I am a doctoral candidate and researcher at Drexel University in the Music Entertainment Technology (MET) lab. My primary interests are signal processing and machine learning, especially as they relate to control and decision-making in humanoid robots.

From 2012-2015 I was funded through the NSF Graduate research fellowship. Previously, I was funded through the NSF GK-12 program (2010-2012), which integrated graduate-level students into high school classrooms in order to provide teaching skills to the graduate students and inspire interest in STEM fields for the high school students. I worked with teachers at Central High School and the Philadelphia High School for Girls to incorporate engineering concepts and challenges into the high school curriculum. I also helped start a competitive robotics club at the Philadelphia High School for Girls.

Projects

Brain-Controlled Robots

Brain computer interfaces (BCIs) attempt to develop a system where a user controls a computer directly with his or her thoughts. Direct use of recorded brain signals allows a BCI to bypass the neuromuscular system, providing a promising research area for restoring communication or movement in patients with neuromuscular diseases or disorders. In this work, we focus on using imagined body movements for high-level control of a small humanoid robot.

 

Expressive Humanoids

This project  developed algorithms to allow humanoid robots to play modern human instruments in a co-operative ensemble. The primary focus was using audio signal processing to "listen" to a performance in real time in order to detect and correct errors made while playing.

Education

  • BS Lafayette College - 2009 (Electrical & Computer Engineering)
  • MS Drexel University - 2011 (Electrical Engineering)
  • PhD Drexel University - 2017 (Electrical Engineering)

Publications

 A. M. Batula, Y. E. Kim, and H. Ayaz, "Virtual and Actual Humanoid Robot Control with Four-Class Motor-Imagery Based Optical Brain Computer Interface,"  in BioMed Research International, pp 1-13, 2017.

A. M. Batula, J. A. Mark, Y. E. Kim, and H. Ayaz, “Comparison of Brain Activation During Motor Imagery and Motor Movement Using fNIRS,” in Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience, pp 1-12, 2017.

A. M. Batula, J. Mark, Y. E. Kim, and H. Ayaz, “Developing an optical brain-computer interface for humanoid robot control,” in Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), vol. 9743, D. D. Schmorrow and M. C. Fidopiastis, Eds. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Springer International Publishing, 2016, pp. 3–13.

J. Gregorio, D. Rosen, B. Morton, A. Batula, M. Caro, J. Scott, Y. Kim, and K. Lindstrom, “Introduction to STEAM Through Music Technology (Evaluation),” in 2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Proceedings, 2015.

A. M. Batula, H. Ayaz, and Y. E. Kim, “Evaluating a Four-Class Motor-Imagery-Based Optical Brain-Computer Interface,” in Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2014, pp. 2000–2003.

A. M. Batula, M. Colacot, D. K. Grunberg, and Y. E. Kim, “Using Audio and Haptic Feedback to Detect Errors in Humanoid Musical Performances,” in Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, 2013, vol. 2.

A. M. Batula, T. W. Mather, G. Carryon, S. Surrey, D. E. Ueda, Y. E. Kim, and A. K. Fontecchio, “Evaluating the Acquisition of Engineering Confidence and Skills Through Robotics,” in Proceedings of the 2012 ASEE Annual Conference, 2012.

A. M. Batula, B. G. Morton, R. Migneco, M. Prockup, E. M. Schmidt, D. K. Grunberg, Y. E. Kim, and A. K. Fontecchio, “Music Technology as an Introduction to STEM,” in Proceedings of the 2012 ASEE Annual Conference, 2012.

D. K. Grunberg, A. M. Batula, E. M. Schmidt, and Y. E. Kim, “Affective Gesturing with Music Mood Recognition,” in Proceedings of the International Conference on Humanoid Robotics, 2012.

D. K. Grunberg, A. M. Batula, E. M. Schmidt, and Y. E. Kim, “Synthetic Emotions for Humanoids: Perceptual Effects of Size and Number of Robot Platforms,” J. Synth. Emot. Spec. Issue Music. Robot. Emot. (Invited Pap.), vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 68–83, 2012.

Y. E. Kim, A. M. Batula, R. Migneco, P. Richardson, B. Dolhansky, D. Grunberg, B. Morton, M. Prockup, E. M. Schmidt, and J. Scott, “Teaching STEM Concepts Through Music Technology and DSP,” in IEEE 14th Digital Signal Processing Workshop and 6th IEEE Signal Processing Education Workshop, 2011.

Y. E. Kim, D. K. Grunberg, A. M. Batula, D. M. Lofaro, J. Oh, and P. Y. Oh, “Enabling Humanoid Musical Interaction and Performance,” in Proceedings of the 2011 International Conference on Collaboration Technologies and Systems, 2011, pp. 212–215.

Y. E. Kim, A. M. Batula, D. K. Grunberg, D. M. Lofaro, J. Oh, and P. Y. Oh, “Developing Humanoids For Musical Interaction,” in Proceedings of the 2010 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2010.

A. M. Batula and Y. E. Kim, “Development of a Mini-Humanoid Pianist,” in IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots, 2010.