus on the aspect they enjoyed the most and dig deeper, whether that’s robotics, electronics, fabrication, or something else.”

“The MIX is a space for prototyping,” Shapiro said. “It’s a place for anyone with an idea to come and try to make it a reality.”

Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

Create and innovate at The MIX

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Daigo Shishika

New certificate program in responsible AI starting fall 2024

Martha Bushong — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 15:52:55 +0000

New certificate program in responsible AI starting fall 2024 Martha Bushong Fri, 03/01/2024 - 10:52

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Under the guidance of Missy Cummings, a professor and the director of the Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center (MARC) at ��AV, the Responsible Artificial Intelligence Graduate Certificate program addresses the pressing need for thoughtful AI integration into various industries.

Missy Cummings

“With the rise of large language models like ChatGPT, there is a critical need for companies to develop strategies for effectively and safely integrating AI into their systems. The Mason approach to Responsible AI emphasizes both rigorous technical and sociotechnical approaches to identifying and mitigating AI risks while achieving value-added outcomes,” said Cummings.

Ideal candidates for this certificate program are “people responsible for ensuring the safe and efficacious adoption of AI into their companies or agencies who want to develop and update their skills to understand the design, testing, and implementation of cutting-edge technology,” she added.

Cummings especially looks forward to teaching the AI Design and Deployment Risks class, she said, “because we analyze current and pressing issues surrounding the risks of deploying AI. The combination of theory and practice is critical to understanding these issues, as well as developing the technology and policy mitigations needed to ensure safe and efficacious AI.”

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Artificial Intelligence

AI's future discussed at roundtable

Rena Malai — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 19:36:06 +0000

AI's future discussed at roundtable Rena Malai Tue, 06/13/2023 - 15:36

In This Story

Just what is AI? 

This was one of the first questions posed by Missy Cummings, director of ��AV’s Autonomy and Robotics Center, at the Future of AI roundtable in June. 

“At the end of the day, AI can be a tool to help you in your job, but you need to understand both its strengths and weaknesses,” Cummings said. “That’s why Mason will be offering a certificate and master’s degree focused on responsible AI, so that people across industry and government can learn how to manage the risks while promoting the benefits of AI.”

The invite-only roundtable, hosted by the College of Engineering and Computing, explored the issues, challenges, and solutions to think about as AI technologies rapidly evolve and change almost as soon as they are introduced. 

Missy Cummings leads the Future of AI roundtable at Mason Square.

Cummings led the roundtable and highlighted AI areas like ChatGPT and autonomous driving systems that lack human reasoning skills. When human behavior, environment, and AI blind spots intersect, the resulting uncertainty contributes to fundamental limitations. 

“As humans, we do a great job of successfully filling in the blanks when there is imperfect information,” said Cummings. “If I quickly flash a picture of a stop sign, your brain automatically recognizes what it is, even if it’s not a clear image. But it’s arguable whether the vision system on a self -driving car can do the same.” 

She added that automation can fall apart at a critical threshold, such as when a car is supposed to stop at a stop sign that’s visible to the human eye, but maybe overlooked by an AI vision system. 

“As humans, we have much more experience driving cars,” she said. “Self-driving cars are still a new technology and while simulation testing can help identify problems, real-world testing for such non-deterministic systems that never reason the same way twice is critical.”

One of her favorite uses of ChatGPT is for her students to use it for grammar and spell checking when they write papers, but that’s the extent.  

“ChatGPT cannot reason under uncertainty. It does not think. It does not know. It can approximate human knowledge, but there is no actual thinking or knowledge,” said Cummings. “ChatGPT goes after the most probable image, or the most probable grouping of words.” 

In general, large language models like ChatGPT will use what the average person is saying on the internet. This means it could pick up extremist views, if it is currently something trending or popular online.    

It can also be a concern when it comes to diversity, she said. 

“If a company uses ChatGPT to write their mission statement, in another five years, everyone’s mission statement will be the same,” Cummings said. “Creative thoughts and authenticity are lost. It’s important to understand how far we push these models, and what the long-term ramifications could be.”

Roundtable attendees from local universities and tech companies left with a greater understanding of how AI can impact everyday life, in more ways than one.

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Research

Mason Square

Washington Post quotes Missy Cummings on Tesla's Autopilot

Rena Malai — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 17:11:55 +0000

Washington Post quotes Missy Cummings on Tesla's Autopilot Rena Malai Mon, 06/12/2023 - 13:11

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Read the full article here.

