Rohan Thakker

Life is a POMDP, you cannot control the outcome but can control the odds!
Roboticist @GoogleDeepMind ex-@NASAJPL · @Caltech @CarnegieMellon VNIT Nagpur

[Keerthana Gopalakrishnan @keerthanpg]

Playing with Gemini Robotics 2 on Apollo is so fun!

The incredible thing about whole body generalization in 3D space on humanoids is that all the recovery, retry and reactive behaviors look very human-like - like having a proto human intelligence in a metal body in your lab.

Unseen task, unscripted motions.

[Rohan Thakker @RoboticistRohan]

Lots more work to do, let's go 🚀

[Rohan Thakker @RoboticistRohan]

We've released Gemini Robotics 2 @GoogleDeepMind

Robot policies are arguably stuck at a Pareto frontier: general-purpose OR whole-body OR dexterous — pick one. We're pushing it out on every axis.

A step toward Physical AGI: "Ok Google, do my dishes."

How I got here 🧵

[Rohan Thakker @RoboticistRohan]

Robotics is the ultimate team sport.

Grateful to land the first of many step-function changes alongside @paul_wohlhart , @kchorolab , @_k_sridhar , @ZhutianYang_ , @ShuangL13799063 , @xf1280, and the whole Gemini Robotics team.

Our goal: Physical AGI.
https://t.co/tFPhX4f31p

[Rohan Thakker @RoboticistRohan]

Artemis II launched yesterday 🚀

Three years ago we were already in discussions with the NASA Group 23 Astronauts about the next era of space exploration — general-purpose robots as astronaut assistants, for the science, the repairs, and the places too dangerous for humans.

Someday a robot like this flies too. We're making sure of it.

Artemis didn't happen overnight. Neither does anything worth doing. You plan, you grind, you don't stop — and one day the rocket goes up.

@NASA @NASAJPL

[Rohan Thakker @RoboticistRohan]

At DeepMind, I'm excited to focus on building reliable, general-purpose autonomy—bringing robots from the most unknown places in our solar system to the most important ones: our homes, hospitals, and communities.

The adventure continues! 🖖

[Rohan Thakker @RoboticistRohan]

Bittersweet news: After 8 incredible years at @NASAJPL, I’m thrilled to be starting my next chapter with the Gemini Robotics team at @GoogleDeepMind!

Immensely grateful to my colleagues and mentors at JPL & @Caltech for the unforgettable journey.

[Rohan Thakker @RoboticistRohan]

From competing in the DARPA Subterranean Challenge to deploying robots into glacial crevasses, it was an honor to tackle some of the most extreme environments imaginable with such a brilliant team.

[Hiro Ono / 小野雅裕 @masahiro_ono]

It was a great honor to present #EELS to Mr. Bezos and the amazing audience at Amazon MARS Conference! Amazing Job, EELS Team @RoboticistRohan et al.!

ベゾスさんへのプレゼンとデモ、ばっちり決まりました！

(Thanks @ltelkins for the talk photo!)

[Rohan Thakker @RoboticistRohan]

From working late nights doing math on a whiteboard to coding/testing in a walk-in freezer and then deploying the system at a real glacier to collect data for Earth Science, to seeing our work on the cover of Science Robotics! #LifeAtNASAJPL #DAREMIGHTYTHINGS

[Rohan Thakker @RoboticistRohan]

Our research @NASAJPL is featured on the cover of Science Robotics!

Goal: Autonomously traverse uncertain extreme terrains with no prior maps, and no GPS under perceptual degradation from fog, dust, and featureless icy terrains

How? 🧵

[Rohan Thakker @RoboticistRohan]

We present a Risk-aware Integrated Task and Motion Planning (TAMP) framework to achieve this type of human intelligence in our autopilot software.

Paper: https://t.co/QSzhuqT8VO
Project website: https://t.co/fhKz3v6BBz