Nikhil Varma Keetha
PhD in Robotics @ The Robotics Institute, CMU • Wander into the unknown 🛣️
RI-SQH, CMU
1723 Murray Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15232
Hello! I’m a PhD student at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) advised by Sebastian Scherer & Deva Ramanan, as a part of the AirLab. I’m also currently a Visiting Researcher at Meta working with the XR Maps team.
My current research focuses on developing generalizable spatial perception systems for scene understanding and deployment of field robots in the wild. My interests lie at the intersection of geometric computer vision, field robotics, and large-scale semi/self-supervised learning. I have an innate passion for understanding how human perception & navigation works and how we can build real-world deployable autonomous systems with a positive societal impact.
I received a Master’s degree in Robotics from CMU and a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering Physics from IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, India. During my undergrad, I had the pleasure to intern at Mila and QUT Centre for Robotics and was also a 2021 CMU Robotics Institute Summer Scholar. I’m grateful to have many wonderful mentors and collaborators!
Apart from research, I’m a huge movie buff and find recreation in cooking, music, anime, and gaming.
News
Sep 1, 2024 | Continuing at Meta Pittsburgh as a Visiting Researcher! |
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Jul 19, 2024 | Map It Anywhere (MIA) is now live! |
May 20, 2024 | Research Scientist Intern at Meta Zurich working with Peter Kontschieder! |
Feb 1, 2024 | Defended my Master’s Thesis at CMU! |
Dec 14, 2023 | Our Survey on Foundation Models for Robotics is now live! |
Dec 1, 2023 | SplaTAM is now live! |
Nov 1, 2023 | We show GPS-denied localization on a drone and heli in the wild! |
Sep 1, 2023 | Collaborating with Deva Ramanan on dynamic reconstruction & tracking in the wild! |
Aug 1, 2023 | AnyLoc is live! |
Mar 14, 2023 | Tartan Planning Series is now live! |
Feb 14, 2023 | ConceptFusion is public! |
Feb 2, 2023 | Received CMU RI PhD offer for Fall 2023! |
Nov 1, 2022 | Reviewing for CVPR 2023 |
Oct 15, 2022 | Reviewed for IEEE ICRA 2023 |
Sep 1, 2022 | RoboLaunch reached 13,000 students & viewers worldwide! |
Jun 1, 2022 | Organized the RoboLaunch Initiative at CMU |
May 30, 2022 | Graduated B.Tech with Distinction! |
Apr 11, 2022 | Reviewed for ECCV 2022 |
Mar 23, 2022 | Reviewed for IEEE IROS 2022 |
Mar 19, 2022 | Accepted Fully-funded MS in Robotics offer from CMU! |
Mar 4, 2022 | AirObject accepted to CVPR 2022! |
Oct 10, 2021 | Reviewed for IEEE RA-L & ICRA 2022 |
Sep 27, 2021 | Presented HEAPUtil at IROS 2021 |
Aug 10, 2021 | Presented RISS Summer Experience as a part of the 2021 RISS Community Seminar Series |
Jun 14, 2021 | HEAPUtil accepted to IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L) and IROS 2021! |
May 1, 2021 | Organizing the Tartan SLAM Series at CMU Robotics Institute |
Apr 1, 2021 | Interning at the AirLab CMU mentored by Dr. Chen Wang and Prof. Sebastian Scherer |
Mar 25, 2021 | Reviewed for IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L) & IROS 2021 |
Mar 18, 2021 | Selected as a CMU Robotics Institute Summer Scholar! |
Jan 1, 2021 | Winter 2021 Intern at REAL Mila mentored by Krishna Murthy and Prof. Liam Paull |
Nov 1, 2020 | Received ACCV 2020 Diversity Grant |
Aug 14, 2020 | Interning at the QUT Centre for Robotics mentored by Dr. Sourav Garg and Prof. Michael Milford |