Scott Erwin
Chief Scientist, Space Vehicles Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)
Friday, Feb. 23 | 10:40 a.m. | AERO 120
Abstract: This talk will begin with a short overview of the current national and international driving forces that are influencing the evolution of human use and exploitation of the space domain. Specifically, we will look at how these factors are influencing the research and development interests of United States Space Force, and specifically the area of autonomy for space systems from a military perspective. The talk will focus on the interplay between decision making on the ground versus on-orbit, and their relationship with both on-board processing capability and communications technology. We will touch on current and future applications of interest, including: multi-spacecraft spacecraft formation control; space-based robotics and computer-vision methods for refueling and repair; and the integration of machine-learning approaches into both control and higher-level issues of spacecraft operations. The talk will conclude with some ways that students and faculty can collaborate with researchers at AFRL.
Bio: Dr. (Richard) Scott Erwin is Chief Scientist at Space Vehicles Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. His primary responsibility is the technical direction of the $300M+ annual science-and-technology research program there. He has been an AFRL employee from 1997 to the present, during which time he was the principal or co-investigator for six on-orbit AFRL flight experiments and authored or co-authored over 120 technical publications in the areas of autonomy, communications, controls. He is a Fellow of The Air Force Research Laboratory, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).