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Dr. Franz S Hover

Senior Lecturer

Primary DLC

Department of Mechanical Engineering

MIT Room: 5-207C
(617) 253-6762

Areas of Interest and Expertise

Ocean Systems: Surveying, Maintenance and Inspection (Mechanical and Security) for Marine Systems, Ship Platforms Harbors
Autonomous Vehicles for Monitoring-Pollution
Hull Inspection Using Mapping Techniques for SLAM (Scalable Location-Aware Monitoring Systems)
Groups of Agents
Robotic Gripper (Picking Up Corals for Drug Discovery)
Large-Scale Design Tools

Research Summary

Dr. Hover held a post-doctoral fellowship at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) through January 1995. At the MIT Towtank, he has helped to develop the Virtual Cable Testing Apparatus (VCTA), improved the RoboTuna control system, and studied the mechanics of ocean risers. Additionally, his Boston-based consulting business has been involved the following projects:

(*) MIT Seagrant's Odyssey-class underwater vehicles -- dynamic analysis, simulation, and control system design.
(*) MIT Seagrant's CETUS vehicle, rotationally-molded and built for Lockheed -- conceptual design through delivery.
(*) WHOI's Autonomous Ocean Samping Network -- strategies for mooring an autonomous underwater vehicle to a remote platform.

Recent Work

Related Faculty

Divya Panchanathan

Graduate Student

Prof. Themistoklis P Sapsis

William I Koch Professor of Mechanical and Ocean Engineering

Dr. David Warsinger

Postdoctoral Associate