Michael C. Nechyba

Assistant Professor

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
311 Benton Hall, P.O. Box 116200
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-6200
Office: (352) 392-6503
nechyba@mil.ufl.edu
http://mil.ufl.edu/~nechyba

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH	RESEARCH INTERESTS	EDUCATION	RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
RESEARCH GRANTS	THESES STUDENTS	TEACHING EXPERIENCE	PUBLICATIONS
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES	FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS	COMPUTER EXPERIENCE	PERSONAL

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:

Michael C. Nechyba received his B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Florida in 1992, and his Ph.D. in Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University in 1998. His thesis was supervised by Yangsheng Xu, and supported by an NSF Graduate Fellowship, as well as a DOE Doctoral Fellowship. In his Ph.D. thesis, entitled Learning and Validation of Human Control Strategies, Dr. Nechyba focused his work on extending the capabilities of robots and other machines by abstracting computational models of human control strategy. As part of that research, Dr. Nechyba invented sophisticated algorithms in neural network learning and statistical signal modeling. Dr. Nechyba was also involved in the development of a number of autonomous robots, including the Self-Mobile Space Manipulator, a seven-DOF space robot capable of walking on an I-beam truss structure. Upon completion of his thesis, Dr. Nechyba joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Florida as assistant professor in August 1998. There he serves as associate director of the Machine Intelligence Laboratory, dedicated to the development of intelligent, autonomous robots, and has continued to pursue research in human-centered robotics. Since joining the University of Florida, he has collaborated with Sphereo, Inc., in the development of intelligent control algorithms for a robotic spacecraft, and the development of real-time algorithms for vision-based tracking and re-creation of activity in known environments.

Currently, Dr. Nechyba's research is focused on two primary areas: (1) vision-based and sensor-based autonomy for Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs), and (2) direct brain-machine interfaces (BMIs). As part of his MAV research, Dr. Nechyba and his students have developed vision-based horizon tracking algorithms for real-time stability and control of MAVs and small UAVs; novel multi-resolution vision algorithms for statistical modeling, representation and segmentation of complex image classes; and GPS-based navigation of MAVs and small UAVs. Recently, part of this work was recognized at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Intelligent Systems 2002 as a best conference paper finalist (5 papers out of 501). Dr. Nechyba's work on brain-machine interfaces is part of a four-university, DARPA-sponsored effort led by neuro-biologists at Duke University. He and his students are currently developing statistical (HMM-based) prediction methods to map multi-channel neural activity in the motor cortex of a monkey to corresponding arm movements.

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

Machine Learning; Real-Time Computer Vision; Statistical Modeling; Robotics; Autonomy for Micro Air Vehicles; Teleoperation and Human Interfaces; Robot and Nonlinear Control; Computational Intelligence; Neural Networks; Hidden Markov Models.

EDUCATION:

8/92 - 5/98: Carnegie Mellon University, The Robotics Institute: Ph.D. in Robotics. Dissertation Title: Learning and Validation of Human Control Strategies. Dissertation Advisor: Yangsheng Xu. Dissertation Committee: Andrew Moore, Dean Pomerleau, Shumeet Baluja. Coursework: Neural Computation, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision and Advanced Perception, Robotics, Advanced Manipulation, Robot Control, Advanced Linear Control, Geometry, Mathematics for Robotics. GPA: 4.0/4.0.

8/88 - 5/92: University of Florida, Department of Electrical Engineering: B.S. in Electrical Engineering. Course and project work focused on control theory, computer engineering and mathematics. GPA: 4.0/4.0 (Class rank: 1st).

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE:

8/98 - present: University of Florida: Assistant Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Associate Director of Machine Intelligence Laboratory. Supervising and conducting research in autonomous mobile robots, machine learning, and real-time computer vision. Current research includes:

Vision-based autonomy and sensor fusion for Micro Air Vehicles
Statistical modeling of complex visual classes using Hidden Markov Trees
Real-time vision based activity tracking
Statistical analysis of neural firing activity for brain-machine interfaces
Learning and abstraction of human skill models

6/98 - 7/98: Astrobotics, Inc.: Consultant. Applied stochastic optimization to the thruster configuration of a robotic spacecraft; conducted research in the dynamics and control of the same space vehicle.

