Brittany A. Duncan CV

Education

• Ph.D in Computer Science, Texas A&M University, 2015
• B.S. in Computer Science, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009

Employment history

• July 2022 – present: Ross McCollum Associate Professor
  • School of Computing
  • University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• August 2015 – current: Co-Director
  • Nebraska Intelligent MoBile Unmanned Systems (NIMBUS) Lab
  • University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• August 2021 – July 2022: Associate Professor
  • School of Computing
  • University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• August 2015 – August 2021: Assistant Professor
  • Computer Science and Engineering
  • University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Research patents and awards

• National and International Research Awards and Recognition
  • Best Paper Nominee, ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, 2019
  • Best Paper Award, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2018
  • Selected as a NSF Graduate Research Fellow, 2010–2015
• Regional and Local Research Awards and Recognition
  • Awarded a 2019 UNL College of Engineering Excellence in Research award
  • Selected to participate in UNL Research and Development Fellows Program, 2015–2016
  • Selected as a Texas A&M University Office of Graduate Studies Diversity Fellow, 2009–2015

Publications

Recognizing User Proficiency in Piloting Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (sUAV)

Siya Kunde, Evan Palmer, Brittany Duncan, "Recognizing User Proficiency in Piloting Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (sUAV)." IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2022.

Predicting Visual Differentiability for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Gestures

Paul Fletcher, Angeline Luther, Carrick Detweiler, Brittany Duncan, "Predicting Visual Differentiability for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Gestures." IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2022.

Let's Run an Online Proxemics Study! But, how do results compare to in-person?

Siya Kunde, Nathan Simms, Gerson Uriarte, Brittany Duncan, "Let's Run an Online Proxemics Study! But, how do results compare to in-person?." Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science: International Conference on Social Robotics, 2022.

Examining Distance in UAV Gesture Perception

Karissa Jelonek, Paul Fletcher, Brittany Duncan, Carrick Detweiler, "Examining Distance in UAV Gesture Perception." In the proceedings of 2022 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2022.

Design and Field Evaluation of a Mission Specialist Interface for Small Unmanned Aerial Systems

Joshua Peschel, Brittany Duncan, Robin Murphy, "Design and Field Evaluation of a Mission Specialist Interface for Small Unmanned Aerial Systems." International Journal of Social Robotics, 2022.

Autonomous, Long-Range, Sensor Emplacement Using Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Adam Plowcha, Justin Bradley, Jacob Hogberg, Thomas Ammon, Mark Nail, Brittany Duncan, Carrick Detweiler, "Autonomous, Long-Range, Sensor Emplacement Using Unmanned Aircraft Systems." Field Robotics, 2022.

Aerial Flight Paths for Communication: How Participants Perceive and Intend to Respond to Drone Movements

Alisha Bevins$^1$, Brittany Duncan, "Aerial Flight Paths for Communication: How Participants Perceive and Intend to Respond to Drone Movements." In the proceedings of ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human Robot Interaction, 2021.

Investigation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Gesture Perceptibility and Impact of Viewpoint Variance^*

Paul Fletcher, Angeline Luther, Brittany Duncan, Carrick Detweiler, "Investigation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Gesture Perceptibility and Impact of Viewpoint Variance^*." In the proceedings of 2021 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2021.

Investigation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Gesture Perceptibility and Impact of Viewpoint Variance

Paul Fletcher, Angeline Luther, Carrick Detweiler, Brittany Duncan, "Investigation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Gesture Perceptibility and Impact of Viewpoint Variance. " In the proceedings of International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2021.

Aerial Flight Paths for Communication

A. Bevins, B.A. Duncan, "Aerial Flight Paths for Communication." Frontiers in robotics and AI, 2021.

Aerial Flight Paths for Communication: How Participants Perceive and Intend to Respond to Drone Movements

Alisha Bevins, Brittany Duncan, "Aerial Flight Paths for Communication: How Participants Perceive and Intend to Respond to Drone Movements." In the proceedings of Proceedings of the 2021 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, 2021.

Content is King: Impact of Task Design for Eliciting Participant Agreement in Crowdsourcing for HRI

Alisha Bevins, Nina McPhaul, Brittany Duncan, "Content is King: Impact of Task Design for Eliciting Participant Agreement in Crowdsourcing for HRI." In the proceedings of International Conference on Social Robotics, 2020.

Characterizing User Responses to Failures in Aerial Autonomous Systems

S. Kunde, S. Elbaum, B. Duncan, "Characterizing User Responses to Failures in Aerial Autonomous Systems." IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L), 2020.

