Robotic One-Shot Exploration from Deep Ocean to Deep Space Workshop

Workshop Date: Thursday, October 1 (full day)
Conference Dates: September 27 – October 1, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Many of the most compelling environments for scientific discovery are also among the least accessible, from the deep ocean to the outer solar system and many locations in-between. Robotic exploration of these environments has traditionally progressed through a sequence of missions that incrementally refine system design and operational strategies, with humans closely involved in both planning and real-time decision-making.

This paradigm becomes infeasible when missions are extremely costly, communication is limited, and mission timelines prohibit rapid iteration. In deep ocean environments, research vessel availability affects development and deployment, and electromagnetic attenuation limits communication bandwidth.

In deep space, launch windows and travel times constrain mission development, and communication delays arise from the vast distances involved. In such settings, robotic systems should succeed in a single deployment, adapting to unforeseen challenges and opportunities as they are encountered.

This workshop will explore two key questions:

(1) How can robotic systems be made more adaptable at a system level through both hardware- and software-defined capabilities?

(2) How can robotic systems be made to recognize and exploit unexpected opportunities in unknown environments?

Topics will cover a broad range of robotics technologies, including multi-modal locomotion, embodied and morphological adaptation, multi-robot and distributed exploration, uncertainty-aware adaptive sensing and perception, human-robot interaction, and autonomous science. By fostering dialogue across ocean and space exploration communities, the workshop aims to identify common challenges, highlight emerging solutions, and build a research agenda for robotic systems capable of conducting meaningful scientific exploration in environments where there may be only one chance to get it right.