Workshop on Intelligent Systems:
A Festschrift for Richard Volz
Texas A&M University, April 8-10, 2010
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Workshop on Intelligent Systems: Texas A&M University, April 8-10, 2010 |
Workshop Presentations
Abstract
We will share a few personal reminiscences about the progress of
the Department from a teaching-oriented one to its present state as
a home for active and well-respected researchers in a variety of areas
in computer science and engineering. We were privileged to participate
in this process, which was initiated and guided by Dick Volz during
his years as Department Head.
Panelist Biographies
Jianer Chen. Jianer Chen received a Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from New York University and a Ph.D. degrees in Mathematics from Columbia University. Currently, he is a Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University. His research interests include algorithms and complexity, computer graphics, computational biology, and computer networks. He came to Texas A&M University in 1989, recruited by Dick. His initial research interests included algorithmic techniques in robotics (motion planning). However, (probably also to Dick's disappointment), he kept "algorithm" but dropped "robotics". He has greatly enjoyed being a colleague of Dick for more than 20 years.
Lawrence Rauchwerger. Lawrence Rauchwerger received degrees from from the Polytechnic Institute, Bucharest (Diploma EE), Stanford (MS EE), and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (PhD CS). In 1995 Dick Volz offered him a position an assistant professor at Texas A&M. Now he is a professor and co-director of the Parasol Laboratory. He is interested in restructuring compilers, high productivity parallel software development infrastructures and parallel architectures. He has shared a department and a sensitivity to fine Scotch whiskey with Dick since 1996.
Jennnifer Welch. Jennifer Welch received her PhD in Computer Science from MIT in 1988. After a year at GTE Laboratories and three years as an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina, she was hired by Dick Volz to join Texas A&M University in 1992. She is currently the holder of the Chevron Professorship II in the Department of Computer Sciece and Engineering. Her research interests are in algorithms and lower bounds for distributed computing.
Abstract
We will discuss the role of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) and the
work each of us did as part of it. We will highlight Dick's contributions both
to the Panel and to the safety and success of the computer functions on the Space
Shuttle and International Space Station. We will also provide a few anecdotes
and describe why we believe an independent safety oversight group is critically
important to NASA's operations.
Panelist Biographies
Richard Blomberg (moderator). Mr. Blomberg is President of Dunlap and Associates, Inc., one of the oldest human factors research firms in the world. At Dunlap, he has directed or been involved in the application of human engineering and systems analytic principles to aircraft design and certification, highway safety, product safety, and the design and evaluation of human-computer interfaces. Much of his work has been devoted to studying accidents and developing countermeasures to them. From 1987 to 2002 Mr. Blomberg served as a member and human factors specialist on the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. In February 1998, he was elected its chair and served in that role through April 2002. He is a member of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Society of Automotive Engineers, the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, the Association of Aviation Psychologists, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Mr. Blomberg holds the B.S. and M.S. degrees from Columbia University in Industrial and Management Engineering.
George Gleghorn. Dr. George J. Gleghorn retired in September 1991 as Vice President and Chief Engineer of TRW Space and Technology Group, now a part of Northrop-Grumman, one of the largest suppliers of unmanned space systems in the world. Dr Gleghorn holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado and a MS and PhD in electrical engineering and mathematics from California Institute of Technology. During his 37 years at TRW, Dr Gleghorn has contributed to a wide range of distinguished spacecraft: Pioneer I, the first NASA spacecraft; Pioneer 5, which reported the first data received from interplanetary space; Intelsat III, the first satellite to broadcast live television worldwide; the Orbiting Geophysical Observatory; and NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite. In earlier days he contributed to Pioneer 6 and Pioneers 10 and 11 and the development of the Atlas, Thor and Titan ballistic missiles. Prior to TRW, he worked at Hughes Aircraft and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He was a Naval Officer in the Korean War. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a member of the IEEE. He was a member of the NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel for ten years and of the National Research Council's former National Weather Service Modernization Committee. He chaired two NRC studies of orbital debris and its effect on the International Space Station and participated in a study of its effect on the Space Shuttle. He has also been a member of independent design and readiness review groups on the Hubble Space Telescope refurbishment mission, the Cassini/Huygens orbiter and probe of Titan and on the Chandra X-Ray telescope spacecraft.
