Computer graphics techniques allow artists to create immersive virtual worlds that capture our imagination. Thanks to recent advancements in rapid manufacturing devices, tangible links between these vivid virtual worlds and our own can be created. However, in order to unleash the full potential of this technology, a key challenge lies in determining the fundamental principles and design paradigms that allow digital content to be processed into forms that are suitable for fabrication. A particularly challenging task is that of creating physical representations of animated virtual characters. In this talk, I will describe several techniques that can be applied towards this goal. In particular, I will present a computational design system that allows animated mechanical characters to be easily created, I will summarize a method for controlling the deformation behavior of real-world objects, and I will show that locomotion control algorithms developed for physics-based character animation can also be applied to legged robots, allowing them to move with skill and purpose.

Dr. Stelian Coros is a Research Scientist at Disney Research, Zurich. Before joining Disney, he obtained his PhD in Computer Science from the University of British Columbia. Stelian’s research lies at the intersection between Computer Graphics, Biomechanics, Robotics and Fabrication. More specifically, he is interested in models of motor control, motion planning, physics-based simulation and computational design methods. The overarching goal of his work is to develop autonomous virtual characters and legged robots that can move with life-like grace and agility.