CAREER: Dynamic Sonar Perception and Navigation

9733040伦纳德这项职业发展计划的目标是培养下一代学生对海洋工程的特殊挑战和奖励的兴趣，同时促进声纳感知和导航关键领域的知识状况。未来海洋技术的全部潜力的实现将需要新的工程师，他们有动力处理困难的海洋问题，并了解海洋系统设计的复杂性。利用传感器测量环境特征的自主导航为声纳感知和导航的研究提供了一个引人注目的目标。构建一张未知环境的地图，同时使用该地图进行导航，是机器人研究前沿的一个难题。目前的数据融合方法对于这个问题不是很健壮，也不容易计算。为了实现使用声纳的海洋机器人系统的这一能力，将追求三个目标：(1)利用声纳基本物理知识的特征提取方法，(2)结合噪声、数据关联模糊性和导航误差的不确定性管理技术，以及(3)允许有效检测和表征目标的自适应回声定位战略。为了研究这些主题，研究生和本科生将参与算法开发、数据采集和处理以及受控环境中的实验。将在麻省理工学院的测试水箱中进行仿生海豚回声定位的创新实验。已经建立了合作关系，以提供最大的研究影响。教育计划涉及与研究密切相关的学科领域的教学和指导。首席研究员的本科教学职责包括大二海洋科学与技术入门课程，两个学期的顶石设计序列，以及基于蝙蝠、海豚和机器人声纳系统的新生咨询研讨会。教学方法的创新将促进主动学习、团队合作和沟通技能。案例研究将指导当代海洋学、声学和设计主题的讨论。新颖的实验室练习将演示声学和海洋机器人的原理。基于MatLab的新工具将使学生能够处理海洋数据。***

9733040 Leonard The objective of this career development plan is to foster the interest of the next generation of students in the special challenges and rewards of ocean engineering, while advancing the state of knowledge in the critical areas of sonar perception and navigation. The realization of the full potential of future ocean technologies will require new engineers with the motivation to approach difficult marine problems and an understanding of the complexities of ocean system design. Autonomous navigation using sensor measurements of environmental features provides a compelling goal to focus research in sonar perception and navigation. Building a map of an unknown environment while using that map to navigate is a difficult problem at the frontier of robotics research. Current data fusion methods are not robust or computationally tractable for this problem. To realize this capability for marine robotic systems using sonar, three objectives will be pursued: (1) feature extraction methods which exploit knowledge of the underlying physics of sonar, (2) uncertainty management techniques that incorporate noise, data association ambiguity, and navigation error, and (3) adaptive echolocation strategies that permit efficient detection and characterization of objects. To investigate these topics, graduate and undergraduate students will participate in algorithm development, data acquisition and processing, and experimentation in controlled environments. Innovative experiments that biomimic dolphin echolocation will be performed in a testing tank at MIT. Collaborations have been established to provide maximum research impact. The educational plan involves teaching and mentoring in subject areas that are closely related to the research. The undergraduate teaching responsibilities of the principal investigator include a sophomore-level introductory course in ocean science and technology, a two semester capstone design sequence, and a freshman advising seminar based on the sonar systems of bats, dolphins, and robots. Innovations in pedagogy will promote active learning, teamwork, and communication skills. Case studies will guide discussion of contemporary topics in oceanography, acoustics, and design. Novel laboratory exercises will demonstrate principles from acoustics and marine robotics. New Matlab-based tools will enable students to manipulate ocean data. ***