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Everybody needs a buddy – especially Navy divers. Working underwater is physically taxing, visibility is low, and divers can easily become exhausted or suffer from insufficient oxygen or nitrogen narcosis, resulting in cognitive impairment. The problem with relying on a partner who can come to your rescue, however, is that they are vulnerable to the same conditions.
That’s why Cornell researchers are working to understand how robots can assist humans in dangerous and physically challenging environments.
“We have these tools with amazing capacity, but for them to work with people, they need to be able to understand people,” said Andrea Stevenson Won, associate professor of communication in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “So if we have a robot buddy that can work with a diver when they’re doing these dangerous, challenging tasks in this really stressful setting underwater, then we can leverage all of the strength of the person – their intelligence, their ability to make good decisions quickly, to change strategies on the fly – and we can have a robot buddy that can keep them safe so that they can do that job again the next day.”
This research was done in collaboration with Joan and Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute Assoc. Prof. Shiri Azenkot.