MICHELSON, ROBERT C.

Millennial Vision, LLC
Georgia Tech Research Institute
Georgia Institute of Technology

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Principal Research Engineer, Emeritus
Adjunct Associate Professor, (Ret)
President, Millennial Vision, LLC

Employment History
Millennial Vision, LLC
President
 
2004 - Present
Georgia Institute of Technology
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Integrated Product Team Leader
Technical Area Manager, Battlefield Robotics & Unmanned Systems
Branch Head, Instrumentation Technology Branch,
              Radar & Instrumentation Laboratory
Principal Research Engineer, Emeritus
Principal Research Engineer
Senior Research Engineer
Research Engineer II
Research Engineer I
Graduate Research Assistant

  
1995 - 2004
1990 - 2004
1985 - 1990

2004 - Eternity
1992 - 2004
1981 - 1992
1977 - 1981
1975 - 1977
1973 - 1974
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
Research Engineer
  
1971 - 1973

Education
M.S.E.E. 1974, Georgia Institute of Technology
B.S.E.E. 1973, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
  
1969 - 1973
1974 - 1975

Experience Summary

Currently consulting through Millennial Vision, LLC in the area unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) with emphasis on biologically inspired micro and nano air vehicles (MAV/NAV), while also working in the areas of stratospheric and high altitude tropospheric unmanned airships, and remote sensing. Was member of the International Organizing Committee and official rules author for the 1st US-Asian Demonstration and Assessment of Micro Aerial Vehicle and Unmanned Ground Vehicle Technology (MAV-08) as adjunct to the U.S. Army RDECOM-Pacific and Indian Ministry of Defence. Performed a similar role during the 1st US-European MAV event (MAV-06). Has been Director and Principal Investigator (PI) for over 30 major projects during career at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Was GTRI Director for stratospheric airship programs and the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts project to develop an autonomous Mars surveyor for flight in the lower atmosphere of Mars. Was also Director of the DARPA Mesomachine effort to develop an “Entomopter” (mechanical insect-like multimode aerial robot). Was Director for the Department of Transportation’s Traffic Surveillance Drone project. Directed various efforts pertaining to future transportation, especially near term electric vehicles and futuristic designs. Performed verification and validation analyses of man-in-the-loop virtual reality simulators for STRICOM. Directed a DARPA program to show feasibility of a non-line-of-sight radio-acoustic sensor for bending radar signals using the Bragg principle to detect obstacle-masked targets. Directed project to develop the avionics suite for an Air Force Robotic Air-to-Air Combat vehicle. Directed project to specify dual-mode IR/MMW seeker parameters for a lethal unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system. Responsible for generating remote flight control system specifications for Soviet “HAVOC” and “HOKUM” gunship drone simulators for the U.S. Army. Directed task to develop a rotary winged UAV digital stability augmentation system for MICOM. Directed project to evaluate ground penetration radar for detection of buried natural gas leaks in urban utility systems. Managed construction of a 95 and 35 GHz multimode millimeter wave instrumentation radar system to provide calibrated characterization of high interest military targets. Directed programs to develop a Ka-band Linear ECM Source (KABLES) for the Army, and to develop a Sonar Scan Converter for the Navy. Directed program to create a Coherent Repeater to test foreign threat assets. Directed Army Indirect Fire Simulation effort conducted for Combat Development and Experimentation Command. Directed task to build a transponder for flight test against Army threat simulators. Directed NASA’s Sirenian Tracking Project, which involved remote electronic sensing of location and tracking of the aquatic mammal Trichechus manatus. Chief designer of the target processing unit for the Army’s Environment and Radar Operation Simulator (EROS).

