Robert C. Michelson (Robert Carroll Michelson)

Background

Robert Carroll Michelson was born on April 24, 1951, in Washington, District of Columbia, to Carroll Edward Michelson and Evelyn Othea Michelson. He attended Burgundy Farm Country Day School and graduated from Fort Hunt High School in 1969. During his high-school years, he participated in experimental rocketry through the Fort Hunt Amateur Rocket Club.

Michelson has been described as a relative of Christian Michelsen, the first prime minister of Norway. His early interest in rockets, electronics, and flight preceded an engineering career that combined military research, radar instrumentation, aerospace systems, and robotics.

Education

Michelson attended Burgundy Farm Country Day School before graduating from Fort Hunt High School in 1969. Fort Hunt High School served students in Fairfax County, Virginia, during a period when the Washington metropolitan area was expanding rapidly through federal, technological, and defense-related activity.

He received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1973 and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1974. Virginia Tech had an established land-grant engineering tradition, while Georgia Tech was a major American technological institute whose programs connected electrical engineering with industrial and national research. His education provided the foundation for later work in radar, avionics, sensors, and autonomous vehicles.

Career

Michelson began his professional career as a research engineer at the United States Naval Research Laboratory from 1971 to 1973. The laboratory, a major federal center for naval science and engineering, conducted research relevant to electronics, communications, sensors, and defense systems.

He joined the Georgia Institute of Technology's Radar and Instrumentation Laboratory as Research Engineer I from 1975 to 1977 and Research Engineer II from 1977 to 1981. Georgia Tech's research laboratories supported applied engineering programs for government and industry, while radar instrumentation formed part of the broader development of electronic sensing, simulation, and test systems.

Michelson then worked at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, serving as Senior Research Engineer from 1981 to 1992 and Principal Research Engineer from 1992 until his retirement from the University System of Georgia in 2004. He was Branch Head of the Instrumentation Technology Branch in the Aerospace, Transportation and Advanced Systems Laboratory from 1985 to 1990 and became Technical Area Manager for Battlefield Robotics and Unmanned Systems beginning in 1990. His work included radar and electronic countermeasure systems, unmanned vehicles, micro air vehicles, autonomous systems, and biologically inspired flight.

At Georgia Tech, Michelson developed the Entomopter, a flapping-winged aerial robot designed around principles observed in insect flight. The system combined miniature aerodynamics, autonomous control, and a reciprocating chemical muscle intended to provide power and actuation for small aerial vehicles. The Entomopter also became the subject of studies concerning reconnaissance and possible exploration of the thin atmosphere of Mars.

Michelson established the International Aerial Robotics Competition in 1991, creating a recurring research and educational challenge in which teams developed autonomous aircraft to perform increasingly difficult missions. He also represented the United States and served as deputy chief referee for the Aviation Industry Corporation of China's UAV Grand Prix in 2011, 2013, and 2015. His international professional activities included lectures and visiting technology professorships in Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America.

From the late 1990s through 2004, Michelson served as Adjunct Associate Professor in the Georgia Tech School of Aerospace Engineering, where he taught avionics and related subjects in unmanned aerial vehicle and micro air vehicle design. He created the short course 21st Century Aerial Robotics and contributed instructional material on digital signal processing and radar. After retirement, he continued to be identified as Principal Research Engineer Emeritus at the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

Achievements

• Michelson invented the Entomopter, a biologically inspired flapping-winged aerial robot that combined miniature flight, autonomous systems, and a reciprocating chemical muscle for propulsion and actuation.

• Michelson established the International Aerial Robotics Competition in 1991, creating a long-running international challenge for autonomous aerial vehicles and advancing engineering education in unmanned systems.

• Michelson organized and supported major international micro air vehicle demonstrations, including the first U.S.-European Micro Air Vehicle Competition and Demonstration in Garmisch, Germany, in 2005 and the first U.S.-Asian Micro Air Vehicle Demonstration in Agra, India, in 2008.

• Michelson's work on aerial robotics and the International Aerial Robotics Competition was recognized by Georgia Senate Resolution 1255 in 2016.

Works

• book chapter

  • The Entomopter

    (Michelson's chapter in Neurotechnology for Biomimetic Rob...)

    2002
  • Micro Air Vehicles

    (Michelson's chapter in the Handbook of Unmanned Aerial Ve...)

    2014

• patent

  • US Patent 6,446,909, Reciprocating Chemical Muscle and Method for Using Same

    (Patent for a chemical-energy system that converts a nonco...)

    2002
  • US Patent 6,094,033, Battery State of Charge Detector with Rapid Charging Capability and Method

    (Co-authored patent concerning detection of battery state ...)

    2000
  • US Patent 6,082,671, Entomopter and Method for Using Same

    (Patent naming Robert C. Michelson as inventor for a multi...)

    2000

• research publications

  • Over 100 major publications

    (Michelson authored more than 100 journal papers, book cha...)

• technical report

  • Planetary Exploration Using Biomimetics: An Entomopter for Flight on Mars

    (Georgia Tech technical report describing the feasibility ...)

    2002

Views

Michelson's engineering work reflects a documented interest in applying biological principles to technological design. The Entomopter sought to reproduce useful characteristics of insect flight in a robotic platform, while his work in autonomous aerial systems emphasized machines capable of sensing, navigating, and completing missions without continuous human control.

His educational and public-science activities also connected engineering research with demonstration and communication. Through the International Aerial Robotics Competition, lectures, short courses, and media appearances, he presented unmanned systems as both research instruments and vehicles for engineering education.

Membership

Michelson has been associated with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Scientific Research Society of North America, the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. These organizations provide professional communities for electrical engineering, scientific research, unmanned systems, and aerospace engineering.

His participation included Senior Member status in IEEE, full membership in Sigma Xi, Associate Fellow status in AIAA, and leadership in AUVSI. During the 1990s he served as president of AUVSI and as a member of its international board of directors, and he created and led the organization's Atlanta chapter.

• Senior Member.

  Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers , United States

• Full Member.

  Scientific Research Society of North America (Sigma Xi) , United States

• President, member of the international board of directors, and founder and president of the Atlanta chapter.

  Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International , United States

• Associate Fellow.

  American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics , United States

Interests

• Marine aquaria, scuba diving, experimental aircraft, and scientific and archaeological expeditions.

Connections

Michelson married Denise Dodson in December 1973. They have two children, Christian and Stuart.

Michelson's research and teaching were closely connected with the Georgia Institute of Technology and its research institute. His work also involved collaboration with government agencies, military research organizations, aerospace institutions, and international engineering programs.

Father:

Carroll Edward Michelson

Mother:

Evelyn Othea Michelson

Spouse:

Denise Dodson

child:

Stuart Michelson

child:

Christian Michelson

References

• Robert C. Michelson Full Biographical Sketch Biographical source describing Michelson's education, research career, patents, awards, professional memberships, teaching, international lectures, aerial robotics work, and scientific expeditions.
• Robert C. Michelson Reference article documenting Michelson's education, career at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Entomopter research, International Aerial Robotics Competition, awards, patents, and publications.
• Microflyer Creates Quite a Flap Georgia Tech Research Institute historical account of Michelson's Entomopter research and its biologically inspired flapping-wing design.
• Handbook of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Springer reference work documenting Michelson's contribution to the literature on micro air vehicles and biologically inspired unmanned aerial systems.
  2014