Derek Andrew Paley is an American aerospace engineer, academic, and researcher[1] specializing in collective dynamics and control in natural and robotic systems.[2] He is the Willis H. Young Jr. Professor of Aerospace Engineering Education at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he holds a joint appointment with the Institute for Systems Research (ISR).[3] He is the recipient of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics National Capital Section's Engineer of the Year[4] and Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.[5]
He is also the director of the Maryland Robotics Center (MRC) and has affiliations with the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center.[6]
Education and career
editPaley earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Physics from Yale University in 1997 and went on to receive a Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University in 2007.[7]
He founded the Collective Dynamics and Control Laboratory (CDCL) in 2007, focusing on the development of algorithms and control systems for autonomous robotic vehicles and bioinspired systems.[8] Since becoming director of the Maryland Robotics Center in 2019,[9] Paley has overseen developments in robotics education and research at the University of Maryland.[10]
He has received teaching awards, such as the UMD Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Award and the Exemplary Researcher Award. Paley also serves as the Technical Director of the M.Eng. Robotics program.[11]
The Autonomous Micro Air Vehicle (AMAV) team, which he founded, has won multiple national awards, including the NIST UAS First Responder Challenge.[12][13] He was also honored as a UMD Distinguished Scholar-Teacher for the 2020–2021 academic year. He is also and associate fellow with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.[11]
Researches
editHis work includes developing distributed control algorithms, conducting hypothesis-driven studies on biological collectives, and optimizing sensor networks for environmental monitoring.[14] His research has been funded by agencies such as DARPA, the Army Research Laboratory (ARL), and the Office of Naval Research (ONR), with total funding exceeding $23 million.[15][16]
Paley's research integrates dynamics, estimation, and control theory to address challenges in autonomous robotics, mobile sensor networks, and bioinspired engineering.[17]
He has published in the fields of dynamics and controls, with over 100 peer-reviewed articles and his work has been cited more than 8,000 times, with an h-index of 38 as of 2024.[6] In 2021, he explored autonomous scooters as part of his research in robotics and artificial intelligence.[3] His interest in autonomous systems began in the late 1990s when he encountered autonomous underwater vehicles, which led him to pursue graduate studies in control systems.[18] Paley's recent work involves developing self-driving scooters, focusing on their ability to reposition themselves for greater convenience in shared spaces like college campuses.[19]
Paley and his students have built prototypes of autonomous scooters equipped with sensors, working towards a goal of enabling scooters to travel short distances autonomously.[20]
Paley and his team have developed fish-inspired underwater vehicles with flexible tails powered by electric motors and momentum wheels.[21] These robots are designed to mimic real fish movements and respond to hydrodynamic signals, including vortices generated by nearby "fish."[1]
Selected publications
edit- Leonard, Naomi Ehrich; Paley, Derek A.; Lekien, Francois; Sepulchre, Rodolphe; Fratantoni, David M.; Davis, Russ E. (2007). "Collective Motion, Sensor Networks, and Ocean Sampling". Proceedings of the IEEE. 95 (1): 48–74. doi:10.1109/jproc.2006.887295. ISSN 0018-9219.
- Fiorelli, E.; Leonard, N.E.; Bhatta, P.; Paley, D.; Bachmayer, R.; Fratantoni, D.M. (2004). "Multi-AUV control and adaptive sampling in Monterey Bay". 2004 IEEE/OES Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (IEEE Cat. No.04CH37578). IEEE: 134–147. doi:10.1109/auv.2004.1431204. ISBN 0-7803-8543-8.
- Sepulchre, Rodolphe; Paley, Derek A.; Leonard, Naomi Ehrich (2007). "Stabilization of Planar Collective Motion: All-to-All Communication". IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control. 52 (5): 811–824. doi:10.1109/tac.2007.898077. hdl:2268/33233. ISSN 0018-9286.
- Sepulchre, Rodolphe; Paley, Derek A.; Leonard, Naomi Ehrich (2008). "Stabilization of Planar Collective Motion With Limited Communication". IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control. 53 (3): 706–719. doi:10.1109/tac.2008.919857. hdl:2268/75775. ISSN 0018-9286.
- Leonard, Naomi E.; Paley, Derek A.; Davis, Russ E.; Fratantoni, David M.; Lekien, Francois; Zhang, Fumin (2010-09-21). "Coordinated control of an underwater glider fleet in an adaptive ocean sampling field experiment in Monterey Bay". Journal of Field Robotics. 27 (6): 718–740. doi:10.1002/rob.20366. hdl:1853/38910. ISSN 1556-4959.
