IUCRC Planning Grant University of Delaware: Center for Robotic Oceanic and Coastal Systems (CROCS)

The planning meeting to potentially establish an interdisciplinary industry-university cooperative research center (IUCRC) will bring together faculty and researchers at the University of Delaware in engineering, oceanography, disaster research, technology, and ethics with leading industry technology experts, government agencies, and first responders to discuss mutual interests in establishing a Center for Robotic Oceanic and Coastal Systems. The Center's mission is to fill major intellectual and economic gaps through convergent, faculty-driven, collaborative, pre-competitive, fundamental research projects focused on helping the maritime sector of the US economy overcome hurdles holding it back. This will be accomplished by interviewing possible constituents to identify areas of high priority to industry to formulate a strong value proposition that will engage the private sector in funding Center research. The Center will operate at the intersection of oceanography, environmental and weather science, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, sensor networks, data science, and public policy. Goals of the Center will be to obtaining scientific insights on the morphology and evolution of deep ocean and coastal, natural, multi-scale, and interconnected dynamical systems and how they are influenced by human activity. the Center will also work to help assess the long-term impact of coastal and offshore development projects, and improve responses to natural and man-made emergencies and disasters in a timely and effective fashion. This planning grant provides the resources to work with and identify, collaboratively, with industrial partners common-interests for the type of basic and pre-competitive research that can potentially give Center members a technological edge. Broader impacts of the planning process will be the development and planning for a strong student training and workforce development piece in ocean robotics and data analytics, improved competitiveness of the US marine robotic sector, and public outreach to elementary and secondary schools. Additional impacts include involvement of faculty from Delaware State University and the University of South Carolina, both of which are in EPSCoR states.The Center for Robotics and Oceanic and Coastal Systems builds on University of Delaware's successful tradition of creating robust solutions to address industrial and societal needs rooted in fundamental science and engineering and the understanding of underlying phenomena. The Center will target applications that require the interconnected areas of predictive modeling using Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, seabed mapping in rapidly changing coastal environments; underwater communications and application of 5G to bridge the water/air interface; development of algorithms for managing arrays of communicating underwater robotic vehicles swarms carrying various sensors to measure ocean temperature and chemical and biological properties; power considerations to improve the duration a autonomous underwater vehicle can stay active and collect data; and collection and integration of critical data elements, like those from remote sensing, and air-sea/weather inputs. Exemplar, high-impact, research projects will form the basis of the Center in-person planning grant meeting that will involve university faculty promoting a value proposition of strong interest to members of the maritime sector of the US economy. Goals of the meeting will be to interest private sector companies in becoming paying members of the Center and whose membership fees will then pay for Center research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.