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About

Michael Stealey is a robotics and environmental sensing researcher whose work has fundamentally advanced the design and application of cable-driven robotic systems for scientific data collection. Best known for his development of the Networked InfoMechanical Systems (NIMS) platform, Stealey pioneered a family of innovative cabled robots — including the two-degree-of-freedom NIMS-PL and the three-dimensional NIMS3D — capable of precise, autonomous positioning in challenging outdoor and aquatic environments. His contributions span self-calibration methodologies, trajectory control algorithms, and energy-efficient path planning, making these systems accessible to non-expert field users without sacrificing scientific rigor. His most cited work, "NIMS-PL: A Cable-Driven Robot With Self-Calibration Capabilities" (2009, 91 citations), exemplifies his focus on practical deployability and real-world robustness. Stealey also championed the concept of multiscale sensing — an adaptive paradigm for capturing high-frequency environmental phenomena — and demonstrated its value through autonomous field campaigns at the San Joaquin River. With over 280 cumulative citations, his research has meaningfully shaped how scientists deploy robotic platforms for aquatic monitoring, river dynamics studies, and large-scale ecological sensing.