Ph.D. in Robotics Robotics Technologist Robotic Manipulation and Sampling Group NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) California Institute of Technology (Caltech) Contact Jet Propulsion Laboratory Mail Stop 82-105 4800 Oak Grove Drive Pasadena, CA 91101 sung.kim@jpl.nasa.gov

About

I am a Robotics Technologist at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. I have earned my Ph.D. degree from the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University under the supervision of Prof. Maxim Likhachev. My research interests lie in the fields of planning, control, and robotic manipulation. I am particularly interested in robust motion planning under uncertainty. Robots operating in the real world usually run into substantial uncertainty (both in motion and sensing), which makes sequential decision making to be much harder. Belief space planning is a fundamental approach to address this problem by formalizing it as a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP). I am developing novel belief space planning algorithms based on heuristic search methods. I have been working on various robotic platforms, including surgical manipulators, redundant arms, multi-fingered hands, humanoid robots, and mobile manipulators.

Education

• Ph.D. in Robotics, Carnegie Mellon University, USA, 2013–2019

• M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Korea, 2007–2009

• B.S. (Summa Cum Laude) in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Korea, 2003–2007

Work Experience

• Robotics Technologist, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), USA, 2019–present

• Summer Intern (JPL Graduate Fellowship), NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), USA, 5/2017–8/2017

• Research Scientist, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Korea, 2009–2013

Publications

Belief Space Planning

1. S.-K. Kim, O. Salzman, and M. Likhachev, “POMHDP: Search-based Belief Space Planning using Multiple Heuristics”, International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling (ICAPS), pp. 734-744, 2019. [pdf]

2. S.-K. Kim, R. Thakker, and A. Agha-mohammadi, “Bi-Directional Value Learning for Risk-aware Planning Under Uncertainty”, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L), vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 2493-2500, 2019. [pdf]

3. A. Agha-mohammadi, S. Agarwal, S.-K. Kim, S. Chakravorty, and N. Amato, “SLAP: Simultaneous Localization and Planning Under Uncertainty via Dynamic Replanning in Belief Space”, IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO), vol. 34, no. 5, pp. 1195-1214, 2018. [pdf]

4. S.-K. Kim and M. Likhachev, “Parts Assembly Planning under Uncertainty with Simulation-Aided Physical Reasoning”, in Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pp. 4074-4081, 2017. [pdf]

5. S.-K. Kim and M. Likhachev, “Planning for Grasp Selection of Partially Occluded Objects”, in Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pp. 3971-3978, 2016. [pdf]

Multi-fingered Hand

1. S.-K. Kim, J. Jo, Y. Oh, S.-R. Oh, S. Srinivasa, and M. Likhachev, “Robotic Handwriting: Multi-contact Manipulation based on Reactional Internal Contact Hypothesis”, in Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), pp. 877-884, 2014. [pdf]

2. J. Jo, S.-K. Kim, Y. Oh, and S.-R. Oh, “Contact Force Control of a Robotic Hand Using F/T Sensory Feedback with a Rigid Object”, in Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE), pp. 432-437, 2012.

3. S.-K. Kim, Y. Oh, and S.-R. Oh, “Object Manipulation in 3D Space by Two Cone-shaped Finger Robots based on Finger-Thumb Opposability without Object Sensing”, in Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pp. 5136-5141, 2012.

4. J. Jo, S.-K. Kim, Y. Oh, and S.-R. Oh, “Grasping Force Control of Three Fingers of a Human-like Robotic Hand Using F/T Sensory Feedback”, in Proceedings of Korea Robotics Society Annual Conference (KRoC), pp. 65-67, 2012.

5. H. Lee, S.-J. Kim, K. Kim, M. S. Park, S.-K. Kim, J. H. Park, and S.-R. Oh, “Online Remote Control of a Robotic Hand Configurations Using sEMG Signals on a Forearm”, in Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO), pp. 2243-2244, 2011.

6. S.-K. Kim, J. Jo, Y. Oh, and S.-R. Oh, “Development of a Multi-fingered Robotic Hand and Its Compliance Control using F/T Sensors at Fingertips”, in Proceedings of International Conference on Mechatronics Techonology (ICMT), pp. 483-488, 2011.

