Defining the Future of Robotics

by | Oct 6, 2004 | Autonomy and Robotics

Carnegie Mellon University is about to host the 25th anniversary celebration of its Robotics Institute. A four-day symposium will begin October 11 to discuss the grand challenges of robotics and the commercialization of robotics research. October 13’s lineup is particularly stellar:

  • Vernor Vinge, professor emeritus, University of California, Davis, known for his science fiction, including True Names and Marooned in Realtime, speaking on “Robotics and the Technical Singularity.”
  • Robin Murphy, professor, University of South Florida, an expert in search-and-rescue robotics, speaking on “Up from the Rubble.”
  • Bob Full, Chancellor’s Professor, University of California, Berkeley, speaking on “Bipedal Bugs, Galloping Ghosts and Gripping Geckos: BioInspiration in the Age of Integration.”
  • Mitsuo Kawato, director of the Computational Neuroscience Laboratories of the Advanced Telecommunications Research International, whose approach is that “we construct a brain in order to understand the brain.”
  • Marc Raibert, president, Boston Dynamics, speaking on “Twenty-five Years of Dynamic Legged Robots: What’s Changed and What Hasn’t?”
  • Takeo Kanade, U.A. and Helen Whitaker University Professor, Carnegie Mellon, speaking on “Computer Vision: AI Problem or non AI Problem.”
  • Ray Kurzweil: founder and CEO, Kurzweil Industries, speaking on “The Web Within Us, When Minds and Machines Become One.”

    • Robots have implications for everything from transportation to national security, but they’re a key factor in sending probes deeper and deeper into the interstellar void. The robotic systems we build in the next two decades will still be operational late in this century as the probes that house them study the outer Solar System and the Kuiper Belt. One day they’ll lead us to the Oort Cloud and beyond.

    A complete schedule of events for the celebration at CMU can be found here. The Robotics Institute Web site is also worth a stop.

    ← Previous Article Neither Star Nor Planet
    Next Article → The Long Way to Centauri

    0 Comments

    Now Reading

    Charter

    In Centauri Dreams, Paul Gilster looks at peer-reviewed research on deep space exploration, with an eye toward interstellar possibilities. For many years this site coordinated its efforts with the Tau Zero Foundation. It now serves as an independent forum for deep space news and ideas. In the logo above, the leftmost star is Alpha Centauri, a triple system closer than any other star, and a primary target for early interstellar probes. To its right is Beta Centauri (not a part of the Alpha Centauri system), with Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon Crucis, stars in the Southern Cross, visible at the far right (image courtesy of Marco Lorenzi).

    Recent Posts

    On Comments

    If you'd like to submit a comment for possible publication on Centauri Dreams, I will be glad to consider it. The primary criterion is that comments contribute meaningfully to the debate. Among other criteria for selection: Comments must be on topic, directly related to the post in question, must use appropriate language, and must not be abusive to others. Civility counts. In addition, a valid email address is required for a comment to be considered. Centauri Dreams is emphatically not a soapbox for political or religious views submitted by individuals or organizations. Human comments only, please -- cut and paste from AI will not be acceptable. A long form of the policy can be viewed on the Administrative page. The short form is this: If your comment is not on topic and respectful to others, I'm probably not going to run it.

    

    

    Advanced Propulsion Research
    

    

    Beginning and End
    

    




    Archives