Natural swarms, such as ants, bees, and termites, exhibit sophisticated colony level behaviors with remarkably scalable and error tolerant properties. Their evolutionary success stems from more than just intelligent individuals, it hinges on their morphology, their physical interactions, and the way they shape and leverage their environment. Petersen's research explores how the same principles can be leveraged to achieve advanced autonomy in robot collectives, through hardware and software co-development, and by integrating the shared environment into the design process. Current research themes span collective robotic construction, human swarm interaction, soft robot collectives, biological swarms, and bio-hybrid collectives.
Kirstin did her postdoctoral work with Director Sitti at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems 2014-2016 and became a fellow with the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems in 2015. Her thesis was completed in 2014 with Professor Nagpal at Harvard University and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. She completed a masters in Computer Systems Engineering with Professor Hallam at the University of Southern Denmark in 2008, and a bachelor in electro-technical engineering with Odense University College of Engineering in 2005.
"Feeding our growing population in a more sustainable and cost-effective way is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity," according to ECE Assistant Professor Kirstin Petersen. "This new era in... Read more about Top ag schools joining forces at Cornell digital ag hackathon
Kirstin Petersen, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, is among 22 early-career researchers honored with a Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering, from the David and... Read more about Kirstin Petersen wins Packard Foundation fellowship
Sometimes individuals transform when they work together. Kirstin Petersen, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, right, with artist Rachel Rose, April 27 at the New Museum in New... Read more about Art inspired by slime mold-like robots unveiled at NYC museum
