GRIP, Research Abroad My Current Research Project: PRIMAL

Engineering Research in Singapore

Coming to work in Singapore, one of the most exciting parts was being part of a robotics group and learning more about machine learning.  My current project, PRIMAL, is working on a decentralized path-finding algorithm for a system of multi-agent robots.  This sounds like a lot, but I have been spending the past month working on learning about their previous work. The basic idea is this project will figure out ways to bring a large system of independent robots to their goal without collision or explicit communication between them all. So far, there have been two iterations which have shown great promise. 

Currently, we are working on improving the latest algorithm.   To do so, we figured it would be best to use a framework called PyTorch, so I am working on converting the code from the previous framework to this one.  This has allowed me to gain a deep understanding of the work that has already been done, as well as brush up on some general knowledge of reinforced learning and neural networks.  Much of this is very new to me, so it has been a great learning experience.  Now, halfway through the program, I wrapping up this work and will soon be helping out some of the Ph.D. students in coming up with ways to improve what has been done already.  There are several ideas floating around, and I find it exciting that I am able to contribute to this fascinating project.  There are certain times when code doesn’t work or I run into a roadblock, but I have been able to find ways to work through them.

Overall, everyone has been very welcoming and helpful.   I started out not knowing much about the project, but the others in the lab group were very good at answering my questions and getting me up to speed.  It was also nice getting some work to do independently because it allowed me to grow my own knowledge, probably in better ways than if I had my hand held every step of the way.  However, there was also just the right amount of mentorship such that I could easily ask questions when I was stuck. It was also nice getting to know the others during lunches together and hearing about their experiences.  It has been a great experience so far, and I look forward to seeing how much more I can accomplish in the rest of my time here.