Next time you see a pack of hounds sniffing around a landfill, they
may in fact be robots.
Visual Arts Assistant Professor Natalie Jeremijenko, along with
UCSD students in her art and technology class, surgically enhanced
commercial
robotic dogs, equipping them with cameras and air-sampling devices.
Then they dispatched them to collect scientific data about dangerous
toxins in environmentally damaged zones. The mechanical dogs are
part of Jeremijenko’s plan to teach students not only technical
competence but also an awareness of larger societal issues, and then
to create useful inventions that will spur change.
Last year, the dogs were unleashed at the Mission Bay landfill.
They have also traveled across oceans and been spotted sniffing
around
London and Dublin. This year, Jeremijenko will take her robo-pooches
for a workshop in the San Jose area to snoop out the contaminated
sites in Silicon Valley.
Finally, dogs with more byte than bark! 
Contributors to Making Waves: Mario Aguilera, '89, Marnette Federis, '06, Beverly Gallagher, '98, Raymond Hardie and Inga Kiderra. |
