Ahalya Prabhakar

About

Ahalya Prabhakar is a robotics researcher whose work lies at the intersection of tactile perception, ergodic exploration, and human-robot interaction. Her primary research areas include nonparametric shape estimation using low-resolution binary sensing, haptic training for real-time robotic systems, and swarm control with flexible, user-responsive specifications. Prabhakar’s most notable contribution is her pioneering use of ergodic exploration—a mathematical framework for efficiently covering a space—to enable robots to estimate object shapes with minimal sensory data, as demonstrated in her highly cited 2017 paper (30 citations). She has also advanced tactile force estimation by integrating audio-tactile data, and developed methods for active learning from equilibrium, allowing robots to generate informative measurements while maintaining stability. Her work on ergodic specifications for swarm control, which translates user commands into persistent adaptive behavior, highlights her commitment to making multi-agent systems both responsive and robust. With over a decade of contributions, including proceedings from the AI-HRI Symposium, Prabhakar’s research continues to push the boundaries of how robots perceive and interact with the world through touch, offering scalable solutions for real-world applications.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Ergodic Exploration Using Binary Sensing for Nonparametric Shape Estimation

   30 citations · 2017
2. 2
   A Predictive Model for Tactile Force Estimation Using Audio-Tactile Data

   4 citations · 2023
3. 3
   Active Exploration for Real-Time Haptic Training

   3 citations · 2024
4. 4
   Ergodic Specifications for Flexible Swarm Control: From User Commands to Persistent Adaptation

   2 citations · 2020
5. 5
   Active Area Coverage from Equilibrium

   2 citations · 2020
6. 6
   Autonomous Visual Rendering using Physical Motion

   2 citations · 2020
7. 7
   An Ergodic Measure for Active Learning From Equilibrium

   2 citations · 2021
8. 8
   Credit Assignment Safety Learning from Human Demonstrations

   2 citations · 2021
9. 9
   Ergodic Specifications for Flexible Swarm Control: From User Commands to\n Persistent Adaptation

   2 citations · 2020
10. 10
    Proceedings of the AI-HRI Symposium at AAAI-FSS 2018

    2 citations · 2018

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links