8/92 - 5/98: Carnegie Mellon University, Research Assistant in the Robotics Institute. Worked with Yangsheng Xu on learning and transfer of human control strategies, and space robotics.

RESEARCH GRANTS:

Active grants:

Flexible Wing Based Micro Aerial Vehicles, NASA Langley, $180,000, 12/02 - 12/04 (Co-PI).

Modeling, Control and Testing of Micro-Air-Vehicles (MAV) for Application to Agile and Autonomous Munitions, U.S. Air Force (Eglin),$298,110, 10/02 - 9/03 (Co-PI).

Development of Autonomous Vehicle Technologies, U.S. Air Force (Tyndall), $953,167, 8/02 - 11/04 (Co-PI).

Micro Air Vehicles Deployed From the AeroVironment Pointer, Special Operations/Batelle, $50,000, 7/02 - 7/03 (Co-PI).

Micro Air Vehicles for Bomb Damage Assessment (BDA) - Phase I SBRI, U.S. Air Force (Eglin)/System Dynamics International, $99,904, 6/02 - 4/03, (Co-PI).

Computational Engines and Hybrid VLSI Chips for Multichannel Neural Data Analysis, Duke University/DARPA, $3,022,263, 5/02 - 5/07 (Co-PI).

REU Site Research Experience in Design and Construction of Autonomous Robots and Machine Learning, NSF, $252,513, 5/02 - 8/04 (Co-PI).

Flexible Wing Based Micro Aerial Vehicles, NASA Langley, $70,665, 10/01 - 10/02 (Co-PI).

Vision-Based Activity Tracking, Sphereo, Inc. (San Jose, CA), $203,269, 8/99 - 5/02 (PI).

Modeling, Simulation and Control of a Robotic Spacecraft, Astrobotics, Inc. (San Jose, CA), $20,000, 8/98 - 5/99 (PI).

Approved grants:

Vision-Based Control of Agile, Autonomous Small and Micro Flight Vehicles in Urban Environments, Air Force Office of Sponsored Research, ~$4.7 million, 6/03 - 12/07 (Co-PI).

A Hardware-in-the-Loop Experiment and Simulation Facility for Vision-Based Control of Micro-Air Vehicles (MAVs), Air Force Office of Sponsored Research (DURIP), ~$400,000, 6/03 - 5/04 (Co-PI).

Pocket Micro Air Vehicle-Phase I, Special Operations/Batelle, ~$150,000, 5/03 - 5/04 (Co-PI).

Micro Air Vehicles for Bomb Damage Assessment (BDA) - Phase II SBRI, U.S. Air Force (Eglin)/System Dynamics International, ~$300,000, 5/03 - 5/05 (Co-PI).

THESES STUDENTS:

Rand Chandler, Ph.D. Spring 2003, Co-chair, (to join Coastal Systems Station, Panama City, FL).
Tae Choi, Ph.D., Fall 2002, Co-chair (to join Univ. of Miami, OH).
Jason Grzywna, M.S. Thesis, (expected Spring 2004), Chair.
Jenny Laine, M.S. Thesis, Spring 2003, Chair.
Sinisa Todorovic, M.S. Thesis, Fall 2002, Chair (continuing to Ph.D.).
Kevin Walchko, M.S. Thesis, Summer 2002, Chair.
Patrick O'Malley, M.S. Thesis, Spring 2002, Chair (now at Sandia National Laboratories, NM).
Scott Kanowitz, M.S. Thesis, Spring 2002 (now at Lockheed-Martin in Washington, DC).
Scott Ettinger, M. S. Thesis, Summer 2001, Chair (now at Intel in Santa Clara, CA).
Scott Nichols, M.S. Thesis, Summer 2001, Chair (now at IBM in Raleigh, NC).
Ivan Zapata, M. S. Thesis, Summer 2001, Chair (now at IBM in Raleigh, NC).
Jieh-Hwang Yen, M.S. Thesis, Fall 2000, Chair (now at Philips Semiconductor, Taiwan).
Nihat Kasap, M.S. Thesis, Summer 2000, Chair.
Stephen Stancliff, M.S. Thesis, Spring 2000, Chair (now at Naval Research Center in San Diego, CA.)

