Professor Steven Waslander has spent his career to date both designing robots, and building in the brains that allow them to operate autonomously. As a graduate student he worked on some of the first quadcopter aerial robots, and later developed an autonomous car sophisticated enough to drive on public roads. Now, he’s bringing his fleet of flying and driving robots to the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) where he will lead the Toronto Robotics and AI Laboratory (TRAILab).
Marit Mitchell sat down with Waslander to learn more about the new challenges for autonomous driving and drones, and his hopes for the Canadian robotics scene.