International Planning Visit: Robotic Exploration of the Mersa/Wadi Gawasis, Hurghada, Egypt

OISE-1066733选择摘要：该提案是为了支持一次规划访问，以开发一个项目：埃及赫尔加达Mersa/Wadi Gawasis考古遗址的机器人勘探。PI寻求与埃及最高文物委员会的海洋考古学家Mohamed Abd El-Maguid博士建立长期合作关系，使用机器人检查考古名胜区域，这些区域对人们来说太危险了。具体的感兴趣区域位于Mersa/Wadi Gawasis地区，该地区包含许多用于储存古代船只碎片的人造洞穴。这一地区现已引起埃及考古学家的极大兴趣。波士顿大学的Kathryn Bard博士和那不勒斯大学“L东方”的Rodolfo Fattovich博士活跃在这一领域，Abd El-Maguid与他们一起协助挖掘和确定历史意义。他们已经确定了两个特定的洞穴，其中包含了人们非常感兴趣的文物，并正在寻找另一个位置来建造人工储存设施。这些地区对人们进入是不安全的。PI开发了被称为蛇机器人的机器人，因为它们在杂乱的空间中发音并进行机动，与生物蛇的方式非常相似。它们将被探索用于这些地点。智力优势：蛇机器人有望识别甚至取回考古洞穴中的物品。这次旅行将允许PI检查洞穴入口处，希望随后将与机器人一起进行探险。PI还将与卡内基梅隆大学的另一位教员Majd Sakr博士合作，利用云计算的努力来传播他们用机器人进行挖掘的结果。更广泛的影响：少年派和他的埃及合作者预计，这项工作将导致未来在有限空间的考古学中进行机器人探险。机器人已经在大金字塔和水下被使用过一次。在这个新的机器人领域，考古学家可以将机器人作为工具来探索和调查重要的考古遗址，而不会干扰周围地区，这是人们进入此类地点时经常发生的情况。在探索这些区域时，机器人能够构建该地点的地图，然后其他人可以查看该地图。这张地图将提供该地点的三维视图，允许任何人，包括考古学家和非专业人员，远程和虚拟地访问具有重大国家利益的地点。PI计划访问匹兹堡周围的学校，讨论机器人技术，利用考古学的应用作为主题。寻找具有历史意义的文物的蛇机器人是人们可以向中学生讲述的更引人入胜的故事之一，以提高他们对科学和工程的兴趣。Choset还将为本科生机器人学开发实验模块，主题是在危险环境中寻找文物。该项目由信息和智能系统司和国际科学和工程办公室资助。

OISE-1066733 ChosetSummary: The proposal is for support of a planning visit to develop a project on: Robotic Exploration of Mersa/Wadi Gawasis Archeological Sites, Hurghada, Egypt. The PI seeks to establish a long-term collaboration with Dr. Mohamed Abd El-Maguid, marine archeologist at the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, 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 that 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" are active in this area, and Abd El-Maguid has joined with them to assist in excavations and in determining historical significance. They have identified two specific caves that contain artifacts of great interest and are looking at another location for a man-made storage facility. 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. They are to be explored for use in these sites. Intellectual merit: Snake robots are expected to identify and even retrieve items from archeological caves. This trip will allow the PI to inspect the cave entrances which hopefully will be followed up by an expedition with the robots. The PI also will work with Dr. Majd Sakr, another Carnegie Mellon faculty, using efforts in cloud computing to disseminate the results of their excavations with the robots. Broader Impact: The PI and his Egyptian collaborator expect this work to lead to future expeditions of robotics in archeology in confined spaces. Already, robots have been used once in the great pyramid and under water. 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 PI plans to visit schools around Pittsburgh to talk about robotics, drawing on the application of archeology for subject matter. Snake robots looking for artifacts of historical significance is one of the more compelling stories one can tell a middle school student to raise interest in science and engineering. Choset will also develop lab modules for the undergraduate robotics with the theme of looking for artifacts in dangerous environments. This project is funded by the Division of Information and Intelligent Systems and the Office of International Science and Engineering.