Professor Gerard Dooly is a lecturer in digital technologies at the University of Limerick and co-director of the Centre for robotics & intelligent systems (www.CRIS.ie). He has worked extensively in robotics and sensing platforms at UL for over 20 years. He is also the nominated responsible person for all UAS operations within UL and holds a license to pilot up to 75KG MTOW fixed wing or multirotor UAS from Irish Aviation Authority. He is the principle investigator on 4 current European grants and 4 current national grants. His research includes real-time 3D reconstruction, SLAM, machine vision and machine learning, optical sensors, structural health monitoring and automated survey & intervention. He is focused on the design and development of robotics and has led numerous mulit-partner, multi-agency projects both here in Ireland and on the continent.
Prof. Dooly’s research activities are very well aligned to the UN sustainable development goals and the SFI Research Centers research vision for autonomous systems. His team is already engaged in a number of Horizon Europe projects in the field robotics area and specifically in the development of perception systems for robots. Since 2011 and through the leadership of Prof. Dooly, UL & CRIS has looked to extend research capabilities of automated robotic vehicles in Ireland focusing primarily on advancing perception systems to allow the ROVs and UAVs become more automated in many of its tasks, from automated inspection services to development of real-time 3D reconstructions of scene.
Prof. Dooly has secured over €6 million in research funding since 2009 from National, EU and Industry sources and has involvement on projects with many industrial partners in automation, robotics, aerial drone technology, ocean engineering and optical sensing systems. He currently collaborating directly with industry in a number of sectors, including offshore wind, shipping and construction. Prof. Dooly, is seeking to develop and progress research activities with industrial partners and to expand regional and national expertise in the area of robotics.