Unmanned Vehicles & Multi-Legged Robotics
Dr. Ramirez-Serrano performs R&D activities in the area of unmanned vehicle (ground, underwater and aerial) systems (UVS). His industrial experience include mechatronic engineer at ABB Corporate Research (Sweden), and research fellow at Argonne National Laboratory (USA) where he developed smart field robotic devices. His areas of expertise include design of VTOL and transitional aircrafts, control, navigation, and modeling of UVS including humanoid / multi-legged and hybrid robotics with applications in confined environments. Recipient of the 2014 ASTEC award (Alberta's highest Science & Technology honor) in the category of Applied Technology: Outstanding Achievement in Applied Technology & Innovation, for work in game changing UAV technology is also the founder of 4Front Robotics, a robotics company developing custom field robotic solutions. His work has led to other prestigious awards including From Idea to Reality (2016, 2nd place), and the 2016 (2nd place) and 2017 (finalist) UAE Drones for Good award competition. In 2012 his work on drone technology was selected (across Canada) to be part of a 6-month exhibit at Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa. Current projects include development of transitional UAV systems, aerial manipulators, and design and control of hybrid multi-legged systems.

Research Goals
Dr. Ramirez-Serrano's three R&D goals within UVS are: 1) CONFINED SPACES: Development of UVS for unknown dynamic confined spaces such as those encountered in Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) operations as well as in diverse industrial facilities; 2) HIGH SPEED UVS: Development of high speed navigation of UVS for challenging and highly dynamic environments; and 3) FULLY AUTONOMOUS UVS: Development of USV capable of achieving any given mission while performing intelligent decisions to cope with unexpected mission changes and internal/external system disturbances that challenge the capabilities of the robot.

UAV and UUV
Development of high speed and highly maneuverable aircrafts and underwater vehicles for navigation in confined spaces such as collapsed buildings and submerged caves and vessels. This work includes design of transitional aircrafts for high endurance missions as well as aerial manipulators to enable UAVs to manipulate their environment. Navigation as well as real-time sense and avoid mechanisms for dynamic cluttered environments are being investigated. The control mechanisms being developed for UAVs are also being extrapolated to Highly Maneuverable Autonomous Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV) to realize the development of deep flight vehicles.

Multi-Legged Robotics
This work focuses on three main areas: biology, robotics and software/control methods. The following areas are sectors in which R&D work is being conducted in multidisciplinary teams: * COMPLIANT SYSTEMS: Design, realization and testing of a new generation of robotic platforms actuated by compliant electromechanical movers. Mechatronic actuation designed with stiffness close to those found in biological systems will enable the development of appropriate joint level control strategies that will allow the effective control of the joint motion and stiffness for improved and safer HRI. * ADAPTIVE MODULES: Development and design the building blocks of a complete hierarchical control architecture as dynamical systems that would result the ability to produce effective motions, suitable for being combined in multiple ways (through superimposition and sequencing) in order to generate more human-like complex robot movements in real time not possible today. * LEARNING: Develop novel learning algorithms which arise from the context of rich motor skills and the hard learning problems encountered when humanoid and multi-legged artifacts interact with people and in real-outdoor environments. Here development of new and the redesign of existing learning algorithms such as recurrent neural networks and Deep Reinforcement Learning, as well as the integration of different learning algorithms in complex modular control architectures are being investigated.

UGV
Development of high speed autonomous unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) to enable them to navigate at high speeds in a priori unknow terrains. In this area terrain perception and its effect on the robot as part of path planning and navigation mechanisms are being investigated. In this area control, perception and navigation mechanisms are under development.