MERL - Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories

Siddarth Jain

Siddarth Jain
Siddarth's Quick Links

  • Biography

    Siddarth's research lies at the intersection of robotics, computer vision, and machine learning. His doctoral thesis investigated mathematical models for probabilistic human intent recognition, shared autonomy for assistive human-robot systems, and perception algorithms involving point cloud processing with geometric methods and machine learning. Prior to joining MERL in 2019, he was affiliated with the Shirley Ryan Abilitylab, Chicago (nation's top ranked physical medicine and rehabilitation research hospital) where his research lead to developments in the assistive robotics domain, involving user studies and interactive robotic systems that integrate perception, machine learning, planning, and control to act with people in practical applications. Currently, Siddarth's research focuses on the core challenges in active perception, robotic manipulation, autonomy, and human-robot interaction.

  • Recent News & Events


    See All News & Events for Siddarth

  • Internships with Siddarth

    • OR2110: Shared Autonomy for Human-Robot Interaction

      MERL is looking for a highly motivated and qualified intern to work on human-robot interaction (HRI) research. The ideal candidate would be a Ph.D. student with a strong background in HRI, focusing on robotic manipulation, deep learning, probabilistic modeling, or reinforcement learning. Several topics are available for consideration, including Intent Recognition in Multi-Object Scenes, Shared Autonomy, Cooperative Manipulation, Human-Robot Handovers, and Representation Learning for HRI. Experience working with robotics hardware and physics engine simulators like PyBullet, Issac Gym, or Mujoco is preferred. Proficiency in Python programming is necessary, and experience with ROS is a plus. The successful candidate will collaborate with MERL researchers, and publication of the relevant results is expected. The start date is flexible, and the expected duration of the internship is 3-4 months. Interested candidates are encouraged to apply with their recent CV and list of publications in related topics.

    • OR2111: Deep Learning for Robotic Manipulation

      MERL is seeking a highly motivated and qualified intern to work on deep learning for visual feedback in robotic manipulation. The ideal candidate would be a Ph.D. student with a strong background in deep learning and robotic manipulation. Several topics are available for consideration, including Object Pose Estimation, Goal-driven Grasping, Diffusion policy for Industrial Tasks, and Deformable Object Manipulation. The project requires the development of novel algorithms with implementation and evaluation on a robotic platform. Preferred qualifications include experience working with a physics engine simulator like PyBullet, Isaac Gym, or Mujoco, proficiency in Python programming, and experience with ROS. The successful candidate will collaborate with MERL researchers, and publication of relevant results is expected. The start date is flexible, and the expected duration of the internship is 3-4 months. Interested candidates are encouraged to apply with their recent CV and a list of publications in related topics

    See All Internships at MERL

  • MERL Publications

    •  Huang, B., Yu, J., Jain, S., "EARL: Eye-on-Hand Reinforcement Learner for Dynamic Grasping with Active Pose Estimation", 2023 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), October 2023.
      BibTeX TR2023-118 PDF Video
      • @inproceedings{Huang2023oct,
      • author = {Huang, Baichuan and Yu, Jingjin and Jain, Siddarth},
      • title = {EARL: Eye-on-Hand Reinforcement Learner for Dynamic Grasping with Active Pose Estimation},
      • booktitle = {2023 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)},
      • year = 2023,
      • month = oct,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2023-118}
      • }
    •  Hori, C., Peng, P., Harwath, D., Liu, X., Ota, K., Jain, S., Corcodel, R., Jha, D.K., Romeres, D., Le Roux, J., "Style-transfer based Speech and Audio-visual Scene understanding for Robot Action Sequence Acquisition from Videos", Interspeech, DOI: 10.21437/​Interspeech.2023-1983, August 2023, pp. 4663-4667.
      BibTeX TR2023-104 PDF
      • @inproceedings{Hori2023aug,
      • author = {Hori, Chiori and Peng, Puyuang and Harwath, David and Liu, Xinyu and Ota, Kei and Jain, Siddarth and Corcodel, Radu and Jha, Devesh K. and Romeres, Diego and Le Roux, Jonathan},
      • title = {Style-transfer based Speech and Audio-visual Scene understanding for Robot Action Sequence Acquisition from Videos},
      • booktitle = {Interspeech},
      • year = 2023,
      • pages = {4663--4667},
      • month = aug,
      • doi = {10.21437/Interspeech.2023-1983},
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2023-104}
      • }
    •  Ota, K., Jain, S., Zhang, M., Jha, D.K., "Tactile Pose Feedback for Closed-loop Manipulation Tasks", RSS 23 Workshop on Learning Dexterous Manipulation, July 2023.
      BibTeX TR2023-082 PDF
      • @inproceedings{Ota2023jul,
      • author = {Ota, Kei and Jain, Siddarth and Zhang, Mengchao and Jha, Devesh K.},
      • title = {Tactile Pose Feedback for Closed-loop Manipulation Tasks},
      • booktitle = {RSS 23 Workshop on Learning Dexterous Manipulation},
      • year = 2023,
      • month = jul,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2023-082}
      • }
    •  Jha, D.K., Romeres, D., Jain, S., Yerazunis, W.S., Nikovski, D., "Design of Adaptive Compliance Controllers for Safe Robotic Assembly", European Control Conference (ECC), June 2023.
      BibTeX TR2023-070 PDF
      • @inproceedings{Jha2023jun,
      • author = {Jha, Devesh K. and Romeres, Diego and Jain, Siddarth and Yerazunis, William S. and Nikovski, Daniel},
      • title = {Design of Adaptive Compliance Controllers for Safe Robotic Assembly},
      • booktitle = {European Control Conference (ECC)},
      • year = 2023,
      • month = jun,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2023-070}
      • }
    •  Jha, D.K., Jain, S., Romeres, D., Yerazunis, W.S., Nikovski, D., "Generalizable Human-Robot Collaborative Assembly Using Imitation Learning and Force Control", European Control Conference (ECC), May 2023.
      BibTeX TR2023-065 PDF
      • @inproceedings{Jha2023may,
      • author = {Jha, Devesh K. and Jain, Siddarth and Romeres, Diego and Yerazunis, William S. and Nikovski, Daniel},
      • title = {Generalizable Human-Robot Collaborative Assembly Using Imitation Learning and Force Control},
      • booktitle = {European Control Conference (ECC)},
      • year = 2023,
      • month = may,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2023-065}
      • }
    See All Publications for Siddarth

