Are the robots coming for you? Actually, they are, and have been since 2001. Ground robots the size of a badger have been used since the 9/11 World Trade Center collapse, but the most commonly deployed robots are small aerial robots ("drones"), which were introduced in 2005 at Hurricane Katrina. Marine robots are less frequently used, but played a significant role in the Syrian Refugee Crisis in Greece, and may be crucial for preventing flooding, the number one disaster in the US and the world.  Focusing on the 30+ deployments by members of the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue, this talk will give an overview of where each type of robot has been used for what types of missions. Learn more.

Robin Murphy, the Raytheon Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University, is a director of the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue. She’s deployed ground, aerial, and marine robots to >30 disasters in five countries, including the 9/11 World Trade Center, Fukushima, Hurricane Harvey, and the Surfside collapse. At the Georgia Institute of Technology, she earned PhD and MS degrees in computer science, and a BME in mechanical engineering. Robin writes, edits, and presents a podcast on science fiction; she also has an incredible gift for sending the best toys for cats.