TEACHING EXPERIENCE:

University of Florida, Pattern Recognition and Intelligent Systems, (Graduate, Fall `02), Discrete-Time Signals and Systems (Undergraduate, Spring `02, `03), Dynamics and Kinematics of Robot Manipulators (Graduate, Spring `01, Fall `01), Intelligent Robot Systems (Graduate, Fall `00, Spring `02), Machine Learning in Robotics I (Graduate, Fall `98, `99, `01), Machine Learning in Robotics II (Graduate, Spring `99, `00). Average teaching evaluations: 4.7/5.0.

Teaching Assistant, Carnegie Mellon University, Robot Manipulation (Fall `93): Supervised lab work; taught some lectures; graded homework, tests and lab projects; held office hours; proctored exams.

Teaching Assistant, University of Florida, Signals and Systems (Fall `91): Taught weekly review sessions; graded all homework and tests; held office hours; proctored exams.

Teaching Assistant, University of Florida, Microelectronic Circuits (Summer `91 and Spring `92): Taught weekly review sessions and tutorials; designed and graded homeworks, simulation projects and tests; held office hours.

PUBLICATIONS:

S. M. Ettinger, M. C. Nechyba, P. G. Ifju and M. Waszak, "Towards Mission-Capable Micro Air Vehicles: Vision-Guided Flight Stability and Control," to appear in Advanced Robotics, June, 2003.

Y. Xu, J. Song, M. C. Nechyba and Y. Yam, "Performance Evaluation and Optimization of Human Control Strategy," Robotics and Autonomous Systems, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 19-36, 2002.

M. C. Nechyba and Y. Xu, "On Learning Discontinuous Human Control Strategies," International Journal Of Intelligent Systems, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 547-70, 2001.

M. C. Nechyba and Y. Xu, "Stochastic Similarity for Validating Human Control Strategy Models," IEEE Trans. on Robotics and Automation, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 437-51, 1998.

M. C. Nechyba and Y. Xu, "Human Control Strategy: Abstraction, Verification and Replication," IEEE Control Systems, vol. 17., no. 5, pp. 48-61, 1997.

M. C. Nechyba and Y. Xu, "Learning and Transfer of Human Real-Time Control Strategies," Journal of Advanced Computational Intelligence, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 137-54, 1997.

M. C. Nechyba and Y. Xu, "Human-Robot Cooperation in Space: SM² for New Space Station Structure," IEEE Robotics and Automation, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 4-11, 1995.

J. Grzywna, J. Plew, M. C. Nechyba and P. Ifju, "GPS/INS Integration for Autonomous MAV Flight," to be submitted to IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, New Orleans, April, 2004.

R. Chandler, M. C. Nechyba and A. A. Arroyo, "Autonomous Robot Navigation through Textural Analysis," to be submitted to IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, New Orleans, April, 2004.

S. Todorovic and M. C. Nechyba, "Adaptive Feature Selection for Hidden Markov Tree Models of Complex Image Classes," submitted to IEEE Int. Conf. on Computer Vision, Beijing, October, 2003.

S. Darmanjian, S. P. Kim, M. C. Nechyba, S. Morrison, J. Principe, J. Wessberg, M. A. L. Nicolelis, "Bimodal Brain-Machine Interface for Motor Control of Robotic Prosthetic," submitted to IEEE Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Las Vegas, October, 2003.

T. A. Choi, M. C. Nechyba, E. M. Schwartz, A. A. Arroyo, "Creation and Analysis of a Scenario Based Universal Sensory Driver Layer with Real-Time Fault Tolerant Properties," submitted to IEEE Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Las Vegas, October, 2003.

