Hi, I'm Helen!
I live in Zürich and have spent the last nearly two decades working on robots. My main focus has been the intersection of perception and action for a variety of platforms: everything from autonomous boats, to drones, to mobile manipulators and even autonomous driving. I've been moving back and forth between academia (ETH Zürich) and industry (Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA) for the last 15+ years, always trying to make robots actually work outside the lab.
What I care about!
My main career goal is to make robots that (1) actually work and (2) do something useful. I'm especially interested in solving Dull, Dirty, and Dangerous tasks, such as in construction, infrastructure maintenance, and disaster scenarios: taking humans out of harm's way and replacing them with robots. Solving these tasks in previously-unknown, unstructured environments is what really motivates me!
Research-wise, I focus on the tight loop between perception and action: real-time mapping, uncertainty-aware planning, local control, and behaviors that adapt on the fly when the model of the world is incomplete or wrong.
Say hi!
The best way to reach me is helen@helenol.com. You can also add me on LinkedIn. :)