Sergio Casas

Sergio Casas

Research Scientist @ Uber ATG

Ph.D. Student @ University of Toronto

About me

I’m a Research Scientist at Uber ATG’s R&D team. Here, I apply my own research to the development of self-driving vehicle technology, focusing on autonomy algorithms ranging from perception to motion planning.

I am also a PhD student at the University of Toronto, and a member of the Machine Learning Group and the Vector Institute.

Interests

  • Machine Learning
  • Computer Vision
  • Robotics - Autonomous Driving
  • Generative Models
  • Imitation Learning

Education

  • PhD in Computer Science, 2020 - Present

    University of Toronto

  • MSc in Computer Science, 2018 - 2020

    University of Toronto

  • BSc in Computer Science, 2013 - 2017

    Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

  • BSc in Industrial Tech. Engineering, 2012 - 2017

    Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

Publications

MP3: A Unified Model to Map, Perceive, Predict and Plan

Interpretable end-to-end neural motion planning without high-definition maps
Sergio Casas*, Abbas Sadat*, Raquel Urtasun
PDF Video
MP3: A Unified Model to Map, Perceive, Predict and Plan

LookOut: Diverse Multi-Future Prediction and Planning for Self-Driving

Contingency planning from diverse joint trajectory samples for all actors in the scene
Alexander Cui*, Abbas Sadat*, Sergio Casas*, Renjie Liao, Raquel Urtasun
PDF Video
LookOut: Diverse Multi-Future Prediction and Planning for Self-Driving

TrafficSim: Learning to Simulate Realistic Multi-Agent Behaviors

Realistic long-term vehicle behavior simulation learned from imitation and common sense
Simon Suo, Sebastian Regalado, Sergio Casas, Raquel Urtasun
PDF Video
TrafficSim: Learning to Simulate Realistic Multi-Agent Behaviors

AdvSim: Generating Safety-Critical Scenarios for Self-Driving Vehicles

Critical scenario generation by modifying the actors' trajectories in a physically plausible manner and updating the LiDAR sensor data to create realistic observations of the perturbed world
Jingkang Wang, Ava Pun, James Tu, Sivabalan Manivasagam, Abbas Sadat, Sergio Casas, Mengye Ren, Raquel Urtasun
PDF Video
AdvSim: Generating Safety-Critical Scenarios for Self-Driving Vehicles

Deep Multi-Task Learning for Joint Localization, Perception, and Prediction

Efficient end-to-end joint localization, perception, prediction able to correct localization errors
John Phillips, Julieta Martinez, Ioan Andrei Bârsan, Sergio Casas, Abbas Sadat, Raquel Urtasun
PDF Video
Deep Multi-Task Learning for Joint Localization, Perception, and Prediction

Diverse Complexity Measures for Dataset Curation in Self-driving

Model-agnostic approach to dataset curation for autonomy tasks
Abbas Sadat, Sean Segal, Sergio Casas, James Tu, Bin Yang, Raquel Urtasun, Ersin Yumer
PDF Video
Diverse Complexity Measures for Dataset Curation in Self-driving

Safety-Oriented Pedestrian Motion and Scene Occupancy Forecasting

Hybrid instance-based and instance-free approach to pedestrian behavior prediction
Katie Luo*, Sergio Casas*, Renjie Liao, Xinchen Yan, Yuwen Xiong, Wenyuan Zeng, Raquel Urtasun
PDF Video
Safety-Oriented Pedestrian Motion and Scene Occupancy Forecasting

Strobe: Streaming Object Detection from LiDAR Packets

@ Conference on Robot Learning (CoRL), 2020
Existing LiDAR perception systems wait 100ms just to build a sweep. StrObe instead does streaming detection from LiDAR packets and achieve an end-to-end latency of 21ms
Davi Frossard, Simon Suo, Sergio Casas, James Tu, Rui Hu, Raquel Urtasun
PDF Video
Strobe: Streaming Object Detection from LiDAR Packets

Implicit Latent Variable Model for Scene-Consistent Motion Forecasting

@ European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV), 2020
ILVM characterizes the joint distribution over multiple actors' future trajectories
Sergio Casas*, Cole Gulino*, Simon Suo*, Katie Luo, Renjie Liao, Raquel Urtasun
PDF Video
Implicit Latent Variable Model for Scene-Consistent Motion Forecasting