Richard Volz. Not necessary!
Abstract
This panel is a tribute to Dick's extensive and distinguished service
to the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) throughout more than
two decades which culminated into his presidency in 2006 and 2007.
Numerous were the achievements during his term, suffice to mention
here three major ones.
Awarding excellence while engendering fairness. Each year a number of awards are given by RAS to reward excellence. Our society bylaws require that the selection of any award winners be done by evaluation independent of the nomination process. One or more evaluation committees may be used, as needed to cover the different awards. Dick was instrumental to pursue a change of bylaws to explicitly state that no one on that committee may nominate or write a reference for any nominee. Further, to avoid conflicts regarding nominations and recommendations, our standing rules require that the membership of the nomination and evaluation committees be established two months prior to the deadline for submission of nominations.
Saving ICRA. ICRA 2004 represented a low point for RAS. Due to a poor review process, widespread dissatisfaction threatened not only the status of ICRA as a valuable conference but also threatened to split the robotics community away from RAS. Dick had a substantial role in forming the SCTP (Steering Committee for Technical Programs) and the CEB (Conference Edtiorial Board) to provide year-by-year consistent and high quality reviewing. The result reestablished ICRA as a premier conference and served as an example for other conferences to establish CEBs. Many RAS conferences also employ Paperplaza, which greatly facilitates paper handling, reviewer selection, and speedy posting of proceedings to Xplore.
Serving our members. In the age of the Internet the role of the website for a dynamic society like RAS is crucial to provide better and better service to our members. Dick recognized this need and realized that a major effort had to be invested in creating a functional web-based portal and external presence for RAS. In November 2006, the new portal went on-line thanks to the hard work of the Electronic Products and Services Board created by Dick. The new system is database-driven, is easier to maintain and the information presented is more current and accurate. Society volunteers have login credentials and can set the level of visibility they desire. Additional facilities tailoring to the role of every board and committee have been successively introduced and the portal has rapidly become the central point for all society business, including the two annual AdCom meetings.
Panelist Biographies
John Hollerbach. John M. Hollerbach is Professor of Computing, and Research Professor of Mechanical Engineering, at the University of Utah. He also directs the Robotics Track, a joint graduate program between the School of Computing and Department of Mechanical Engineering. From 1989-1994 he was the Natural Sciences and Engineering/Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Professor of Robotics at McGill University, jointly in the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering. From 1982-1989 he was on the faculty of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and a member of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT; from 1978-1982 he was a Research Scientist. He received his BS in chemistry ('68) and MS in mathematics ('69) from the University of Michigan, and SM ('75) and PhD ('78) from MIT in Computer Science. In 1984 he received an NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award, in 1988 he was named a Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and in 1996 he became an IEEE Fellow. He was the Program Chairman of the 1989 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, the coorganizer of the 1999 International Symposium on Robotics Research, and the General Chair for the 2009 World Haptics Conference. He was a member of the Administrative Committee of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) from 1989-1993, Technical Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation from 1989-1994, Treasurer of the IEEE/ASME Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems from 1992-1997, RAS Associate Vice President for the Steering Committee on Technical Programs from 2006-2007, and RAS Vice President for Conference Activities from 2008-2009. Presently he is Editor of the International Journal of Robotics Research, and the RAS Vice President for Technical Activities. John would like to acknowledge the leading role Dick played in the restructuring of RAS Conference Activities. Dick invited John as the inaugural Associate Vice President of Conference Activities, and together with Bruno Siciliano helped to draft the charter for the Conference Editorial Board and to select the Paperplaza Conference Management Software. The establishment of the CEB and the use of Paperplaza has transformed how ICRA has been run, and has served as an example for other RAS sponsored conferences who are following similar steps.
