Robin R. Murphy

Dr. Robin R. Murphy Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering & Cognitive and Neural Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of South Florida.
Director, Institute for Safety Security Rescue Technology, a Florida Type II Center that hosts the NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center on Safety Security Rescue (SSR-RC) , Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue , and the $2M National Testbed for Safety Security Rescue Technology under construction.
ENC 2506, phone (813) 974-3652, fax (813) 974-5456. HOURS T/TH 1:30-4:00 and by appointment
Courier address:
Computer Science and Engineering
University of South Florida
4202 East Fowler Ave ENB342
Tampa, FL 33620-5399
email: murphy AT cse.usf.edu
Courses: CIS6930 Intro to Homeland Security Technologies, Summer: Human-Centric Simulation using Microsoft Robotics Studio
short bio, 3 page vitae, and complete vitae in pdf

I am currently not funding new graduate students who have not had my Introduction to Robotics course or are seeking only a MS degree. If you are a Ph.D. student seeking funding, please apply for a TA position through the department.

Biography

I am on a journey of the soul
one that searches the very
boundaries of my mind
in a land of believe and make
where those who care pay a toll
--Regis McKenna

Robin Roberson Murphy received a B.M.E. in mechanical engineering, a M.S. and Ph.D in computer science (minor: Computer Integrated Manufacturing Systems) in 1980, 1989, and 1992, respectively, from Georgia Tech, where she was a Rockwell International Doctoral Fellow. She is a Professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department at the University of South Florida with a joint appointment in Cognitive and Neural Sciences in the Department of Psychology. From 1992 to 1998, she was an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences at the Colorado School of Mines. Prof. Murphy joined USF in 1998.

Dr. Murphy is a founder and international leader in both rescue robotics and human-robot interaction, and was recognized by TIME Magazine in 2004 as an innovator in artificial intelligence. Her work in rescue robotics began in 1995, investigating artificially intelligent robots and new concepts of cooperative teams such as marsupial and heterogenous teams, while also working directly with responders to establish the domain theory. She was the first to introduce ground, air, and sea robots to disaster response, participating in the World Trade Center disaster (2001), La Conchita, CA, mudslides (2005), Hurricanes Charley (2004), Katrina (2005), and Wilma (2005), and the Midas Gold Mine response (2007) and was honored with the NIUSR Eagle award. The data and papers from her field work are seminal to the rescue robotics community, have been presented to NSF twice and as keynote addresses to numerous conferences, and have been translated to Japanese. Her increasingly multi-disciplinary approach to artificial intelligence and systems began in 1999, when she began applying ethnography to rescue robots teams in order to identify hardware and software barriers. From 2001-2002, she co-chaired the DARPA/NSF study that defined human-robot interaction (HRI) and created a roadmap for the new community being formed from computer science, engineering, psychology, and cognitive science. Human-Robot Interaction was established in 2006 as one of the thrust areas in the NSF CISE directorate and Dr. Murphy serves on the NSF CISE Advisory Board. She was one of 11 researchers chosen to illustrate the value of NSF's budget to Congress and the public on Feb. 5, 2006; she is the representative for the CISE directorate. In order to facilitate the transfer of research to industry and the emergency response community, in 2003 she established in partnership with the University of Minnesota the NSF Industry University Cooperative Research Center on safety, security, and rescue technology, which she directed from 2003-6. Dr. Murphy is currently investigating the diffusion of innovation in robotics and is co-chairing a DARPA ISAT study on detecting emergent innovation in information technologies in the field.

Introduction to AI Robotics

I have written a textbook, Introduction to AI Robotics, 2000, MIT Press, aimed at upper level undergraduates and first year graduate students. An instructor's manual and powerpoint slides are available upon request to MIT Press (they filter students trying to get answers to the test...). I also recommend Behavior-Based Robotics by Ron Arkin (my PhD advisor and the reference for most of my book) for an advanced treatment of the same material.

The MIT Press release reads:

This text covers all the material needed to understand the principles behind the AI approach to robotics and to program an artificially intelligent robot for applications involving sensing, navigation, planning, and uncertainty. Robin Murphy is extremely effective at combining theoretical and practical rigor with a light narrative touch. In the overview, for example, she touches upon anthropomorphic robots from classic films and science fiction stories before delving into the nuts and bolts of organizing intelligence in robots.

Following the overview, Murphy contrasts AI and engineering approaches and discusses what she calls the three paradigms of AI robotics: hierarchical, reactive, and hybrid deliberative/reactive. Later chapters explore multiagent scenarios, navigation and path-planning for mobile robots, and the basics of computer vision and range sensing. Each chapter includes objectives, review questions, and exercises. Many chapters contain one or more case studies showing how the concepts were implemented on real robots. Murphy, who is well known for her classroom teaching, conveys the intellectual adventure of mastering complex theoretical and technical material.