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Robert C. Michelson | |
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Born | |
Nationality | American |
Known for | Aerial robotics systems Micro air vehicles Biologically-inspired robotics Robotics competitions |
Awards | AUVSI Pioneer Award (1998) Pirelli Internetional Award (2001) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Robotics Electronics engineering Aerospace engineering |
Institutions | Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Tech Research Institute U.S. Naval Research Laboratory |
Robert C. Michelson (born 1951) is an American engineer and academic who invented the entomopter, a biologically inspired flapping-winged aerial robot, and who established the International Aerial Robotics Competition. Michelson's career began at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. He later became a member of the research faculty at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is the author of three U.S. patents [1] [2] [3] and over 100 journal papers, book chapters and reports. [4] Michelson is the recipient of the 1998 AUVSI Pioneer Award and the 2001 Pirelli Award for the diffusion of scientific culture as well as the first Top Pirelli Prize.
Michelson was born in 1951 in Washington D.C., the only son of Carroll [6] and Evelyn [7] Michelson, and is related to Christian Michelsen, the first Prime Minister of Norway. [8] Michelson attended the Burgundy Farm Country Day School during the sixth through eighth grades. [9] While at Fort Hunt High School he was President of the Fort Hunt Amateur Rocket Club which built large (2m x 5 cm) instrumented solid fuel rockets that were launched at the Camp Pickett artillery range in Blackstone, Virginia. [10] [11] He graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1973 and the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1974 with degrees in Electrical Engineering. [12]
From 1971 to 1973, Michelson was a research engineer working on aerospace radar systems at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C. He then moved to the Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta, Georgia. During the 1970s and 1980s Michelson primarily developed radar signal processing and control hardware, [13] but was also interested in the automation of remote sensing systems ranging from the tracking of endangered species to the creation of realistic soldier training scenarios and simulation and testing of foreign military radar assets. [14] [15] [16] In the late 1980s he became Head of the Georgia Tech Research Institute's Technology Development Division and his interests turned to unmanned aerial vehicle systems as a fusion of autonomy, information technology, and aeronautics. [17] [18] In particular, "aerial robotics" (a term he coined in 1990 to represent the infusion of cognition into unmanned aerial vehicles) [19] [20] dominated his research for the next two decades.
Since the mid-1990s, Michelson's work has concentrated on biologically inspired micro air vehicle design. [21] [22] From 1997 through 2004, Michelson was adjunct associate professor to the School of Aerospace Engineering, teaching classes in avionics for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) [23] and Micro/Mini Air Vehicle (MAV) design. [24] Michelson retired from the Georgia Tech Research Institute in 2004 and currently holds the title of Principal Research Engineer Emeritus with the institute. [25] [26] [27] [28] In 2004, he created Millennial Vision, LLC to continue research into biologically inspired aerial robots and remote sensing. [29] He is the President of SEPDAC (Scientific Enterprise in Pursuit and Discovery of Ancient Cultures), [30] a nonprofit educational and scientific organization.
Michelson was the U.S. representative and deputy chief referee to the Aviation Industry Corporation of China's UAV Grand Prix during its inaugural year (2011), and again in 2013 and 2015. [31] [32] [33] He was the section editor for "MAVs and Bio-Inspired UAVs" in Springer's Handbook of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, released in 2014. [34] Michelson was chosen to represent the United States on the NATO Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (AGARD) to predict future (2020 timeframe) sensor technologies for unmanned aerial systems (UAS). [35] He was the NATO/RTA (Research and Technology Agency) lecturer at the Turkish Air Force Academy (Hava Harp Okulu) in Istanbul in 2006, [36] and invited lecturer on Micro Air Vehicle technology at the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics in 1999 and 2003. [37] He was the first "MITRE Technology Speaker"(1998) [38] and has been a visiting technology professor in Australia, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Turkey and Mexico. [39] [40] [41]
Michelson was a consultant to the U.S. Army and the Indian Ministry of Defence in 2008, responsible for defining and organizing the 1st U.S.-Asian Micro Air Vehicle Demonstration in Agra India. [42] [43] He performed similar duties for the U.S. Army in defining the 1st US-European Micro Air Vehicle Competition/Demonstration in Garmisch Germany in 2005. [44] He is creator and organizer of the annual International Aerial Robotics Competition. [45]
While at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Michelson worked on radar-based ocean surveillance systems and flew hardware test missions on a Lockheed Warning Star PO-1W Super Constellation. [46] In 1974 Michelson began work at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, where he got his first contract when an entry-level engineer (Research Engineer I). This first project involved methods to electronically track the endangered species Trichechus manatus (West Indian manatee) in the waters around the Kennedy Space Center. [47] [48]