Kazuhiro Kosuge. Kazuhiro Kosuge is a Professor in the Department of Bioengineering and Robotics. He received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in control engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1978, 1980, and 1988, respectively. From 1980 through 1982, he was with DENSO Co., Ltd. From 1982 through 1990, he was a Research Associate in the Department of Control Engineering at Tokyo Institute of Technology. From 1990 to 1995, He was an Associate Professor at Nagoya University. From 1995, he has been at Tohoku University.# For more than 25 years, he has been doing research on various robotics problems. He has over 250 technical publications in the area of robotics and its applications to the real world. He received the JSME Awards for the best papers from the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers in 2002 and 2005, the RSJ Award for the best papers from the Robotics Society of Japan in 2005, the Original Paper Award, FANUC FA and Robot Foundation in 2004 and 2006, the Best Paper Award of IROS'97, and the Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award from the Robotics and Mechatronics Division of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1999. He is an IEEE Fellow, a JSME Fellow, a SICE Fellow and a RSJ Fellow. He is President of IEEE Robotics and Automation Society for 2010-2011.
Bruno Siciliano. Bruno Siciliano was born in Naples, Italy, on October 27, 1959. he received the laurea degree and the Research Doctorate degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Naples in 1982 and 1987, respectively. He is Professor of Control and Robotics, and Director of the PRISMA Lab in the Department of Computer and Systems Engineering at University of Naples. His research interests include: identification and adaptive control, impedance and force control, visual tracking and servoing, redundant and cooperative manipulators, lightweight flexible arms, space robots, human-centered and service robotics. He has co-authored 7 books, 70 journal papers, 170 conference papers and book chapters; his book Robotics: Modelling, Planning and Control is one of the most widely adopted textbooks world-wide. He has delivered 80 invited lectures and seminars at institutions worldwide. He is a Fellow of IEEE, ASME and IFAC. He is Co-Editor of the Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics series, and has served on the Editorial Boards of several journals as well as Chair or Co-Chair for numerous international conferences. He co-edited the Springer Handbook of Robotics, which received the PROSE Award for Excellence in Physical Sciences & Mathematics and was also the winner in the category Engineering & Technology. He is the coordinator of the large-scale integrating project DEXMART on dexterous and autonomous dual-arm/hand manipulation, funded by the European Commission in the 7th Framework Programme. He has served the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society as Vice-President for Technical Activities and Vice-President for Publications, as a member of the AdCom, as a Distinguished Lecturer, and as the Society President.
Stefano Stramigioli. Stefano Stramigioli received the M.Sc. with honors (cum laude) in 1992 and the Ph.D with honors (cum laude) in 1998. Between the two degrees he worked as a researcher at the University of Twente, began his enterprise with which he generated two patents and received the Dutch Institute of System and Control certificate. Since 1998 he has been faculty member and he is currently full professor of Advanced Robotics and chair holder of the Control Engineering group at the University of Twente. He is an officer and Senior Member of IEEE. He has more than 100 publications including 4 books, book chapters, journal and conference contributions. He has been associate Editor of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, Editor in Chief of the IEEE ITSC Newsletter, he is a member of the Editorial Board of the Springer Journal of Intelligent Service Robotics, Editor in Chief of the Robotics and Automation Magazine , AdCom member for IEEE RAS and currently Vice President for Membership of IEEE-RAS. He has chaired the Technical Committee on Intelligent Transportation Systems. He is a member of the ESA Topical Team on Dynamics of Prehension in Micro-gravity and its application to Robotics and Prosthetics. I have known Dick for many years now. Dick has been a great coach, teacher, example of professionally in my career and a friend. He was the one who advice to set up the Electronic Product and Services Board which I have the pleasure to lead and the one who made it possible. After that he has advised me in all steps within RAS, as an Adcom member, as EiC of RAM and all other functions I have had the pleasure to serve. I consider Dick as the example of a men with integrity and devotion for his work. I have enjoyed his coaching, friendship and teaching. Thanks Dick!
Abstract
IEEE Transactions on Robotics, Transactions on Automation
Science and Engineering, and Robotics and Automation Magazine
are world class publications. They are dream places for
researchers and practitioners to publish their results. The
competition, however, is tough and the standards are high.
How to get your papers published there? From a different
perspective, a publication can thrive or die out. How to make
or break a publication? We will reflect on our personal experience
of Dick's leadership, dedication, and contributions to RAS
publications from technical, strategic as well as financial viewpoints.
