Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 

ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM 

Monday, April 9, 2001 / 3:30 PM, Building 3 Auditorium 

Michael Wagner

ABSTRACT -- Automation of the search for and classification of Antarctic meteorites offers a unique case for early demonstration of robotics in a scenario analogous to geological exploratory missions to other planets and to the Earth’s extremes.  Moreover, the discovery of new meteorite samples is of great value because meteorites are the only significant source of extraterrestrial material available to scientists.  In this talk the speaker will describe the primary outcomes from the first field demonstration of autonomous search and in situ classification of Antarctic meteorites by a robot.  Using a novel autonomous control architecture, specialized science sensing, combined manipulation and visual servoing, and Bayesian classification, the Nomad robot classified five indigenous meteorites during an expedition to the remote site of Elephant Moraine in January 2000.  Nomad's expedition proved the rudiments of science autonomy and exemplified the merits of machine learning techniques for autonomous geological classification in real-world settings.  On the other hand, the expedition showcased the difficulty in executing reliable robotic deployment of science sensors and a limited performance in the speed and coverage of autonomous search.

SPEAKER -- Mr. Michael Wagner is a research programmer in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.  His work on the Robotic Search for Antarctic Meteorites involved development of a novel control system for autonomous science and also involved his serving as technical lead of the January 2000 expedition to Elephant Moraine, Antarctica.  He contributed to the Big Signal project that used the World Wide Web to allow public participation in the Elephant Moraine expedition.  Mr. Wagner is currently involved in two major efforts: the development of robotic technologies to study life in extreme environments such as the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park and the Sun Synchronous Robotics project, which is developing a solar powered mobile robot showcasing advanced mission and resource planning.