Learning from Users: an Elicitation Study and Taxonomy for Communicating small Unmanned Aerial System States Through Gestures

Justin Firestone, Rubi Quinones, Brittany Duncan, "Learning from Users: an Elicitation Study and Taxonomy for Communicating small Unmanned Aerial System States Through Gestures." In the proceedings of ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human Robot Interaction, 2019.

Investigation of Communicative Flight Paths for small Unmanned Aerial Systems

B. Duncan, E. Beachly, A. Bevins, C. Detweiler, S. Elbaum, "Investigation of Communicative Flight Paths for small Unmanned Aerial Systems." In the proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2018.

Inference of User Qualities in Shared Control

U. Acharya, Siya Kunde, Lucas Hall, Brittany Duncan, Justin Bradley, "Inference of User Qualities in Shared Control." In the proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2018.

Inference of User Qualities in Shared Control of CPHS: A Contrast in Users

Lucas Hall, Urja Acharya, Justin Bradley, Brittany Duncan, "Inference of User Qualities in Shared Control of CPHS: A Contrast in Users." In the proceedings of IFAC Cyber-Physical Human Systems, 2018.

Fire-aware planning of aerial trajectories and ignitions

E. Beachly, C. Detweiler, S. Elbaum, B. Duncan, D. Twidwell, "Fire-aware planning of aerial trajectories and ignitions." In the proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2018.

A Drone by Any Other Name: Purposes and End-Users of UAVs Affect Public Support

Lisa PytlikZillig, Brittany Duncan, Sebastian Elbaum, Carrick Detweiler, "A Drone by Any Other Name: Purposes and End-Users of UAVs Affect Public Support." IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, 2018.

UAS-Rx Interface for Mission Planning, Fire Tracking, Fire Ignition, and Real-Time Updating

E. Beachly, C. Detweiler, S. Elbaum, B. Duncan, "UAS-Rx Interface for Mission Planning, Fire Tracking, Fire Ignition, and Real-Time Updating." In the proceedings of IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics (SSRR), 2017.

Investigation of sUAS in Prescribed Fire Teams

Brittany Duncan, Dirac Twidwell, "Investigation of sUAS in Prescribed Fire Teams." In the proceedings of Robots in Groups and Teams: A Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW) Workshop, 2017.

Investigation of human-robot comfort with a small unmanned aerial vehicle compared to a ground robot

U. Acharya, A. Bevins, B. Duncan, "Investigation of human-robot comfort with a small unmanned aerial vehicle compared to a ground robot." In the proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2017.

Effects of Speed, Predictability, and Dimensionality on Distancing, Time, and Preference in Human-Aerial Vehicle Interactions

B. Duncan, R. Murphy, "Effects of Speed, Predictability, and Dimensionality on Distancing, Time, and Preference in Human-Aerial Vehicle Interactions." ACM Transactions on Interactive Intelligent Systems (TiiS), 2017.

Use of a Small Unmanned Aerial System for the SR-530 Mudslide Incident near Oso, Washington

Robin Murphy, Brittany Duncan, Tyler Collins, Justin Kendrick, Patrick Lohman, Tamara Palmer, Frank Sanborn, "Use of a Small Unmanned Aerial System for the SR-530 Mudslide Incident near Oso, Washington." Journal of Field Robotics, 2016.

Comparison of flight paths from fixed-wing and rotorcraft small unmanned aerial systems at SR530 mudslide Washington state

B. Duncan, R. Murphy, "Comparison of flight paths from fixed-wing and rotorcraft small unmanned aerial systems at SR530 mudslide Washington state." In the proceedings of 2015 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2015.

Preliminary analysis of reconstructions from aerial images of disaster props

T. Sarmiento, B. Duncan, R. Murphy, "Preliminary analysis of reconstructions from aerial images of disaster props." 2015 IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics (SSRR), 2015.

Safety considerations for small Unmanned Aerial Systems with distributed users

B. Duncan, R. Murphy, "Safety considerations for small Unmanned Aerial Systems with distributed users." In the proceedings of 2014 IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics (2014), 2014.

AR Browser for Points of Interest in Disaster Response in UAV Imagery

D. Crowley, R. Murphy, A. McNamara, T. McLaughlin, B. Duncan, "AR Browser for Points of Interest in Disaster Response in UAV Imagery." In the proceedings of Computer Human Interaction (CHI), 2014.

Field study identifying barriers and delays in data-to-decision with small unmanned aerial systems

B. Duncan, R. Murphy, "Field study identifying barriers and delays in data-to-decision with small unmanned aerial systems." In the proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Technologies for Homeland Security (HST), 2013.