In 1979, Michelson directed the Army's Indirect Fire Simulation effort conducted for Combat Development and Experimentation Command (CDEC). [49] Michelson directed a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program to show feasibility of a non-line-of-sight radio-acoustic sensor for bending radar signals using the Bragg principle to detect obstacle-masked targets (essentially making radars look around corners). [50] He also directed a program to evaluate ground penetration radar for detection of buried natural gas leaks in urban utility systems. [51] During 1981, Michelson directed a program for the automated noninvasive testing of captured foreign threat assets. Other radar test devices were also developed by Michelson for U.S. military test and evaluation purposes within the United States, including a program to develop a Ka-band Linear Electronics Countermeasure Source (KABLES) for use in testing U.S. Army millimeter wave assets. [52] [53]
During the mid-1990s, Michelson's research began to focus almost entirely on unmanned vehicle systems, especially those with the power of flight. Under various contracts to DARPA and the Air Force, and using internal research and development funds from the Georgia Tech Research Institute, his design team designed a micro air vehicle (MAV) known as the entomopter. The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts recognized the unique flight qualities of the entomopter and awarded Michelson two contracts to explore the feasibility of the entomopter for slow flight in Mars' lower atmosphere. [54]
Michelson is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), [55] [56] Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), [57] and a Full Member of the Scientific Research Society of North America, Sigma Xi. [58] During the 1990s he served as president and member of the Board of Directors of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems (AUVSI) International organization. [59] In 1998, Michelson received the AUVSI Pioneer Award, [60] which is the highest level of recognition within the unmanned systems industry for technical contributions. Michelson is the recipient of the 2001 Pirelli Award for the diffusion of scientific culture, [61] [62] given by an international jury for the "best multimedia project coming from any educational institution in the world". For endeavors related to the entomopter, he was also awarded the first €25,000 Top Pirelli Prize. [63] In 2016, the International Aerial Robotics Competition and Michelson were recognized during the Georgia legislative session in the form of "Senate Resolution 1255” which recognized his effort in the development of the longest running aerial robotics competition in the world and moving forward the state of the art in aerial robotics on several occasions. [64]
Michelson has been interviewed and quoted in Business Week, Popular Mechanics, Scientific American, Chronicle of Higher Education), and radio on National Public Radio, Armed Forces Radio, American Association for the Advancement of Science radio syndicate), Scientific American Frontiers, [65] Discovery Channel, CNN, BBC, and various ABC/CBS/NBC/Fox affiliates). [66]
A technical biography of Michelson is the subject of episode 1008 of the television program Beyond Invention, which chronicles a number of his research projects including UAV research, the International Aerial Robotics Competition, the entomopter-based Mars surveyor, and his work with automated coral propagation. [67] Michelson is featured in an hour-long Discovery Science Channel program entitled ‘’Airbots’’. [68]
Michelson has been quoted in news programming with regard to the International Aerial Robotics Competition and the applications of the underlying technology to military and civilian spheres. [69] [70] [71] As the use of robotic drone aircraft increased during the Gulf Wars, public interest in the subject was peaked and Michelson was featured in the NOVA episode "Spies that Fly" [72] and the BBC special Seven Ways to Topple Saddam. [73] Michelson is the basis for the fictional character Michael C. Robertson in the novel Drone Games (2014) by Joel Narlock. [74] In this work, Michael C. Robertson is the creator of the entomopter at the Georgia Technology Research Institute. This fictitious character's name is an anagram of Robert C. Michelson. Michelson's entomopter is also featured in another of Joel Narlock's novels, Target Acquired (2003). [75]
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs were originally developed through the twentieth century for military missions too "dull, dirty or dangerous" for humans, and by the twenty-first, they had become essential assets to most militaries. As control technologies improved and costs fell, their use expanded to many non-military applications. These include aerial photography, area coverage, precision agriculture, forest fire monitoring, river monitoring, environmental monitoring, policing and surveillance, infrastructure inspections, smuggling, product deliveries, entertainment, and drone racing.
A micro air vehicle (MAV), or micro aerial vehicle, is a class of man-portable miniature UAVs whose size enables them to be used in low-altitude, close-in support operations. Modern MAVs can be as small as 5 centimeters - compare Nano Air Vehicle. Development is driven by commercial, research, government, and military organizations; with insect-sized aircraft reportedly expected in the future. The small craft allow remote observation of hazardous environments or of areas inaccessible to ground vehicles. Hobbyists have designed MAVs for applications such as aerial robotics contests and aerial photography. MAVs can offer autonomous modes of flight.
Swarm robotics is an approach to the coordination of multiple robots as a system which consist of large numbers of mostly simple physical robots. In a robot swarm, the collective behavior of the robots results from local interactions between the robots and between the robots and the environment in which they act. It is supposed that a desired collective behavior emerges from the interactions between the robots and interactions of robots with the environment. This idea emerged on the field of artificial swarm intelligence, as well as the studies of insects, ants and other fields in nature, where swarm behaviour occurs.
