Expertise

Topics:  Underwater Robotics, Robotics in Agriculture and Forestry, Field & Service Robotics, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), Mining Robotics

Industries: Agriculture and Farming, Education/Learning, Research

George Kantor is a Senior Systems Scientist in the Field Robotics Center at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute. He has been developing robotic technologies to address problems in agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and scientific exploration for 15 years. He is also the head mentor of the Girls of Steel Robotics Team, FIRST FRC Team 3504.

The control of dynamical systems becomes increasingly important as the era of robotics research dominated by quasi-static machines rapidly comes to a close. Similarly, the importance of state estimation grows as robotic applications require robots to function in larger, more complex environments. George's research addresses both of these issues by focusing on the dual problems of controlling robotic mechanisms with non-trivial dynamics and perceiving the state of world through indirect measurements. His approach is both analytical and experimental: George uses mathematics to understand the physical behavior of a given system and then use that understanding to create algorithms for control or estimation. George strives to develop new theoretical concepts and translate them into real-world implementations that solve problems such as balancing an unstable robot or estimating the location of an autonomous vehicle.

Media Experience

Pittsburgh-Based AI Startup Bloomfield Robotics is Acquired by Kubota Corporation, a Global Tractor Manufacturer  — AP News
“Our goal with Bloomfield from our first day was to enable farmers to produce more with fewer resources,” says Bloomfield Co-Founder George Kantor. “To feed the ever-increasing global population, farmers need to increase the productivity of their crops using fewer scarce resources, and Bloomfield provides them the plant-level knowledge and data that they need to do it.”

Why CMU’s School of Computer Science (finally) launched a bachelor of science in robotics  — Technical.ly
“Part of the reason that we waited until now to introduce this degree is because we were waiting for the jobs to become available,” co-director George Kantor said. Here's what students can expect from the new program.

CMU Puts AI To Work in New NSF-funded Institutes  — Carnegie Mellon University
George Kantor, a research professor in RI, will lead CMU's work in the USDA-NIFA AI Institute for Resilient Agriculture (AIIRA), which is focused on AI and robotics in agriculture.

Seeing a future for crop estimation technology  — Good Fruit Grower
That’s where the grower comes in, said George Kantor, the Carnegie Mellon researcher who led the development of the technology and co-founded Bloomfield. His research team is looking for ways to sense occluded fruit, but for now, the system doesn’t need to see all the berries to work in consistently managed vineyards. Growers must count a few sample vines by hand and plug that data into the computer so it can develop a ratio of “visible” to “invisible” fruit for yield estimations.

Pittsburgh's Girls of Steel Robotics Team Advances to Championship  — 90.5 WESA
George Kantor is a senior systems scientist at CMU’s Robotic Institute. He and fellow CMU employee Patti Rote co-founded the team five years ago with the intention of encouraging young women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.

Balancing robot may care for disabled, elderly  — NBC News
Ballbot, a narrow, 5-foot-tall robot, balances delicately on what looks like a bowling ball. Swaying slightly on a laboratory floor, the aluminum-framed droid seems ready to fall at any moment.