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About

Stein M. Nornes is a robotics and marine technology researcher whose work spans underwater autonomous systems, marine archaeology, and construction robotics. He has made significant contributions to the development and deployment of robotic platforms in challenging environments, from Arctic ocean floors to high-rise building facades. Nornes is perhaps best known for his highly cited work on cable-driven parallel robots for curtain wall installation (2022, 79 citations), demonstrating that robotic systems can match or surpass conventional manual construction methods in both accuracy and cost-effectiveness. His earlier research on underwater vehicles has been equally impactful, particularly his mapping of the historic shipwreck *Figaro* in Svalbard's High Arctic (2020, 45 citations), where he combined AUV and ROV technologies to survey a site previously inaccessible through traditional methods. Across multiple studies, Nornes has advanced semi-autonomous ROV architectures, vision-based obstacle avoidance, and guidance systems for ocean mapping and monitoring, consistently addressing the challenge of operating robots reliably in complex, unstructured environments. His contributions to marine archaeology and coastal environmental management underscore a career dedicated to expanding the frontier of robotic capabilities where human access is limited or impractical.