Looking beyond “technology for technology’s sake”

Roberson’s robot, nicknamed Tank Evans after a character from the movie “Surf’s Up,” employed a clever strategy to accomplish this task. Even while tackling these challenging technical problems head-on, Roberson is also actively thinking about the social impact of his work. “Learning about the social implications of the technology you’re working on is really important,” says Roberson, acknowledging that his work in automation and machine learning needs to address these questions. “Sometimes, we get caught up in technology for technology’s sake. “I think learning about space is learning about ourselves as well.