Parv Kapoor

Ph.D. Student in Software Engineering
Software and Societal Systems Department
School of Computer Science
Carnegie Mellon University

parvk [at] cs [dot] cmu [dot] edu
CV / Google Scholar / Linkedin

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Hi! I am Ph.D. in Software Engineering student at Carnegie Mellon University advised by Dr. Eunsuk Kang and Dr. Sebastian Scherer. I am also a part time researcher with Scaled Foundations and collaborate with Toyota Infotech Labs.

I am interested in safe and robust robot learning, leveraging diverse methodologies such as constrained robot foundation models, reinforcement learning, control barrier functions, and imitation learning. Lately, my focus has shifted towards large action models and embodied AI. My past work has been focused on:

1. Safe deep learning-based planning
   • Efficient differentiable logic networks for trajectory optimization and diffusion policies (Under submission)
   • Embedding logical rules into autoregressive pre-trained transformers for trajectory planning (RSS SA 24)
   • Embedding general aviation rules into learning from demonstration policies using MCTS (ICRA 23)
   • Requirement decomposition for integrated task and motion planning (NFM 24)
2. Bridging the sim-to-real gap for deploying learned policies
   • Enhancing policy interpretability through trajectory analysis (ICSE 25)
   • Identifying failure cases of safe reinforcement policies using simulation guided search FM 24
   • Vision-based control barrier functions for Aerial Collision avoidance (ICRA AA 22)

Beyond my core research, I have also developed a custom deep learning library with implicit differentiation layers from scratch, conducted pilot user studies for trustworthy human-robot interaction, and contributed to the simulation and the foundation model workstreams for the Scaled Foundations GRID platform.

I am currently a part of AirLab and SoDA. Prior to joining CMU, I worked with Dr. Jyotirmoy Deshmukh’s CPS VIDA lab at University of Southern California. I have also researched with Dr. Thao Dang at the Université Grenoble Alpes and Dr. David Marshall at the Cardiff University.