Dr Pauline Pounds

Professor

School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology
pauline.pounds@uq.edu.au
+61 7 336 52883

Overview

Research Interests

  • Drone design
    How do we make drones that fly longer? Farther? More efficiently? Carry heavier payloads? Quieter? Safer? All of the above?
  • Bipedal Robot Locomotion
    How can we build bipedal robots with the advanced capabilities shown by cutting-edge walking machines, but at a fraction of the cost?
  • Embodied intelligence
    How do we build robots that use the nature of their electromechanical construction to do innately smart things but without a big brain? Can we make drones that passively avoid obstacles and reject gust disturbances? Can we make sensors that connect to very low-level control to allow robots to perform tasks safely without expensive processing?
  • Disposable drones
    How can we build drones cheaply enough that you could throw them away when you're done with them? How do we deploy them or steer them to their target without expensive systems onboard? How do we make those drones biodegrade or break down to avoid polluting the environment when they're done their mission?
  • Exoskeletons
    How do we build performance-enhancing exoskeletons for search and rescue or warehouse applications that don't tire the wearer out?

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Australian National University
  • Bachelor of Engineering, Australian National University

Publications

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Grants

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Supervision

View all Supervision

Publications

Journal Article

Conference Publication

  • Böhm, Peter, Pounds, Pauline and Chapman, Archie C. (2023). Feature extraction for effective and efficient deep reinforcement learning on real robotic platforms. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), London, United Kingdom, 29 May - 2 June 2023. Piscataway, NJ, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/icra48891.2023.10160862

  • Böhm, Peter, Pounds, Pauline and Chapman, Archie C. (2022). Low-cost real-world implementation of the swing-up pendulum for deep reinforcement learning experiments. Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation (ACRA 2022), Brisbane, QLD Australia, 6-8 December 2022. Australasian Robotics and Automation Association.

  • Böhm, Peter, Chapman, Archie and Pounds, Pauline (2022). Training directional locomotion for quadrupedal low-cost robotic systems via deep reinforcement learning. Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation (ACRA 2022) , Brisbane, QLD Australia, 6-8 December 2022. Australasian Robotics and Automation Association.

  • Bohm, Peter, Pounds, Pauline and Chapman, Archie C. (2022). Non-blocking asynchronous training for reinforcement learning in real-world environments. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Kyoto, Japan, 23-27 October 2022. Piscataway, NJ, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/iros47612.2022.9981333

  • Moshirian, Benjamin and Pounds, Pauline E.I. (2022). Rotor array synergies for aerial modular reconfigurable robots. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Kyoto, Japan, 23-27 October 2022. Piscataway, NJ, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/iros47612.2022.9982034

  • Routray, Prasanna Kumar, Kanade, Aditya Sanjiv, Tiwari, Kshitij, Pounds, Pauline and Muniyandi, Manivannan (2022). Towards multidimensional textural perception and classification through whisker. 2022 IEEE International Symposium on Robotic and Sensors Environments (ROSE), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 14-15 November 2022. Piscataway, NJ, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/ROSE56499.2022.9977409

  • Korte, Jessica, Newton, Jacob, Goel, Rudraksh and Pounds, Pauline (2020). Physical requirements for Auslan robots and avatars: “Handy” hands. CoEDL Fest, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 3-6 February 2020. ARC CoEDL.

  • Chang, Shantel, Mohammad Jamil, Ridhwan, Tucker, Kylie, Verrel, Julius, Pounds, Pauline and Claus, Andrew (2019). Pain and Spinal Postural Control: Does Lumbar Pain, Anticipation of Lumbar Pain, or Limb Pain Alter the Neuromuscular and Mechanical Responses to Sudden Axial Load?. Australian Pain Society, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia, 7-10 April 2019.

  • Deer, William and Pounds, Pauline (2018). Towards the Tiny Giant Robot - a low-cost gyroscopically stabilised biped. Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation (ACRA 2018), Lincoln, New Zealand, 4-6 December 2018. Australia: Australasian Robotics and Automation Association.

  • Taufatofua, Jonathon, Heath, Scott, Ramirez-Brinez, Carlos Andres, Sommer, Kristyn, Durantin, Gautier, Kong, Wilson, Wiles, Janet and Pounds, Pauline (2018). Designing for robust movement in a child-friendly robot. 25th IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Madrid, Spain, 1-5 October 2018. Piscataway, NJ, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/IROS.2018.8593414

  • Heath, Scott, Ramirez-Brinez, Carlos Andres, Arnold, Joshua, Olsson, Ola, Taufatofua, Jonathon, Pounds, Pauline, Wiles, Janet, Leonardis, Eric, Gygi, Emanuel, Leija, Estelita, Quinn, Laleh K. and Chiba, Andrea A. (2018). PiRat: an autonomous framework for studying social behaviour in rats and robots. 25th IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Madrid, Spain, 1-5 October 2018. Piscataway, NJ, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/IROS.2018.8594060

  • Young, A., Tucker, K., Verrel, J., Pounds, P. and Claus, A. (2017). Mechanical perturbation of spinal postural control with sudden axial load demonstrates different timing of trunk muscles in sitting versus standing. International Society of Biomechanics XXVI Congress, Brisbane / Brisbane Convention Centre, 23-27 July 2017.