Panelist Biographies
Peter Luh (moderator). Peter B. Luh received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from National Taiwan University, M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from M.I.T., and Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University. He has been with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Connecticut since 1980, served as the Head from 2006 to 2009, and currently is the SNET Professor of Communications & Information Technologies. He is also a member of the Chair Professors Group, Center for Intelligent and Networked Systems in the Department of Automation, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Professor Luh is a Fellow of IEEE, the Vice President for Publication Activities for IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, an Associate Editor of IIE Transactions on Design and Manufacturing, Discrete Event Dynamic Systems, and ACTA Automatica Sinica. He was the Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation (1999-2003), and the founding Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering (2003-2007). His interests include optimized resource management and coordination for sustainable, green, and safe buildings; planning, scheduling, and coordination of design, manufacturing, and service activities; design of auction methods for electricity markets; electricity load and price forecasting with demand management; control and optimization of boilers and energy systems; decision-making under uncertain, distributed, or antagonistic environments; and mathematical optimization for large-scale problems.
Seth Hutchinson. Seth Hutchinson received his Ph.D. from Purdue University in 1988. In 1990 he joined the faculty at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, where he is currently a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Coordinated Science Laboratory, and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. Hutchinson is Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Robotics, the end-point of an Editorial journey that began when served as guest editor for a special section of the IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation under then Editor-in-Chief Dick Volz. Soon after, at Dick's invitation, Hutchinson became an Associate Editor for the Transactions. In the intervening years he has served as Editor of the Transactions and the Founding Editor-in-Chief for the IEEE RAS Conference Editorial Board. In 1996 and 1998 Hutchinson co-authored papers that were finalists for the King-Sun Fu Memorial Best Transactions Paper Award. He was co-chair of IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Technical Committee on Computer and Robot Vision from 1992 to 1996, and has served on the program committees for more numberous conferences related to robotics and computer vision. He currently serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Robotics Research and the Journal of Intelligent Service Robotics. He has published more than 170 papers on the topics of robotics and computer vision, and is coauthor of the books "Principles of Robot Motion: Theory, Algorithms, and Implementations," published by MIT Press, and "Robot Modeling and Control," published by Wiley. Hutchinson is a Fellow of the IEEE.
Bruno Siciliano. Bruno Siciliano was born in Naples, Italy, on October 27, 1959. he received the laurea degree and the Research Doctorate degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Naples in 1982 and 1987, respectively. He is Professor of Control and Robotics, and Director of the PRISMA Lab in the Department of Computer and Systems Engineering at University of Naples. His research interests include: identification and adaptive control, impedance and force control, visual tracking and servoing, redundant and cooperative manipulators, lightweight flexible arms, space robots, human-centered and service robotics. He has co-authored 7 books, 70 journal papers, 170 conference papers and book chapters; his book Robotics: Modelling, Planning and Control is one of the most widely adopted textbooks world-wide. He has delivered 80 invited lectures and seminars at institutions worldwide. He is a Fellow of IEEE, ASME and IFAC. He is Co-Editor of the Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics series, and has served on the Editorial Boards of several journals as well as Chair or Co-Chair for numerous international conferences. He co-edited the Springer Handbook of Robotics, which received the PROSE Award for Excellence in Physical Sciences & Mathematics and was also the winner in the category Engineering & Technology. He is the coordinator of the large-scale integrating project DEXMART on dexterous and autonomous dual-arm/hand manipulation, funded by the European Commission in the 7th Framework Programme. He has served the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society as Vice-President for Technical Activities and Vice-President for Publications, as a member of the AdCom, as a Distinguished Lecturer, and as the Society President.