A Washington Post article titled '17 fatalities, 736 crashes: The shocking toll of Tesla's Autopilot' quotes Missy Cummings, director of ��AV's Autonomy and Robotics Center, on the troubling surge in Tesla crashes.

"Tesla is having more severe — and fatal — crashes than people in a normal data set,” she said in response to the figures analyzed by The Post.

One likely cause, she said, is the expanded rollout over the past year and a half of Full Self-Driving, which brings driver-assistance to city and residential streets.

“The fact that … anybody and everybody can have it. … Is it reasonable to expect that might be leading to increased accident rates? Sure, absolutely.”

She says in the article the number of fatalities compared to overall crashes was also a concern.

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In the Media

��AV wins Defend the Republic

Rena Malai — Mon, 22 May 2023 19:07:41 +0000

��AV wins Defend the Republic Rena Malai Mon, 05/22/2023 - 15:07

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Cameron Nowzari

Ningshi Yao

Daigo Shishika

Patriot Pilots pose with their Lighter Than Air (LTA) creations. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

Twice a year, university teams compete in the Lighter Than Air (LTA) Defend the Republic competition. In April, ��AV hosted the competition in EagleBank Arena and won. The winning Mason team, Patriot Pilots, led by principal investigators Cameron Nowzari, Ningshi Yao, and Daigo Shishika, all from the College of Engineering and Computing, competed against six universities and about 50 LTA robotic agents, aka blimps.

“Even after three years, I’m still in awe of what happens at this competition,” said Nowzari, who has led the competition for the past three years, will be moving on from the annual competition and leaving things in the hands of Yao and Shishika. “My hope is that this competition will continue, and more schools will get involved.”

The competition is a mix of technology and creativity, and something students seem to have a lot of fun with, according to Yao.

“The strength of our winning team was in the ability to think creatively through building and design,” said Yao.

Without the severity that can sometimes accompany other types of flying agents, blimps are a lighter, gentler kind of airborne machine that appeals to many people.

“Their soft body and low operational speed make them more tangible and accessible than drones or planes,” said Shishika. “At the same time, they bring unique and exciting research challenges that our students with diverse background tackle together.”

The team will schedule a kickoff meeting during the summer, to plan for the next competition in November. The team welcomes students from all majors.

“We’re always actively recruiting for the team,” Nowzari said. “All that you need to bring is your passion and creativity.”

For information on how to join, email dshishik@gmu.edu or nyao4@gmu.edu. People can also visit blimp-robotics.org to learn how to build their own LTA blimp and encourage younger students to do the same.

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Blimps set to battle at EagleBank Arena

Martha Bushong — Mon, 17 Apr 2023 13:00:24 +0000

Blimps set to battle at EagleBank Arena Martha Bushong Mon, 04/17/2023 - 09:00

Learn About the Robots

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Patriot Profile: Dinesh Karri
April 24, 2023
Mason Engineering students and faculty compete at 99 Luftballoons competition
January 8, 2021

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Cameron Nowzari

Ningshi Yao

Daigo Shishika

��AV is hosting a competition of lighter than air (LTA) robotic agents—“blimps,” colloquially—squaring off in the heights of EagleBank Arena on Friday, April 28, from noon to 2 p.m.

The “Defend the Republic” competition features teams from six universities competing in a series of events where aerial robots attempt to move balls through hoops suspended from the ceiling, while other robots try to thwart them. The purpose of the game and the research behind it is to develop the ability of LTAs to respond quickly in various situations where such a vehicle, with its ability to stay aloft for much longer than traditional aerial devices, is ideal – disaster recovery, reconnaissance, delivering aid, and more.

At the Friday session, as many as 50 robots will be simultaneously in the air, with students and faculty available to answer questions about their robots and research.

Faculty members Cameron Nowzari, Ningshi Yao, and Daigo Shishika serve as principal investigators and lead the group.

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Students

From ChatGPT to Tesla’s Autopilot, Mason professor Missy Cummings isn’t afraid to call out bad tech

Melanie Balog — Fri, 03 Feb 2023 19:01:27 +0000

From ChatGPT to Tesla’s Autopilot, Mason professor Missy Cummings isn’t afraid to call out bad tech Melanie Balog Fri, 02/03/2023 - 14:01

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Electrical and Computer Engineering

Missy Cummings.
Photo by Ron Aira/Creative Services

Missy Cummings made her name as one of the United States’ first female fighter pilots. But it is also in her current career researching artificial intelligence, human-autonomous system collaboration, and the socio-ethical impact of technology, that she has made headlines.

