Amazing kickoff event! We formally launched the Center for AEroSpace Autonomy Research (CAESAR) at Stanford on May 22nd together with Marco Pavone.
The goal of CAESAR is to address unsolved problems in space-borne autonomy through the judicious incorporation of AI. During the event we addressed the opportunities offered by and the challenges faced by AI For Space with 90+ attendees from Academia, Industry, and Government. This was done through keynotes, research presentations, posters, and a panel on AIForSpace, RPOD, ISAM, and Policy Implications.
Thanks to the stealth period from October 2023 to today, we were able to support our vision and goals through research results on both the enhancing and enabling potential of AI (e.g. trajectory optimization, 3D model abstraction and pose estimation). We laid out a vision on the future of spaceborne autonomy based on a new SpaceFoundationModel which we believe will drastically change space exploration.
Coincidentally the event overlapped with NASA Town Hall on AI and the recent appointment of David Salvagnini as its Chief AI officer. I think we have the opportunity to lead the way and to do something pioneering here.
Huge thanks to the attendees and contributors to the CAESAR's kick-off, to our founding sponsors, to the advisory board (Vivek Nagabhushan, @Stefan Bieniawski, Al Tadros, @Peter Cannito, Marcos Berrios, Bo Naasz). Also, kudos to Debra Werner that beat everyone else in reporting:
