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Kevin Lynch
Professor

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
Northwestern University
2145 Sheridan Road, Rm. B221
Evanston, IL 60208-3111, USA

TEL: 847-467-5451
FAX: 847-491-3915

kmlynch@northwestern.edu

link to CV
link to research site

BSE, Princeton University (1989)
PhD, Carnegie Mellon University (1996)

Honors and Awards

  • 2007 Society of Automotive Engineers Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award
  • 2001 Early Career Award in Robotics and Automation, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
  • McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science Teacher Of The Year Award, 1998-1999
  • NSF Career Award, 1998
  • Senior Editor of IEEE Transactions on Robotics

Research: Motion planning and control for robotic manipulation and underactuated systems; decentralized control of multi-robot systems; physical human-robot interaction.

Professor Lynch's research in motion planning and control includes sensor-based motion control for an underwater robot navigating using an active electric field sensor; planning and control of robotic manipulation; and motion planning for vehicles and other underactuated systems.  Work in robotic manipulation focuses on the use of pushing, throwing, juggling, rolling, vibration, etc., to increase the dexterity of robot manipulators.  Manipulation of an object with many degrees-of-freedom by a robot with fewer actuators is called underactuated manipulation. Other underactuated systems of interest include robot arms with failed actuators, and space, air, and underwater vehicles with limited control authority. Control for these underactuated systems raises challenging issues in mechanics, design, controllability theory, and robot motion planning.

Another area of interest is decentralized control of multi-robot systems.  The challenge is to design local estimators and controllers running on each robot so that the group exhibits desired collective behaviors.  Inspiration can be found in animal groups such as flocking birds and schooling fish.  Applications of this research include vehicle formation control, cooperative surveillance, mobile sensor networks, and other self-organizing systems.

Physical human-robot interaction involves physically coupling a human with a robot, which may be an intelligent assist device, exoskeleton, prosthetic, or haptic interface.  Our research on physical human-robot interaction focuses on better understanding the human half of the coupled control system, in order to design and control robots for comfortable and intuitive interaction.  

In the classroom

Professor Lynch has developed the course ME 333 Introduction to Mechatronics to teach students the interdisciplinary fundamentals of interfacing sensors and actuators with a computer. The course attracts students from Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Biomedical Engineering, and other fields. Professor Lynch has also constructed the undergraduate Mechatronics Design Laboratory to support student projects in the design and construction of microprocessor-controlled electromechanical systems. This laboratory supports ME 333 as well as other courses including ME 224 Experimental Engineering, projects in Engineering Design and Communication, the annual Robot Design Competition (DC), and independent projects.

Professor Lynch has also developed the new graduate courses ME 449 Robotic Manipulation and ME 450 Geometry in Robotics.

Selected publications

H. Choset, K. M. Lynch, S. Hutchinson, G. Kantor, W. Burgard, L. Kavraki, and S. Thrun. Principles of Robot Motion, MIT Press, 2005.  ISBN 0-262- 03327-5.

J. Solberg, K. M. Lynch, and M. A. MacIver.  Robotic electrolocation:  Active underwater target localization with electric fields.  2007 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

E. L. Faulring, K. M. Lynch, J. E. Colgate, and M. A. Peshkin.  Haptic display of constrained dynamic systems via admittance displays.  IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 23(1):101-111, February 2007.

J. D. Bernheisel and K. M. Lynch.  Stable transport of assemblies by pushing.  IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 22(4):740-750, August 2006.

R. A. Freeman, P. Yang, and K. M. Lynch.  Distributed estimation and control of swarm formation statistics.  American Control Conference, Minneapolis, MN, June 2006.

P. Pan, M. A. Peshkin, J. E. Colgate, and K. M. Lynch.  Static single-arm force generation with kinematic constraints.  Journal of Neurophysiology, 93:2752-2765, May 2005.

F. Bullo and K. M. Lynch. Kinematic controllability and decoupled trajectory planning for underactuated mechanical systems. IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, 17(4):402-412, August 2001.

K. M. Lynch and C. K. Black. Recurrence, controllability, and stabilization of juggling. IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, 17(2):113-124, April 2001.

K. M. Lynch and M. T. Mason. Dynamic nonprehensile manipulation: Controllability, planning, and experiments. International Journal of Robotics Research, 18(1):64-92, January 1999.