About Jungseok
I am a Postdoctoral Associate in Marine Robotics Group with Prof. John Leonard in the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).
My research interests include marine robotics, field robotics, and robot vision. My research endeavors have been focused on addressing “How to improve robotic perception in underwater with a vision-based learning and multi-modal approaches?”. I also worked on open-source robots with my colleagues. Additionally, I have expanded my research into argiculutral and manipulation robots. Outside of my research hours, I like to be active (e.g., sailing, swim, and play tennis). I am also a sailor and certified scuba diver. Check out my research projects and publications.
I received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. I was a member of IRV LAB advised by Prof. Junaed Sattar.
Recent News
2025.07 I gave an invited seminar at KAIST, presenting our latest work on Semantic SLAM in challenging environments.
2025.06 Our paper Semantic Enhancement for Object SLAM with Heterogeneous Multimodal Large Language Model Agents was paccepted for publication in IROS 2025.
2025.03 Our paper A Quantitative Evaluation of Bathymetry-Based Bayesian Localization Methods for Autonomous Underwater Robots was published in IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering.
2025.01 Our paper IBURD: Image Blending for Underwater Robotic Detection was accepted for publication in ICRA 2025.
2024.10 I presented our paper Opti-Acoustic Semantic SLAM with Unknown Objects in Underwater Environments at the IROS 2024 Workshop, Autonomous Robotic Systems in Aquaculture, and we won the Best Paper Award.
2024.07 Our paper Opti-Acoustic Semantic SLAM with Unknown Objects in Underwater Environments was accepted for publication in IROS 2024.
Released Datasets
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TrashCAN (2020.07) An Instance-Segmentation Labeled Dataset of Trash Observations. Download |
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Trash-ICRA19 (2020.07) A Bounding Box Labeled Dataset of Underwater Trash. Download |
Invited Talks
- Semantic SLAM in Challenging Environments, KAIST, Host: Jinwhan Kim, Daejeon, Korea. July 2025.
- Toward robotic autonomy in data-scarce and visually challenging environments, MIT Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Seminar, Host: John Leonard, Cambridge, MA. March 2023.
- Toward robotic perception in data-scarce and visually challenging environments. 20th Annual Marine Robotics Workshop & Field Trials, Host: Greg Dudek, Holetown, Barbados. February 2023.
- Robust Object Detection, Localization, and Exploration for Autonomous Robots in Unstructured Environments. Samsung AI Center New York, Host: Volkan Isler, New York, NY. Januaray 2022.
- Semantically-Aware Strategies for Stereo-Visual Robotic Obstacle Avoidance, ICRA virtual presentation, 2021.
- A Generative Approach Towards Improved Robotic Detection of Marine Litter, ICRA virtual presentation, 2020.
- Towards the Detection and Localization of Underwater Trash by Autonomous Robotic Platforms, University of Minnesota VCAI Seminar, Minneapolis, MN. April 2019.
Industry Experiences
2022.02-2022.09 Samsung AI Center New York Research intern. Worked on visual servoing and semantic mapping. Published an IROS 2022 paper and an ICRA 2023 paper; Obtained two patents (1, 2).
2020.05-2020.08 Sentera Deep learning intern. Developed a weed identification pipeline.
Professional Services
International Journals/Conferences Reviewer
IEEE-TRO |
2024 |
IEEE-JOE |
2022 |
IEEE RA-L |
2022-2025 |
ICRA |
2020 - 2025 |
IROS |
2019 - 2025 |
RSS |
2025 |
CRV |
2019 - 2021 |
CRV |
Program Committee Member for 2021 |
Faculty Hiring Committee 2020-2021
- Student Representative, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota
Selected Honors and Awards
- IROS 2024 Workshop Best paper Award, Autonomous Robotic Systems in Aquaculture, $2,125. October 2024.
- ICRA Robotics and Automation Society Travel Grant, $1,300. May 2023.
- Received 2nd place award at the 21st Korean Computer Scientists and Engineers Association in America (KOCSEA) Technical Symposium, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, November 6-7, 2021.
- UMII MnDRIVE Graduate Assistantship, University of Minnesota MnDrive, $50,000. Awarded in recognition of academic record and potential for future research productivity in Robotics, 2019.
- Summa Cum Laude, South Dakota State University (GPA: 3.96/4.0) (Top in the EE program), Dept. of EE, 2015.
- Power System Protection Scholarship, Schweitzer Engineering Lab. (SEL), $4,000. Awarded in recognition of outstanding academic and personal achievements, 2015.
- BENNET Fellowship, South Dakota State University, $3,000. First international student recipient. Awarded to one student annually in recognition of outstanding academic and personal achievements, 2014.
- Samsung Full Scholarship, Sung Kyun Kwan University, $40,000. Awarded in recognition of outstanding Korean SAT score and high school GPA, 2007-2015.
Favorite Quotes
“Do it fast, but do it correctly.”
“Documentation is a Love Letter That You Write to Your Future Self.” —Damian Conway
“Everything you learn, Learn the thing that is the building block for the thing you just learned.” —John Mayer