Knight Research Scholars Program Project Deep Multimodal Terrain Recognition for Safe Robotic and Wearable Mobility

Learn about this research project, meet the faculty and student researchers, review participation expectations, and check current availability.

Project Availability

Team Size
5 team members
Open Spots
1 spot open
Affiliations
College of Engineering and Computer Science
Semester
Fall 2026
Team Leader
Faculty Mentor
  • Hwan Choi, PhD

Team Member Qualifications

PyTorch.
CNN.
Deep learning.
Computer vision

Description

Deep Multimodal Terrain Recognition for Safe Robotic and Wearable Mobility refers to a perception framework that integrates multiple complementary sensors—such as cameras, IMUs, LiDAR, and proprioceptive signals—to accurately classify and predict terrain conditions during locomotion. By leveraging deep learning–based multimodal fusion, the system captures both visual appearance and motion/force cues, enabling robust recognition of stairs, slopes, uneven ground, grass, gravel, and other challenging environments.

This multimodal approach improves reliability compared to single‑sensor systems, especially in real‑world conditions where lighting, occlusion, or sensor noise can degrade performance. Research in multimodal fusion for robot navigation shows that combining RGB images with LiDAR or IMU data significantly enhances perception robustness and navigation accuracy in complex environments .

For robotic platforms, the system supports safer autonomous navigation by providing terrain‑aware decision‑making and traversability estimation. For wearable mobility devices—such as powered prosthetic legs, exoskeletons, and orthoses—it enables predictive control strategies that adjust joint impedance, torque, or gait mode before the user encounters a new terrain, reducing fall risk and improving mobility confidence.