Cummings, a ��AV professor in the computer science, electrical and computer engineering, and mechanical engineering departments of the College of Engineering and Computing, calls herself a “tech futurist,” whose job is to “make tech work. It’s not to stop tech, it’s to help it get better.”

One of the ways she does that is to call it as she sees it, such as her take on ChatGPT.

“If you really pay attention, you can see very quickly how wrong and dangerous disinformation coming from something like ChatGPT could be,” she says. “Intelligence technologies are advancing so rapidly, what we’re not doing is keeping up with allowing people to get educated in how to think about the design frameworks behind when you should have these systems. Why should you have these systems? What requirements are they really meeting? And, then, how should I test these systems to make sure they are sufficient?”

As a safety advisor from 2021 to 2023 for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), she also has a good grasp on the evolution of self-driving cars, particularly when it comes to Teslas.

“I think they are great cars. I am not anti-Tesla. But I will tell you … I just really hate bad tech. And if you’ve got some bad tech that is really dangerous, I’m going to call you out on it. The problem is, do not drive your Teslas on Autopilot without paying full and absolute attention and keeping your hands on the wheel.”

The dangers:

“This phantom braking issue, where the car sees something and then decides to dramatically decelerate, that is not just a Tesla problem. We see it in many other kinds of autonomous vehicles. They’re just not reliable enough to ‘see’ the world in the way we do. We’ve done some testing with Teslas in my own lab where we can see a statistical correlation with the sun going behind clouds. Even that is enough to potentially trigger a problem with the vision system. That’s just one of the many problems, and that’s the tech problem.”

On safety features vs. convenience features:

“In automation, there are two different kinds of cars. There’s auto-emergency braking, the front collision warning, these kinds of safety devices. They are working and we can see that decreases [crashes]. But [GM’s] Super Cruise, [Ford’s] BlueCruise, these are convenience features that do latitudinal and longitudinal control for you. They’re doing acceleration for you and steering. The jury is very much out. Having come from NHTSA, I did the analysis myself on all the crash data we have, and I will tell you that if you are in an accident in a car with these convenience features, you are statistically more likely to be seriously injured or killed.”

On industry guardrails:

“There are so many good things to love about Tesla… but Tesla had some questionable design decisions about letting people be hands-free. But now all the other car companies are modeling after Tesla, and I do not think we should allow that. No car, not Tesla, not Ford, not GM, no car with any driver assist should allow you to be hands-free. Tesla’s a great car except for this bad Autopilot. When you have your hands free, it basically promotes you into complacency. So I can like the car, but not the feature.”

How long until the technology is ready for prime time:

“We’re not even close. We will see in the short term, small-mile delivery is probably where we’ll see that happen. But if you’re asking me, should I go ahead and start investing in self-driving cars because they’re going to start turning a profit next year, I don’t know when that year is going to be.”

Missy Cummings can be reached at cummings@gmu.edu.

For more information, contact Damian Cristodero at dcristod@gmu.edu or 703-993-9118.

About George Mason
��AV is Virginia’s largest public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolls nearly 40,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Mason has grown rapidly over the past half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity and commitment to accessibility. Learn more at www.gmu.edu.

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Podcast - EP 46: Missy Cummings: Artificial intelligence is artificial and not intelligent

Damian Cristodero — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 15:46:13 +0000

Podcast - EP 46: Missy Cummings: Artificial intelligence is artificial and not intelligent Damian Cristodero Wed, 01/25/2023 - 10:46

Missy Cummings, one of the country’s first female fighter pilots and director of Mason’s Center for Robotics, Autonomous Systems, and Translational AI, calls herself a tech futurist, charged with making tech work better and safer. In a conversation with Mason President Gregory Washington, Cummings is unflinching in her critique of AI’s strengths, weaknesses, and shortcomings, as well as that of humans. There is a lot to like about AI, Cummings says, but she calls out bad tech where she sees it, including in the vision systems of self-driving cars and Tesla’s Autopilot.

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Gregory Washington

Access to Excellence podcast

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Podcast - EP 61: Can dirty coffee grounds be the key to clean water?
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Volgenau School of Engineering

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