Stefano Stramigioli. Stefano Stramigioli received the M.Sc. with honors (cum laude) in 1992 and the Ph.D with honors (cum laude) in 1998. Between the two degrees he worked as a researcher at the University of Twente, began his enterprise with which he generated two patents and received the Dutch Institute of System and Control certificate. Since 1998 he has been faculty member and he is currently full professor of Advanced Robotics and chair holder of the Control Engineering group at the University of Twente. He is an officer and Senior Member of IEEE. He has more than 100 publications including 4 books, book chapters, journal and conference contributions. He has been associate Editor of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, Editor in Chief of the IEEE ITSC Newsletter, he is a member of the Editorial Board of the Springer Journal of Intelligent Service Robotics, Editor in Chief of the Robotics and Automation Magazine , AdCom member for IEEE RAS and currently Vice President for Membership of IEEE-RAS. He has chaired the Technical Committee on Intelligent Transportation Systems. He is a member of the ESA Topical Team on Dynamics of Prehension in Micro-gravity and its application to Robotics and Prosthetics. I have known Dick for many years now. Dick has been a great coach, teacher, example of professionally in my career and a friend. He was the one who advice to set up the Electronic Product and Services Board which I have the pleasure to lead and the one who made it possible. After that he has advised me in all steps within RAS, as an Adcom member, as EiC of RAM and all other functions I have had the pleasure to serve. I consider Dick as the example of a men with integrity and devotion for his work. I have enjoyed his coaching, friendship and teaching. Thanks Dick!
Ian Walker. Ian D. Walker received the B.Sc. Degree in Mathematics from the University of Hull, England, in 1983 and the M.S. and Ph.D. Degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1985 and 1989, respectively. He then joined the faculty in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice University, where he was an Assistant Professor from 1989 to 1995, and a tenured Associate Professor from 1995 to 1997. In the fall of 1997, he moved to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Clemson University, where he became a full Professor in 2001. His research interests are in robotics, particularly novel manipulators and manipulation. I first met Dick when I was a new Assistant Professor at Rice, and he was leading a consortium of Texas Universities (including Rice) in a research project. Since then I have worked with him in a series of volunteer activities for the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society.
Jing Xiao. Jing Xiao received her Ph.D. degree in Computer, Information, and Control Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. Her Ph.D. advisor was Professor Richard Volz. She is currently a Professor of Computer Science and also serves as the Associate Dean for Research, College of Computing and Informatics, University of North Carolina - Charlotte, USA. From October to December 1997, she was a visiting researcher at the Scientific Research Laboratories of the Ford Motor Company, and from January to June 1998, she was a Visiting Associate Professor at the Robotics Lab of Computer Science Department, Stanford University. From August 1998 to December 2000, she was the Program Director of the Robotics and Human Augmentation Program at the U.S. National Science Foundation. She is a senior member of IEEE. Her research interests cover robotics, haptics, and intelligent systems in general. In particular, her research in robotics has been focused on the theme of making robot motions, especially in manipulation and assembly, robust to uncertainties and adaptive to changes in environments and circumstances. Her work in haptics is focused on rendering complex contact states and compliant motion during virtual manipulation.
Abstract
In this talk I will introduce SeRIF, a Secure Remote Invocation
Framework, which provides a general, secure, and extensible remote
process invocation service, with strong authentication and flexible
authorization. SeRIF uses public-key credentials to authenticate
users and to secure communications, and a fine-grained authorization
policy engine controls access to remote resources.
I will also describe NTAP, a Network Testing and Performance service,
built using SeRIF to provide a secure, distributed network testing
and performance tool invocation platform at U-M. NTAP uses automatic
path discovery to conduct both fine-grained performance testing of
individual VLAN links in our network core and end-to-end performance
testing between arbitrary users' workstations. On-demand and
repetitive testing regimes are supported with appropriate security,
full logging, and summary visualization of results.
Biography
Charles J. Antonelli is a Research Computing Specialist in the Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Antonelli's recent efforts while at the Center for Information
Technology Integration at U-M include NTAP, a secure distributed
network testing and performance tool based on Globus and GARA, and
a security training course for campus administrators including live
virus experiments. Past work includes the secure packet vault and
the RDMA transport layer for NFSv4 projects. His research interests
include cyberinfrastructure, networking, and security.
He has taught courses in operating systems, distributed file systems
and C++ programming in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science,
developed and taught advanced security training courses for Information
Technology Security Services, and taught Database Application Design
and Security in the Digital World in the School of Information, all at U-M.
Dr. Antonelli received dual B.S.E. (cum laude) and the M.S.E. and Ph.D.
degrees from the University of Michigan, the latter for research in
exception handling in parallel environments, working with Richard Volz.
He fondly recalls Dick teaching him how to patch *ASM assembler programs.