Michelson has been invited lecturer on Micro Air Vehicle technology at both the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics (’99) and the Royal Military Academy (’01) in Brussels. Mitre Technology Speaker (’98). Adjunct Associate Professor to the School of Aerospace Engineering teaching classes in avionics for UAVs and Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) Design. Visiting technology professor in five nations: Australia, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, and Turkey. Created the short course, “21st Century Aerial Robotics” and the digital signal processing lecture/demonstrations in “Principals of Modern Radar.” Is also creator and organizer of the annual International Aerial Robotics Competitions. Prior to joining GTRI staff, participated in design and endo-atmospheric flight testing of computer-controlled space-based radar ocean surveillance systems while employed by the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC.

Positions of Leadership and Special Recognition

Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Presently Editor for Robotics Systems, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems. Full Member of the Scientific Research Society of North America, Sigma Xi, past President and member of the Board of Directors of AUVS International organization, has been appointed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force to represent the United States on the NATO Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (AGARD) AAS-36 panel considering “Future Use of Unmanned Air Vehicle Systems in the Maritime Environment.” In 1998 Michelson received the Pioneer Award which is the highest level of recognition within the unmanned systems industry for technical contributions to advance the state-of-the-art and move the community forward into the new millennium. Michelson is the recipent of the “2001 Pirelli Award for the diffusion of scientific culture” given by an international Jury for the “best multimedia project coming from any educational institution in the world.” For endeavors related to the Entomopter, he was also awarded the first €25,000 Top Pirelli Prize for the work deemed best from an international field of over 1000 considered. Michelson is listed in various editions of Who’s Who in Engineering, Who’s Who in America, and the 23rd edition of Who’s Who in the World.

Current Fields of Interest

Biologically-inspired robotics; unmanned aerial vehicles; autonomous systems; transportation systems; digital/hybrid computer design; machine vision; special purpose digital machines; process control; physical security/contraband interdiction/anti-terrorism.

Patents
  1. “Entomopter and Method for Using Same”, U.S. Patent No. 6,082,671, July 4, 2000
  2. “Battery State of Charge Detector with Rapid Charging Capability and Method”, U.S. Patent No. 6,094,033, July 25, 2000
  3. “Reciprocating Chemical Muscle (RCM) and Method for Using Same”, U.S. Patent No. 6,446,909, September 10, 2002

