Dr. Robin Murphy, Raytheon professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University, delivered a TED talk to the 2015 TEDWomen conference.
Murphy’s talk focused around her research in robotics and disaster informatics. As the director of the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station’s Center for Robot Assisted Search and Rescue (CRASAR), Murphy uses air, water and ground robots to help responders in disaster situations. Her goal is to provide responders with the information they need to reduce response and recovery time.
“If you can reduce the initial response by one day, you can reduce the overall recovery by 1000 days,” Murphy said. “That’s the equivalent of three years.”
Murphy uses robots to collect information for responders. Her robots fly, dive and climb in places that a human could not. As they do this, they collect images and data about their surroundings to assist responders. Much of Murphy’s research focuses on disaster informatics, the processing of this data and ensuring it gets to the appropriate decision maker.
“Robots don’t replace responders, they assist them and make their jobs easier,” Murphy said.
Murphy and her team at CRASAR have been to disasters throughout the country and across the world. With every disaster there is a greater need to acquire and process information.
“The next time you see a disaster scenario, look for the robots because they’re coming to the rescue,” Murphy said.
To see the video of the TED talk, please follow this LINK. For more information about CRASAR, please visit crasar.org.