This is collaborative research program between Louisiana State University (LSU) and the Georgia Institute of Technology (GT) to jointly develop theoretical and experimental methods to survey Louisiana estuaries, coastal wetlands, and lagoons under the influence of oil spills. The methods would be implemented on marine robots developed by student teams. More specifically, the following goals would be achieved: (a) Demonstrate the capabilities of marine robots to survey estuaries that are inaccessible, dangerous, or tedious when using conventional surveying methods. (b) Develop novel autonomous control and sensing algorithms that are specialized to surveying the impacts of oil spills on coastal environments, under the guidance of biologists, geologists, and oceanographers. (3) Implement the algorithms on marine robots, and perform surveys in estuaries under the impact of oil spills.
Intellectual Merit: The proposed research would develop and implement innovative nonlinear mathematical control approaches to design of smart robots. The goal is to develop algorithms that are adaptive, fault tolerant, repeatable, and robust to time delays and uncertainty. The methods would include Krasovskii functionals for uncertain systems, and fusions of cooperative Kalman filtering and input-to-state stability. The team is referred to as Georgia Tech Savannah Robotics, currently includes twenty graduate and undergraduate students from the computer, electrical, and mechanical engineering departments. The student-developed marine robots support the development of novel robotic surveying algorithms in coastal regions, and would play a key role in the project.
Broader Impacts: The proposed research has potential to provide mathematical foundation for the next generation of robots capable of working in Gulf of Mexico. The interaction between LSU math and GT engineering students would develop theory that is applicable to real world settings. LSU traditionally attracts many minority students, and special efforts would be made to involve members of under-represented groups. The work would also enhance the Georgia Tech students? educational experiences by increasing their exposure to more advanced mathematical methods.
Our project was unique because it was collaborative with professors from electrical and computer engineering, mathematics, and marine science who jointly supervised fourteen students from the different fields. We spent the first nine months developing fundamental mathematical theory on controller design and performance, and then we validated the theory in twenty days of field work at Grand Isle, Louisiana which had been significantly impacted by the oil spill. This provided students with a valuable mixture of theoretical understanding and hands-on experience with marine robots that is not ordinarily available in the standard applied mathematics or control engineering curriculum. The research increased public awareness of the importance of applied mathematics, controls, and robotics in marine surveys. Our research was a featured story on the Louisiana State University home page, we were interviewed on the January 18th 10PM news on WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge, and articles about our project appeared in at least 20 other traditional or online newspapers, including a featured article in the January 15th Sunday Baton Rouge Advocate. Several participants in the project were members of underrepresented groups (including 4 students), so the project also helped broaden participation in robotics research. The participation of our students in this high profile cutting edge multidisciplinary work has the potential to significantly improve their preparedness for more innovative work in academia, graduate school, or industry.
