Boreal wildlife species are moving north into Arctic tundra as climate change improves their habitat. Satellite research has shown the North American beaver has colonized vast areas of northwestern Alaska over the last 20 years. The new dams and hydrological changes are causing permafrost to thaw, but access to measure these effects is extremely difficult due to the remoteness of the terrain.
Project Vision
The BEAVER (Beaver Encroachment in the Arctic Visualized by Exploratory Robots) project advances heterogeneous multi-robot technologies to extend the reach of human sensing in difficult-to-access environments. We deploy teams of Uninhabited Aerial, Surface, and Underwater Systems (UxS) to obtain subsurface temperature and bathymetric measurements, as well as wildlife and ecosystem observations, at remote Arctic sites.
Research Contributions
- Vehicle innovations to improve mechanisms and algorithms for sample collection in new aquatic and terrestrial contexts
- Online replanning and retasking of sampling missions based on environmental and vehicle observations
- Understanding of user proficiency, mental models, and mutual adaptation for improved human-robot system performance
- Improved data collection in amphibious tundra environments to advance the science of permafrost thaw and global change
Broader Impacts
This work benefits organizations that monitor sensitive environmental regions by providing capabilities to sample previously inaccessible areas at unprecedented resolution, while reducing risk to both humans and the environment. The project trains hydrologists in UxS field operations and involves graduate and undergraduate students in multidisciplinary research through our REU site.