[AllUsers-ISR] [Docentes] Talk by Dr. Ian C. Rankin - June 24, 14:30 - ISR Amphitheater

[Rui P. Rocha]

Dear all,

This is a friendly reminder about the talk scheduled for this Wednesday.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Thank you,

Rui P. Rocha

> No dia 19/06/2026, às 12:19, Rui P. Rocha <rprocha at deec.uc.pt> escreveu:
> 
> Dear All,
> 
> I would like to introduce Ian Connor Rankin, a new member of the Institute of Systems and Robotics who recently joined us as a postdoctoral researcher.
> https://isr.uc.pt/people/ian-rankin
> 
> I am also pleased to announce a talk by Ian on June 24 at 14:30 in the ISR Amphitheater, where you will have the opportunity to meet him and learn more about his research background and current research interests.
> 
> Below you can find the title, abstract, and short bio of the speaker. We look forward to seeing you there!
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Rui P. Rocha
> 
> ---
> 
> Title
> 
> Robot Decision Making and Human Collaboration for Data Collection
> 
> 
> Abstract
> 
> There are many domains that require data collection that robots can improve the process, such as planetary science, oceanography, and managing aquatic farms. During data collection, decisions must be made on the best places to take measurements. Relying entirely on the human users to make the decisions limits the use of the robot team, conversely we must ensure that the decisions robots make match the goals of the scientists or fish farmers. In this talk, I will discuss work on collaborative human-robot decision making for data collection performed during my time at Oregon State University, and ongoing work at ISR with Prof. Rui P. Rocha. The research includes both algorithm design and validation. Validation was performed using simulations, human-robot studies, and a field deployment. The field deployments was for robot measurement selection at White Sands National Park, USA and Mt. Hood, USA with a large team of planetary scientists and roboticists from both NASA and universities. The talk will conclude with ongoing work on the REMORA project deploying robot swarms to perform data collection on a fish farm and a marina.
> 
> 
> Short bio
> 
> Dr. Ian C. Rankin received his Ph.D. from Oregon State University in June 2025 with his advisor Prof. Geoff Hollinger. He previously received B.Sc. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at New Mexico State University in 2019. After his Ph.D. he worked as researcher in Prof. Cristina Wilson’s lab at Oregon State University to deploy his thesis research in the field. Ian’s Ph.D. thesis focused on "Collaborative Human-Robot Decision Making for Scientific Data Collection."  Since January 2026 Ian has been a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Systems and Robotics (ISR), University of Coimbra, where he conducts research within the REMORA project, entitled “Swarm Robotics for the Improvement and Monitoring of Aquatic Resources”, under the scientific supervision of Prof. Rui P. Rocha.
> 
> 
> ---
> 
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