S. Todorovic and M. C. Nechyba, "Multi-resolution Linear Discriminant Analysis: Efficient Extraction Of Geometrical Structures In Images," to appear in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Image Processing, Barcelona, September, 2003.

S. Todorovic, M. C. Nechyba and P. G. Ifju, "Sky/Ground Modeling for Autonomous MAV Flight," to appear in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, Taiwan, September, 2003.

J. Grzywna, K. Walchko and M. C. Nechyba, "Subjugator: A Reconfigurable AUV," to be presented at 2nd AIAA "Unmanned Unlimited" Systems, Technologies, and Operations-Aerospace, Land, and Sea Conference, San Diego, September, 2003.

R. S. Causey, A. Kurdila, P. Ifju, R. Lind, M. C. Nechyba, P. Pardalos, S. Uryasev, and M. Zabarankin, "Vision-Based Trajectory Planning for Autonomous Micro Air Vehicles in Urban Environments," to be presented at AIAA Guidance, Navigation and Control Conference, Monterrey, August, 2003.

S. M. Ettinger, M. C. Nechyba, P. G. Ifju and M. Waszak, "Vision-Guided Flight Stability and Control for Micro Air Vehicles," Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems, vol. 3, pp. 2134-40, 2002 (best conference paper finalist).

S. M. Ettinger, M. C. Nechyba, P. G. Ifju and M. Waszak, "Towards Flight Autonomy: Vision-Based Horizon Detection for Micro Air Vehicles," 2002 Florida Conference on Recent Advances in Robotics, Miami, May 2002.

S. Kanowitz, M. C. Nechyba and A. A. Arroyo, "Design and Implementation of a GPS-Based Navigation System for Micro Air Vehicles," 2002 Florida Conference on Recent Advances in Robotics, Miami, May 2002.

P. D. O'Malley, M. C. Nechyba and A. A. Arroyo, "Human Activity Tracking for Wide-Area Surveillance," 2002 Florida Conference on Recent Advances in Robotics, Miami, May 2002.

R. C. Chandler, A. A. Arroyo, M. C. Nechyba and E. M. Schwartz, "Autonomous Agent Navigation Based on Textural Analysis," 2002 Florida Conference on Recent Advances in Robotics, Miami, May 2002.

M. Moore, T. A. Choi, E. M. Schwartz, M. C. Nechyba, and A. A. Arroyo, "Creation and Analysis of Sensory Drivers Using ERL," 2002 Florida Conference on Recent Advances in Robotics, Miami, May 2002.

S. Redfield, M. C. Nechyba and J. G. Harris, "Efficient Object Recognition Using Color," 2001 Florida Conference on Recent Advances in Robotics, Boca Raton, May, 2001.

S. Kanowitz, J. L. Laine, D. K. Novick, K. Walchko, M. C. Nechyba and A. A. Arroyo, "Subjugator: The Development of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle," 2001 Florida Conference on Recent Advances in Robotics, Boca Raton, May, 2001.

J. L. Laine, S. A. Nichols, D. K. Novick, P. D. O'Malley, D. Copeland and M. C. Nechyba, "Subjugator: A Highly Maneuverable, Autonomous Underwater Vehicle," Unmanned Systems 2000, Orlando, July, 2000.

S. B. Stancliff and M. C. Nechyba, "Learning to Fly: Modeling Human Control Strategies in an Aerial Vehicle," 2000 Florida Conference on Recent Advances in Robotics, Boca Raton, May, 2000.

M. C. Nechyba and J. A. Bagnell, "Stabilizing Human Control Strategies through Reinforcement Learning," Proc. IEEE Hong Kong Symp. on Robotics and Control, vol. 1, pp. 39-44, 1999.

J. Song, Y. Xu, M. C. Nechyba and Y. Yam, "Transfer of Human Control Strategy Based on Similarity Measure," Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, vol. 4, pp. 3134-9, 1999.

J. Song, Y. Xu, Y. Yam and M. C. Nechyba, "Optimization of Human Control Strategies with Simultaneously Perturbed Stochastic Approximation," Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems, pp. 983-8, 1998.