Major Reports and Publications
  1. "New Perspectives on Biologically-Inspired MAVs (bio motivation rather than bio mimicry)," 1st US-Asian Demonstration and Assessment of MAV and UGV Technology Conference, Agra India, 10-15 March 2008, author.
  2. “Very small flying machines,” 2006 Yearbook of Science & Technology, McGraw-Hill, New York, ISBN 0-07-146205-8, 2006, pp. 341 - 344, author.
  3. “Novel Approaches to Miniature Flight Platforms,” Proceedings of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, Vol. 218 Part G: Journal of Aerospace Engineering, Special Issue Paper 2004, pp. 363 - 373, author
  4. “Beyond Biologically-Inspired Insect Flight,” von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics RTO/AVT Lecture Series on Low Reynolds Number Aerodynamics on Aircraft Including Applications in Emerging UAV Technology, Brussels Belgium, 24-28 November 2003, coauthor/lecturer
  5. “Extraterrestrial Flight (Entomopter-based Mars Surveyor),” von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics RTO/AVT Lecture Series on Low Reynolds Number Aerodynamics on Aircraft Including Applications in Emerging UAV Technology, Brussels Belgium, 24-28 November 2003, coauthor/lecturer
  6. “Scaling of Biologically Inspired Aerial Robots,” 5th International Workshop on Similarity Methods, Institut für Statik und Dynamik der Luft- und Raumfahrtkonstruktionen, Universität Stuttgart, 4 - 5 November 2002, pp. 71 - 78, author/invited keynote plenary.
  7. “Planetary Exploration Using Biomimetics - An Entomopter for Flight on Mars,” Phase II Final Report, NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts Project NAS5-98051, October 2002, coauthor
  8. “The Entomopter,” Neurotechnology for Biomimetic Robots, ISBN 0-262-01193-X, The MIT Press, September 2002, pp. 481 - 509 (chapter author).
  9. “Full Autonomy of Intelligent Flight,” Information, Decision, and Control Symposium, Adelaide, Australia, 11 - 13 February, 2002, IEEE Catalog No. 01EX528C, ISBN 0-7803-7271-9, pp.7 - 12, author/invited keynote plenary
  10. "Reciprocating Chemical Muscle (RCM) for Specialized Micro UAVs and other Nonelectric Anaerobic Aerospace Actuation Applications," U.S. Air Force Research Laboratories (AFRLMNGN) Grant No. F086300010007, October, 2001, coauthor
  11. “How High will our Micro Air Vehicle Technology Take Us?,” Unmanned Vehicles (UV) for Aerial, Ground and Naval Military Operations Keynote, NATO Research and Technology Organization Proceedings 52, Applied Vehicle Technology Panel (AVT), Ankara, Turkey, 9 - 13 October 2000, pp. K3-1 to K3-17, author
  12. “The International Aerial Robotics Competition - a Decade of Excellence,” Unmanned Vehicles (UV) for Aerial, Ground and Naval Military Operations, NATO Research and Technology Organization Proceedings 52, Applied Vehicle Technology Panel (AVT), Ankara, Turkey, 9 - 13 October 2000, pp. SC3-1 to SC-24, author
  13. “Planetary Exploration Using Biomimetics,” NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts Phase I Final Report, November 30, 2000, coauthor
  14. “Mesoscaled Aerial Robot,” Final Report under DARPA/DSO Contract Number: DABT63-98-C-0057, February 2000, coauthor
  15. “MicroFlyers and Aerial Robots; Missions and Design Criteria,” proceedings of the NATO/RTA lecture series “Development and Operation of UAVs for Military and Civil Applications”, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Brussels Belgium, September 13 - 19, 1999, RTO-EN-9, AC/323(AVT)TP/24, April 2000, pp. 7-1 to 7-13, author/lecturer
  16. “Autonomous Navigation,” 2000 Yearbook of Science & Technology, McGraw-Hill, New York, ISBN 0-07-052771-7, 1999, pp. 28 - 30, author
  17. “Update on Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle Research- Ongoing work to develop a flapping wing, crawling Entomopter,” 13th Bristol International RPV/UAV Systems Conference Proceedings, Bristol England, 30 March 1998 - 1 April 1998, pp. 30.1 - 30.12 principal author/lecturer
  18. “Les Plus Petites Machines Volantes Intelligentes du Monde”, Radio Commande Magazine, ISSN 0290-9693, April, 1998, pp. 22 - 27, author
  19. “International Aerial Robotics Competition- The world’s smallest intelligent flying machines,” 13th Bristol International RPV/UAV Systems Conference Proceedings, Bristol England, 30 March 1998 - 1 April 1998, pp. 31.1 - 30.10 author/invited paper lecturer
  20. “A Reciprocating Chemical Muscle (RCM) for Micro Air Vehicle “Entomopter” Flight,” 1997 Proceedings of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems, International, June 1997, pp.429 - 435, coauthor/lecturer
  21. “Autonomous Vehicles,” Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 84, No. 8, August 1996, pp. 1147 - 1164, coauthor
  22. “Feasibility of Applying Radio-Acoustic Techniques to Non Line-of-Sight Sensing,” AIAA Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 33, No. 2, March - April 1996, pp. 260 - 267, coauthor
  23. “Remotely-Piloted Aircraft for Earth Science Measurements,” NASA Headquarters workshop, Washington, D.C., editors: Michelson, R., Muller Karger, F., Radke, L., Unsworth, M., Welch, April 9 - 11, 1996
  24. “The Future is... NATO: the road ahead for UAVs in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,” Unmanned Systems Volume 14, Number 1, Winter 1996, pp 8 - 14, author
  25. “The Future of UAVs in NATO,” Proceedings of the NATO Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development, AGARD-CP-591, Flight Vehicle Integration Panel Specialists’ Meeting on the “Design and Operation of Unmanned Air Vehicles,” Ankara, Turkiye, October 11, 1995, pp 11/1 - 11/5, author/keynote UAV lecture
  26. “Enabling Technologies for UAVs,” Proceedings of the NATO Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development, AGARD-CP-591, Flight Vehicle Integration Panel Specialists’ Meeting on the “Design and Operation of Unmanned Air Vehicles,” Ankara, Turkiye, October 11, 1995, pp 17/1 - 17/10, author/lecturer
  27. “New Technology: Intelligent Building Sensors,” Intergovernmental Energy Management Workshop, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, GA, December 6, 1994, invited lecturer
  28. “UAV Technology Issues,” National Technical Specialists’ Meeting on Helicopter Military Operations Technology (HELMOT VI), Williamsburg, VA, November 1 - 3, 1994, invited lecturer
  29. “Future Use of Unmanned Air Vehicle Systems in the Maritime Environment,” NATO Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development advisory report, Aerospace Applications Study (AAS)-36, AGARD-AR-307 Vols. 1 and 2, August 1994, coauthor
  30. “Feasibility of Applying Radio-Acoustic Techniques to Non Line-of-Sight Sensing,” 15th AIAA Aeroacoustics Conference, Long Beach, CA, October 25 - 27, 1993, principal author/lecturer
  31. “Vertical Flight Intermodal Transportation Requirements and Demonstration,” (GPS section), Federal Aviation Administration, A-9251 Final Report, March 1993, coauthor
  32. “Non Line-of-Sight Sensor,” DARPA, A-9271 Final Report, Contract DAAA91-92-C-0098, March 1993, coauthor
  33. “Robotic Air-to-Air Combat Vehicle (RAAC) Integrated Avionics Suite Definition,” Final Report No. A-9107-F (SAIC contract 15-920103-78 under prime F33615-87-C-0531), for Wright Patterson AFB, WL/FIMM, July 1992, author
  34. “Telerobotic Testing of Autonomous Air Vehicles,” Proceedings of the 1992 IEEE/AIAA National Telesystems Conference, Washington D.C., May 19 - 20, 1992, author/lecturer
  35. “Advanced Vehicle Control Systems,” Proceedings of the Workshop on Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems and Advanced Transportation Technologies, Atlanta, Georgia, July 14 - 16, 1991, author
  36. “Automatic Control of a Truck-Mounted Drill Rig,” presented at the International Symposium on Mine Mechanization and Automation, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, June 10 - 13, 1991, coauthor
  37. “Telerobotic Control Issues for NLOS, NOE Rotary Wing Target Drones,” Proceedings of the 1991 National Telesystems Conference, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Atlanta, Georgia, March 26 - 27, 1991, author/lecturer
  38. “Automation of a Truck-Mounted Drill Rig,” Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Cambridge, Massachusetts, April 13 - 16, 1991, coauthor
  39. “Hokum Target Concept Emulator Analysis Specification,” Contract DAAH01-89-D-0133-0002, August 1990, coauthor
  40. “Sprite Unmanned Air Vehicle,” Unmanned Systems Volume 8, Number 1, Winter 1990, author
  41. “Havoc Droning and Instrumentation,” Havoc Drone Specification, Contract No. DAAH01-89-D-A004, February 1990, author
  42. “Multimode Seeker for Lethal UAVs,” Final Report, E-Systems’ Contract No. V3987A, December 1989, coauthor
  43. “Techniques to Achieve UAV VTOL by Means Other Than Fully Articulated Rotors,” Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Joint Technology Center and Test Bed Support Final Technical Report, Contract No. DAAH01-87-D-0082, November 1989, author
  44. “Air Defense Sensor System Analysis,” Final Report, Contract No. DAAB07-87-D-P008 D.O. 0007/03, March 1989, coauthor
  45. “Mission Control,” Section 2, Final Report to Special Working Group 11, Mission Essential Equipments Committee, UAV Feasibility for small NATO ships, December 1988, coauthor
  46. “Specialized Engineering for Special Operations Forces,” Final Report, Contract No. F09603-85-G-3104-0021, November 1988, coauthor
  47. “Digital Autopilots for Rotary Winged Unmanned Aerial Vehicles,” Proceedings of the National Specialist’s Meeting on Automation Applications for Rotorcraft, American Helicopter Society, Atlanta, Georgia, April 4 - 6, 1988, author/lecturer
  48. “Analysis for a Stability Augmentation System for a Rotary Wing Target,” Final Report No. E-16-619/A-4891-F on Contract DAAH01-87-D-0082, Task Order 23, November 1987, coauthor
