Pallege Gamini Dilupa Siriwardana
Machine learning-based multi-robot cooperative transportation of objects
Dr. Clarence W. de Silva
Colombo
Sri Lanka
Why did you decide to pursue a graduate degree?
I successfully completed the Bachelor’s degree in the field of Electronics, Telecommunication Engineering. As soon as I passed out from the Sri Lankan University, I was immediately appointed as Lecturer in the Department in Mechanical Engineering at the same university, where I am required to get myself involved in the academic activities in the course of Mechatronics. I looked at my long-term goals of writing textbooks, researching, lecturing, teaching and making the occupation of personal training more professional. I realized that to be recognized as a professional I would need to get a graduate degree.
Why did you decide to study at UBC?
By the time I finished my Bachelor’s degree, it was already known that UBC was one of the leading institutions researching mobile robotics and its excellent reputation motivated me to apply for graduate studies.
What do you hope to accomplish with your research?
This research project develops a machine learning approach and investigates relevant research issues for object transportation utilizing cooperative and autonomous multiple mobile robots. It makes significant original contributions in distributed multi robot coordination and self deterministic learning for robot decision making, and comes up with an optimal solution to the action selection conflicts of the robots in the cooperative system. This will help to improve the real time performance and robustness of the system and develops a new method for object and obstacle identification in complex environments using a laser range finder, which is more realistic than the available methods. A new algorithm for object pose estimation is developed, enabling a robot to identify the objects and obstacles in a multi-robot environment by utilizing the laser range finder and color blob tracking.
What are your future career goals?
My ambition is to earn a graduate degree from UBC and to serve the country. I am quite hopeful of making a significant contribution to the advancement of Multi Robot Coordination and Learning research leading to the betterment of the lives of the people.
What has been your most memorable Vancouver experience so far?
For me and my family, it has been a remarkable feeling to experience what Vancouver has to offer—the best place on earth.
What advice do you have for new graduate students?
From my own experience, I am convinced that UBC is one of the best places for graduate level studies in the world. Both industry-oriented courses and academic research provide me with essential subject knowledge and practical skills. With the excellent academic guidance encouragement and excursions there is no better place than UBC to start your graduate studies. UBC is always keen on providing financial support/concessions in many ways, especially for students like me who have families, thus allowing enough time to focus on research.
Personal Interests / Hobbies
Running in the parks, hiking and camping in the mountains