He has been a Member of Technical staff at Bell Laboratories.
Abstract
Europe, Japan, and Korea have all defined long-term roadmaps for
the future of robotics. This has lead to successful program on
robotics across academia, industry and institutions. Recently a
similar effort to define a program to address national challenges
have also been launched in the US. Through a series of workshops
that have engaged more than 140 people from industry and academia
key applications for economic development have been identified,
the associated set of obstacles to progress have been identified,
and the associated research issues to be addressed are explored
to understand the type of progress that can be achieved in a
5, 10, and 15 years from now. In this presentation we will discuss
the US roadmap for robotics, and how it is expected that such a
program of research can be implemented through a multi-agency
effort. In addition issues related to organization of a US
robotics network will be presented.
Biography
Henrik I Christensen is the KUKA Chair of Robotics and a
Distinguished Professor of Computing at the Georgia
Institute of Technology. He was the founder of the EU network
of excellence in Robotics - EURON and is now the director
of Robotics and Intelligent Machines. Dr. Christensen has
performed research across four continents and has served on the
editorial board of most of the prominent journals in the
field. He has published more than 250 contributions across
vision, robotics and AI. His research focusses on a systems
perspective to robotics. Henrik has worked with Dick Volz
through the IEEE RAS - IAB, TAB and other functions.
Abstract
In 80s & 90s a number of intelligent systems were developed for robotic
exploration of planetary bodies. In late 90s, first of several successful
robotic missions to Mars was launched. It consisted of number of intelligently
designed systems but no 'intelligent systems'. I will talk about
developments that led to successful mission to Mars.
Biography
Dr. Rajiv Desai is the founder and CEO of 3Di, a software services company
with operations in US, Japan and India. Rajiv also founded and serves on the
board of Embedio, a leader in the development of next generation embedded
operating system technologies. Rajiv has over 15 years of experience in
developing business and joint ventures in Japan and India. Rajiv has managed
R&D projects, product development contracts, software services contracts and
developed licensing contracts and strategic business partnerships with some
of the world's leading technology companies.
Prior to becoming a full time entrepreneur, Dr. Desai worked with a group of scientist and engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory who developed a series of microrovers that led to Mars Pathfinder Mission in 1997. Dr. Desai has received several prestigious recognitions for his leadership in innovation and research including NASA's Exceptional Achievement Medal for leadership in developing new space mission for NASA, JPL's Lew Allen Award for Excellence in Research and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Indian Institute of Technology. Rajiv has over 30 technical publications and patents. Dr. Desai holds a Bachelors of Technology in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, a Master's in Mechanical Engineering, Master's in Computer Engineering and PhD. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Prof. Richard Volz was Rajiv's doctoral thesis advisor at The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He also holds a MBA from Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts, USA.
Abstract
Centralized systems are unsuitable for large-scale integration
because of their high reliance on centralized communication, high
complexity, lack of scalability, and high cost of integration.
The use of Holonic intelligent system technologies avoids these
weaknesses. Holonic intelligent systems are based on the use of
cooperative agents, organized in hardware and software components
that independently handle specialized tasks and cooperate to
achieve system-level goals and achieve a high degree of flexibility.
By distributing the logistic and strategic requirements of a system,
it is possible to achieve improved flexibility, robustness, scalability.
Key to achieving these benefits is a peer-to-peer environment
that enables coordination, collaboration, and cooperation within the network.
This lecture provides an overview of the technologies of holonic intelligent systems that have been developed by the presenter and his company, students, and colleagues, in cooperation with members of the Holonic Manufacturing Systems Consortium and the Technical Committee on Distributed Intelligent Systems of the IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society. Some applications of holonic intelligent systems will be described, including distributed shop floor control in manufacturing, RFID-based personnel and object tracking, and resource management of distributed energy systems.
Biography
William A. Gruver is President of Intelligent Robotics Corporation in
North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and Professor Emeritus of
Engineering Science at Simon Fraser University. He received the PhD,
MSEE, and BSEE degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and
the DIC in Automatic Control Systems from Imperial College, London.
