Picture a robot and you're likely to think of R2-D2 in Star Wars, the crime-fighting cyborg in RoboCop, or the mechanized domestic servants of Woody Allen's Sleeper.

Not so at the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). Here, robots are the real thing.

In the sea

In the simulated ocean environment at the Forrestal Campus laboratory, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) Naomi Leonard '85 is leading her students in the creation of an underwater robot designed to collect information from the sea.

Dipping into one of the lab's large freshwater tanks, she hoists her creation: an 18-inch, sleekly styled underwater glider made to measure the salinity, temperature, and current flow of the ocean.

"It has its brains on board," Professor Leonard said proudly, explaining how this type of vehicle -- dubbed "the adaptive sampler" -- is able to operate under the sea without any direction from the humans above.

It simply travels the route it calculates to be the most data-rich, then surfaces with a well-organized trove of information.

By next summer, a coordinated school of seaworthy gliders will be out in open waters as an essential part of an oceanographic experiment called the Autonomous Ocean Sampling Network Project.

Next summer's experiment, a study of the waters around Monterey Bay, will feature the contributions of scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Harvard University, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, with Professor Leonard's glider school leading the informational treasure hunt. (See the spring 2003 issue of EQuad News for an in-depth story on Professor Leonard and her research.)

On the land

Back on dry land, MAE Associate Professor Daniel Nosenchuck had the rescue efforts of Sept. 11, 2001, in mind when he asked students in his engineering design course to create a new design for "search-and-rescue" robots, autonomous vehicles able to traverse dangerous terrain in uncertain conditions.

The result was eight robots that run on battery power. The machines are able to run obstacle courses, climb small walls, and even use optical sensors to track down a tiny beam of light flickering at the end of a dark hallway, "as if someone were trapped, waving a flashlight for help," Professor Nosenchuck said. "I'm always looking for a chance to show students how a Princeton education can be applied to real-world situations."

In the air

The real-world challenge facing MAE Professor Robert Stengel *65 *66 *68 and his students is how to install a global positioning satellite in a small, pilotless airplane.

They have been grappling with the riddle for nearly four years, wondering if it is possible for a plane lacking a human at the helm to fly loops and rolls and navigate its own tricks in the sky without losing contact with its satellite signal.

So far, the answer has been elusive, but Professor Stengel, who leads the Certificate Program in Robotics and Intelligent Systems, remains confident in the talent and creativity of his students.

"Working with Professor Stengel was a fantastic opportunity," said Michael Anthony '02, a flight controls engineer for Northrop Grumman, working in the area of autonomous airplane controls.

"My experience at Princeton was my introduction to my career," he said. "And it's been the foundation of my work ever since."

Reprinted courtesy of Princeton: With One Accord, published by the Princeton University Office of Development Communications.

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