2016-03-25: 2016 Spring Intern Leonardo Esau Herrea (in English and en Español)

Originally hailing from San Antonio, Texas, Leonardo Esau Herrera is a graduate student at Cicese Research Center in Mexico where is pursuing his PhD in instrumentation and control. Leonardo's passion for NASA was ignited as a child when he became fascinated with the technological advances motivated by space travel. His quest for opportunities at NASA began while was in high school and are being realized now - during his spring 2016 internship with NASA Langley's Autonomy Incubator (AI) team. While interning in the AI, Mr. Hererra is designing flight controllers to accomplish aggressive maneuvers in single UAVs as well as controllers for tightly coupled formations of UAVs. This opportunity has strengthened his resolve to seek a career in the aerospace industry and reinforced his desire to serve as an aerospace ambassador for outreach to Spanish speaking communities.

Leonardo Esau Herrera

And in Spanish/Español...

Originario de San Antonio, Texas, Leonardo Esau Herrera es un estudiante de posgrado en el centro de investigación CICESE en México, donde se encuentra realizando sus estudios doctorales en el area de instrumentación y control. La pasión de Leonardo por la NASA inició cuando llego a ser faciando  por los avances tecnológicos y  los viajes espaciales que la NASA lograba, esto aún siendo niño. Su búsqueda de oportunidades en la NASA lo ha llevado a realizar una estancia durante el periódo de primavera del 2016 en el equipo Autonomy Incubator (AI) del centro de investigación Langley de la  NASA. Durante su estancia, Leonardo estará diseñando controladores de vuelo para lograr maniobras agresivas en aeronaves individuales, así como controladores para lograr formación de vuelo altamente acoplada entre multiples aeronaves. Esta oportunidad lo ha llevado a reforzar su decisión por seguir trabajando en área aeroespacial así como a reforzar su deseo de servir como embajador aeroespacial para motivar comunidades de lengua española.

 

2016-03-16: Building 1222 Flight Area Expansion

The Autonomy Incubator Flight Area at NASA Langley is preparing for future challenges and research with tracking system upgrades to expand the flight ops area.

 

One of the many dedicated LaRC employees
that keep the Autonomy Incubator up and running!

Stay in the loop by watching our new time-lapse video showing the installation...

and stay at the forefront of autonomous drone research by tagging along with us here and on twitter. with @AutonomyIncub8r and #LaRCai.

The final floor layout courtesy of our 2016 spring interns in the Autonomy Incubator.

Our Expanded Flight Area with an AI for Autonomy Incubator

Or is it Institute? Coming soon... the Autonomy & Robotics Institute!

2016-03-14: 2016 Spring Intern A. Branham Dyer

My name is A. Branham Dyer and I am a Mass Communication and Journalism Major from CFCC in Wilmington with a very heavy emphasis on videography and photography. I am passionate about aerospace and astronomy and am the spring 2016 social media intern for the NASA LaRC Autonomy Incubator (AI) . I am not the typical NASA intern in that I am not someone with a background in a Science, Technology, Engineering or a Math  (STEM) field. Through my work as a filmmaker and journalist, I hope to turn STEM into STEAM with the inclusion of the Art of communicating scientific, educational, and historical documentation of my experiences into the AI message. Things have been happening at fast pace here at the AI this semester and we have been developing some new strategies to incorporate into our social media department. In an effort to tell our story more completely, we have been devoting some time establishing a social media department that can incorporate true high definition video and photography to share our experiences and milestones. Part of that process involved obtaining new hardware and software for handling, editing, and cataloging our video and photo portfolio into a searchable format for easy retrieval. We will be sharing these stories in a series of articles that will look back at what's happened since my arrival in January. I hope you will join us as we take steps towards building trusted autonomy for robotic systems that will one day be used in planetary exploration, cooperative human-machine work environments, and for the overall benefit of humankind. 

Social Media Intern A. Branham Dyer

2016-03-11: 2016 Spring Intern Spencer Watza

Spencer Watza, a recent graduate in aerospace engineering from Western Michigan University, has joined the NASA Langley Autonomy Incubator team for the spring 2016 semester. Spencer is working to further develop the Visual Odometry (VO) algorithms used in our fleet of unmanned systems. While Mr. Watza's work currently focuses on UAVs, this approach to localization is utilized in many types of robots, be they legged, wheeled or aerial. When external information (such as GPS) is degraded or denied, fully autonomous operation requires the robots to rely on alternative localization systems like visual odometry and inertial measurement units. This multi-modal approach will enable autonomous indoor and outdoor navigation and collaboration and play a critical role in disaster management, industrial inspection, environmental conservation, and planetary surface exploration.