M. C. Nechyba and Y. Xu, "On Discontinuous Human Control Strategies," Proc. IEEE Int. Conference on Robotics and Automation, vol. 3, pp. 2237-43, 1998.

J. Song, Y. Xu, M C. Nechyba and Y. Yam, "Two Performance Measures for Evaluating Human Control Strategy," Proc. IEEE Int. Conference on Robotics and Automation, vol. 3, pp. 2250-5, 1998.

M. C. Nechyba and Y. Xu, "Cascade Neural Networks with Node-Decoupled Extended Kalman Filtering," Proc. IEEE Int. Symp. on Computational Intelligence in Robotics and Automation, vol. 1, pp. 214-9, 1997.

K. Deng, A. Moore and M. C. Nechyba, "Learning to Recognize Time Series: Combining ARMA Models with Memory-Based Learning," Proc. IEEE Int. Symp. on Computational Intelligence in Robotics and Automation, vol. 1, pp. 246-50, 1997.

M. C. Nechyba and Y. Xu, "Stochastic Similarity for Validating Human Control Strategy Models," Proc. IEEE Conf. on Robotics and Automation, vol. 1, pp. 278-83, 1997.

M. C. Nechyba and Y. Xu, "On the Fidelity of Human Skill Models," Proc. IEEE Int. Conference on Robotics and Automation, vol. 3, pp. 2688-93, 1996.

M. C. Nechyba and Y. Xu, "Human Skill Transfer: Neural Networks as Learners and Teachers," Proc. IEEE Int. Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, vol. 3, pp. 314-9, 1995.

M. C. Nechyba and Y. Xu, "Neural Network Approach to Control System Identification with Variable Activation Functions," Proc. IEEE Int. Symp. on Intelligent Control, vol. 1, pp. 358-63, 1994.

M. C. Nechyba and Y. Xu, "SM² for New Space Station Structure: Autonomous Locomotion and Teleoperation Control," Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, vol. 2, pp. 1765-70, 1994.

Y. Xu and M. C. Nechyba, "Fuzzy Inverse Kinematic Mapping: Rule Generation, Efficiency and Implementation," Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems, vol. 2, pp. 911-8, 1993.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES:

Program Committee, American Nuclear Society 10th Int. Conf. on Robotics and Remote Systems, University of Florida, April, 2004.
NSF Proposal Review Panelist, Robotics and Human Augmentation.
NSF External Referee.
Journal paper referee, IEEE Trans. on Robotics and Automation, IEEE Trans. on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, IEEE Trans. on Biomedical Engineering, IEEE Trans. on Control Systems Technology, International Journal of Robotics Research, IEEE Control Systems Magazine, Neural Computation.
Conference paper referee, IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, IEEE Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems .
Grant referee, Hong Kong Research Grants Council.

FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS:

Integrated Manufacturing Doctoral Fellowship, Department of Energy, Carnegie Mellon University (`94 - `97).
Graduate Fellowship, National Science Foundation, Carnegie Mellon University (`92 - `94).
Electrical E Award, University of Florida (5/92): Highest undergraduate honor from the Department of Electrical Engineering.
Four-Year Scholar, University of Florida (5/92): Highest honor from the University of Florida for undergraduate degree recepients.
State of Florida Undergraduate Scholarship, University of Florida (`88 - `92).
Undergraduate Fellowships, University of Florida (`88 - `92): Schlumberger Foundation Scholarship in Electrical Engineering; Philip D. and Mary Ann Estridge Memorial Scholarship; Wentworth Foundation Scholarship; Valedictorian Scholarship.

COMPUTER EXPERIENCE:

Programming: Java, C/C++, Perl, Lisp, Fortran, X/Motif, Mathematica with MathLink/C, Matlab, Maple.
Operating Systems: X/Unix (Linux, Solaris, SunOS, Irix, AIX, DEC), Macintosh, Windows/DOS, Chimera real-time OS.

PERSONAL:

Birthdate: February 25, 1970

Birthplace: Vienna, Austria.

Citizenship: U.S.A (naturalized)

Marital status: single.

Languages: fluent in English, German.