Robots Lecture Series

Robots Exploring Mid-Ocean and Deep Ocean: How It All Began (April 10)

John Broadwater holds a Master’s degree (College of William and Mary), and a PhD in maritime studies (University of St. Andrews, Scotland). He has served as chief archaeologist in the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). John has written several books, including USS Monitor: A Historic Ship Completes Its Final Voyage. He has participated in hundreds of deep sea dives, including exploring the wreck of the Titanic. These expeditions have involved submarines and scuba dives.

To the chagrin of many of his friends, John says he would do 200 more dives “in a heartbeat.” We are fortunate, as part of this presentation, to be able to watch a short film which John produced, and which explores his early career.

—

February 7 (past session) Look For Me Under the Rubble

Are the robots coming for you? Actually, they are, and have been since 2001. Ground robots the size of a badger have been used since the 9/11 World Trade Center collapse, but the most commonly deployed robots are small aerial robots ("drones"), which were introduced in 2005 at Hurricane Katrina. Marine robots are less frequently used, but played a significant role in the Syrian Refugee Crisis in Greece, and may be crucial for preventing flooding, the number one disaster in the US and the world.  Focusing on the 30+ deployments by members of the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue, this talk will give an overview of where each type of robot has been used for what types of missions.

Robin Murphy, the Raytheon Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University, is a director of the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue. She’s deployed ground, aerial, and marine robots to >30 disasters in five countries, including the 9/11 World Trade Center, Fukushima, Hurricane Harvey, and the Surfside collapse. At the Georgia Institute of Technology, she earned PhD and MS degrees in computer science, and a BME in mechanical engineering. Robin writes, edits, and presents a podcast on science fiction; she also has an incredible gift for sending the best toys for cats.

January 10 (past session) Using Marine Robots to Explore Our Oceans

The lecture will illustrate how Youeger’s community uses marine robots to address scientific questions such as climate change, biodiversity, seafloor geology and geophysics, as well as locating and surveying ancient and modern shipwrecks. Yoerger will introduce you to the famous “MESOBOT”, our fearless explorer.

Dana Yoerger is a Senior Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He holds Bachelor, Master, and PhD degrees in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. Dana is a fellow of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). He is the author of numerous published papers, and has recently returned from a conference in India, where he was an invited speaker. Dana’s most recent achievement is flying 14 hours each way to India, in a place packed with coughing children, and not getting COVID.

January 24 (past session) Tantura Lagoon, Israel: A Cove of Many Shipwrecks

Tantura Lagoon is one of the few natural rocky harbors along Israel’s Mediterranean coast, serving as a port facility for Tel Dor and its immediate region since the settlement’s founding, circa 2000 B.C. The cove is shallow and covered with a constantly shifting sand blanket that buries shipwrecks and their cargoes, From 1994 to 1996 Wachsmann directed the exploration of shipwrecks and related artifacts in the cove, as head of a joint expedition fielded by the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University and Haifa University’s Center for Maritime Studies. The project revealed remains of seven previously unknown hulls ranging in date from the 4th to the 18th centuries A.D.

Shelley Wachsmann is the Meadows Professor of Biblical Archeology in Texas A&M University’s Nautical Archaeology Program. At the Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, he earned a Ph.D. and an MA in Near Eastern Archaeology, and a BA in Near Eastern and Classical Archaeology. He’s directed numerous underwater archaeological surveys and excavations in the Mediterranean, Red Sea, and Sea of Galilee, which give us insight into ancient trade, festival, and wartime practices.