Speaker 1: Dr. Jun Chen
Title: Towards Heterogeneity in Multi-Target Tracking Using A Distributed Team of Mobile Robots

Abstract:
Multiple target tracking (MTT) is a fundamental problem in robotics, wherein one or more robots simultaneously estimate the states of a potentially large number of individual objects. These objects can be either static or dynamic, and may leave or enter the task space over time. The applications of MTT range from environmental monitoring to surveillance to smart cities. In recent years, MTT problems have been increasingly being solved by distributed mobile robotic networks due to their capability to reactively adjust sensor coverage over the mission space as new information is collected. Allowing a heterogeneous team of robots to cooperate and heterogeneous targets to be effectively tracked is an essential research topic to broaden the application of multi-robot multi-target tracking (MR-MTT) in the real-world. This talk presents our previous and ongoing work on the heterogeneity in MR-MTT in threefold. Firstly, our work allows robots to simultaneously track multiple classes of targets despite measurement uncertainty, including false positive detections, false negative detections, measurement noise, and target misclassification. Secondly, the heterogeneity of targets’ spatial distribution is considered, and algorithms are developed to enhance the efficiency of target search and tracking. Thirdly, we address the MR-MTT problems in complex scenarios where various types of robots and sensors are needed to complete the task. Experimental and simulated results are performed to demonstrate the promising efficacy and application prospects of our proposed methods.

Bio:
Jun Chen received his M.S. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in 2017 and his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Temple University in 2021. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the RISC Lab at KAUST. His research interests include multi-robot system, information-based control, and robot learning.

Speaker 2: Eesaa Harris
Title: Combining remote sensing and in situ data to understand mesoscale processes in the Red Sea

Abstract:
Ocean processes are complex and multidimensional and are thus investigated in relative isolation for simplification. However, the physical, chemical and biological components of the ocean are intrinsically linked, and thus require novel approaches in order to gain an understanding at the systems level. Furthermore, mesoscale processes and features play an important role in regulating marine (and atmospheric) systems, as their sum contribution have been shown to have impacts at the global scale. The Red Sea provides a unique opportunity to study these features, as it forms a “natural laboratory” relatively isolated from the global oceans. Moreover, current climate trends predict that various marine environments will end up in states similar to that of the Red Sea. Hence, the objectives of the Integrated Ocean Processes (IOP) lab at KAUST include understanding the overall functioning of the Red Sea via integrated and contextual approaches that investigate the linkages and cause-and-effects between different components of the marine system. By combining both remote sensing and in situ data, the relationships between physical components and their biogeochemical responses in the Northern Red Sea (NRS) are investigated. The area of sampling is characterized by dynamical structures at the air-sea interface and within the water column, which was shown to promote both the proliferation of phytoplankton as well as their subsequent subduction into the ocean interior. This case study highlights the limitation of temporal and spatial scales, and the need to increase both in order to extrapolate to the entire Red Sea over larger time scales.

Bio:
Eesaa is a first year PhD student in the Lab of Prof. Burton Jones. He received his Master Degree in Oceanography at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. His interests lay in biogeochemistry and the relationships between physical and biogeochemical processes in tropical oceans.