Prof. Pettersen: Bioinspiration gives snake robots moving on land and exploring the oceans

Overview

Bioinspiration gives snake robots moving on land and exploring the oceans

Abstract

Snake robots are motivated by the long, slender and flexible body of biological snakes, which allows them to move in virtually any environment on land and in water. Since the snake robot is essentially a manipulator arm that can move by itself, it has a number of interesting applications including firefighting applications and search and rescue operations. In water, the robot is a highly flexible and dexterous manipulator arm that can swim by itself like a sea snake. This highly flexible snake-like mechanism has excellent accessibility properties; it can for instance access virtually any location on a subsea oil & gas installation, move into the confined areas of ship wrecks, inside ice caves, or be used for observation of biological systems. Furthermore, not only can the swimming manipulator access narrow openings and confined areas, but it can also carry out highly complex manipulation tasks at this location since manipulation is an inherent capability of the system. In this talk, I will present recent research results on modelling and control of snake robots, including both theoretical and experimental results. Finally, I will present the ongoing efforts for bringing the results from university research towards industrial use.

Biography

Kristin Y. Pettersen is a Professor in the Department of Engineering Cybernetics, NTNU, where she has been a faculty member since 1996. She was Head of Department 2011-2013, Vice-Head of Department 2009-2011, and Director of the NTNU ICT Program of Robotics 2010-2013. She is Adjunct Professor at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI). She is also Key Scientist at the CoE Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations and Systems (NTNU AMOS). She is a co-founder of the subsea robotics company Eelume AS, where she was CEO 2015-2016. She received the MSc and PhD degrees in Engineering Cybernetics at NTNU, Trondheim, Norway, in 1992 and 1996, respectively. She has published four books and more than 300 papers in international journals and conference proceedings. Her main research interests are in the development of methodologies for the analysis and control of autonomous robots, with an emphasis on marine robotics and snake robotics. She was awarded the IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology Outstanding Paper Award in 2006 and in 2017. She was awarded an ERC-AdG-2020 Advanced Grant from the European Research Council, and received the IEEE CSS 2020 Hendrik W. Bode Lecture Prize. She is a member of the Board of Governors of IEEE Control Systems Society, the Council of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) and the Council of the European Control Association (EUCA). She has also held several board positions in industrial and research companies. She was Program Chair of the IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications in 2018 and has served as Associate Editor for several international conferences. She has served as Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology and IEEE Control Systems Magazine, and is currently Senior Editor of IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology. She is IEEE CSS Distinguished Lecturer, IEEE Fellow, member of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences, and member of the Academy of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters Kristin Y. Pettersen is a Professor in the Department of Engineering Cybernetics, NTNU, where she has been a faculty member since 1996. She was Head of Department 2011-2013, Vice-Head of Department 2009-2011, and Director of the NTNU ICT Program of Robotics 2010-2013. She is Adjunct Professor at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI). She is also Key Scientist at the CoE Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations and Systems (NTNU AMOS). She is a co-founder of the subsea robotics company Eelume AS, where she was CEO 2015-2016. She received the MSc and PhD degrees in Engineering Cybernetics at NTNU, Trondheim, Norway, in 1992 and 1996, respectively. She has published four books and more than 300 papers in international journals and conference proceedings. Her main research interests are in the development of methodologies for the analysis and control of autonomous robots, with an emphasis on marine robotics and snake robotics. She was awarded the IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology Outstanding Paper Award in 2006 and in 2017. She was awarded an ERC-AdG-2020 Advanced Grant from the European Research Council, and received the IEEE CSS 2020 Hendrik W. Bode Lecture Prize. She is a member of the Board of Governors of IEEE Control Systems Society, the Council of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) and the Council of the European Control Association (EUCA). She has also held several board positions in industrial and research companies. She was Program Chair of the IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications in 2018 and has served as Associate Editor for several international conferences. She has served as Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology and IEEE Control Systems Magazine, and is currently Senior Editor of IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology. She is IEEE CSS Distinguished Lecturer, IEEE Fellow, member of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences, and member of the Academy of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters.