Robert Hogg is a Robotics Engineer in JPLs Mobility and Robotic Systems section. He is currently the Motor Control Systems engineer for the Mars Science Laboratory, scheduled to launch in the fall of 2011.

Prior to his work on MSL, he developed systems and behavior software for the JPL Urban Robot project and then later lead the team for two years and concluded the project with a successful delivery of the DARPA program’s final Perception Packbot.

Robert also created and lead the Micro-Robot Explorer research task, which involved robotic research for adaptable sensor webs and advanced mobility in small robots. The first robot created by the task, the Spiderbot, demonstrated small, low-power, inexpensive, leg-based mobility, and tickled the imaginations of thousands.

Robert began his career as a flight software engineer for Deep Space One, a spacecraft that tested 12 advanced high-risk technologies in space and returned priceless images from Comet Borrelly.

Bachelor of Science (1998, with honors) in Computer Science and Engineering, from the University of California Los Angeles

• Autonomous sensor-based navigation for rovers and surface systems.
• Path planning for long range surface exploration.
• Advanced mobility systems for remote exploration.

• JPL NOVA Award for Innovation and Improvement - 1998
• Group Technical Excellence Award - Deep Space One Avionics and Flight Software Team - 1999
• Group Technical Excellence Award - Tactical Mobile Robotics Team - 2000