Autonomous mobile robots are poised to transform future transportation systems by addressing a range of time sensitive and safety critical tasks. Beyond their traditional roles in logistics, search and rescue, and monitoring, robots, particularly aerial and ground systems, will be central to reshaping how goods and services move in remote areas or dense urban environments. In future smart cities, aerial and ground robots will integrate into multimodal transportation networks, enabling timely delivery of critical items such as medical supplies, consumer goods, and infrastructure components. To operate effectively in these complex settings, robots must demonstrate agile maneuvering, robust adaptation to dynamic navigation conditions, and seamless collaboration across agents and humans. In this talk, I will present ongoing research at the Agile Robotics and Perception Lab, focusing on the development of agile and collaborative machines that will shape the future of autonomous mobility. I will emphasize how integrating learning-based and model-driven approaches enables agility, rapid adaptation, and scalable solutions for multi-agent collaboration. These advances point toward the future of autonomous mobility, where fleets of small, resilient robots will enhance transportation, delivery, and infrastructure services in both remote areas and dense urban environments.
Giuseppe Loianno is an Associate Professor at UC Berkeley and director of the Agile Robotics and Perception Lab (https://arplaboratory.github.io/). Prior to joining UC Berkeley in 2025, he was an associate professor at NYU and prior to that a research scientist and team leader at the GRASP Lab at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award 2022; the DARPA Young Faculty Award 2022; the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2022 Toshio Fukuda Young Professional Award in recognition of contributions to perception-based navigation for agile autonomous aerial and ground robots; the Goddard Junior Faculty Fellowship 2022; and the Best Associate Editor Award Conference Editorial Board (CEB) at the IEEE/ICRA International Conference on Robotics and Automation 2022. He is senior editor for the IROS conference 2023-2025 and IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters as well as an associate editor for multiple other prominent robotics journals including IEEE Transactions on Robotics, International Journal of Robotics Research, Field Robotics, and Frontiers in Robotics and AI. He is the chair of the IEEE RAS Robotics Foundations cluster and IEEE RAS TC on Aerial Robotics and Unmanned Aerial Systems. His work has been featured in a large number of renowned international news and magazines.
Attendees are invited to join the session in person at NASA Ames Research Center, Building N210, Room 258 (a NASA badge is required) or online:
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About Air Time by NAMS-2
Air Time is a series of seminars on advanced aviation hosted by Crown Innovations, Inc., in collaboration with the University of California’s CITRIS and the Banatao Institute. The seminars feature leading experts on cutting-edge research who share interesting ideas on pertinent topics and innovative methodologies. Air Time speakers include subject matter experts from UC Berkeley, Merced, Davis, and Santa Cruz. The seminars take place weekly.
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