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headshot of Colin B. Selleck

Colin B. Selleck

Lecturer

Mechanical Engineering

Background

Colin Selleck received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Louisiana State University in 1978 and an M.S. In Mechanical Engineering from Louisiana State University in 1980. He then began his career at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM where he developed some of the first computer graphics user interfaces that gave engineers and scientists the ability to graphically visualize the results of complex finite element analyses being executed on the world's fastest computer at the time, the Cray Supercomputer.

In 1987, Selleck joined a newly-formed robotics department at Sandia and was a member of a team that developed the first robotics-based radiation inspection systems for nuclear waste transportation containers. The system was one of the first to program a robot to touch an object by using a force sensor to detect contact. Selleck's contribution was the development and programming of computer vision algorithms that located the container as it arrived on trucks at the waste storage facilities.

In 1990, Selleck began designing and coding geometry sensors based on a structured lighting technique that used lasers and cameras to scan objects and build 3D maps. These maps were used to plan safe and efficient robot motions while operating in unknown environments. This was especially critical in tasks such as remediating nuclear waste and deploying robots into hazardous situations.

Selleck left Sandia in 1997 and began consulting with the University of New Mexico's Manufacturing Engineering robotic laboratory that performs research in coordinated robot motion, simulation-based system realization, optimal grasp planning, trajectory generation, and mobile navigation.

Since 2006, Selleck has been a lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at Binghamton University where he teaches Senior Capstone Design, Robotics, Measurements and Instrumentation, and Dynamics. He is a member of two engineering honorary societies: Tau Beta Pi and Pi Tau Sigma.

Education

  • BS, MS, Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge

Research Interests

  • Robotics

Curriculum Vitae

Curriculum Vitae