The Grainger College of Engineering
Industrial & Enterprise Systems Engineering

Bob Norris

Bob Norris
Bob Norris he/him/his
  • Research Professor
(217) 300-6647
110 Transportation Building

For More Information

Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy, UIUC, Agricultural Engineering, Concentration: Control Theory, Systems Engineering, Robotics, 2001.
  • Master of Business Administration, Duke University, General Management, Decision Analysis 2007.
  • Master of Science, UIUC, General Engineering, Concentration: Control Theory. 1997.
  • Bachelor of Science, UIUC, General Engineering, Concentration: Control Systems/ Robotics, 1996.

Academic Positions

  • Research Professor, Department of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering, UIUC
  • Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering, UIUC
  • Affiliate, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UIUC
  • Affiliate, Coordinated Science Lab, CSL
  • Affiliate, Discovery Partners Institute, DPI
  • Affiliate, Center for Digital Agriculture, NCSA
  • Affiliate, Intelligent Robotics Laboratory, Center for Autonomy
  • Faculty member, Smart Transportation Infrastructure Initiative (STII)
  • Faculty member, Center of Autonomy UIUC

Other Professional Employment

  • Business Owner/ Consultant - Robust Smart Control Solutions LLC, iMS2, LLC - Rock Hill SC 2009-2017
  • Entrepreneur in Residence - Innovation Fund North Carolina - 2013-2015
  • Deere and Company - research and product development - senior, staff engineer, program manager, business manager 2001-2009

Major Consulting Activities

  • US Army Corps of Engineers ERDC - Engineer Research Development Center - Basic Research Review - 2021
  • US Army Corps of Engineers ERDC - Engineer Research Development Center - Basic Research Review - 2020
  • US Army - Basic Research Review - Robotics 2013

Professional Highlights

  • Led the development of the first manufactured, large scale, autonomous vehicle from concept through product delivery and support.

Resident Instruction

  • SE 397 Independent Study
  • SE 497 Independent Study
  • SE 597 Independent Study
  • SE 498 Systems Engineering
  • SE498 Introduction to Autonomous Systems
  • IE597 Independent Study

Course Development

  • SE 498 Systems Engineering
  • SE498 Introduction to Autonomous Systems

Design Teams

  • Senior Design - Spring 2022 MIFab Grease Interceptor Design and Testing Analysis for Increased Capacity
  • Senior Design - Spring 2022 UMark Transition from Metal to Plastic Parts
  • Senior Design - Fall 2021 Poly Cart Competitive Analysis and Dump Feature Integration Design - Bernt O. Larson Award - First Place
  • Senior Design - Spring 2021 AgriFab Semi-autonomous Testing Rig
  • Senior Design - Fall 2020 My lab - Jackal Dynamic Model
  • Senior Design - Spring 2019 John Deere Tango Autonomous Mower Fleet Management

Research Interests

  • Mechatronics
  • Control Systems
  • Expert Systems
  • Decision Analysis
  • Adaptive Systems
  • Deep Learning
  • Machine Learning
  • Robotics
  • Systems Engineering
  • Autonomous/ Unmanned Systems

Research Areas

  • Data Analytics
  • Decision and Control Systems
  • Design and Manufacturing
  • Social, Human, and Engineering Systems