Comfortable approach distance with small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

B. Duncan, R. Murphy, "Comfortable approach distance with small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." In the proceedings of 2013 IEEE RO-MAN, 2013.

Sky Writer: Sketch-Based Collaboration for UAV Pilots and MIssion Specialists

Z. Henkel, J. Suarez, B. Duncan, R. Murphy, "Sky Writer: Sketch-Based Collaboration for UAV Pilots and MIssion Specialists." In the proceedings of IEEE/ACM International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), 2013.

Autonomous Capabilities for sUAS Conducting Radiological Response: Findings from a High Fidelity Discovery Experiment

B. Duncan, R. Murphy, "Autonomous Capabilities for sUAS Conducting Radiological Response: Findings from a High Fidelity Discovery Experiment." Journal of Field Robotics, Special Issue on Near Earth Autonomy, 2013.

A Formal Model of Comfortable Approach Distance for Human-Robot Interaction in Three Dimensional Environments

Brittany Duncan, R. Murphy, "A Formal Model of Comfortable Approach Distance for Human-Robot Interaction in Three Dimensional Environments." In the proceedings of Human-Robot Interaction Pioneers Workshop, 2013.

Methods and Metrics of Autonomous Take-Off, Landing, and GPS Waypoint Navigation Experiments in Micro-UAVs

B. Duncan, R. Murphy, "Methods and Metrics of Autonomous Take-Off, Landing, and GPS Waypoint Navigation Experiments in Micro-UAVs." In the proceedings of International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems, 2012.

A preliminary model for comfortable approach distance based on environmental conditions and personal factors

Brittany Duncan, Robin Murphy, "A preliminary model for comfortable approach distance based on environmental conditions and personal factors." In the proceedings of International Conference on Collaboration Technologies and Systems (CTS), 2012.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (with flying robots)

Robin Murphy, Dylan Shell, Amy Guerin, Brittany Duncan, Benjamin Fine, Kevin Pratt, Takis Zourntos, "A Midsummer Night's Dream (with flying robots)." Autonomous Robots, 2011.

A Midsummer Night's Dream: Social proof in HRI

B. Duncan, R. Murphy, D. Shell, A. Hopper, "A Midsummer Night's Dream: Social proof in HRI." In the proceedings of 5th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), 2010.

Lek behavior as a model for multi-robot systems

Brittany Duncan, Patrick Ulam, Ronald Arkin, "Lek behavior as a model for multi-robot systems." In the proceedings of Proceedings of the 2009 international conference on Robotics and biomimetics, 2009.

Talks

Teaching, Learning, Flying, and Interacting: computing as a pathway to your goals

April 08, 2022

Keynote Talk at Women in Science Conference, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Drones in Public: interacting and communicating with all users

January 13, 2021

Invited Talk at Humans Interacting with Autonomy Workshop, MIT AeroAstro (virtual)

Drones for Good: interacting closely with people and the world

December 12, 2020

Invited Talk at Artificial Intelligence for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response Workshop, Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS), (virtual)

Drones in Public: distancing and communication with general users

November 06, 2020

Invited Talk at Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute Seminar, Pittsburgh, PA, USA (virtual)

Drones in Public: distancing and communication with general users

September 28, 2018

Invited Talk at University of Washington Robotics Colloquium, Seattle, WA, USA

Investigating Distancing and Communicative Flight Paths with small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

May 21, 2018

Invited Talk at ICRA 2018 Workshop on Human-Robot Interaction with UAVs: Challenges and Frontiers, Brisbane, Australia

Effects of Speed Cyclicity and Dimensionality on Distancing, Time, and Preference in Human- Aerial Vehicle Interactions

March 10, 2018

Conference proceedings talk at Intelligent User Interfaces, Tokyo, Japan

Human-Robot Interaction for High Performing Teams in Field Applications

February 15, 2018

Talk at PHENOME 2018, Tucson, AZ, USA

Human-Robot Interaction for the Wild

April 04, 2016

Talk at University of Illinois, Invited Seminar Speaker, Urbana, IL, USA

Teaching

Human-Computer Interaction, Fall 2021

Human-Robot Interaction, Spring 2021

Human-Computer Interaction, Fall 2020

Human-Robot Interaction, Spring 2020

Human-Computer Interaction, Fall 2019

Human-Computer Interaction

Human-Computer Interaction, Spring 2018

Human-Robot Interaction, Fall 2017

Human-Computer Interaction, Spring 2017

Human-Robot Interaction, Fall 2016

Human-Computer Interaction, Spring 2016

Human-Robot Interaction, Fall 2015

Outreach

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy Summer Camp on Robotics and Computational Thinking

