Nils is a PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan, with a B.A.Sc in Engineering Physics from the University of British Columbia. His interests include underactuated robotics, optimal control, reinforcement learning, and mechanical design.
(9/24/2017) RAMlab will present at IROS workshop in Vancouver
Dr. Remy, Yevgeniy Yesilevskiy, and Nils Smit-Anseeuw will present in the workshop, 'On the Energetic Economy of Robotics and Biological Systems: A Challenging Handicap to Overcome.' more...
(7/19/2017) RAMlab goes to Robot Camp (again)!
For the second year, RAMlab members helped Robot Camp students build their own passive dynamic walkers at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum. more...
(6/26/2017) New Publication in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Check out the new paper by Nils Smit-Anseeuw, published in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters. Nils recently presented this work at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), in Singapore. more...
Smit-Anseeuw, N., Gleason, R., Vasudevan, R. and Remy, C. D., 2017, "The energetic benefit of robotic gait selection - A case study on the robot Ramone", IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2(2):1124 - 1131 [URL]
Smit-Anseeuw, N., Gleason, R., Zaytsev, P. and Remy, C. D., 2017, "RAMone: A planar biped for studying the energetics of gait", Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Vancouver, Canada [URL]
Smit-Anseeuw, N., Vasudevan, R., Remy, C. D., 2017, "Safe online learning using barrier functions", Dynamic Walking, Åland, Finland [URL]
Green, K., Smit-Anseeuw, N., Gleason, R., and Remy, C.D. , 2016, "Design and control of a recovery system for legged robots", Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM), Banff, Canada [preprint]
Smit-Anseeuw, N., Vasudevan, R., and Remy, C.D., 2016, "When knees become ankles", Dynamic Walking, Holly, MI [preprint]
Smit-Anseeuw, N. and Remy, C.D., 2015, "Stabilization of energy optimal series elastic gait", Dynamic Walking, Columbus, OH [preprint]
Smit-Anseeuw, N., Gleason, R., Zaytsev, P., Vasudevan, R., Remy, C.D., 2017, "The Energetic Benefit of Robotic Gait Selection", Intelligient Robots and Systems (IROS) Workshop On the Energetic Economy of Robotics and Biological Systems, Vancouver, BC, Canada [URL]
Smit-Anseeuw, N., Nash, A., Vasudevan, R., Remy, C. D., 2017, "Safe Online Learning Using Barrier Functions", International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) Workshop on Robust Perception, Planning, and Control for Legged Robot Locomotion in Challenging Domains, Singapore [URL]
Smit-Anseeuw, N., 2017, "The Energetic Benefit of Robotic Gait Selection: A Case Study on the Robot RAMone", Midwest Robotics Workshop, Chicago, IL
The team celebrating the end of the Fall 2017 semester and farewell to Jeff Koller with a pizza dinner at Mani Osteria.
Dynamic Walking 2017
RAMlab members ventured to the Åland Islands of Finland for Dynamic Walking 2017. Honorary RAMlab member Keith Buffinton also enjoyed his first DW experience with the team.
RAMlab Winter Outing
The team enjoyed dinner at Ypbor Yan in Ann Arbor after a fun afternoon playing laser tag (February 2017).
The Team
Our team: (Top row left to right) Zhenyu Gan, Wyatt Felt, Kim Ingraham, Nils Smit-Anseeuw, Katelyn Fry, Rodney Gleason, Khai Yi Chin. (Bottom row left to right) Pascal Knecht, Kevin Green, C. David Remy, Yevgeniy Yesilevskiy, Jeff Koller
Annual Canoe Trip
Team RAMlab after our annual trip down the Huron River
Ford Visit
The RAMlab visits the Ford Rouge Factory Tour at the Henry Ford.
Volunteering with Make-a-Wish
Members of the RAMlab volunteering with Make-a-Wish
Demonstrating the FIRST robotics project during a Make-a-Wish event
Lab member Nils Smit-Answeeuw has been advising a local FIRST robotics team. Here is the robot begin demonstrated during a Make-a-Wish event.
In this video RAMone walks using a modified version of the walking controller proposed by Jerry Pratt. An advantage of this controller is that it is force based so it handles foot disturbances gracefully. We show this disturbance correction by placing hard and soft objects under RAMone's feet as it walks.
