Robot Autonomy and Interactive Learning
Advancing AI & Robotics for the Human World
RAIL Lab at Georgia Tech focuses on developing human-centered robotic and AI systems that can better assist and interact with humans in various contexts, from in-home to healthcare. Through interdisciplinary research combining robotics, AI, and human factors, we aim to create effective and transparent technologies that seamlessly integrate into everyday lives.
Current RAIL Lab Members. More info and alums here.
Sonia Chernova
Faculty
Maithili Patel
Robo PhD
Kartik Ramachandruni
Robo PhD
Niharika Mathur
HCC PhD
Ethan Schneider
Robo PhD
Nadira Mahamane
Robo PhD
Alexander Karpekov
CS PhD
Shalini Sushri
PhD
Harsh Muriki
CS MS
Nhi Nguyen Ngoc Yen
Robo MS
Gayathri Aravindan
CS BS
Hannah Hsiao
CS BS
News
Niharika Mathur will be chairing the upcoming CHI 2025 workshop Technology Mediated Caregiving For Older Adults Aging in Place.
Featured Projects
DISCOVER-ing Human Activities in Smart Homes
DISCOVER: Identifying Patterns of Daily Living in Human Activities from Smart Home Data
Team: Alexander Karpekov, Archith Iyer, Sourish Gunesh Dhekane, Sonia Chernova, Thomas Plötz
Actively Discovering and Adapting to Preferences for any Task
ADAPT: Actively Discovering and Adapting to Preferences for any Task
Team: Maithili Patel, Xavier Puig, Ruta Desai, Roozbeh Mottaghi, Sonia Chernova, Joanne Truong, Akshara Rai
Robot Behavior Personalization From Sparse User Feedback
Robot Behavior Personalization From Sparse User Feedback
Team: Maithili Patel, Sonia Chernova
MIT Robotics Seminar
Sonia Chernova presented "Algorithmic Design of Proactive and Interpretable Home Robots" at MIT Robotics in September 2024
Team: Sonia Chernova
Contrastive Explanations for Multi-Robot Systems
CE-MRS: Contrastive Explanations for Multi-Robot Systems
Team: Ethan Schneider, Daniel Wu, Devleena Das, Sonia Chernova
UHTP: Communication-Free Mutually-Adaptive Human-Robot Collaboration
UHTP: A User-Aware Hierarchical Task Planning Framework for Communication-Free, Mutually-Adaptive Human-Robot Collaboration
Team: Kartik Ramachandruni, Cassandra Kent, Sonia Chernova
StructDiffusion: Semantic 6D Rearrangement from Language Specification
StructDiffusion: Language-Guided Creation of Physically-Valid Structures using Unseen Objects
Team: Weiyu Liu, Yilun Du, Tucker Hermans, Sonia Chernova, Chris Paxton
Routine Object Usage Predictions for Proactive Robot Assistance
Predicting Routine Object Usage for Proactive Robot Assistance
Team: Maithili Patel, Aswin Prakash, Sonia Chernova
ConSOR: Context-Guided Personalized Object Rearrangement
ConSOR: A Context-Aware Semantic Object Rearrangement Framework for Partially Arranged Scenes
Team: Kartik Ramachandruni, Max Zuo, Sonia Chernova
Lab Members
Current Members
Lab Alumni
Teaching
Fun & Outreach
Beyond cutting-edge research, RAIL Lab actively engages with our local community. From showcasing candy-distributing robots during Halloween to teaching robotics to local students, we're passionate about making technology accessible and exciting. Our lab members also enjoy regular social activities like hiking and rock climbing. Check out some of our recent activities below!
Bridge Up
Annual in Spring
Bridge Up, co-organized by Georgia Tech’s RAIL Lab, is an eight-week program empowering young women to explore coding, robotics, and machine learning. Participants are tutored and mentored by RAIL Lab students, with a focus on machine learning concepts and hands-on group projects in convolutional neural networks.
Atlanta Science Festival
Annual in Spring
As a part of the Atlanta Science Festival, we introduce kids to robotics. We showcase our robots, organize interactive demos and talk about the cool research we do.
Robo-Halloween
Every October
Annual Halloween event where we dress up our robots in spooky costumes and program them to interact with kids and give out candy. Traditionally, RAIL Lab members all dress up and go around a local neighborhood in Atlanta to give out candy.
Climbing
Weekly
Monthly rock climbing sessions where lab members bond over conquering walls and boulders. We discuss research ideas, solve problems, and build team spirit while getting some exercise. Sometimes we even bring our small robots to attempt some climbs!
Hiking
Every couple months, weather permitting
When the weather decides to get better, we find time for a hike. We take a break from normal lives and enjoy the beautiful outdoors around Atlanta.