Dr David Silvera-Tawil

I obtained a BE (1st Class) in Electronics and Telecommunications at the Universidad Iberoamericana. Received a MEngStud (Hons) in Mechatronics and a PhD in artificial skin and human robot interaction from the Australian Centre for Field Robotics (ACFR) at The University of Sydney. I am currently a Research Fellow for the Creative Robotics Lab (CRL) at The University of New South Wales, Australia.

During my PhD, completed at the Australian Centre for Field Robotics (ACFR) at the University of Sydney (USyd), I focused on artificial sensitive skin, touch sensing and touch interpretation for HRI. I developed the flexible and stretchable artificial skin required for these experiments using a novel approach based on electrical impedance tomography (EIT). My specialties are the analysis of large-scale data and the prediction of human behaviour during HRI, the autonomous interpretation touch using machine learning techniques and the development of array-like tactile sensors (i.e. artificial sensitive skin) for robotics applications.

I have received significant recognition for my research through receipt of an Australian Postgraduate Award; Best Student Paper Award, 2009 Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation; Best Presentation Award, University of Sydney 2011 Student Conference and the Best Student Project Award at the EDN Innovation Awards (2007) for my MEngStud work. I obtained my BEng in Electronics and Telecommunications at the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico in 2002, ranking top of the class and was awarded a university ‘Award for Excellence.’

I have received significant recognition for my research through receipt of an Australian Postgraduate Award; Best Student Paper Award, 2009 Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation; Best Presentation Award, University of Sydney 2011 Student Conference and the Best Student Project Award at the EDN Innovation Awards (2007) for my MEngStud work. I obtained my BEng in Electronics and Telecommunications at the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico in 2002, ranking top of the class and was awarded a university ‘Award for Excellence.’

Personal website

Institution affiliation

The University of New South Wales
National Institute of Experimental Arts
Creative Robotics Lab

Qualifications

• PhD in Social Robotics and Human-Robot Interaction, The University of Sydney, 2012
• MEngStud (Hons) in Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, 2007
• BE (Hons 1) in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering, Universidad Iberoamericana, 2002

Publications

Full list available here

Journals & Magazines

Book Chapters

• Haring, K.S. Silvera-Tawil, D. Matsumoto, Y. Velonaki, M. & Watanabe, K. ‘Perception of an android robot in Japan and Australia: A cross-cultural comparison‘, In. M. Beetz, B. Johnston & M.A. Williams (eds) Social Robotics, Springer., 2014, pp. 166-175.
• Ball, A., Silvera-Tawil, D., Rye, D. & Velonaki, M.’Group Comfortability when a Robot Approaches‘, In. M. Beetz, B. Johnston & M.A. Williams (eds) Social Robotics, Springer., 2014, pp. 44-53.

Workshops & Conferences

• Haring, K.S. Silvera-Tawil, D. Watanabe, K. Velonaki, M. & Matsumoto, Y. ‘Touching an android robot: Would you do it and how?, International conference on control, automation and robotics, May 2015. (Accepted, Jan 2015) 
• Haring, K.S. Silvera-Tawil, D. Watanabe, K. Velonaki, M. & Takahashi, T. ‘Changes in perception of a small humanoid robot’, IEEE International conference on automation, robotics and applications, February 2015. (Accepted, November 2014)
  
• Velonaki, M., Silvera-Tawil, D. & Rye, D.C. ‘Affective Human-Robot Interactions in Social Spaces: Two Case Studies‘, Proceedings of the Workshop on Applications for Emotional Robots, ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, 2013.
• Silvera Tawil, D., Rye, D.C. & Velonaki, M. ‘Artificial Skin and the Interpretation of Touch for Human-Robot Interaction‘, Presented at the Human Activity and Vision Summer School, 2012.
• Silvera Tawil, D., Rye, D.C. & Velonaki, M. ‘EIT-based Sensitive Skin and Touch Interpretation for Human-Robot Interaction‘, Proceedings of the Workshop on Advances in Tactile Sensing and Touch-Based Human-Robot Interaction, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2012.
• Silvera Tawil, D., Rye, D.C. & Velonaki, M. ‘Artificial Skin and the Interpretation of Touch for Human-Robot Interaction‘. Proceedings of the USYD Student Conference, Oct. 2011, p. 3.
• Silvera Tawil, D., Rye, D.C. & Velonaki, M. ‘Touch modality interpretation for an EIT-based sensitive skin‘. Proceedings of the IEEE 2011 International Conference on Robotics and Automation.
• Silvera Tawil, D., Rye, D.C. & Velonaki, M. ‘Improved EIT drive patterns for a robotics sensitive skin‘. Proceedings of 2009 Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation.
• Silvera Tawil, D., Rye, D.C. & Velonaki, M. ‘Artificial skin for human-robot interaction‘. Proceedings of the Workshop on Tactile Sensing in Humanoids, IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots, 2009.
• Velonaki, M., Silvera Tawil, D. & Rye, D.C. ‘Engagement, trust and intimacy: interactions between a human and a robot‘. Proceedings of Super Human: Revolution of the Species, 2009.
• Silvera Tawil, D., Velonaki, M. & Rye, D.C. ‘Artificial Skin for Human-Robot Interaction’, USYD Research Conversazione, Oct. 2009.

Technical Reports