CAREER: Dynamic Sonar Perception and Navigation

9733040伦纳德这个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回报的兴趣，同时推进声纳感知和导航关键领域的知识状态。 实现未来海洋技术的全部潜力将需要新的工程师，他们有动力解决困难的海洋问题，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提供了一个令人信服的目标，重点研究声纳感知和导航。 构建未知环境的地图，同时使用该地图进行导航是机器人研究前沿的难题。 目前的数据融合方法是不鲁棒的或计算易处理的这个问题。 为了实现这种能力的海洋机器人系统使用声纳，将追求三个目标：（1）特征提取方法，利用声纳的基础物理知识，（2）不确定性管理技术，包括噪声，数据关联模糊性，和导航误差，和（3）自适应回声定位策略，允许有效的检测和表征的对象。 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。 仿生海豚回声定位的创新实验将在麻省理工学院的一个测试池中进行。 已经建立了合作关系，以提供最大的研究影响。 教育计划包括与研究密切相关的学科领域的教学和辅导。 首席研究员的本科教学职责包括海洋科学和技术的入门课程，两个学期的顶点设计序列，以及基于蝙蝠，海豚和机器人的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。 案例研究将指导在海洋学，声学和设计的当代主题的讨论。 新颖的实验室练习将展示声学和海洋机器人的原理。 新的基于Matlab的工具将使学生能够操纵海洋数据。 ***

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. ***