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Robin Murphy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robin Roberson Murphy is an American computer scientist and roboticist. She is the Raytheon Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University. She is known as a founder of the fields of rescue robotics[1] and human-robot interaction[2] and for inserting robots into disasters.[3] Her case studies of how unmanned systems under perform in the field led cognitive systems engineering researcher David Woods to pose the (Robin) Murphy's Law of Autonomy: a deployment of robotic systems will fall short of the target level of autonomy, creating or exacerbating a shortfall in mechanisms for coordination with human problem holders.[4] Her TED talk “These Robots Come to the Rescue After a Disaster” was listed in TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking as one of the examples of a good TED talk. Murphy is also known for using science fiction as an innovative method of teaching artificial intelligence and robotics.[5]

Early years and education

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Murphy was raised in Douglas, Georgia. She received her bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1980, worked in the process safety industry, and returned to Georgia Tech for a master's (1988) and PhD. (1992) in computer science under the direction of Ronald Arkin. She was the first person to graduate from the Georgia Tech College of Computing with a PhD in robotics.[6] She was an assistant professor at the Colorado School of Mines from 1992 to 1998, then moved to the University of South Florida as an associate professor in 1998 and was promoted to full professor in 2003. In 2008, Murphy moved to Texas A&M University. She was a member of the Defense Science Study Group from 1997 to 1998; this led to her involvement on numerous science boards, including the Defense Science Board and the US Air Force Scientific Advisory Board.

Career in robotics

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Disaster robotics

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Murphy began research into disaster robotics in 1995, motivated by the Oklahoma City bombing. Murphy was the director of the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue (CRASASR) from 2002 to 2018, and now serves as the vice-president. Through CRASAR she participated in the 9/11 World Trade Center disaster (2001), considered the first use of robots for the emergency response phase of a disaster. Since then she has helped insert unmanned ground, aerial, and marine systems into 27 disasters including Hurricane Katrina, which is considered the first use of small unmanned aerial systems, the Fukishima Daiichi nuclear accident (2011), the Tōhoku tsunami (2011), the Syrian Boat Refugee crisis (2016), and Hurricane Harvey (2017). She wrote the seminal text Disaster Robotics, MIT Press, in 2014.

Science fiction

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Awards and honors

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Bibliography

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References

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  1. ^ "Robin Murphy". www.robohub.org. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  2. ^ "3: Emergence of HRI as a Field | Human-Robot Interaction". humanrobotinteraction.org. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
  3. ^ "Society News". IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine. 17: 124–129. 2010. doi:10.1109/MRA.2010.935809.
  4. ^ Woods, David; Tittle, James; Feil, Magnus; Roesler, Axel (2004-06-01). "Envisioning Human–Robot Coordination in Future Operations". IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics - Part C: Applications and Reviews. 34 (2): 210–218. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.59.6683. doi:10.1109/TSMCC.2004.826272. S2CID 8520269.
  5. ^ "30 Most Innovative Women Professors Alive Today – The Best Master's Degrees". The Best Master's Degrees. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
  6. ^ Freeman, Peter (July 27, 2015). "College of Computing: Timeline of Significant Events" (PDF). www.cc.gatech.edu. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  7. ^ "SXSW 2017 Schedule". schedule.sxsw.com. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
  8. ^ 2021 Fellows, American Association for the Advancement of Science, retrieved 2022-01-28
  9. ^ 2019 ACM Fellows Recognized for Far-Reaching Accomplishments that Define the Digital Age, Association for Computing Machinery, retrieved 2019-12-11
  10. ^ "Robin R Murphy". awards.acm.org. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
  11. ^ "ROBIN MURPHY". www.fieldrobotics.org. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
  12. ^ "Introducing the Class of 2010 – IEEE – The Institute". IEEE. Archived from the original on August 19, 2017. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
  13. ^ "2015 Award Winners – PROSE Awards". PROSE Awards. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
  14. ^ "Search and Rescue: Squad Leader Musters Robots to US Disaster Zones". WIRED. Retrieved 2018-06-14.