7. J. Jo, S.-K. Kim, Y. Oh, and S.-R. Oh, “Compliance Control of a Position Controlled Robotic Hand Using F/T Sensor”, in Proceedings of International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots and Ambient Intelligence (URAI), pp. 446-450, 2011.

Redundant Arm

1. S.-m. Hur, S.-K. Kim, Y. Oh, and S.-R. Oh, “Joint Torque Servo of a High Friction Robot Manipulator Based on Time-Delay Control with Feed-Forward Friction Compensation”, in Proceedings of IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN), pp. 37-42, 2012. Best paper finalist.

2. S.-m. Hur, S.-K. Kim, Y. Oh, and S.-R. Oh, “Stiffness Modeling of Joint Torque Sensor Based Robot Arm”, in Proceedings of Korea Robotics Society Annual Conference (KRoC), pp. 509-511, 2012.

3. S.-m. Hur, S.-K. Kim, Y. Oh, and S.-R. Oh, “Joint Torque Servo Control of a High Friction System Based on Time-Delay Control”, in Proceedings of Conference on Information and Control Systems (CICS), pp. 81-82, 2012.

4. S.-K. Kim, J.-H. Bae, Y. Oh, and S.-R. Oh, “Concurrent Control of Position/Orientation of a Redundant Manipulator based on Virtual Spring-Damper Hypothesis”, in Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pp. 6045-6050, 2011.

5. S.-K. Kim, J.-H. Bae, Y. Oh, and D. Kim, “7-DOF Redundant Manipulator Control using Quaternion Feedback based on Virtual Spring-Damper Hypothesis”, in Proceedings of International Conference on the Advanced Mechatronics (ICAM), pp. 87-92, 2010.

Humanoid

1. S.-K. Kim, D.-h. Lee, S. Hong, Y. Oh, and S.-R. Oh, “From Human Motion Analysis to Whole-Body Control of a Dual-Arm Robot for Pick-and-Place Tasks”, in Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), pp. 1155-1161, 2013.

2. S.-K. Kim, S. Hong, D. Kim, Y. Oh, B.-J. You, and S.-R. Oh, “Online Footprint Imitation of a Humanoid Robot by Walking Motion Parameterization”, in Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), pp. 2692-2697, 2010.

3. S.-K. Kim, S. Hong, and D. Kim, “A Walking Motion Imitation Framework of a Humanoid Robot by Human Walking Recognition from IMU Motion Data”, in Proceedings of IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids), pp. 343-348, 2009.

4. S.-K. Kim, E.-H. Seo, D. Kim, B.-J. You, and S.-R. Oh, “Real-time Control Method of Humanoid Robot for Human Motion Imitation”, in Proceedings of Korea Robotics Society Annual Conference (KRoC), pp. 95-96, 2010.

5. S.-K. Kim, S. Ra, D. Kim, B.-J. You, and S.-R. Oh, “Real-time Motion Imitation Control of a Humanoid Robot with Non-real-time Motion Data”, in Proceedings of International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots and Ambient Intelligence (URAI), pp. 269-272, 2009.

Medical Robot

1. W.-H. Shin, S.-K. Kim, and D.-S. Kwon, “Development of a Flexible-rigid Endoscopic Robot System for NOTES”, in Proceedings of Asian Conference on Computer Aided Surgery (ACCAS), p. 128, 2009.

2. S.-K. Kim, W.-H. Shin, J. Kim, and D.-S. Kwon, “Teleoperation Control of Compact Laparoscopic Surgical Robot System”, in Proceedings of Biodivision Conference of Korea Society of Mechanical Engineers (KMSE-Biodivision), pp. 86-87, 2008.

3. S.-K. Kim, W.-H. Shin, S.-Y. Ko, J. Kim, and D.-S. Kwon, “Design of a Compact 5-DOF Surgical Robot of a Spherical Mechanism: CURES”, in Proceedings of IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM), pp. 990-995, 2008.

Aeroelastics

1. S.-K. Kim, T.-S. Kim, and S. Shin, “An Analysis on Vibratory Loads Reduction using Individual Blade Control in Active Helicopter Rotors”, Journal of the Korea Society of Aeronautical and Space Sciences, Vol. 35, No. 6, pp. 496-502, 2007.