Prairie Hill Learning Center visit to NIMBUS

Women in Science Keynote: Teaching, Learning, Flying, and Interacting: computing as a pathway to your goals

Women in Science Workshop

Lincoln Public Schools Science Teacher Workshop: Using Authentic Science Data in the Classroom

Girls, Inc. High School Coding Camp

4 week course: How Does Artificial Intelligence Affect My Life

Human-Robot Interaction: How to make robots friendlier and helpful

Privacy and AI in Everyday Life and Human-Drone Interaction

Science Cafe: Human-Drone Interaction

Human-Robot Interaction: How to make robots friendlier and helpful

Human-Robot Interaction: How to make robots friendlier and helpful

Human-Robot Interaction: How to make robots friendlier and helpful

Service accomplishments

• Journal Associate Editorships
  • IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L), Aerial and Field Robotics, since 2020
• Conference Associate Editorships
  • IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Workshops, 2020
  • International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots, 2020
  • IEEE RAS/EMBS International Conference for Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics, 2020
• Journal Reviewer
  • ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction, since 2018
  • International Journal of Social Robotics, since 2017
  • Journal of Human-Robot Interaction, 2016–2018
  • Journal of Field Robotics, since 2015
  • Aerospace, 2015
• Conference Reviewer
  • International Conference on Social Robotics, since 2020
  • Robotics: Science and Systems, since 2020
  • ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, since 2017
  • IEEE Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, since 2016
  • IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, since 2016
  • ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, since 2015
  • IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics, since 2012
• Leadership Positions in International and National Organizations
  • Finance Chair, IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2022 – 2023
  • Senior Program Committee Member,IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2022
  • Co-Chair, Workshops and Tutorials, Organizing Committee Member,2021 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, 2020 - 2021
  • NCWIT Regional Affiliate, 2018 - 2022
  • Technical Program Committee Member, ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, 2017 - 2018, 2019 - 2020, 2021 - 2022
  • Co-Chair, Registration and Organizing Committee Member, 2020 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, 2019 - 2020
  • Co-Chair,Late-Breaking Reports and Organizing Committee Member, 2019 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, 2017 - 2019
  • Technical Program Committee, ACM/IEEE International Conferenceon Human-Robot Interaction Pioneers Workshop, 2015 - 2018
  • Technical Program Committee, IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics, 2014 - 2018
  • Chair, Americas Region, Technical Program Committee, 2017 IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics, 2016 - 2017
  • Chair, Documentation and Organizing Committee Member,2017 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, 2016 - 2017
  • Co-Chair, Robotics: Science and Systems Conference, Workshop on Human-Robot Interaction for small and personal Unmanned Aerial Systems, Ann Arbor, MI, USA, Oct 2015 - June 2016
  • General Chair, ACM/IEEE International Conferenceon Human-Robot Interaction Pioneers Workshop, Bielefeld, Germany, March 2013 - March 2014

Leadership Positions on University Wide Committees

• Association of Women in Science Institutional Steering Committee, January 2021 - January 2023, chair

Membership Positions on University Wide Committees

• UNL APLU Aspire Initiative, Recruiting Diverse Faculty Subcommittee, since 2021, member
• UNL Grand Challenges Steering Committee, since 2021, member
• Recruitment Advisory Committee for Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of Graduate Education, 2021, member
• UNL Representative Big Ten Academic Alliance Graduate Deans Meeting on NASEM Science of Mentoring Report, February 2020
• Association of Women in Science Institutional Steering Committee, since 2018, member
• UNL UAS Policy Working Group, since 2016, member
• NU UAS Policy Working Group, since 2015, member

Membership Positions on College Wide Committees

• Council on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, since 2020, faculty fellow 2. UNL Robotics Engineering Minor Committee, since 2015, member Unit Service
• UNL College of Engineering Curriculum and Academic Standards Committee, 2021, member

Leadership Positions on Unit Committees

• Diversity Committee, 2017 - present, co-chair
• Faculty Search Committee, 2020 - 2021, co-chair
• Computer Science Graduate Committee, 2019 - 2020, chair

Membership Positions on Unit Committees

• Bylaws Committee, 2021 - 2022, member
• Curriculum Committee, 2018 - 2019, 2021 - 2022, member
• Faculty Search Committee, 2016 - 2018, 2019 - 2020, member
• Computer Science Graduate Committee, 2016 - 2019, member
• Diversity Committee, 2015 - 2016, member
• Graduate Admissions Committee, 2015 - 2016, member