Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Shadan Golestan is a researcher at the intersection of robotics, artificial intelligence, and human-centered technology, with a focus on making intelligent systems both more capable and more interpretable. Her work spans three key areas: socially assistive robotics for special needs populations, explainable AI in robotic domains, and fault-tolerant autonomous systems. In a pioneering pilot study (2017, 21 citations), Golestan explored the feasibility of using the Sphero robot to rehabilitate social and communication skills in children with autism, demonstrating how accessible robotic platforms can serve as therapeutic tools. More recently, she has tackled the critical challenge of transparency in deep reinforcement learning, applying Layer-wise Relevance Propagation to explain DRL decisions in robotic domains (2024, 9 citations)—work that addresses a major barrier to deploying AI in real-world settings. She also introduced the i-puck educational mobile robot (2016), a platform designed to bridge theory and practice for students in AI and robotics courses. Her latest contribution (2024) applies reinforcement learning policy gradient algorithms to enhance hardware fault tolerance in autonomous machines, a vital step toward resilient industrial systems. Golestan’s research consistently demonstrates a commitment to making robotics more accessible, trustworthy, and robust.