Computer Science + Mech. Engineering degree= NEW JOBS FOR WOMEN

Engineer Says Robotics Can Use a Woman's Touch
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By Marsha Walton
WeNews correspondent
Monday, May 17, 2010

Robin Murphy is pioneering the field of rescue robotics, a key part
of the response to earthquakes, hurricanes, mining accidents and
terrorist attacks. Women, she says, have a wide open opportunity in
this emerging and highly sensitive field.

(WOMENSENEWS)--Robin Murphy's robots don't look human. Nor do they
act like R2D2, or Rosie from "The Jetsons."

Instead they are small and flexible; built to slither through
collapsed buildings, fly over wildfires or floods, and check the
integrity of a bridge from underwater, sending back live video and
audio.

"We've gone from things that look like a camera on wheels to
things that look like an eight-foot long caterpillar," said
Murphy, 52, Raytheon professor of computer science and engineering at
Texas A and M at College Station. She's a pioneer in the field of
rescue robotics, a new and key tool for responding to earthquakes,
hurricanes, mining accidents, even terrorist attacks.

Murphy, director of the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue,
sent robots into the rubble of the World Trade Center after 9-11. The
center had been in existence for just 10 days. That nightmarish
situation taught the team a vast amount about what kind of machines
work best.

Lesson No. 1: slinky and agile, like the caterpillar robot, trumps
big and powerful. That's because "snakebots" can enter very
confined spaces without further disturbing rubble. They are also being
designed to disarm bombs and landmines without detonating them.

Being fast on the scene is also critical. While it may take days to
move in heavy equipment, robotic aircraft can fit in a couple of
suitcases and be assembled and launched in 15 minutes.

Expanding Role in Disasters

With those basic rules in place, plans are underway for robots to
play an expanding role in other aspects of disaster relief. After an
earthquake, for instance, a small flying robot could help in long
range planning for survivors by providing information about the
surrounding area and how people are using it.

"Just understanding things like land use, where are refugees
going to go?" said Murphy. "So we're designing aerial
vehicles that help more quickly ascertain that. A good decision early
in the game can cut a year off of a recovery," she said.

Murphy earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and
graduate degrees in computer science at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. She
encourages other women with similar educations to join her in the
research because the field is so new and could benefit from
female-influenced research styles.

In 1995 she was teaching at the Colorado School of Mines in
Golden--working on artificial intelligence projects including the
design of robots for interplanetary travel--when the Murrah Federal
Building in Oklahoma City was bombed.

Career Takes New Focus

Murphy realized there was a need for robots on this planet. The
Oklahoma bombing and the Kobe, Japan, earthquake, also that year,
re-focused her career on rescue robots.

She said she quickly noticed that not enough was known about the
relationship between humans and robots, motivating her to conduct
basic research on human-robot interaction. How might accident or
terror victims respond if a robot reaches them and starts asking
questions?

"Studies show that robots can either calm you down or stress you
out. So we don't want victims being terrorized by this robot,"
said Murphy, an author or co-author of about 100 academic papers. She
also gives expert technological advice to the Pentagon on robotics as
a member of the Defense Science Board in Washington.

Within U.S. manufacturing, robotics represents a $5 billion industry
growing by around 8 percent a year, according to a 2009 study by the
Computing Community Consortium.

Women make up less than 25 percent of graduate students in
engineering and computer sciences, according to the National Science
Foundation, far below levels in biological and social sciences where
women are about 50 percent of graduate enrollment.

Murphy and her colleagues at Texas AandM, along with researchers at
Stanford University, received a $1.2 million federal stimulus grant to
create a multimedia "survivor buddy," the robot personality
that will interact with people in situations ranging from emergency
response, to hostage negotiation, to lower-keyed settings such as
healthcare assistance.



'SciGirls' Episode

For a taping of the PBS TV show "SciGirls," Murphy helped
pre-teen girls conduct experiments to come up with the best demeanor
for a rescue robot. Their findings were similar to her research: A
calm but enthusiastic voice; and no blinding lights.

The most effective design for a rescue robot designed to interact
with people is slow moving. It's painted yellow or orange, with lights
underneath so a victim can see it approaching.



Murphy's research often keeps her out of the lab, roaming through
rubble piles.

But robotics researchers can wind up virtually anywhere. In one
intriguing collaboration, Murphy's students worked with Texas AandM's
theater department to provide small robotic fairies for a production
of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The tiny robots interacted
with both the actors and the audience.

"She and her team came to every single production meeting,"
said theater lecturer Amy Hopper, who directed the play. "They
were very open, very generous with information and easy to talk to.
The robotics students videotaped every production to gather data on
how the audience treated the robots."

Murphy sees rescue robotics and the overall field of artificial
intelligence--a branch of computer science that designs machines to
"think for themselves"--as providing a high level of
challenge, creativity, and service, especially for women.

"Where else do you find such a wide open new field of
technological challenges that will have a profound societal
impact?" said Murphy. "Where you will make a huge
difference? Everything you do is new. I also think it requires a
woman's touch," she said, "a better sensitivity, to really
put people first in designing rescue robots."

Marsha Walton covers science, technology, environment and space
issues. She was a producer for CNN's science and tech unit for more
than 10 years. Her work has also appeared on Mother Nature Network,
Appalachian Voices, and the National Science Foundation.

For more information:

Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue

http://crasar.org/2010/01/25/living-with-robots-screened-at-sundance/

Sci-Girls-to-the-rescue

http://www.theeagle.com/local/SciGirls-to-the-rescue