  49. “Advanced Concepts and Technology Committee (ACT),” Final Report, Contract No. DAAH01-87-D-0082, D.O. 0011, November 1987, author
  50. “Application of Autonomous Rotary Winged Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to Naval Operations,” Proceedings of the 1987 RPV Symposium Incorporating Advanced Technologies into Aerial RPV Systems to Support U.S. and NATO Missions, Naval Air Systems Command and ADPA, Virginia Beach, VA, June 1987, author
  51. “Results of an Experiment in Networking Computer Resources at the Georgia Tech Research Institute,” University System of Georgia Computer Network 1986 Fall Conference, October 1986, author/lecturer
  52. “Remote Detection of Natural Gas Leaks from Buried Utility Pipes by Electromagnetic Means,” Final Report, Contract No. GRI-50084-252-112 (subcontract to the Philadelphia Electric Company; prime to the Gas Research Institute), June 1986, coauthor, technical editor
  53. “High Power Millimeter Wave Electronic Countermeasures Source (U),” Proceedings of the Tenth DARPA/Tri-Service Millimeter Wave Symposium (U), SECRET DARPA-TIO-86-1, Adelphi, Maryland, April 1986, author
  54. “Tactical Submersible Display Compression Through the Use of Multimode Microcircuitry,” 1985 Government Microcircuit Applications Conference Digest, Orlando, Florida, November 1985, principal author/lecturer
  55. “Improved High Power Emitter Simulation Study- Phase A,” Final Report, Contract No. N00421-84-C-0237, July 1985, coauthor
  56. “Millimeter Wave Component Technology Survey,” January 1985, prepared under contract MDA904-84-C-7115 to the Maryland procurement office, Fort George G. Meade, MD, coauthor, technical editor
  57. “Sonar Scan Converter,” Final Report No. N00612-79-D-8004-HR53-F, June 1984, principal author
  58. “Ka-Band Linear ECM Source (KABLES),” Final Report No. F33615-81-C-1530-F, June 1984, principal author
  59. “Advanced Surveillance and Target Acquisition Radar (ASTAR) Prototype,” Final Report on Contract No. DAAK20-82-C-0144, February 1983, coauthor
  60. “Tracking of the Florida Manatee,” ISA Transactions, Vol. 21, No. 1, 1982, pp. 79 - 85, author
  61. “Direct Support and General Support Maintenance Manual for the Georgia Tech Coherent Repeater,” April 1982, principal author
  62. “Operator’s Training and Maintenance Manual for the Georgia Tech Coherent Repeater,” April 1982, principal author
  63. “An Indirect-Fire Terminal Effects Simulator,” Proceedings of the 3rd Interservice/Industry Training Equipment Conference, Orlando, Florida, December 1981, principal author
  64. “The Automated Remote Tracking of the Florida Manatee (Trichechus manatus ),” Proceedings of the 1981 IEEE SOUTHEASTCON, Huntsville, Alabama, April 1981, pp. 96 - 100, author/lecturer
  65. “Tracking of the Florida Manatee (Trichechus manatus ),” Proceedings of the 18th Annual Rocky Mountain Bioengineering Symposium, Laramie, Wyoming, April 1981, author/lecturer
  66. “A-10 All Weather Targeting System Concept Study,” Final Report on Contract P. O. #SC37733 (A-2747), January 1981, coauthor
  67. “Indirect Fire Simulator- Cue System Development,” Final Report, Contract No. DAAG08-78-C-0191-F, January 1980, principal author
  68. “EROS Hardware Manual,” Report ERADCOM-77-2174-1A, May 1979, coauthor
  69. “West Indian Manatees on Edge of Extinction,” The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, 18-C (8 February 1979), author
  70. “Radar Beamsplitting Experiments and Feasibility Demonstration of a Combined Electro-Optical/Radar Sensor System,” Final Report No. N00014-77-C-0638, July 1978, coauthor
  71. “Research at Georgia Tech: Manatee Tracking,” a radio program produced by WREK in conjunction with the Publications and Information Office of the Georgia Tech Research Institute, June 1978, author
  72. “Automated Tracking of the Florida Manatee (Trichechus manatus ),” Final Report No. NAS10-9097-F, June 1978, principal author
  73. “Environment and Radar Operation Simulator,” Proceedings of the NAAG Panel XIV (EW) Group, Brussels, Belgium (invited paper), January 1978, coauthor
  74. “Communications Technology Report,” Proceedings of the AIAA/NASA Conference on Aerospace Technology Transfer to the Public Sector, 9-11 November 1977, coauthor/invited participant
  75. “Environment and Radar Operation Simulator,” Proceedings of the Sixteenth Annual U.S. Army Operation Research Symposium (AORS XVI), 12-14 October 1977, Fort Lee, Virginia, coauthor
  76. “Environment and Radar Operation Simulator,” ECOM-74-0272-F, Final Report, September 1977, coauthor
  77. “Research and Development Technical Report for the Environment and Radar Operation Simulator,” Report Nos. ECOM-74-0272-1 through 6 and 9, Project A-1649-000, September 1974 - December 1976, coauthor
  78. “Charge-Coupled Devices for Analog-to-Digital Conversion,” Master’s Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, November 1974, author

