Marine and Maritime Intelligent Robotics (MIR)

Exploring the oceans, much like space, requires innovative solutions and new technology. The growing demand to protect, exploit and learn about some of our most precious resources calls for particular knowledge and skills to respond to the challenges of a harsh and unforgiving environment. The new Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Degree (EMJMD) Programme in Marine and Maritime Intelligent Robotics (MIR) (http://www.master-mir.eu) combines robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to advance marine and maritime science and its technological applications. It aims at building the capacity to enable advances in far reaching sea exploration, autonomous deep sea robots, teleoperations and the use of AI in these endeavours. The MIR programme is shaped to provide training in data science and state of the art applied robotics targeted at enhancing the efficiency, health, safety and environmental performance of the offshore industry and maritime operations. The EMJMD MIR programme offers competitive scholarships to welcome students worldwide and provides them with a common space to develop their shared passion for marine robotics and AI. The programme fosters cultural exchange and sharing of individual experiences. The master’s is conducted by a consortium of 4 well-established academic institutions in the domain of marine robotics research. The institutions are in 4 countries France (UTLN), Norway (NTNU), Portugal (UL-IST) and Spain (UJI), for which the ocean has played a key role in history and is anchored in society. The goal of the programme is to develop specialists in marine and maritime intelligent robotic systems, providing them with: a) a solid theoretical background in the marine physical processes and technical skills in robotics engineering control systems and sensors, b) grounded knowledge in Artificial Intelligence, enabling them to develop cutting edge robotics solutions to real world challenges, c) applied knowledge in subsea and maritime application fields, including blue growth of maritime and offshore sectors, as well as deep sea surveillance, biodiversity monitoring, subsea resources exploration, offshore structure maintenance, e-navigation and maritime security enhancement.Students completing the MIR Masters will be well equipped with skills and state of the art knowledge, enabling them to pursue a career in robotics engineering for the offshore oil and gas, renewable, naval, and maritime sectors. Additionally, the knowledge acquired in the use and function of intelligent robotics for the underwater environment will enable them to easily continue on to a PhD in multiple different fields, should they so desire.The programme was designed to address global challenges identified by the consortium, the gap between industry and academia, the slow convergence of AI and robotics communities and the geopolitical and cultural differences among participating countries. The MIR programme contains a growing worldwide network of more than 58 academic and industrial associate partners spanning more than 21 counmes and covering all oceans. Associate partners participate by providing industry-led lectures, internships, research collaborations and scholarships. Learning-by-doing courses cover the fundamentals of the marine environment, robotics and artificial intelligence, with an emphasis on the interconnections between these fields. A set of transversal skills is developed through courses in languages, scientific writing and entrepreneurship. Furthermore. the MIR consortium organises a yearly symposium hosting presentations from the students’ work, keynotes from distinguished scholars, industry representatives and competitive challenges in AI and robotics.While the first year of the course takes place at UTLN, each student specialises in one of the three study tracks, encompassing a 3rd semester at one of the other main partners’ institutions. Applied robotics for underwater intervention missions (UJI) aims to endow underwater robots with the capability to interact with the environment using manipulators, thus paving the way for the development of advanced systems for close-range underwater infrastructures inspection and maintenance as well as materials sampling. Safe Autonomous subsea operations (NTNU) targets increasing the level of automation and autonomy in routine or otherwise tedious operations which can improve safety, efficiency and performance, supporting the human operator in decision-making and supervision and reducing human workload. Cooperative marine robotics for scientific and commercial applications (IST-UL) focuses on groups of autonomous marine robots working in cooperation, networked via aerial, acoustic, and optical links to dramatically improve the means available for ocean exploration and exploitation at unprecedented temporal and spatial scales.MIR students write a master thesis related to their study track and supervised by one of the main partners and their work is presented at the MIR annual symposium. Graduates receive a double diploma from UTLN and the institution of their study track. The MIR programme fills a gap in the current EU education landscape by responding to a pressing demand for specialists in ocean technology. It does so by building a consortium of actors around the globe with the common goal of advancing education and research in AI and robotics for ocean applications.