Event

Maryland Robotics Center Seminar: Louis Whitcomb

Friday, September 17, 2010
10:00 a.m.
1146 A.V. Williams Building
Nikhil Chopra
301 405 7011
nchopra@umd.edu

Maryland Robotics Center Seminar
Topic TBA

Louis Whitcomb
Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science
Director, Laboratory for Computational Sensing and Robotics
Johns Hopkins University

Adjunct Scientist, Department of Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Host
Nikhil Chopra

Abstract
This talk reports the development the Nereus hybrid underwater robotic vehicle (HROV) and the results its first deep sea trials. In May/June 2009 Nereus successfully performed scientific observation and sampling operations at hadal depths of 10,903 m on a NSF sponsored expedition to the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench – the deepest place on Earth. The Nereus vehicle project is lead by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution with collaboration of the Johns Hopkins University and the U.S. Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific. This talk reports a brief overview of the Nereus vehicle design, and reviews the initial results of two recent expeditions, including two dives to more than 10,900 m depth.

Biography
Louis L. Whitcomb completed his Ph.D. degree at Yale University in 1992. His research focuses on the dynamics and control of robot systems – including industrial, medical, and underwater robots. Whitcomb is a principal investigator of the Nereus Project. He is founding Director of the JHU Laboratory for Computational Sensing and Robotics. Whitcomb is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, with joint appointment in the Department of Computer Science, at the Johns Hopkins University’s G.W.C. Whiting School of Engineering, and Adjunct Scientist, Department of Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Further information on the Nereus project

Nereus Project web site:
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=10076

NSF and WHOI Press Releases
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=114913&org=NSF&from=news
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=7545&tid=282&cid=57586&ct=162
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=34696

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