Interests and Hobbies

o Marine Aquaria (currently maintaining 200 gallon system)
o Scuba Diving (NAUI certified)
o HAM Radio (FCC Amateur Extra class licensed, N4ATE)
o Language Study (English - fluent/native, Español - basic, Türkçe - basic)
o Built and Flown Experimentally-Rated Gyrocopter [details] [movie]
o Archeology (esp. Biblical), Paleontology, and Catastrophist Hypotheses (also, for example this and this).
o Robotics and Machine Intelligence (esp. fully autonomous systems)
o Ornithology
o Botany
o Built my own home (currently for sale - see "http://www.private-estate.info" )
o Sons: Christian (AI4XY) and Stuart (KG4ZIR)
o Interesting Natural Phenomena (incl. tornados, E-field interactions, planetary "coincidences" violating theories of "chaos")
o The International Aerial Robotics Competition which I created in 1991 and have administered ever since...

 

Robert Michelson
Principal Research Engineer, Emeritus
Georgia Tech Research Institute
Aerospace, Transportation & Advanced Systems Laboratory (ATAS-CCRF)
7220 Richardson Road
Smyrna, Georgia 30080 U.S.A.
robert.michelson@gtri.gatech.edu
GTRI Voice: (770) 597-7568

President - Millennial Vision, LLC
P.O. Box 4261
Canton, Georgia 30114 U.S.A.
millennialvision.llc@gmail.com
Millennial Vision Voice: (770) 597-7568
(Michelson Woodstock Georgia estate-- see: http://www.Victorian-Estate.info right now!) ( Atlanta Georgia real estate, home house for sale)