Collaborative Research: RAPID: Autonomous Control and Sensing Algorithms for Surveying the Impacts of Oil Spills on Coastal Environments

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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.