Hello, my name is Andrew Lobbezoo, and I am a graduate research student in the Mechanical and Mechatronics engineering department at the University of Waterloo. I am enrolled in the MASc program where I work under the supervision of Dr. HJ Kwon, the leader of the AI for Manufacturing Laboratory
My master’s research has been focused on establishing the reinforcement learning (RL) for robotic control project in the AI for Manufacturing Lab. The goal of this project is to design, simulate, and validate novel RL control strategies for completing autonomous robotic pick-and-place operations. Developing this project has involved setting up the robotic arm, procuring sensors and a workstation for simulation, establishing communication between each piece of equipment, and testing basic control strategies on the online robot. To allow for fast algorithm prototyping, training, and testing, I have developed a simulated model of the robotic agent, which I have applied for training the custom image-based RL network.
Machine learning for robotics is an area of personal interest, which I was introduced to during my final year undergraduate thesis (capstone) which involved the development of a Pan-Tilt-Zoom camera for autonomous object tracking. Prior to my interest in autonomous robotics, I was involved in thermal nuclear research as a targetry engineer at the TRIUMF Research facility at UBC.
My experience at Waterloo has not been limited to research. I have served as a teaching assistant for 5 of my 6 terms as a graduate student, teaching third-year Automatic Control Systems and Introduction to Control Systems, second-year Mechanics of Deformable Solids and first-year Introduction to Mechanical Engineering Practice. In addition to serving as a TA, I have also been involved with the University of Waterloo Ultimate Frisbee club. The club gave me the opportunity to get involved in the universities community while playing in tournaments around Southern Ontario.