  • Other Publications

    •  Siddarth Jain and Brenna Argall, "Probabilistic Human Intent Recognition for Shared Autonomy in Assistive Robotics", ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction (THRI), 2019.
      BibTeX
      • @Article{jain2019intent,
      • author = {Jain, Siddarth and Argall, Brenna},
      • title = {Probabilistic Human Intent Recognition for Shared Autonomy in Assistive Robotics},
      • booktitle = {ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction (THRI)},
      • year = 2019,
      • organization = {ACM}
      • }
    •  Siddarth Jain and Brenna Argall, "Recursive Bayesian Human Intent Recognition in Shared-Control Robotics", In Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2018.
      BibTeX
      • @Inproceedings{jain2018recursive,
      • author = {Jain, Siddarth and Argall, Brenna},
      • title = {Recursive Bayesian Human Intent Recognition in Shared-Control Robotics},
      • booktitle = {In Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)},
      • year = 2018,
      • organization = {IEEE}
      • }
    •  Deepak Gopinath, Siddarth Jain and Brenna D Argall, "Human-in-the-loop optimization of shared autonomy in assistive robotics", IEEE robotics and automation letters, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 247-254, 2016.
      BibTeX
      • @Article{gopinath2016human,
      • author = {Gopinath, Deepak and Jain, Siddarth and Argall, Brenna D},
      • title = {Human-in-the-loop optimization of shared autonomy in assistive robotics},
      • journal = {IEEE robotics and automation letters},
      • year = 2016,
      • volume = 2,
      • number = 1,
      • pages = {247--254},
      • publisher = {IEEE}
      • }
    •  Siddarth Jain and Brenna Argall, "Grasp detection for assistive robotic manipulation", In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2016.
      BibTeX
      • @Inproceedings{jain2016grasp,
      • author = {Jain, Siddarth and Argall, Brenna},
      • title = {Grasp detection for assistive robotic manipulation},
      • booktitle = {In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)},
      • year = 2016,
      • organization = {IEEE}
      • }
    •  Siddarth Jain, Ali Farshchiansadegh, Alexander Broad, Farnaz Abdollahi, Ferdinando Mussa-Ivaldi and Brenna Argall, "Assistive robotic manipulation through shared autonomy and a body-machine interface", In Proceedings of the IEEE international conference on rehabilitation robotics (ICORR), 2015.
      BibTeX
      • @Inproceedings{jain2015assistive,
      • author = {Jain, Siddarth and Farshchiansadegh, Ali and Broad, Alexander and Abdollahi, Farnaz and Mussa-Ivaldi, Ferdinando and Argall, Brenna},
      • title = {Assistive robotic manipulation through shared autonomy and a body-machine interface},
      • booktitle = {In Proceedings of the IEEE international conference on rehabilitation robotics (ICORR)},
      • year = 2015,
      • organization = {IEEE}
      • }
    •  Siddarth Jain, Katherine A Barsness and Brenna Argall, "Automated and objective assessment of surgical training: detection of procedural steps on videotaped performances", In Proceedings of the International Conference on Digital Image Computing: Techniques and Applications (DICTA), 2015.
      BibTeX
      • @Inproceedings{jain2015automated,
      • author = {Jain, Siddarth and Barsness, Katherine A and Argall, Brenna},
      • title = {Automated and objective assessment of surgical training: detection of procedural steps on videotaped performances},
      • booktitle = {In Proceedings of the International Conference on Digital Image Computing: Techniques and Applications (DICTA)},
      • year = 2015,
      • organization = {IEEE}
      • }
    •  Siddarth Jain and Brenna Argall, "Automated perception of safe docking locations with alignment information for assistive wheelchairs", In Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2014.
      BibTeX
      • @Inproceedings{jain2014automated,
      • author = {Jain, Siddarth and Argall, Brenna},
      • title = {Automated perception of safe docking locations with alignment information for assistive wheelchairs},
      • booktitle = {In Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)},
      • year = 2014,
      • organization = {IEEE}
      • }

  • Software & Data Downloads

  • MERL Issued Patents

    • Title: "Interactive Tactile Perception Method for Classification and Recognition of Object Instances"
      Inventors: Corcodel, Radu Ioan; Jain, Siddarth; van Baar, Jeroen
      Patent No.: 11,794,350
      Issue Date: Oct 24, 2023
    See All Patents for MERL