Talk: "Being There: 30 Years of Disaster Robotics"

Abstract: This talk will review 30 years of disaster robotics, tracing its start from the 1995 Kobe Earthquake and the Oklahoma City bombing to the current state of the art.  Since 2001, disaster robotics have made a positive contribution to both research and society. Mini ground robots were first used for the immediate response phase of the 9/11 World Trade Center collapse, small unmanned aerial systems for assessing damage and needs of civilians have become common since Hurricane Harvey, and marine vehicles that routinely assist lifeguards on beaches have helped with mass casualty events such as the Syrian Refugee Crisis in Greece. Perhaps more surprisingly, robots of all types were readily adopted by civilians, not just governments, during the COVID pandemic. Most recently, exciting breakthroughs in computer vision and machine learning are enabling responders to rapidly make more informed decisions to better save lives and accelerate recovery. Based on personal involvement with over 30 disasters and analysis of the use of robotics as dozens more, three summative observations about AI and robotics have emerged. First, and foremost, disaster robotics remains a formative domain better suited for qualitative and field methodologies than traditional hypothesis-driven laboratory studies. Second, understanding the unique socio-technical attributes of the work domain is vital in identifying high impact fundamental research topics. Third, disasters pose ethical challenges for responsible research and innovation. The talk concludes with personal suggestions for those interested in careers in research. 

Bio: Dr. Robin R. Murphy, Ph.D. (’92) and M.S. (‘89) in computer science and B.M.E. (‘80) from the Georgia Institute of Technology,  is the Raytheon Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University and a director of the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue. Her research focuses on artificial intelligence, robotics, and human-robot interaction for emergency management. She is an AAAS, ACM, and IEEE Fellow, a TED speaker, and author of over 400 papers and four books including the award-winning Disaster Robotics which captures her research deploying ground, aerial, and marine robots to over 30 disasters in five countries including the 9/11 World Trade Center, Fukushima, Hurricane Ian, and the Surfside collapse. Her contributions to robotics have been recognized with the ACM Eugene L. Lawler Award for Humanitarian Contributions and a US Air Force Exemplary Civilian Service Award medal.  Dr. Murphy has served on numerous professional and government boards, including the Defense Science Board and National Science Foundation, as well as the AI for the Benefit of Humanity prize committee.