Selected Articles in Journals

Articles in Conference Proceedings

  • Chen, Y., Mansouri, M., Wang, Z., Xiao, C., J. Ramos, Hsiao-Wecksler, E.T., and Norris, W.R. “Evaluation of a Shared Controller for Obstacle Avoidance of a Ballbot Wheelchair”, 47th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics, Madison, WI, August 5-8, 2024
  • Chen, Y., Rastogi, C., Norris, W.R. (2021) A Convolutional Neural Network Based Vision-Proprioception Fusion Method for Robust UGV Terrain Classification. 2021 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2021) conference paper. RA-Letters journal option.
  • Cui, H., Wu, J., Zhang, J., Chowdhary, G., Norris, W.R. (2021) 3D Detection and Tracking for On-road Vehicles with a Monovision Camera and Dual Low-cost 4D mmWave Radars. Submitted to IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society Conference, April 2021
  • Cui, H., Zhang, J., and Norris, W.R. (2020) A Safety and Reliability Enhanced Autonomous Driving Platform using ROS2. IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation 2020.
  • Lewandowski,J., Nagi R., Norris, W.R., Sreenivas, R., Nottage, D., Soylemezoglu, A. (2020) An Ontology for Semantic Classification of Construction Areas and Tasks. Proceedings of the 2020 IISE Annual Conference
  • Lobato, A., Norris, W.R., Nagi R., Nottage, D., Soylemezoglu, A. (2021) Comparison of Semantic Segmentation Deep Learning Models for Land Use Mapping: Site Characterization for Construction Site Preparation. Submitted to Proceedings of the 2021 IISE Annual Conference
  • Lobato, M., Norris, WR., Nagi, R., Soylemezoglu, A., Nottage, D. (2021) Machine Learning for Soil Moisture Prediction Using Hyperspectral and Multispectral Data. 2021 IEEE 24th International Conference on Information Fusion (FUSION), 1-7
  • Sengupta, S., Nagi, R., Norris, W.R., Sreenivas, R., Nottage, D., Soylemezoglu, A.(2020) A Balancing Algorithm for Robust Decentralized Parallel Machine Scheduling to Minimize Makespan. Proceedings of the 2020 IISE Annual Conference.
  • Seung Yun (Leo) Song, Nadja Marin, Chenzhang Xiao, ,Mahshid Mansouri, Joao Ramos, Yu Chen, Adam W. Bleakney, Deana C. McDonagh , William R. Norris, Jeannette R. Elliot, Patricia B. Malik, Elizabeth T. Hsiao-Wecksler. Accepted to ACM/IEEE HRI 2024 Boulder, CO, USA.
  • Song, S.Y, Marin, N., Xiao, C., Mansouri, M., Chen, Y., J. Ramos, Norris, W.R., and Hsiao-Wecksler, E.T. “Performance Evaluation of Hands-free Lean-to-Steer Control of a Ballbot Wheelchair”, 47th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics, Madison, WI, August 5-8, 2024
  • Xu, J. and Norris, W.R. (2019) Hierarchical Mamdani-type Fuzzy Logic Control Design with Stability Criteria. Proceedings of the 2019 4th International Conference on Automation, Control.
  • Zhang, J., Cui, H., Wu, J., Norris, W. R. Simulator and Transplantable Control Architecture Development for an Electric Autonomous Vehicle. 2024 IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics (ICMA), pg 275-280.
  • Norris, W. R., Sreenivas, R. S. On a Control Policy that Maintains Indoor Air Quality in a Variable-Air-Volume Air-Handling Unit. Proceedings of the 1997 IEEE/ASME Conference on Control Applications, Hartford, Connecticut, October 1997.
  • Norris, W. R., Sreenivas, R. S., and Zhang Q. A Real-Time Human Operator Performance Model for Performing Adaptive System Design. Proceedings of the Automation Technology for Off-road Equipment (ATOE) 2002, ASAE, Chicago, Illinois, July 2002.
  • Norris, W. R., Sreenivas, R. S., and Zhang Q. An Approach Using a Neural Network Based Adaptive Filter for Performing Real-Time, On-line Qualitative System Design. Proceedings of the Automation Technology for Off-road Equipment (ATOE) 2002, ASAE, Chicago, Illinois, July 2002.
  • Norris, W. R., Sreenivas, R. S., Zhang Q. and Lopez - Dominguez, J. Qualitative Control System Design Incorporating Operator Preferred Performance Characteristics Using Virtual Environments. Proceedings of the SCI 2001 Conference, IEEE, Orlando, Florida, July 2001. Best Control Systems Paper at Conference.
  • Norris, W. R., Sreenivas, R. S., Zhang Q. and Lopez - Dominguez, J. Virtual Design Tools: A Technique for Performing Qualitative Human-in-the-Loop System Design. Proceedings of the 2001 ASAE Annual International Meeting, Sacramento, California, July 2001. Honorable Mention for Best Paper.
  • Norris, W.R., Reid John F. Human Perception Modeling Applied to Autonomous Agricultural System Path Following Control Applications. Accepted to AgEng2004 Leuven, Belgium International Conference on Agricultural Engineering Sept. 2004.
  • Norris, W.R., Reid John F. The Assessment of Path Following Capability for Autonomous Agricultural Vehicle Systems. Accepted to AgEng2004 Leuven, Belgium International Conference on Agricultural Engineering Sept. 2004.
  • Patterson, A., Vajipeyajula, B, and Norris, W. (2022) System Architecture and Design Parameters for Extrusion-Based Autonomous Construction Systems. Accepted Proceedings of the ASME 2022 International Additive Manufacturing Conference IAM2022.

