TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2012
1:00pm – 2:00pm
KAISER 2020/2030
” Robotic Exploration of Aquatic Environments”
By Dr. Bernard Laval
Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering
Abstract
Exploration of the aquatic environment is complicated by extreme pressure and near-zero propagation of radio or microwave radiation. While extreme pressure requires bulky pressure protection vessels, a greater obstacle to exploration of aquatic environments is the lack of radio or microwave data transfer, which precludes GPS positioning or remote control. Despite these challenges, advanced autonomous undersea technology is transitioning from developers to users. I will present a user’s perspective on how such technology can be used to access recently inaccessible regions.
Biography
Dr. Bernard Laval is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Laval has over 20 years of experience in applied fluid mechanics of inland and coastal waters and has authored several publications on field instrument and numerical model development, as well as description and theory of transport processes in many lakes and estuaries.