Lars Paulsen

My goal is to develop robots as dexterous as humans and improve their performance in highly dynamic environments.

Currently, I am working with Nicklas Hansen and Jai Krishna to apply TD-MPC2 to real-world robot locomotion.

I received my M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from UC San Diego, where I was advised by Prof. Xiaolong Wang. My thesis described a novel teleoperation system, called ACEF, which improves user control by integrating low-cost force feedback.

My B.S. in Mechanical Engineering is from UC Irvine. There, I worked with Prof. Camilo Velez Cuervo on novel methods of 3D printing magnetic materials.

Email / CV / LinkedIn / Github

Research

	ACE-F: A Cross Embodiment Foldable System with Force Feedback for Dexterous Teleoperation Rui Yan, Jiajian Fu, Shiqi Yang, Lars Paulsen, Xuxin Cheng, Xiaolong Wang Under-Review project page / arXiv A low-cost and highly generalizable teleoperation system with a novel force-feedback controller.
	Human-Robot Copilot for Data-Efficient Imitation Learning Rui Yan, Gongye Zaitian, Lars Paulsen, Xuxin Cheng, Xiaolong Wang Under-Review* An improved human-in-the-loop imitation learning method leveraging workspace scaling and inverse-kinematics for more dexterous demonstrations.
	Humanoid Policy ~ Human Policy Ri-Zhao Qiu, Shiqi Yang, Xuxin Cheng, Chaitanya Chawla, Jialong Li, Tairan He, Ge Yan, David J. Yoon, Ryan Hoque, Lars Paulsen, Ge Yang, Jian Zhang, Sha Yi, Guanya Shi, Xiaolong Wang CoRL, 2025 project page / arXiv Using ego-centric human demonstrations as cross-embodiment training data for robot learning.
	[In-Progress] A Novel Device for Magnetizing Hard Magnetic Materials Lars Paulsen, Mahtab Shakibmanesh, Camilo Velez Cuervo A novel device for orienting magnetic fields during 3D printing.

Other Projects

Here are some of my other projects borne out of personal interests and classwork.

Golf Ball Launcher

supplementary info

A mechanical golf ball launcher with built-in trajectory generator and integrated arming and launching mechanisms.

FIRST Robot Competition

An industry-sized robot challenge where I led CAD, design meetings, and manufacturing for three years.

Starcraft II SCV

I modeled a Starcraft II SCV in Solidworks as a class final project, which included its tapered, helically threaded drill.

Pneumatic Maze Robot

A robot driven by a pneumatic piston for navigating mazes using dead reckoning.

HVAC Exploration Robot

A miniature track robot for inspecting vent interiors.

Electromechanical Thermal Microgripper

supplementary info

A novel electrothermally actuated microgripper for isolationg pharmaceutical microcapsules.

Solar Car

Steering and braking systems for a solar powered racecar.

Baseball Glove Prosthetic Insert

I designed and constructed a glove insert under the guidance of local doctors for an amputee to play softball.

Wildlife Rehabilitation Volunteering

I designed and constructed bird splints and a pool ramp for recovering animals at a wildlife rehabilitation center.

Miscellaneous

Teaching

Graduate Student Instructor, PHYS2CL Fall 2024

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