Volkan Isler is setting up his lab and laying the groundwork for his research on the Forty Acres.
Dr. Volkan Isler is a hands-on researcher. His work would often bring him to the same cropland his lab’s vehicles would test on. From wheat and corn to apples and oranges, Isler would take his Robotics, Sensing and Networks lab, formerly at the University of Minnesota, out on the fields. With a research army, uniformed in blue jeans and hoodies, Isler led his lab in advancements in autonomous robots for environmental monitoring and agricultural robotics.
Now, he is heading for Texas.
In the past five years, Isler headed research for Samsung AI Center in New York, where he helped develop AI robots for household use. On top of teaching, Isler will continue his research at UT and become a core member of Texas Robotics.
As of February 2025, he is actively setting up his lab and laying the groundwork for his research. We spoke with him about his plans for robotics research on the Forty Acres, the future of autonomy, and what he’s learned from working across academia, industry, and the evolving field of robotics.
Just tell me a little bit about yourself. What would be a good overview of what you do?
I am a robotics researcher. I've been at the University of Minnesota for a while. Also in the last five years, I was on leave at Samsung AI Center in New York. I work on both theoretical aspects of robotics and field applications.
Tell me more about that and more about other research interests that you have?
My lab actually combines two separate fields of robotics. One is called algorithmic robotics. This is more of a foundational field within robotics, where we focus on solving optimization problems that involve robots…. We also do a lot of what's known as Field Robotics. In Field Robotics, the focus is actually getting the robots out there and then having them complete these dirty, dull, dangerous, the three Ds of robotics, types of tests.
In this domain, my lab started out focusing more on environmental monitoring. We had multiple projects on tracking invasive fish, which then evolved (into) using autonomous boats, and then that evolved into using aerial vehicles. Then later on, we kind of moved to agriculture, starting from what's called (commodity crops), like wheat and corn, usually fields that you can fly over. Afterward, I started getting interested in specialty crops. These are apples, oranges, berries— which are smaller in scale— but more valuable. At the same time, the environment is more challenging because it's less structured. We did a lot of work in that domain for things like yield mapping. So, if you have an apple orchard, and you want to know how many apples you have in the orchard before you pick them, we could go and do it with robots. That's the agriculture part.
Tell me why you decided to move to Austin, or just move to Texas in general, from Minnesota?
Texas Robotics is a very exciting program. The folks there have already built a very, very solid exciting program, and I'm excited about being part of it. On a personal note, Austin reminds me a lot of my hometown. I'm from Southern Turkey originally, so it was very exciting in that sense too.
What do you plan on teaching and researching while you're here? What can students sort of expect to see from you?
One of the exciting things that happened in robotics over the years is that many technologies and research topics that were kind of out of reach at the undergraduate level are now mature enough that students can get involved very early. One of the exciting things about the program in Texas is it's very forward-looking and already established with freshman research initiatives, undergraduate robotics minor (and) going all the way to doctorate-level research. We can involve undergrads right away with the future technologies of robots. Education is a big part of it. I'll work with the faculty here to make sure that our students come out as the strongest robotics researchers and engineers.
What drew you to the people here at UTCS and Texas Robotics, or just in Austin in general?
The CS program is a top 10 program that attracts the best people. That was one of the biggest draws. The other thing is, I like being part of a big public institution because I think our mission is broader. We want to serve the entire state in all aspects. Texas has a very diverse economy, (and) many of these fields are actually starting to utilize AI and robotics. There's a lot of exciting things coming together and Texas Robotics is also a very strong up and coming program. That’s part of it too.
What excites you the most about working at UT and Texas Robotics?
For me, it's always about people: the students, my colleagues. I'm excited about building new connections and collaborating. It's a very fast moving time for robotics, so taking this journey together is very exciting.
Can you just tell me about what the process of moving your lab is like and having to establish this lab at UT?
This is part of the excitement too, because it gives me an opportunity to kind of think about what aspects of my lab that I want to kind of emphasize on (and) which aspects maybe to phase out. I've been thinking about pushing this outdoor monitoring to the next level, and I'll be working on all kinds of autonomous vehicles that can operate in outdoor domains that are kind of rough on structure.
We want to go beyond just tinkering with things and getting to the level of (designing) algorithms for them. We understand their limitations and think of ways to overcome them. So combining those two things is going to be the focus of the lab.
What would you want to say to somebody who is interested in taking computer science and taking a more hands-on approach?
It's like swimming. At some point, you have to jump into the water to get a sense of how it works. You can’t just learn everything by watching a quick video about it. You have to bring out your textbook, pencil and paper and spend time on it. We all need to learn, in this fast-paced world, to give ourselves the right to allocate time to slow down and study things in depth. Then when the time comes to execute, you switch gears, and then you jump into the water.