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Daily Digest Archive for July 31, 2003
Q: (Initially posted on July 28, 2003) FROM MENTEE
ALEXIS K. IN VA
I just finished a class in robotics at the University of Virginia
and now
understand the world of robotics much better. I have heard that
some people
think that space missions and ocean missions should ONLY be
done with the
use of robots and never with live people because the missions
have danger
and because it is a lot more expensive to send people. As a
fellow, but
honorary, Aquarius Aquanaut, who thinks hands-on work is really
important,
what do you think about all the money, time, training and that
is
needed to have scientists stay under the water for a long time
to conduct
experiments and explore the deep sea, and for scientists to
go into space to
learn more? Robots do the three "D's" (dangerous,
dull, and dirty work) for
us but a person is still required to monitor and/or control
the robot from a
distance and is therefore safe. Is the money and all well spent
or should it
be mostly or all robotics used which would be safer and cheaper? |
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July 31, 2003
A: FROM MENTOR LAUREN BATTE
IN MD
This is just my personal opinion but I have to agree with
you that
there is nothing that matches actual human experience in certain
situations. The manned vs. unmanned platform debate continues
to be a
serious one.
The strongest argument against manned exploration is frequently
the cost
which is no small concern. In a time of tight budgets across
many
sectors, cost effective means of conducting work are often
desirable.
At least underwater (the area I am familiar with), autonomous
underwater
vehicles (AUVs) and Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) perform
invaluable
tasks not only in pure science but for commercial, military,
and other
endeavours.
It is true that platforms such as underwater labs, submarines,
submersibles, and space shuttles are costly. However, I believe
that a
combination of both manned and unmanned platforms is the ideal
situation
to achieve the priority objectives underwater.
I'll give you an example from my personal experience. The
objective of
the mission at Aquarius that I participated in was to investigate
certain aspects of coral reef bleaching. The grant that my
professor
received to use Aquarius included the use of the a boat outside
of the
mission at other times during the year. He will travel back
to Florida
several other times this year with an AUV that he (and others)
designed
and built. The combination of the saturation time in the lab
and
followup, related measurements with the AUV will allow for
a broader
understanding and outcome from that which could be acheived
using only
one piece of this two part equation.
This is a great question and I encourage you to keep learning
more about
it through reading and talking to people.
********************
A: FROM MENTOR KRISTIN TAGHON
IN IL
Alexis,
It seems that this question is really a matter of opinion,
as far as what is
best for Science. My thought is that there is a healthy balance
that needs to
be met - use of robotics until the human interaction is needed.
This way, most
of the information can be gathered in a safe and efficient
way, limiting human
interaction, but not eliminating it. What do YOU think?
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