After studying computer science at the University of Twente in 1995, Mark Moll went abroad for an adventurous journey. What started with a PhD at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, has developed into carrying out some very special projects at Rice University in Houston. With researchers from NASA, he works on a new robot for their ISS. Last Friday, he was briefly back on campus.
COLLABORATION
One of the reasons for the visit of Mark Moll (43) was to see whether there might be any possibility of collaboration in various fields. "Collaboration is not immediately obvious, but it is certainly interesting to see what we can do together. This may involve students, research assistants or perhaps joint research. At first, we must examine the areas in which we can reinforce one another. We are all doing very specialized work, but there is always interesting common ground. We are now exploring this", says Moll.
Since 2002, Mark Moll has been affiliated with Rice University in Houston, Texas, where he is adjunct assistant professor. The university is located right next to the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical centre in the world. The huge amount of experimental data available from the centre forms an important input for the Moll's work.
With his research group Moll focuses on two disciplines:
- Robotics, motion planning and then more on the software side. Rice University is the cradle of one of the most widely used software packages in the robotics world and is one of the pioneers in the field.
- Computational biology, in which researchers focus on the design of new medicines.
NASA
One of the most eye-catching projects Moll is working on is a new robot for NASA's International Space Station (ISS). The collaboration has just started and the challenge is a robot that can perform all kinds of tasks on the ISS. The astronauts do this at present, but robots should also be able to perform routine tasks like measuring airflow or maintenance. This would initially only be inside the station, but later also outside. That would be a huge benefit because sending the astronauts outside has an enormous impact. Moll: "It would be fantastic if a robot could do that."
"Our work has to be up to a very high standard", Moll is aware, "NASA only wants really robust solutions." Working for the ISS is also accompanied by many new challenges. "There are all sorts of extra limitations in working in space; existing algorithms are unable to handle these."
LEO ROBOTICS
During his visit Moll gave a topical lecture, was informed about the research and facilities of the University of Twente and also sat at the table with the LEO Robotics team. The main aim of the recently established Center for Service Robotics is to promote innovation and business development in the field of robotics. Cooperation with the corporate sector is sought for this. Organizations such as Demcon and Het Roessingh are participating, and Clearflight Solutions, well-known for its robot bird, also recently joined.