Spencer Watza

2016-03-03: 2016 Spring Intern Michael Janov

Michael Janov, a junior at Northeastern University majoring in computer engineering with minors in mathematics and industrial engineering, has joined the NASA Langley Research Center Autonomy Incubator team for the spring 2016 semester.  Michael is working on wireless data transmission and wireless power source recharging of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to facilitate autonomous energy management and increase payload portability between autonomous platforms.

His primary goal is to enable flexibility in autonomous UAV missions by developing a modular sensor payload system that allows a UAV to magnetically pick up a payload and transfer data using wireless inductive communications. He is excited to have the opportunity to work with these cutting edge technologies and have the ability to meet and interact with NASA engineers while working at the Autonomy Incubator. Mr. Janov hopes to one day design intrepid spacefaring vehicles for NASA.

                                                                      Michael Janov

2016-02-23: 2016 Spring Intern Erica Meszaros

Erica Meszaros, a graduate in linguistics from Eastern Michigan University with a bachelors degree in classical languages (Greek/Latin) from the College of Wooster, has joined the NASA Langley Autonomy Incubator team for the spring 2016 semester. Erica is working on human communication with intelligent machine agents in the system during Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operations. She is studying the utilization of natural communication modalities to define and assess human-drone interactions and interpret the human participants' intent. Imagine the type of  interactions humans have with dogs. This interaction is facilitated by voice-based communication while the human "mission specialist" is within the field of view of the dog or, in this case, a robot or UAV. Our expectation is that in the not-too-distant future, humans will be working in teams with robots by using task-based natural language dialogues to coordinate activities. This approach to human-machine teaming using natural language as part of a mixed-initiative fleet and the ability to update plans and tasks based on perceived and communicated information is a critical aspect of establishing trust in autonomous systems and enabling upcoming NASA missions.

Erica Meszaros

2016-02-15: 2016 Spring Intern Kevin French

Kevin French, who recently earned his BS in electrical engineering summa cum laude from the University of Florida, has joined NASA Langley's Autonomy Incubator team for the spring 2016 semester. Kevin's research area is real-time object detection, classification, tracking, and state prediction to enable the safe and efficient mobility of unmanned autonomous platforms without relying on human interaction. NASA LaRC's Autonomy Incubator is developing and maturing algorithms to solve a myriad of challenges for autonomous flight operations in dynamic and unstructured environments such as what will be needed for planetary exploration but the advantages of these capabilities don't stop there. These technologies can be leveraged and applied in civilian applications such as earth science missions, search and rescue operations, infrastructure inspection, wildlife protection, and many other prospective ideas.

Kevin French

2016-02-09: NASA Administrator Charles Bolden tours the Autonomy Incubator

After delivering his State Of NASA address at LaRC, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden visited the Autonomy Incubator for a tour and conversation about the state of autonomous systems and NASA missions.While with us in Building 1222, the Administrator heard about sensing, perception, localization, human-machine teaming, motion planning, and collaborative autonomy.

Anna Trujillo spoke with Administrator Bolden about Human Systems Interaction (HSI) protocols used to communicate with drones via semantics and visual cues. During the tour, she demonstrated how a scientist could define a complex flight path using simple gestures and natural language.

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden (L) speaks with Anna Trujillo (R)

Dr. Loc Tran and Administrator Bolden discussed object detection, classification, and tracking. Dr. Tran's work currently focuses on distinguishing different kinds of objects for, among many reasons, to determine if an object is a hazard to be avoided.

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden (L) meets with Dr. Loc Tran (R)
while Jim Neilan demonstrates visual odometry on the Mars Flyer

Standing with Dr. Danette Allen, Administrator Bolden observed multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) in flight as they performed a cooperative mission under development in support of NASA's earth science objectives.

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden (L) talks with Dr. Danette Allen (R)
while LaRC Center Director Dave Bowles looks on

2016-01-20: NASA HQ Associate Administrators Visit the Autonomy Incubator.

NASA Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot and Deputy Associate Administrator Lesa Roe toured the Autonomy Incubator (AI) on January 20, 2016.

Dr. Danette Allen (Left) with Deputy Associate Administrator Lesa Roe (Center)
and Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot (Right) in LaRC's Autonomy Incubator

Their visit to the AI included demonstrations of cooperative autonomy and a showcase of capabilities such as Localization, Object Detection and Classification, and Object Avoidance on the Mars Reusable Electric Flyer.

Jim Neilan points out sensors on our Mars Reusable Electric Flyer
while Dr. Loc Tran and Zak Johns look on.

A notional Mars Sample Return mission scenario was presented in which three Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) survey and identify and Area of Interest (AOI) for possible sample collection. A rover is summoned to the AOI and delivers a fourth UAV as well as its own paylaod. The UAVs fly collaboratively (in formation) while the rover completes its own related mission.

Rover "Herbie" exhibits "Follow Me" behavior behind a UAV
to deliver the fourth intelligent agent to complete the mission

Rover "Herbie" has delivered the fourth UAV and exits the scene