A miniature UAV, small UAV (SUAV), or drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle small enough to be man-portable. Smallest UAVs are called micro air vehicle.
An Entomopter is an aircraft that flies using the wing-flapping aerodynamics of an insect. The word is derived from entomo + pteron. Entomopters are type of ornithopter, which is the broader term for any device intended to fly by flapping wings.
The International Aerial Robotics Competition (IARC) is a university-based robotics competition held on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology. Since 1991, collegiate teams with the backing of industry and government have fielded autonomous flying robots in an attempt to perform missions requiring robotic behaviors not previously exhibited by a flying machine. The term “aerial robotics” was coined by competition creator Robert Michelson in 1990 to describe a new class of small highly intelligent flying machines. Successive years of competition saw these aerial robots grow from vehicles that could barely maintain themselves in the air, to automatons which are self-stable, self-navigating, and able to interact with their environment.
Griffon Aerospace is an aerospace company located in Madison, Alabama with additional offices located in Fort Bliss, TX. Griffon designs, develops, and operates aerospace systems including manned and unmanned aircraft, UAV ground support systems, and advanced composite structures. Griffon has produced over 6000 unmanned air vehicles for a variety of customers from US DoD, Foreign Military Sales, Commercial Businesses, and University research labs.
The reciprocating chemical muscle (RCM) is a mechanism that takes advantage of the superior energy density of chemical reactions. It is a regenerative device that converts chemical energy into motion through a direct noncombustive chemical reaction.
The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit applied research arm of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. GTRI employs around 3,000 people, and was involved in nearly $1 billion in research in 2023 for more than 200 clients in industry and government.
The Aerospace, Transportation and Advanced Systems Laboratory (ATAS) is one of eight labs in the Georgia Tech Research Institute and one of three labs under the Sensors and Intelligent Systems directorate. ATAS develops advanced systems concepts and performs research related to aerospace systems, power and energy systems, threat systems, intelligent autonomous systems, and systems engineering methodologies. The lab also develops advanced technologies and performs research in a range of areas relevant to aerospace and ground transportation as well as to national defense.
Burgundy Farm Country Day School is an independent school on a 25-acre (100,000 m2) campus in the Rose Hill census-designated place of Fairfax County, Virginia, with an Alexandria postal address, and 611 acres (2.47 km2) in West Virginia. It serves students in grades Junior Kindergarten through Eighth Grade.
Dr. Imraan Faruque is an American who is most known as a designer and author in the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) field. He is the designer responsible for a variety of UAVs, including several currently operational in Iraq, the most well-known being the R-series UAVs which are based on commercial airframes, along with work on Insitu's ScanEagle. These vehicles are normally deployed as a part of reconnaissance missions as they are unarmed but carry either a significant camera or FLIR unit.
The Pirelli Internetional Award was an international multimedia competition for the communication of science & technology conducted entirely on the internet, which was awarded from 1997 to 2007. Awards were granted to the best multimedia presentations focussing on themes involving the diffusion of science and technology. The multimedia presentations must deal with either physics, chemistry, mathematics, life sciences, or the enabling information and communication technologies that empower multimedia itself. According to Marco Tronchetti Provera, President of the Pirelli Group, the award was established in the belief that the diffusion of social, economic and technological advances are as important as their discovery.
The Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines (IRIM@GT) is an interdisciplinary research unit at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The center was launched May, 2006, and consists of researchers from the School of Interactive Computing in the College of Computing, College of Engineering, and Georgia Tech Research Institute. IRIM@GT currently offers a Ph.D. program in robotics, the first truly multi-disciplinary program in the country after the one of Carnegie Mellon University.
The Prioria Robotics Maveric is a discontinued unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) marketed as a high-performance, next-generation platform for small and miniature UAV operations. Maveric's bendable wings allow for the ability to store a fully assembled airframe in a 6-inch (150 mm) tube.
An uncrewed vehicle or unmanned vehicle is a vehicle without a person on board. Uncrewed vehicles can either be under telerobotic control—remote controlled or remote guided vehicles—or they can be autonomously controlled—autonomous vehicles—which are capable of sensing their environment and navigating on their own.
Edward K. Reedy was the director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) from 1998 to 2003, and correspondingly a vice president of the Georgia Institute of Technology. He first joined GTRI in 1970, and specialized in radar system development and electromagnetic scattering. Reedy held a variety of research and leadership positions within the organization, including the head of Research Operations and four years as associate director.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Members of the Radar Technology Division... include: Rob Michelson...
En el Programa de Lideres Academicos, Robert Michelson, desarrollador de entomopteros or robots valadores de `tamaño de insecto, compartira su experiencia en las clases de Robotica, Technologia de Control, Technologia de Materials, entre otras...
Robert Michelson...es catedratico invitado al Instituto Technologico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey...
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