Robotics: Perception and Manipulation (RPM) Lab

Welcome to the Robotics: Perception and Manipulation (RPM) Lab at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities.

We focus on addressing the fundamental question of “What should/does/can a physical object in our environment mean to a robot?” thus leading to the following research questions.

  • How can a robot perceive and reason about objects in the human environment?
  • How can a robot interact with these objects?
  • How can a robot compose its interactive skills into performing meaningful tasks?
  • How can a robot learn to do all of the above toward seamless interaction and task execution?

We are interested in application domains (healthcare, climate change, agriculture, etc.) where our research solutions can make a huge impact.

We are looking for passionate new students to join the team (more info) !

News

03. Dec 2025

Congratulations to Pearl Jain, Minghao Zhou, and Keerthan Kamala Krishnamoorthy, for being awarded by the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) to conduct his research at RPM Lab

15. Jun 2025

One paper got accepted for publication at IROS 2025. Congratulations to Ryan Diaz!

09. Apr 2025

Karthik along with Dr. Grande and Prof. Kowalewski receive Medtronic-UMN Grant for conducting research in advancing telerobotic stroke intervention.

04. Feb 2025

Karthik along with Dr. Grande and Prof. Kowalewski receive MnRI Seed Grant for conducting research in advancing telerobotic stroke intervention.

04. Feb 2025

Karthik and Prof. Noel receive MnRI Seed Grant for conducting research at the intersection of neuroscience and robotics.

27. Jan 2025

One paper got accepted for publication at ICRA 2025. Congratulations to Xun Tu!

... see all News