Ben Hockman is a Robotics Technologist at JPL in the Robotic Mobility Group. He received is PhD from Stanford University in June 2018, supervised by Prof. Marco Pavone in the Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics. As lead engineer on the “Hedgehog” project, Ben’s graduate work focused on the design, control, and autonomy for the robotic exploration of small solar system bodies, such as asteroids and comets.
Ph.D. Aeronautics and Astronautics
Stanford University [2018]
M.S. Mechanical Engineering
Stanford University [2015]
B.S. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
University of Delaware [2013]
- Autonomous exploration of small bodies
- Planning and decision making for highly stochastic systems
- Mobility in microgravity and extreme terrain
- Dynamic grasping of free-floating objects
- Localization of sensor-deprived robots