Perceive, Predict, and Plan: Safe Motion Planning Through Interpretable Semantic Representations

@ European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV), 2020
End-to-end neural motion planner based on interpretable semantic scene occupancies
Abbas Sadat*, Sergio Casas*, Mengye Ren, Xinyu Wu, Pranaab Dhawan, Raquel Urtasun
PDF Video
Perceive, Predict, and Plan: Safe Motion Planning Through Interpretable Semantic Representations

RadarNet: Exploiting Radar for Robust Perception of Dynamic Objects

@ European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV), 2020
Multi-level fusion of LiDAR & Radar for object detection and velocity estimation
Bin Yang, Runsheng Guo, Ming Liang, Sergio Casas, Raquel Urtasun
PDF
RadarNet: Exploiting Radar for Robust Perception of Dynamic Objects

The Importance of Prior Knowledge in Precise Multimodal Prediction

@ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2020
Incorporate non-differentiable prior knowledge for behavior forecasting
Sergio Casas*, Cole Gulino*, Simon Suo*, Raquel Urtasun
PDF Video
The Importance of Prior Knowledge in Precise Multimodal Prediction

PnPNet: End-to-End Perception and Prediction with Tracking in the Loop

@ Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), 2020
Tracking in the loop in joint perception and prediction
Ming Liang*, Bin Yang*, Wenyuan Zeng, Yun Chen, Rui Hu, Sergio Casas, Raquel Urtasun
PDF
PnPNet: End-to-End Perception and Prediction with Tracking in the Loop

Spatially-Aware Graph Neural Networks for Relational Behavior Forecasting from Sensor Data

@ International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2020
Relational reasoning for multi-agent behavior prediction from sensors
Sergio Casas, Cole Gulino, Renjie Liao, Raquel Urtasun
PDF Video
Spatially-Aware Graph Neural Networks for Relational Behavior Forecasting from Sensor Data

Discrete Residual Flow for Probabilistic Pedestrian Behavior Prediction

@ Conference on Robot Learning (CoRL), 2019
Long-term pedestrian forecasting with occupancy grid maps
Ajay Jain*, Sergio Casas*, Renjie Liao*, Yuwen Xiong*, Song Feng, Sean Segal, Raquel Urtasun
PDF
Discrete Residual Flow for Probabilistic Pedestrian Behavior Prediction

End-to-end Interpretable Neural Motion Planner

@ Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), 2019
Neural motion planner from LiDAR and HD maps
Wenyuan Zeng*, Wenjie Luo*, Simon Suo, Abbas Sadat, Bin Yang, Sergio Casas, Raquel Urtasun
PDF
End-to-end Interpretable Neural Motion Planner

Intentnet: Learning to Predict Intention from Raw Sensor Data

@ Conference on Robot Learning (CoRL), 2018
Joint perception and prediction from LiDAR point clouds and HD maps
Sergio Casas, Wenjie Luo, Raquel Urtasun
PDF
Intentnet: Learning to Predict Intention from Raw Sensor Data

Experience

 
 
 
 
 

Research Scientist

Uber Advanced Technologies Group

Oct 2017 – Present Toronto, Canada
Research in Autonomous Driving: Perception, Prediction and Motion Planning systems.
 
 
 
 
 

Research Assistant

University of Toronto

Feb 2017 – Jul 2017 Toronto, Canada
Research in spatio-temporal reasoning for sports analytics. Worked on automatizing the NBA Play-by-Play reports. Supervised by Prof. Urtasun.
 
 
 
 
 

Data Analytics Consultant

Arcvi Big Data Agency

Jun 2016 – Jan 2017 Toronto, Canada
Creation of strategy solutions using simple Machine Learning techniques. Advised multiple retail, insurance and credit companies.
 
 
 
 
 

Software Engineering Intern

Psycle Interactive Ltd.

Jun 2016 – Jan 2017 Toronto, Canada
Mobile application development and UI/UX design. Research project on document topic classification and information retrieval.