Pending Articles

  • Folorunsho, S., Norris, W. R. Semantic segmentation-based approach for autonomous navigation in challenging farm terrains. Submitting to Computers and Electronics in Agriculture.
  • Folorunsho, S., Norris, W. R. Redefining Aerial Innovation: Autonomous Tethered Drones as a Solution to Battery Life and Data Latency Challenges. Submitting to Computers and Electronics in Agriculture.
  • Folorunsho, S., Norris, W. R. Spannotation: Enhancing Semantic Segmentation for Autonomous Navigation with Efficient Image Annotation. Submitting to Computers and Electronics in Agriculture.
  • Gujarathi, I.A., Norris, W.R., Patterson, A.E. "Spiral development for non-software product and system engineering", Preprint submitted to ArXiv, pending submission to Systems Engineering.
  • Sang, I., Norris, W. "Improved Generalizability of CNN-Based Lane Detection in Challenging Weather Using Adaptive Preprocessing Parameter Tuning," in IEEE Transactions on Artificial Intelligence, Submitted in Feb 2024
  • Chen, H. Y., Sang, I., Norris, W. R., Soylemezoglu, A., & Nottage, D. Terrain Classification Method Using Nir or Rgb Camera with a Cnn-Based Fusion of Vision and a Reduced-Order Proprioception Model. Submitted to ELSEVIER, Computers and Electronics in Agriculture. Special issue title: "Intelligent Agricultural Machinery and Field Robotics" in Dec 2023.
  • Chen, Y., Rastogi, C., Zhou, Z., and Norris, W.R.(2023) A Self-Supervised Miniature One-Shot Texture Segmentation (MOSTS) Model for Real-Time Robot Navigation and Embedded Applications. IEEE IROS2024. Manuscript submitted for publication.
  • Yurkanin, J., Norris, W.R., Nottage, D., Soylemezoglu, A. (TBD) Neural Network Augmented Off-Road Skid Steer Vehicle Model. Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Robotics.
  • Dekhterman, S., Norris, WR., Nottage, D., Soylemezoglu, A. (TBD) Hierarchical Rule-Base Reduction Fuzzy Control for Path Tracking with Differential Steer Vehicle. IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Other Publications

  • S Balasubramanian, A Rajput, RW Hascaryo, C Rastogi, WR Norris. (2020) Comparison of Dynamic and Kinematic Model Driven Extended Kalman Filters (EKF) for the Localization of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles arXiv preprint arXiv:2105.12309.
  • Patterson, A.E., Yuan, Y., and Norris, W.R. (2019). System-level development of a user-integrated semi-autonomous lawn mowing system: Problem overview, basic requirements, and proposed architecture. ArXiv Preprint, Accepted, pending announcement and digital identifier.
  • Norris, W.R. and Patterson, A.E. (2019). Remote Sensing of Weeds in Field Crops via Image Processing: A Short Literature Collection. Technical report, IDEALS – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Available online at http://hdl.handle.net/2142/104209.
  • Yuan, Y., Patterson, A.E., Patterson, T.L., and Norris, W.R. (2019). User-Integrated Semi-Autonomous Lawn Mowing Systems: Example Basic, Functional, Non-Functional, and Safety and Security Requirement. Technical report, IDEALS - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Available online at http://hdl.handle.net/2142/104210.
  • Norris, W.R. and Patterson, A.E. (2019). Automation, autonomy, and semi-autonomy: A brief definition relative to robotics and machine systems. IDEALS - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Available online at http://hdl.handle.net/2142/104214.

Patents

  • (Provisional) Steering and Velocity Hierarchical Fuzzy Control | Expert Operator Model Control. W.R. Norris, Samuel Dekterman
  • (Provisional) Online and Offline Adaptive Hierarchical Fuzzy Control W.R. Norris , Marius Justin
  • (Provisional) A Texture Oriented, Self-Supervised One-shot Drivable Area Segmentation FrameworkW.R. Norris, Hsao Yu Chen, Yu Chen
  • (Provisional) Adaptive image parameter optimization algorithm. W.R. Norris. I-Chen Sang
  • (Current Disclosure) Localization engine for navigation and control of autonomous lawn-mowing vehicles. W.R. Norris
  • (Current Disclosure) Mapping and area-exclusion system for use by autonomous lawn-mowing vehicles. W.R. Norris
  • (Current Disclosure) Area boundary definition system for use by autonomous lawn-mowing vehicles. W.R. Norris
  • (Current Disclosure) Ad Hoc, Reconfigurable, Mesh Network Beacon System for Use in Obstructed and Unobstructed Environments: W.R. Norris and A.E. Patterson. (September 2018).
  • EP2551133 (B1) Active suspension system William R Norris, Bernard E Romig
  • EP2033118 (B1) Multiple mode system with multiple controllers. nWilliam Robert Norris
  • 12,048,655. A low-profile and high-load ball-balancing rolling system: A.W. Bleakney, J.R. Elliott, E.T. Hsiao-Wecksler, P. B. Malik, D. C. McDonagh, A. K. Rausin, W.R. Norris, J. L. Almeida de Souza Ramos, Y. Chen, C. Xiao, Y. Pei, S. Y. Song
  • 9,429,944 Versatile robotic control module. Mikhail O Filippov, Osa Fitch, Scott P Keller, John O'connor, David S Zendzian, Nadim El Fata, Kevin Larsen, Arlen Eugene Meuchel, Mark David Schmaltz, James Allard, Chris A De Roo, William Robert Norris, Andrew Julian Norby, Christopher David Glenn Turner
  • 9,098,080 Systems and methods for switching between autonomous and manual operation of a vehicle. William Robert Norris, James Allard, Mikhail O Filippov, Robert Dale Haun, Christopher David Glenn Turner, Seth Gilbertson, Andrew Julian Norby
  • 9,043,016 Versatile robotic control module. Mikhail O Filippov, Osa Fitch, Scott P Keller, John O'connor, David S Zendzian, Nadim El Fata, Kevin Larsen, Arlen Eugene Meuchel, Mark David Schmaltz, James Allard, Chris A De Roo, William Robert Norris, Andrew Julian Norby, Christopher David Glenn Turner
  • 8,874,300 Systems and methods for obstacle avoidance. James Allard, Kathleen A Wienhold, William Robert Norris, Anthony Francis Catalfano
  • 8,825,294 Vehicle center of gravity active suspension control system. William R Norris, Bernard E Romig
  • 8,510,034 Perception model for trajectory following autonomous and human augmented steering control. William Robert NorrisBernard Edwin RomigJohn Franklin Reid
  • 8,498,796 Perception model for trajectory following autonomous and human augmented speed control. William Robert NorrisBernard Edwin RomigJohn Franklin Reid
  • 8,473,140 Networked multi-role robotic vehicle. William Robert NorrisJames AllardJeffery Scott
  • 8,195,364 Perception model for trajectory following autonomous and human augmented steering control
  • 8,020,657 Systems and methods for obstacle avoidance. James Allard, Kathleen A Wienhold, William Robert Norris, Anthony Francis Catalfano
  • 7,895,135 Human perception model for speed control performance. William Robert NorrisBernard Edwin RomigJohn Franklin Reid
  • 7,894,951 Systems and methods for switching between autonomous and manual operation of a vehicle. William Robert Norris, James Allard, Mikhail O Filippov, Robert Dale Haun, Christopher David Glenn Turner, Seth Gilbertson, Andrew Julian Norby
  • 7,769,512 Vehicle steering control method and performance. William Robert NorrisBernard Edwin RomigJohn Franklin Reid
  • 7,743,159 Reusable application framework for translating between a client and an external entity
  • (Provisional) Neural Networks as a Modulation Surface for Electrohydraulic Systems: W.R. Norris, J.C.L. Dominguez, R.S. Sreenivas and Q. Zhang. (November 2000).
  • (Provisional) Adapative Modulation Curve for Electrohydraulic Systems using Neural Networks: W.R. Norris, J.C.L. Dominguez, R.S. Sreenivas and Q. Zhang. (November 2000).
  • (Provisional) Virtual Interpreter and Trajectory Mapping: W.R. Norris, J.C.L. Dominguez and R.S. Sreenivas. (November 2000).
  • (Provisional) Virtual Design Tools: W.R. Norris, J.C.L. Dominguez and R.S. Sreenivas. (November 2000).
  • (Provisional) Adaptive Modulation Curve for Electrohydraulic Systems using Adaptive Optimization Functions: W.R. Norris, J.C.L. Dominguez, R.S. Sreenivas and Q. Zhang. (November 2000).
  • (Provisional) Human Performance Modeling Using Fuzzy Logic: W.R. Norris, J.C.L. Dominguez and R.S. Sreenivas. (November 2000).

