Robotics for the Blue Economy and Climate Resiliency (Room 258)

Abstract:

The goal of this workshop is to bring together ocean science experts and roboticists across academia, government, and industry. The ocean is one of the Earth’s most valuable natural resources and a predominant driver of climate-weather patterns across the globe.  Academic robotics research efforts have mostly focused on environmental monitoring, exploration, and information acquisition in support of ocean sciences. However, the growing need for climate adaptation, mitigation, and carbon emission reduction has increased the demand for commercial marine activities such as offshore wind exploitation and fisheries. Blue Economy—a term used to refer to all economic activity along the coasts and off to deep water—encompasses a wide range of industries and disciplines whose focus and interests are diverse and lack a well-defined regulatory framework. This creates a unique set of challenges when setting technological and scientific goals and specifications for prospective science and technology innovators and developers. This workshop will bring roboticists and practitioners in ocean related fields, to a common forum where they can both recognize each other’s perspectives on challenges and opportunities for sustainable and climate-change friendly growth in the Blue Economy. The workshop will enable the development of new synergies, opportunities for collaboration, and share challenges in current approaches. The goal is to unlock the potential for exponential growth of the Blue Economy. The workshop will feature presentations by invited speakers, a framed panel discussion, and two interactive sessions. During the interactive sessions, students and companies will present cutting-edge research and development and have networking opportunities.