Welcome to the
Visual and Autonomous Exploration Systems Research Laboratory
Wolfgang Fink, Ph.D., founded the Visual and Autonomous Exploration Systems Research Laboratory in 2003 at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, USA. Dr. Fink has been conducting the research efforts displayed on this website as a Visiting Associate in Physics. This visiting appointment has been faculty-sponsored by Dr. Axel Scherer (2015-2016) and formerly by Dr. Tom Tombrello (2001-2015).
Since October 2009, Dr. Fink has been an Associate Professor and the inaugural Edward & Maria Keonjian Endowed Chair in Microelectronics at the University of Arizona in the Departments of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Systems & Industrial Engineering, Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering, and Ophthalmology & Vision Science. He founded the Visual and Autonomous Exploration Systems Research Laboratory at the University of Arizona.
Dr. Fink has a Visiting Associate in Physics appointment at Caltech, as well as concurrent appointments as Visiting Research Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Neurological Surgery at the University of Southern California.
Dr. Fink's research areas comprise:
- Astrobiology,
- Autonomy,
- Biomedicine,
- Computational Field Geology,
- Evolutionary Computation,
- Robotics;
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Recent News
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In February 2012 Dr. Wolfgang Fink was inducted as a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) for his “outstanding contributions in the field of ophthalmology and vision sciences with particular focus on diagnostics and artificial vision systems.” “The 107 inductees consist of some of the most talented and influential members of our field,” said Kenneth Lutchen, AIMBE president and dean of engineering at Boston University. “It is both a pleasure and an honor to welcome the Class of 2012 to our College of Fellows.” The AIMBE College of Fellows consists of 1,000 outstanding bioengineers in academia, industry and government. Fellows are nominated each year by their peers and represent the top 2 percent of their field.
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In December 2011 Dr. Wolfgang Fink was co-awarded a NASA patent on “Method to create arbitrary sidewall geometries in 3-dimensions using liga with a stochastic optimization framework.” This patent was a result of Dr. Fink's work with Francis B. Eyre at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, making a dozen patents to date in his name.
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In March 2011 the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) / Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP)-funded research effort on a “Comprehensive Visual Field Test and Diagnosis System for Acute and Routine Assessment of Vision, Visual Acuity, and Contrast Sensitivity in Military Environments” (PI: Dr. Wolfgang Fink, Caltech) once again was selected as a highlight example of outstanding CDMRP-funded research (see this link). The technical description of the project can be found (at this link).
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In July 2010 Science magazine published an article featuring Dr. Wolfgang Fink's research on using intelligent robots for planetary exploration. The main thrust of the July 30 Science article, “Making Smarter, Savvier Robots” by Sam Kean, was that "robots are pretty dumb" and must rely on scientists back on Earth to control their exploratory missions. Kean pointed out that only a few dozen scientists are developing robots with true high-level independence that enables them to avoid danger while investigating planetary features of their own choosing. The article showcased, among other things, a tiered system for autonomous robotic space exploration that Dr. Fink devised at Caltech. [Click to see article]
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In March 2010 the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) / Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP)-funded research effort on a “Comprehensive Visual Field Test and Diagnosis System for Acute and Routine Assessment of Vision, Visual Acuity, and Contrast Sensitivity in Military Environments” (PI: Dr. Wolfgang Fink, Caltech) was selected as a highlight example of outstanding CDMRP-funded research. The technical description of the project can be found (at this link)
- NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory feature the Tier-Scalable Reconnaissance paradigm developed by Dr. Wolfgang Fink, Caltech Visiting Scientist Mark Tarbell, and colleagues at the USGS and University of Arizona.
- Dr. Wolfgang Fink and Caltech Visiting Scientist Mark Tarbell of the Visual and Autonomous Exploration Systems Research Laboratory at Caltech have created a robot surrogate for blind persons for the purpose of testing implanted visual prostheses.
- In July 2009 Dr. Wolfgang Fink and Caltech Visiting Scientist Mark Tarbell of the Visual and Autonomous Exploration Systems Research Laboratory at Caltech were named co-recipients of the R&D Magazine’s R&D 100 Award, and subsequently in November 2009 they were also named co-recipients of the R&D Magazine’s R&D 100 Editors' Choice Award (the highest of the R&D 100 Awards in 2009), both for the DOE-funded Artificial Retina Project. The prizes recognize significant new technologies that exemplify the most innovative ideas of the year.
- Dr. Wolfgang Fink and Caltech Visiting Scientist Mark Tarbell of the Visual and Autonomous Exploration Systems Research Laboratory at Caltech are featured in the Newsletter of the Department of Energy (DOE) funded Artificial Retina project. The specific project description is on page 10 of the newsletter.
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