With support from this International Research Experience for Students (IRES) grant, engineering students from California Polytechnic State University will travel to Malta and Italy to collaborate with Maltese archaeologists to investigate previously unexplored underwater archaeological sites, including the mapping of coastal shipwrecks and ancient cisterns located beneath fortresses, private homes, and churches. Using sonar-equipped Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV), students will develop (1) Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithms to construct 3D maps, and (2) new 3D visualization techniques for underwater robotics applications. In parallel with the research activities, students will participate in a Global Engineering course that explores the historical, archaeological and cultural aspects of research, education and collaboration through multiple national contexts.
The research activities bring together an international team of archaeologists, robotics and visualization experts and has a range of broader impacts. For example, by systematically surveying cisterns, investigators are better able to understand the development of Malta's ancient water storage systems and subsequently inform current water management strategy and policy. The robotics and visualization technology developed will also be relevant to applications in oceanography, biology, homeland security and defense. Throughout the project, student investigators will communicate their results to multiple audiences, including bilingual English and Spanish students at Pacheco Elementary School in San Luis Obispo, CA.
The NSF IRES award 0966608 was used to fund three years of the International Computer Engineering eXperience (ICEX) program (2010-2013). A goal of the ICEX program is to provide an opportunity for students to apply their technical knowledge in an international context and to increase global citizenship across campus. Specifically, the ICEX program provides students with an experience in which they will: 1) Gain experience working in a foreign country, 2) Develop an understanding of how cultural differences can affect how work is conducted, 3) Apply knowledge gained in computer science and engineering coursework to new technology and applications, 4) Enhance skills necessary for intercultural and international teamwork and lifelong learning, and 5) Engage in an interdisciplinary project. The 2010-2013 ICEX programs were titled "Maltese and Sicilian Archeology Through Robotics". The research goals of this project were to deploy Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) into ancient Maltese and Sicilian cisterns (underground water storage systems) and marine caves so that sonar and video data could be used to construct maps and visualizations. Some of the major accomplishments of this project include: Over 83 mapping missions to cistern and water system sites across Malta, Gozo and Sicily A database for Mediterranean archeologists has been developed that allows them to query all cistern sites visited. Development of a new 3D Particle Filter based scan-matching algorithm was completed to enable tunnel mapping without ROV state information (sonar data, depth, compass measurements only). Development of a new cooperative robot-mapping scheme that enables accurate 2D mapping with a multi-robot system. Development of algorithms for the construction and visualization of geometric models from occupancy maps generated from sonar data of ancient underwater systems, including robust methods for hole filling and uncertainty visualization. Initial solutions were developed to incorporate disparity map data generated from two goPro cameras mounted on the ROV in order to add geometric detail to the general models reconstructed from the sonar data. 3D visualizations of science data from fresh water and marine caves were generated using volume visualization Trained 27 students in robotics, visualization and global engineering and gave them a unique international research/educational experience. development of a new Ethnic Studies and Women’s & Gender Studies course on global engineering. This course is a comparative examination of historical and contemporary engineering institutions in different national contexts. This course has been identified as a core course in a new Science, Technology and Society minor at Cal Poly that is entitled, "Gender, Race, Culture, Science, and Technology." Independent research by the students related to the Global Engineering course The creation and existence of this course (Global Engineering) and the work of Dr. Lehr more broadly related to global engineering has led to the creation of 4 new tenure-track positions in Science, Technology and Society at Cal Poly for which recruitment is currently open. Throughout the three years of this project twenty-seven students received intensive training and practice in the field of robotics, computer graphics and global engineering. These students gained experience working in a foreign country, mastered robotics fieldwork and deployments, including managing complex equipment and often having to deal with non-ideal field conditions such as limited power and shelter. Each student conducted and made contributions in an individual research project -- all in a global setting, learning valuable research and industry skills. Of these twenty-seven students, eleven are currently employed or have a confirmed job offer in a computer science or computer engineering field (at companies such as Intel, Palantir, Cisco, Qualcom, Raytheon, Cyan, Amazon Lab 126, Workday) and seven have moved on to graduate programs (at schools such as University of Utah, UCLA, Carnegie Mellon and Cal Poly) and nine are finishing their undergraduate studies. Throughout this program, we have impacted human resources and information resources by: Training 27 ICEX team participants in robotics, computer graphics and global engineering Enhancing the course material for hundreds of other undergraduate students via the incorporation of real world data and algorithms used in this research Teaching hundreds of elementary students about robotics and programming via outreach activities associated with this project Exposing hundred of other audience members to the excitement of an applied STEM project via numerous academic and public talks sharing information about the project Five conference research publications and one journal publication document our research contributions to advancements in robotics mapping and surface reconstruction from sparse under-water data. web pages documenting student experience (including the 2013 student blog visited by over 4,000 visitors) and web pages documenting the sites visited and mapped creation of an Access database of all sites from 2011 and 2012 for use by our collaborating archeologists creation of the Omeka website with site information from 2013 and curriculum related to water and society
