When a small battalion of 100-pound robots appeared in the lake behind FIU's Green Library, onlookers had no idea they were witnessing the future of marine environmental monitoring. To casual observers, it seemed like autonomous vessels moving at random and nearly colliding with each other.
But Paulo Padrão knew what was really happening.
The recent computer science graduate student was testing how well robots programmed with AI could scout a body of water without continuously communicating. The near collisions weren't accidental. Rather, the robots’ algorithms were directing them to intentionally sweep close to each other to scan as much of the water as possible.
"Buoys and other traditional water monitors only tell you what's happening in one spot," Padrão explained. "But when we put AI-powered robots in a lake, they can map the entire area."
Read more at FIU News.