Ford’s Nikita Jaipuria and Rohan Bhasin on Generating Synthetic Data - Ep. 117

Backgrounds

Nikita Jaipuria and Rohan Bhasin share their journeys into robotics and AI, highlighting their backgrounds in controls and engineering. Nikita's experience with automation at Unilever sparked her interest in robotics, leading her to pursue graduate studies at MIT and eventually join Ford through a collaborative project 1. Rohan, on the other hand, transitioned from computer-aided engineering to AI at Ford, driven by the need for advanced simulations in autonomous driving features 1. Their stories illustrate the rapid progress and integration of AI in the automotive industry.

The rate of progress itself has been kind of eye-opening in a positive way.

--- Noah Kravitz

Their collaboration at Ford exemplifies the synergy between robotics and AI, essential for developing cutting-edge vehicle technologies.

   

AI Applications

AI's role in vehicle features is expanding, with Nikita and Rohan focusing on broadening its applications. Rohan emphasizes the importance of diversifying data sets to enhance perception features without the high costs of real-world data collection 2. Nikita is keen on exploring AI's potential beyond images, venturing into videos and other data sequences for broader utility 2. Their work at Ford aims to push the boundaries of AI applications in the automotive sector.

Our goal is to apply this as broadly as we can because the applications for our work are pretty broad.

--- Rohan Bhasin

This approach not only targets specific vehicle features but also seeks to advance the AI community as a whole.