  • Pounds, Paul, Potie, Timothy, Kendoul, Farid, Singh, Surya, Jurdak, Raja and Roberts, Jonathan (2016). Automatic distribution of disposable self-deploying sensor modules. International Symposium on Experimental Robotics, Marrakech, Morocco, 15-18 June 2014. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Verlag. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-23778-7_35

  • Davis, Edwin and Pounds, Paul E.I. (2016). Direct thrust and velocity measurement for a micro UAV rotor. Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation 2016, ACRA 2016, University of Queensland, Brisbane, 5-7 December 2016. Australasian Robotics and Automation Association.

  • Hensby, Kristyn, Wiles, Janet, Boden, Marie, Heath, Scott, Nielsen, Mark, Pounds, Paul, Riddell, Joshua, Rogers, Kristopher, Rybak, Nikodem, Slaughter, Virginia, Smith, Michael, Taufatofua, Jonathon, Worthy, Peter and Weigel, Jason (2016). Hand in hand: tools and techniques for understanding children's touch with a social robot. 11th Annual ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, HRI 2016, Christchurch, New Zealand, 7-10 March 2016. Piscataway, NJ, United States: IEEE Computer Society. doi: 10.1109/HRI.2016.7451794

  • Wiles, Janet, Worthy, Peter, Hensby, Kristyn, Boden, Marie, Heath, Scott, Pounds, Paul, Rybak, Nikodem, Smith, Michael, Taufotofua, Jonathon and Weigel, Jason (2016). Social cardboard: pretotyping a social ethnodroid in the wild. 11th Annual ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, HRI 2016, Christchurch, New Zealand, 7-10 March 2016. Piscataway, NJ, United States: IEEE. doi: 10.1109/HRI.2016.7451841

  • Davis, E., McKay-Lowndes, W., Gonano, D., Hansen, S. and Pounds, P. (2016). Towards the stackrotor: aerodynamics, construction, dynamics and control of a vertical stacked-rotor configuration for indoor heavy-lift helicopter robots. Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation 2016, ACRA 2016, University of Queensland, Brisbane, 5-7 December 2016. Australasian Robotics and Automation Association.

  • Worthy, Peter, Boden, Marie, Karimi, Arafeh, Weigel, Jason, Matthews, Ben, Hensby, Kristyn, Heath, Scott, Pounds, Paul, Taufatofua, Jonathon, Smith, Michael, Viller, Stephen and Wiles, Janet (2015). Children's expectations and strategies in interacting with a Wizard of Oz Robot. OZCHI '15, Melbourne, Australia, 7-10 December 2015. New York, NY, United States: ACM. doi: 10.1145/2838739.2838793

  • Abeywardena, Dinuka, Pounds, Paul, Hunt, David and Dissanayake, Gamini (2015). Design and development of ReCOPTER: an open source ROS-based multi-rotor platform for research. Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation, Canberra, Australia, 2-4 December 2015. Canberra, ACT, Australia: The Australian National University.

  • Naldi, Roberto, Pounds, Paul, De Marco, Simone and Marconi, Lorenzo (2015). Output tracking for quadrotor-based aerial manipulators. American Control Conference, Chicago, IL, United States, 1-3 July 2015. Piscataway, NJ, United States: IEEE. doi: 10.1109/ACC.2015.7171003

  • Davis, Edwin, Spollard, James and Pounds, Paul (2015). Passive height stability and trajectory repeatability of a quadrotor maneuvering in ground effect with regulated voltage bus. Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation (ACRA 2015), Canberra, ACT, Australia, 2-4 December 2015. Canberra, ACT, Australia: ARAA.

  • Pounds, Paul E. and Dollar, Aaron M. (2014). Aerial grasping from a helicopter UAV platform. 12th International Symposium on Experimental Robotics (ISER), New Delhi, India, 18-21 2010. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-28572-1_19

  • du Plessis, Jaco and Pounds, Paul E. I. (2014). Rotor Flapping for a Triangular Quadrotor. Australiasian Conference on Robotics and Automation 2014, Melbourne, VIC Australia, 2-4 December 2014. Melbourne, VIC Australia: The University of Melbourne.

  • Swensen, John P., Nawroj, Ahsan I., Pounds, Paul E. I. and Dollar, Aaron M. (2014). Simple, scalable active cells for articulated robot structures. International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Hong Kong, China, 31 May - 7 June 2014. Piscataway, NJ, United States: IEEE. doi: 10.1109/ICRA.2014.6907012

  • Singh, Surya P. N., Kurniawati, Hanna, Pounds, Paul E. I., Freakley, Craig, Wilson, Wayne and Arvier, Louise (2014). Soundly located: programmable sounds to assist localization in visual impaired sport. 2014 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Chicago, IL, United States, 14-18 September, 2014.

