Paul Oh is bringing his robotics expertise to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Oh spent the last 14 years working with students at Drexel University in Philadelphia working on projects that included creating HUBO the humanoid.
HUBO is a robot the size of a 10-year-old, and is being developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) robotics challenge, a competition against the op robotics developers in the country. Oh told KNPR that his UNLV team is one of 16 in the trials.
Oh joined UNLV in August as the Lincy professor of Unmanned Aerial Systems for the College of Engineering. He is establishing a UAS lab with humanoid robots and a fleet of drones and brings with him more than$1 million in grant research.
Oh said he was interested in joining the faculty of UNLV because of the university’s commitment to help nurture a young drone industry. Less than a year ago, the Federal Aviation Administration designated Nevada as an unmanned aerial systems test site.
Oh said it was exciting to be front and center and see how state and private industry is committed to this industry. The professor arrived in Las Vegas almost three months ago, and will start teaching in the spring. As for the DARPA challenge, Oh’s team will compete for a $2 million prize during the contest in Pomona, Calif., in June.
“I think it’s imperative for today’s engineering students to have those hands-on opportunities,” Oh said. “More than just robots, they are case studies of complex systems engineering.”
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Paul Oh, Lincy professor of Unmanned Aerial Systems for UNLV’s College of Engineering
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