US-Egypt Cooperative Research: Robotic Exploration of the Mersa/Wadi Gawasis

1145718本项目支持宾夕法尼亚州匹兹堡卡内基梅隆大学Howard Choset博士与埃及亚历山大古物最高委员会Mohamed Abd El-Maguid博士合作开展的一项合作研究项目。该项目将建立双方的长期合作关系，利用机器人检查人类无法进入的危险考古区域。特别感兴趣的地区位于埃及的Mersa/Wadi Gawasis地区，那里有许多用于储存古代船只碎片的人造洞穴。这一地区现在引起了埃及古物学家的极大兴趣。波士顿大学的凯瑟琳·巴德博士和那不勒斯东方大学的鲁道夫·法托维奇博士一直活跃在这一地区，阿卜德·马吉德博士与他们一起协助发掘和确定历史意义。他是埃及水下考古方面的专家。Drs。巴德和法托维奇已经确定了两个特定的洞穴，里面有非常有趣的文物，他们正在寻找另一个人造储存设施的位置。所有这些地区对人们来说都不安全。PI已经开发了机器人，称为蛇机器人，因为它们在杂乱的空间中表达和机动，与生物蛇的方式非常相似。智力优势：该研究将与埃及科学家合作，探索使用蛇机器人来识别并可能从这些洞穴中取回物品。这笔拨款将支持一支探险队，用机器人检查洞穴入口，以找到对埃及历史、其历史海军能力以及与庞特市的关系有着浓厚兴趣的文物。更广泛的影响：PI和他的埃及合作者认为，在加瓦西斯使用机器人只是一个开始，这项工作将导致机器人考古学的新领域。在机器人这个新领域，考古学家可以使用机器人作为工具来探索和调查重要的考古遗址，而不会干扰周围的区域，这通常发生在人们进入这些地点时。在探索这些区域时，机器人能够绘制出该地点的地图，其他人也可以查看。这张地图将提供该地点的三维视图，允许任何人，无论是考古学家还是非专业人士，远程和虚拟地访问一个具有重大国家利益的地点。建议的工作也将有助于旨在培养中学生的科学和工程兴趣的教育。特别是，PI将访问匹兹堡附近的学校，并以考古学的应用为主题，讨论机器人技术。很有可能，考古学和机器人技术在其中的应用将吸引各个年龄段的学生，并提高他们对历史、科学和工程的兴趣。美国PI还将为本科机器人开发实验室模块，主题是在难以谈判的环境中寻找隐藏的人工制品。

1145718 This project supports a cooperative research project by Dr. Howard Choset, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in collaboration with Dr. Mohamed Abd El-Maguid, Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA), Alexandria, Egypt. The project will establish a long-term collaboration between the two sides to use robots to inspect regions of archeological interest that are too dangerous for people to enter. The specific area of interest lies in the Mersa/Wadi Gawasis region of Egypt which contains many man-made caves that were used to store pieces of ancient ships. This region has now gained considerable interest by Egyptologists. Dr. Kathryn Bard of Boston University and Rodolfo Fattovich of the University of Naples "l'Orientale" have been active in this area, and Dr. Abd El-Maguid has joined with them to assist in excavations and in determining historical significance. He is an expert in underwater archeology in Egypt. Drs. Bard and Fattovich have identified two specific caves that contain artifacts of great interest and are looking at another location for a man-made storage facility. All of these areas are not safe for people to enter. The PI has developed robots, called snake robots, because they articulate and maneuver through cluttered spaces, much in the same ways biological snakes do. Intellectual merit: The research will explore the use snake robots to identify and perhaps retrieve items from these caves in collaboration with the Egyptian scientist. This grant would support an expedition to inspect the cave entrances with robots to locate artifacts of deep interest to the history of Egypt, its historical Naval capabilities, and its relationship with the city of Punt.Broader Impact: The PI and his Egyptian collaborator believe that the use of robots in the Gawasis is just the beginning, and that this work will lead to new area of robotics called Robotic Archeology. In this new field of robotics, archaeologists can use robots as tools to explore and investigate important archaeological sites without disturbing the surrounding areas, which often happens when people enter such locations. While exploring such regions, the robot is able to construct a map of the site, which in turn can be viewed by others. This map will provide a three-dimensional view of the location, allowing anyone, both archaeologist and non-specialist alike, to remotely and virtually visit a location of great national interest. The proposed work will also contribute to education aiming at engendering science and engineering interest in middle school students. In particular, the PI will visit schools around Pittsburgh and talk about robotics, drawing on the application of archeology for subject matter. It is quite likely that archeology and the application of robotics to it will compel students of all ages and raise interest in history, science and engineering. The US PI will also develop lab modules for the undergraduate robotics with the theme of looking for concealed artifacts in difficult-to-negotiate environments.