  • Page, Jared R. and Pounds, Paul E. I. (2014). The quadroller: modeling of a UAV/UGV hybrid quadrotor. 2014 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2014), Chicago, United States, 14-18 September 2014. Piscataway, NJ, United States: IEEE. doi: 10.1109/IROS.2014.6943249

  • Singh, Surya, Pounds, Paul and Kurniawati, Hanna (2013). I-ball: A programmable sporting aid for children with a visual impairment to play soccer. 7th International Conference, UAHCI 2013, Held as Part of HCI International 2013, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A., 21-26 July 2013. Heidelberg Germany: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-39188-0_63

  • Pounds, Paul E. I. and Singh, Surya P. N. (2013). Integrated electro-aeromechanical structures for low-cost, self-deploying environment sensors and disposable UAVs. 2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Karlsruhe, Germany, 6-10 May 2013. Washington, United States: IEEE (Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers). doi: 10.1109/ICRA.2013.6631210

  • Driessens, Scott and Pounds, Paul (2013). Towards a more efficient quadrotor configuration. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2013, Tokyo, Japan, 3-8 November 2013. Piscataway, NJ, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/IROS.2013.6696530

  • Pounds, Paul E. I. (2012). Paper plane: towards disposable low-cost folded cellulose-substrate UAVs. 2012 Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation, Wellington, New Zealand, 3-5 December 2012. Sydney, Australia: Australian Robotics and Automation Association (ARAA).

  • Valdes, Samuel, Urza, Ignacio, Pounds, Paul E. I. and Singh, Surya (2012). Samara: low-cost deployment for environmental sensing using passive autorotation. Robotic: Science and Systems VII (RSS2012), Sydney, Australia, 9-13 July 2012.

  • Pounds, Paul E. I., Bersak, Daniel R. and Dollar, Aaron M. (2011). Grasping from the air: hovering capture and load stability. 2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Shangai, China, 9-13 May 2011. Piscataway, NJ, United States: IEEE. doi: 10.1109/ICRA.2011.5980314

  • Pounds, Paul E. I., Bersak, Daniel R. and Dollar, Aaron M. (2011). Practical aerial grasping of unstructured objects. 2011 IEEE International Conference on Technologies for Practical Robot Applications (TePRA 2011), Woburn, MA, United States, 11-12 April 2011. Piscataway, NJ, United States: IEEE. doi: 10.1109/TEPRA.2011.5753489

  • Pounds, Paul E. I. and Dollar, Aaron M. (2011). UAV rotorcraft in compliant contact: stability analysis and simulation. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, San Francisco, CA, United States, 25-30 September 2011. Piscataway, NJ, United States: IEEE. doi: 10.1109/IROS.2011.6048847

  • Pounds, Paul and Dollar, Aaron (2010). Aerial Grasping from a Helicopter Platform. International Symposium on Experimental Robotics, Delhi, India, 18-21 December 2010.

  • Pounds, Paul E. I. and Dollar, Aaron (2010). Hovering stability of helicopters with elastic constraints. ASME 2010 Dynamic Systems and Control Conference (DSCC2010), Boston, United States, 12-15 September 2010. New York, United States: American Society of Mechanical Engineers. doi: 10.1115/DSCC2010-4166

  • Pounds, Paul E. I. and Dollar, Aaron M. (2010). Towards grasping with a helicopter platform: landing accuracy and other challenges. Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation, Brisbane Australia, 1-3 December 2010. Brisbane, Australia: Australian Robotics and Automation Association (ARAA).

  • Pounds, Paul and Mahony, Robert (2009). Design principles of large quadrotors for practical applications. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Kobe, Japan, 12-17 May 2009. Piscataway, NJ, United States: IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). doi: 10.1109/ROBOT.2009.5152390

  • Pounds, Paul, Hamel, Tarek and Mahony, Robert (2007). Attitude control of rigid body dynamics from biased IMU measurements. 46th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, New Orleans, LA, United States, 12-14 December 2007. Piscataway, NJ, United States: IEEE (Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers). doi: 10.1109/CDC.2007.4434173

  • Pounds, Paul, Mahony, Robert and Corke, Peter (2007). System identification and control of an aerobot drive system. Conference on Information Decision and Control, Adelaide, SA, Australia, 12-14 February 2007. IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers): Piscataway, NJ, United States. doi: 10.1109/IDC.2007.374542

  • Pounds, P., Mahony, M. and Corke, P. (2006). Modelling and control of a quad-rotor robot. Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation, Auckland New Zealand, 6-8 December 2006.

  • Pounds, Paul and Mahony, Robert (2005). Small-scale aeroelastic rotor simulation, design and fabrication. Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 5-7 December 2005.

  • Pounds, Paul, Mahony, Robert, Gresham, Joel, Corke, Peter and Roberts, Jonathan (2004). Towards dynamically favourable Quad-Rotor aerial robots. Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation, Canberra Australia, 6-8 December 2004. Canberra A.C.T. Australia: ANU.

  • Pounds, P., Mahony, R., Hynes, P. and Roberts, J. (2002). Design of a four-rotor aerial robot. Australasian Conference on Robotics & Automation, Auckland New Zealand, 27-29 November 2002.

Other Outputs

Grants (Administered at UQ)

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

Completed Supervision