First Director of Autonomous Systems Research Laboratory Named

By Amanda Bowie, Naval Research Laboratory Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The director of the Naval Center for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), has been appointed as the first director of the Autonomous Systems Research Laboratory (ASRL).

Mr. Alan Schultz, currently the director of the Naval Center for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence, has 24 years of experience and over 100 publications in robotics, human-robot interaction, and machine learning, and is responsible for establishing and directing the robotics laboratory at NRL has been named as the first director of the ASRL.

"Autonomous systems are immensely important to naval systems and to DoD in general," said Schultz. "Because NRL has a very broad research program that cuts across almost all areas of autonomous systems, with key aspects of autonomy research happening in many of NRL's divisions, leading a coordinated effort to bring these pieces together to advance the state of the art in autonomy is very satisfying, as well as challenging."

The NRL has established the ASRL to support highly innovative, interdisciplinary research in autonomous systems. The laboratory will capitalize on the broad multidisciplinary character of NRL, bringing together scientists and engineers with disparate training and backgrounds to attack common goals at the intersection of their respective fields in autonomous systems. Estimated to be complete in October 2011, the new facility will be located at NRL Washington, D.C., between existing buildings 72 and 32.

The new facility, which will cost approximately $17.7 million to construct, will integrate science and technology components into research prototype systems and will become the nerve center for basic research that supports autonomous systems research for the Navy and Marine Corps.

"Every few decades a unique research facility is envisioned which has the potential to revolutionize the scientific methods and collaboration in various disciplines," said Capt. Paul Stewart, NRL commanding officer. "The ASRL is one of those unique facilities. This is an exciting venture for the scientists of NRL and the greater science community who can collaboratively use this asset to launch DoD autonomous systems forward into future generations."

In his capacity as director for the ASRL, Schultz will be primarily responsible for interacting with the broader community including potential Naval end users, sponsors and visitors of the laboratory.

There are currently several major funded projects slated for the ASRL, including an Office of Naval Research project on developing shipboard firefighting robots, and another that will be investigating advance techniques for testing and evaluating autonomy logic for unmanned underwater vehicles.

NRL is the Department of the Navy's corporate laboratory. NRL conducts a broad program of scientific research, technology, and advanced development. The laboratory, with a total complement of approximately 2,500 personnel, is located in southwest Washington, D.C., with other major sites at the Stennis Space Center, Miss.; and Monterey, Calif.