Reports

  • Norris, W. R. Intelligent Vehicle System Evaluation Methodology – Guidance, Obstacle Detection, Safeguarding and Safety. Submitted Technical Report, John Deere, January 2003.
  • Norris, W. R. Multi-attribute Utility Analysis for Evaluation of and Selection of Autonomous Systems. Submitted Technical Report, John Deere, January 2003.
  • Norris, W. R. Intelligent Vehicle System Evaluation Methodology, T-4477 P-9120, Technical Report, John Deere, December 2002.
  • Norris, W. R. Steering Control System Evaluation for The 5510n Autonomous Tractor For Orchard Operations TR-281 P-9120, Technical Report, John Deere, December 2002.
  • Norris, W. R. UtilRate Programmer’s Manual, United States Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, USACERL. September 2002.
  • Norris, W. R. UtilRate User Manual, Technical Report, United States Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, USACERL. September 2002.
  • Van Blaricum, V., Norris, W. R. Cathodic Protection Equipment Demonstration on Remote Locations, Technical Report, United States Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, USACERL. July 2001.
  • Van Blaricum, V., Norris, W. R. Cathodic Protection Equipment Demonstration. User Guide, United States Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, USACERL. April, 1997.
  • Van Blaricum, V., Norris, W. R. Cathodic Protection Equipment Demonstration. Technical Report, United States Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, USACERL. April, 1997.
  • Defense Air Quality Management System (DAQMS) Version 0.5, Software Development and User Manual, United States Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, USACERL, December 1997.
  • Auxiliary Power Supply for the Electronic Control Module, Cummins Engine (Power), Senior Design Project. May 1996.

Professional Societies

  • ASME
  • IEEE
  • IISE
  • INCOSE

Service on Department Committees

  • Safety Committee
  • Space and Facilities Committee
  • Lab & Computer Policy

Service to Federal and State Government

  • NSF funding Review Committee, Nanotechnology 2012
  • Army Basic Research Review 2013

Honors

  • Alpha Epsilon honor society member
  • Gamma Epsilon honor society member
  • Tau Beta Pi honor society member
  • Phi Kappa Phi honor society member
  • Fuqua School of Business Merit Scholarship 2006
  • Chaired sessions: SCI2001, ASAE2001, ANNIE 2001, ATOE2001
  • Best Paper ASAE 2001 (out of 150)
  • Best Control Systems Paper SCI2001 (IEEE) (out of 500),
  • John Deere Innovation Award

Research Honors

  • Robert A. Jewett Endowment (2020)
  • William A. Chittenden Award (1998)
  • Research Assistant of the Year Award for ERDC and the Corps of Engineers (2000)

Public Service Honors

  • Forever Duke Alumni Award (2013)

Recent Courses Taught

  • SE 498 SE1 (SE 498 SE2) - Principles of Systems Engrg
  • SE 498 WL1 (SE 498 WL2, SE 498 WL3) - Autonomous Vehicle Sys Lab
  • SE 498 WN1 (SE 498 WN2) - Autonomous Vehicle Systems
  • SE 498 WN1 (SE 498 WN2) - Systems Engineering