Where: This seminar will be partially presented at the ACFR seminar area, J04 lvl 2 (Rose St Building) and partially online via Zoom. RSVP
Speaker: Prof. Stefan B. Williams
Title: Challenges in Deploying Robust Autonomy for Robotic Exploration in Marine Environments
Abstract:
This talk will describe insights gained from a decade of autonomous marine systems development at the University of Sydney’s Australian Centre for Field Robotics. Over the course of this time, we have developed and deployed numerous underwater vehicles and imaging platforms in support of applications in engineering science, marine ecology, archaeology and geoscience. We have operated an Australia-wide benthic observing program designed to deliver precisely navigated, repeat imagery of the seafloor. This initiative makes extensive use of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) to collect high-resolution stereo imagery, multibeam sonar and water column measurements on an annual or semi-annual basis at sites around Australia, spanning the full latitudinal range of the continent from tropical reefs in the north to temperate regions in the south. The program has been very successful over the past decade, collecting millions of images of the seafloor around Australia and making these available to the scientific community through online data portals developed by the facility and affiliated groups. These observations are providing important insights into the dynamics of key ecological sites and their responses to changes in oceanographic conditions through time. We have also contributed to expeditions to document coral bleaching, cyclone recovery, submerged neolithic settlement sites, ancient shipwrecks, methane seeps and deepwater hydrothermal vents. The talk will also consider some of our more recent work focused on developing automated tools for working with this imagery and illustrate how this is being used to inform further exploration work using these platforms.
Bio:
Prof. Stefan B. Williams is the Professor of Marine Robotics at the University of Sydney’s Australian Centre for Field Robotics where he leads Marine research group. He is also the Head of the University of Sydney’s Digital Sciences Institute and the Co-Director of the NSW Space Research Network. Stefan was the Head of School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering from 2016-2021 and an ARC Future Fellow.
Stefan’s research over the past two decades has focused on marine robotic systems. He led Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Facility, and he has introduced fundamental new insights in the areas of navigation, planning, control and machine learning to allow these platforms to operate in challenging environments. In addition to contributions to the engineering sciences that underpin these advances, he has led major national programs aimed at introducing Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) systems in support of applications in ecology, archaeology and geoscience, developing close international networks of collaborators.
Stefan has been awarded multiple distinctions for his work including the 2020 VC Award for Outstanding Teaching and Research, the 2019 Payne Scott Professorial Distinction and in 2018 he was awarded Distinguished Lecturer by the IEEE Oceanographic Engineering Society.