Robin Murphy
Robin Roberson Murphy is an American computer scientist and roboticist. She is the Raytheon Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at
human-robot interaction[2] and for inserting robots into disasters.[3] Her case studies of how unmanned systems under perform in the field led cognitive systems engineering researcher David Woods to pose the (Robin) Murphy's Law of Autonomy: a deployment of robotic systems will fall short of the target level of autonomy, creating or exacerbating a shortfall in mechanisms for coordination with human problem holders.[4] Her TED talk “These Robots Come to the Rescue After a Disaster” was listed in TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking as one of the examples of a good TED talk. Murphy is also known for using science fiction as an innovative method of teaching artificial intelligence and robotics.[5]
Early years and education
Murphy was raised in
Georgia Institute of Technology in 1980, worked in the process safety industry, and returned to Georgia Tech for a master's (1988) and PhD. (1992) in computer science under the direction of Ronald Arkin. She was the first person to graduate from the Georgia Tech College of Computing with a PhD in robotics.[6] She was an assistant professor at the Colorado School of Mines from 1992 to 1998, then moved to the University of South Florida as an associate professor in 1998 and was promoted to full professor in 2003. In 2008, Murphy moved to Texas A&M University. She was a member of the Defense Science Study Group from 1997 to 1998; this led to her involvement on numerous science boards, including the Defense Science Board
and the US Air Force Scientific Advisory Board.
Career in robotics
Disaster robotics
Murphy began research into disaster robotics in 1995, motivated by the
Fukishima Daiichi nuclear accident (2011), the Tōhoku tsunami (2011), the Syrian Boat Refugee crisis (2016), and Hurricane Harvey (2017). She wrote the seminal text Disaster Robotics
, MIT Press, in 2014.
Science fiction
- Murphy's book, Artificial Intelligence and Mobile Robotics: Case Studies of Successful Systems was cited by Michael Crichton in Prey.
- She inspired the character of Jae, a rescue roboticist who worked at Disaster City, in Skinner, a science fiction book by Charlie Huston.[7]
- Murphy has edited a book, Robotics Through Science Fiction: Artificial Intelligence Explained Through Six Classic Robot Short Stories by Isaac Asimov, Brian Aldiss, Vernor Vinge, and Philip K. Dick, to illustrate key principles in programming artificial intelligence for robotics. The book was originally intended as a companion to the second edition of her textbook Introduction to AI Robotics but it serves as a stand-alone book for a non-technical audience.
- Since 2018, she writes monthly 'science fiction science fact' focus articles for Science Robotics analyzing the realism of robots in the media including Star Wars and Westworld.
- Her blog Robotics Through Science Fiction discusses the scientific accuracy of books and movies.
Awards and honors
- She was named to the 2021 class of Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.[8]
- She was elected as an ACM Fellow in 2019 "for contributions in founding and advancing the field of computing for disasters and robotics".[9]
- In 2014, Murphy received the AUVSI Foundation's Al Aube Outstanding Contributor Award in 2008.[11]
- In 2010, she was made an IEEE Fellow “for contributions to rescue robotics and insertion of robots into major disasters.”[12]
- Her book Disaster Robotics, MIT Press 2014, won a Honorable mention 2015 American Publishers Awards PROSE Award for best writing in Engineering and Technology.[13]
- Her work on government boards led to the US Air Force Exemplary Civilian Service Award in 2005.
- Murphy is frequently cited in the popular press as a WIRED Magazine 'AlphaGeek',[14] one of 15 innovators reshaping Texas, one of the 30 Most Innovative Women Professors Alive Today by The Best Master’s Degrees and one of the most influential women in technology.
- Murphy was featured in the documentary short film and web film, Living with Robots (Honda), shown at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, with a 90-second version distributed to national movie theaters preceding Inception.
Bibliography
- Robotics Through Science Fiction (2018)
- Introduction to AI Robotics (2001, 2018)
- Disaster Robotics (2014)
- The Role of Autonomy in DOD Systems, Task Force Defense Science Board (2012)
- Artificial Intelligence and Mobile Robotics: Case Studies of Successful Systems (with D. Kortenkamp and P. Bonasso) (1998)
References
- ^ "Robin Murphy". www.robohub.org. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
- ^ "3: Emergence of HRI as a Field | Human-Robot Interaction". humanrobotinteraction.org. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
- .
- S2CID 8520269.
- ^ "30 Most Innovative Women Professors Alive Today – The Best Master's Degrees". The Best Master's Degrees. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
- ^ Freeman, Peter (July 27, 2015). "College of Computing: Timeline of Significant Events" (PDF). www.cc.gatech.edu. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
- ^ "SXSW 2017 Schedule". schedule.sxsw.com. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
- ^ 2021 Fellows, American Association for the Advancement of Science, retrieved 2022-01-28
- ^ 2019 ACM Fellows Recognized for Far-Reaching Accomplishments that Define the Digital Age, Association for Computing Machinery, retrieved 2019-12-11
- ^ "Robin R Murphy". awards.acm.org. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
- ^ "ROBIN MURPHY". www.fieldrobotics.org. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
- ^ "Introducing the Class of 2010 – IEEE – The Institute". theinstitute.ieee.org. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
- ^ "2015 Award Winners – PROSE Awards". PROSE Awards. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
- ^ "Search and Rescue: Squad Leader Musters Robots to US Disaster Zones". WIRED. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
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