Pizza and Networking:  6:30 PM
Presentation, Q&A:  7:00 PM
Speaker: Dr. Jason T. Isaacs, California State University, Channel Islands

Abstract

The next phase of the NASA Mars Exploration Program involves sending a spacecraft to Mars and returning it safely to Earth. The first passengers on such a mission will not be human astronauts but Mars rovers instead. The success of this mission requires theses rovers to locate and retrieve local resources on Mars. This process is referred to as In-situ resource utilization (ISRU). Technologies are needed to allow a large group of autonomous rovers to find and collect materials such as ice which can be converted into hydrogen fuel to power the return journey. Toward this long term goal NASA through a cooperative agreement between the NASA Minority University Research and Education Program (MUREP) and the University of New Mexico in partnership with the NASA KSC Swamp Works has developed a national competition called the Swarmathon where teams of students develop foraging and collection algorithms for a swarm of rovers. In this seminar I will discuss the CSU Channel Islands participation in the NASA Swarmathon Competition and our approach to addressing these challenging problems.

About the Speaker

Jason T. Isaacs received the Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, in 2012 under the supervision of Professor João Hespanha.

He received a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Kentucky in 1999. Upon graduation he spent the next six years working as a motion control development engineer for Lexmark International Incorporated focusing on the paper feeding systems of inkjet printers. He spent a summer as a research intern in the Sensor Fusion group at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi, MD, USA, in 2008. Upon completion of his Ph.D. in March 2012, he continued at UCSB as a postdoctoral scholar where he led a three year applied research project sponsored through the Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies.

Dr. Isaacs is currently an assistant professor of Computer Science at California State University, Channel Islands. His research interests include multiagent control systems, UAV path planning, localization and mapping, and sensor networks. His teaching interests include control systems, linear systems, and robotics with a specific interest in introducing feedback control and mobile robotics to early undergraduate and high school students to stimulate their interest in these subjects.

Location
CLU - Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center, 2nd Floor, Room 253
(Enter via west lobby)
California Lutheran University
130 Overton Court
Thousand Oaks, CA  91360

Parking: Free parking is available in the lot east of the Gilbert building. Additional free parking is available in the lot on the southwest corner of Olsen and Mountclef (map). Do not park in the faculty/staff/reserved lots.

Presented By: IEEE Buenaventura Computer Society Chapter