Animation, Aviation, and America's Embassy

Today was a very full, adventurous day! To start, Sam, Jane, Chris, Zoë, and I went out for an early morning deployment at St. Elmo Bay. We already have sonar of the wreck at this location, but we wanted to get more data (including bathymetry and video) for the visual reconstruction that Sam and I are working on. For an update on our work so far, we have taken Katie Davis' PRM camera code and put it into new code from what previous ICEX teams have been using. In this new code Sam and I have modeled/animated current, surge and swell of particles, bubbles, seaweed, and have an imported 3D model of the shipwreck. We are working on adding god rays and caustics to more accurately light the scene. We would like to use the video data to have a better idea of how much light should be in the scene, what types/how many plants there should be, and in general to make the scene more realistic.

Screenshot of Sam and my work so far.

After leaving Valletta, we went to lunch at the US Embassy. Zoë has written about our experience there -

"We had the opportunity to have lunch at the U.S. embassy and chat with the ambassador and other diplomatic staff about our research.  They were excited to hear about our work and shared some stories about their lives in the diplomatic corps.  The ambassador spoke about their joint work with Timmy to designate certain maritime World War 2 wrecks as war memorials and the importance of these sites in terms of history and honoring the historical connection between Malta and U.S.  We enjoyed meeting the embassy cat, tinker bell, and strolling through the grounds to see their solar array and wind turbine.  The staff joked that next time we should plan to conduct robotics outreach with them as they love to learn new things - maybe we should plan that for next year.  Hearing from the staff about their various placements at other diplomatic missions was a great reminder of the scope and importance of building relationships around the world."

All dressed-up for the Embassy!

Then it was time to work, so we headed back to the apartment. People coded, did research, and got in some well deserved exercise time. At six, Anthony Burgess came by to teach us all about "Aviation Archaeology Underwater," and it was really interesting. I was sad at first because I had to miss water polo practice, but he gave such a good talk that it was worth staying! He even told us he can send us a drawing of the plans of the beaufighter that we have collected sonar data for, which is great because we can always use more data!

After the lecture on aviation archaeology underwater with Mr. Burgess.

We finished the day with dinner and a walk on the waterfront. Roslyn was happy because there were plenty of cats that needed love.

Roslyn wants to keep all of the cats.

(For any readers that do not know, I have been practicing water polo with the Sliema and Women's National teams since arriving in Malta. I have Timmy to thank for setting that up for me. I love everyone I have met through water polo here already, and I am so grateful for the unique international experience that I have so far!)