Rich is interested in distributed computing and avionics for planetary rovers. He is involved in software development and testing of rover navigation for both flight and research vehicles and the development of software architectures for autonomous vehicles.

As a member of the SOOPS team, Rich is studying science operations on real and simulated rovers. He was also one of the original developers of the CLARAty robotic architecture for planetary rovers. He is also participating in the DARPA Grand Challenge as a member of Team Caltech.

Work at JPL included testing and operation of the autonomous navigation software for the twin MER rovers Spirit and Opportunity, leading the Distributed Rover Avionics Software Research and Technology Development Task which worked toward developing a software architecture for advanced distributed avionics modules and leading the development of the Rocky 8 research rover.

Rich graduated from Drexel University in 1985 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering.
He got his M.S. in Space Sciences from the University of Houston, Clear Lake in 1994.

Current Projects

• Science Operations on Planetary Surfaces (SOOPS)
• Coupled Layer Architecture for Robotic Autonomy (CLARAty)
• 2007 Caltech DARPA Grand Challenge
• Mars Exploration Rover Mission Operations