- "Oscillator Models and Collective Motion". IEEE Control Systems. 27 (4): 89–105. 2007. doi:10.1109/mcs.2007.384123. hdl:2268/25413. ISSN 1066-033X.
- Paley, D.A.; Zhang, F.; Leonard, N.E. (2008). "Cooperative Control for Ocean Sampling: The Glider Coordinated Control System". IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology. 16 (4): 735–744. doi:10.1109/tcst.2007.912238. ISSN 1063-6536.
- Zhang, F.; Fratantoni, D. M.; Paley, D. A.; Lund, J. M.; Leonard, N. E. (2007). "Control of coordinated patterns for ocean sampling". International Journal of Control. 80 (7): 1186–1199. doi:10.1080/00207170701222947. hdl:1853/38880. ISSN 0020-7179.
- Sepulchre, Rodolphe; Paley, Derek; Leonard, Naomi (2004-11-13), "Collective Motion and Oscillator Synchronization", Lecture Notes in Control and Information Sciences, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 189–205, doi:10.1007/978-3-540-31595-7_11, ISBN 978-3-540-22861-5, retrieved 2024-11-27
- Bachmayer, R.; Leonard, N.E.; Graver, J.; Fiorelli, E.; Bhatta, P.; Paley, D. (2004). "Underwater gliders: Recent developments and future applications". Proceedings of the 2004 International Symposium on Underwater Technology (IEEE Cat. No.04EX869). IEEE. pp. 195–200. doi:10.1109/ut.2004.1405540. ISBN 0-7803-8541-1.
References
edit- ^ a b "Inspired by Nature: Autonomous Underwater Robotics - IEEE Spectrum". spectrum.ieee.org. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ "Former MAE Graduate Student Derek Paley Builds Fish Inspired Robots | Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering". mae.princeton.edu. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ a b Laris, Michael. "Shared scooters aren't always where you need them. A U-Md. researcher has a plan for that". Washington Post.
- ^ https://www.colorado.edu/aerospace/sites/default/files/attached-files/derek_paley.pdf Derek Paley - Aerospace Seminar
- ^ "President Obama Honors Outstanding Early-Career Scientists". whitehouse.gov. 2013-12-23. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ a b "Dr. Paley joins aerospace faculty". aero.umd.edu. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ "Paley Awarded Willis H. Young Jr. Faculty Fellowship". robotics.umd.edu. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ "Derek Paley". UMD Right Now. 2020-10-13. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ "Newly-Opened SMART Building to Spur Autonomy Research". enme.umd.edu. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ Scott, William L.; Paley, Derek A. (2020). "Geometric Gait Design for a Starfish-Inspired Robot Using a Planar Discrete Elastic Rod Model". Advanced Intelligent Systems. 2 (6): 1900186. doi:10.1002/aisy.201900186. ISSN 2640-4567.
- ^ a b "Paley, Derek A. | Maryland Robotics Center". robotics.umd.edu. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ "Program". IEEE Military Communications Conference. 2024-05-24. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ "AMAV (UMD)". NIST. 2022-07-29.
- ^ "Anyone can fly their drones at UMD's new flight lab". The Diamondback. January 1000. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ Babcock, Stephen (2021-05-27). "UMD and UMBC are teaming with the Army Research Lab on a $68M effort to advance AI, robotics". Technical.ly. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ "Paley is Principal Investigator for $2M 'SEA-STAR' grant". eng.umd.edu. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ Kaoshar, Joynob; Paley, Derek (2024). "Dynamics and Control of an Autonomous Buoyancy-Driven Underwater Robot". 2024 Regional Student Conferences. AIAA Regional Student Conferences. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. doi:10.2514/6.2024-84606. ISBN 978-1-62410-730-6.
- ^ "NSF Award Search: Award # 2031566 - I-Corps: A Self-driving Autonomous Electric Scooter". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ "Derek Paley's e-scooter work featured in Washington Post". aero.umd.edu. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ "Bird Scooters Are Now Available on Google Maps - dot.LA". dot.la. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
- ^ "Microsoft, UMD Team Up for Diversity in Robotics". Maryland Today. 2022-08-03. Retrieved 2024-11-27.