Heartland Robotics and Automation Conference

For over 20 years Carsten Horn has applied his engineering and R&D experience with motors (Stepper, BLDC, DC), gearboxes, encoders, controllers and mechatronic systems, assisting companies meet their high-power density, low latency systems requirements. He joined joining maxon motor Germany in 2004 as head of Research & Development for gearboxes and systems. In 2016, Horn joined maxon precision motors in the US where he currently works as Business Development Engineer for medical application.

Dave Rollinson is the CTO at HEBI Robotics, an engineering services firm focusing on motion control spun out of Carnegie Mellon University’s Biorobotics Lab that develops specialized robotics tools for a variety of markets, as well as provides a commercial family of modular force-controlled actuators and supporting software. Prior to HEBI, Rollinson worked as a robotics engineer for RedZone Robotics, designing, building, and deploying robotic sewer inspection systems. He holds a PhD in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), as well as a BS in Mechanical Engineering, also from CMU.

Erik Mumm has over 18 years experience in electro-mechanical systems design, development, and test for NASA programs. In tandem with the Chief Engineer, Mr. Mumm chairs internal design reviews and ensures Honeybee’s technical standards are followed and continuously improved upon. Most recently he has acted as technical lead on a robotic Sample Manipulation System for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory. His responsibilities since joining Honeybee in 2002 include mechanism and systems design of flight hardware, controls and software development, flight operations support, extensive laboratory and field testing. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nebraska.

Randal W. Beard is a professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Brigham Young University, Provo, UT. He earned multiple degrees, including a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He has extensive experience in autonomous systems, unmanned air vehicles, and multiple vehicle coordination. Beard has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and secured over $6M in research funding from various organizations. He is recognized as a fellow of the IEEE and an associate fellow of the AIAA. Additionally, he has received several awards for teaching and research excellence, including the Karl G. Maeser Research and Creative Arts Award in 2009 and the Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Lecturer Award in 2017. His students have also achieved success in micro air vehicle competitions and research.