His industrial experience spans management and technical leadership positions
including GE Factory Automation Products in Charlottesville; GE Automation
Center in Frankfurt, Germany; IRT Corporation in San Diego; Center for
Robotics and Manufacturing Systems in Lexington, Kentucky; and LTI Robotic
Systems, a California based startup that he co-founded. He has also held
engineering/faculty positions at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center,
DLR German Space Research Center, Technical University Darmstadt, United
States Naval Academy, University of Kentucky, and North Carolina State University.
He has published 220 technical papers and three books on robotics, automation,
control, and optimization. His current research emphasizes the development of
distributed intelligence technologies and their application to manufacturing
automation, robotic systems, RFID, and energy systems management.
Dr. Gruver is a Fellow of the IEEE and the Engineering Institute of Canada.
He has served as IEEE Division Director, member of the IEEE Board of Directors,
and member of the IEEE MGA Board. He is a Past President of the IEEE Systems, Man,
and Cybernetics Society. He is an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions
on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics and he co-chairs the Society's Technical
Committee on Distributed Intelligent Systems.
He is currently a candidate for IEEE Vice President of Technical Activities and
Chair of the Technical Activities Board.
Bill and Dick have been friends for at least 35 years through the R&A Society,
SMC Society, and IEEE Board of Directors.
Abstract
Visual servo control is now a mature method for controlling robots using
real-time vision feedback. It can be considered as the fusion of computer
vision, robotics and control, and it has been a distinct field since
the 1990's, though the earliest work dates back to the 1980's. Over this
period several major, and well understood, approaches have evolved and have
been demonstrated in many laboratories around the world.
Much of the research in visual servo control, including the early seminal papers, has been published in the "IEEE Transactions on Robotics" and its predecessors, the "IEEE Journal of Robotics and Automation (1985-1988)" and the "IEEE Transaction on Robotics and Automation (1989-2004)." This lecture will review the evolution of visual servo control as it has developed in the pages of the Transactions, from the first paper in 1987 to modern times.
Biography
Seth Hutchinson received his Ph.D. from Purdue University in 1988.
In 1990 he joined the faculty at the University of Illinois in
Urbana-Champaign, where he is currently a Professor in the
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Coordinated
Science Laboratory, and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science
and Technology.
Hutchinson is Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Robotics, the end-point of an Editorial journey that began when served as guest editor for a special section of the IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation under then Editor-in-Chief Dick Volz. Soon after, at Dick's invitation, Hutchinson became an Associate Editor for the Transactions. In the intervening years he has served as Editor of the Transactions and the Founding Editor-in-Chief for the IEEE RAS Conference Editorial Board.
In 1996 and 1998 Hutchinson co-authored papers that were finalists for the King-Sun Fu Memorial Best Transactions Paper Award. He was co-chair of IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Technical Committee on Computer and Robot Vision from 1992 to 1996, and has served on the program committees for more numberous conferences related to robotics and computer vision. He currently serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Robotics Research and the Journal of Intelligent Service Robotics. He has published more than 170 papers on the topics of robotics and computer vision, and is coauthor of the books "Principles of Robot Motion: Theory, Algorithms, and Implementations," published by MIT Press, and "Robot Modeling and Control," published by Wiley. Hutchinson is a Fellow of the IEEE.
Abstract
This talk discusses the history of intelligent networks from the introduction of
processor controlled switching systems, common channel signaling and time division
switching in the 1970s and 80s to current emerging broadband networks. Despite
thousand fold increases in transmission and processor capacity, networks must
remain intelligent to provide security, efficiency and services that require
network wide information.
Biography
John Lawser was one of Dick Volz's first Ph.D students at the University of Michigan.
At Dick's suggestion John began research in multiplayer games which led to his thesis,
Properties of Dynamic Games and included an example of a two person non- zero- sum
video game built on Dick's hybrid computer in the wee hours of the morning.
John joined Bell Laboratories in 1970 and began a career that included planning the deployment
of time division switches and the introduction of common channel signaling, a network
dedicated to call control and exchange of information among switching systems.
John was named an AT&T Bell Laboratories Fellow in 1991, (AT&T Fellow in 1996)
"for significant contributions to the design, development and implementation of the AT&T common channel signaling (CCS) network."
He is currently an Executive Director in the Voice Services Planning Area with responsibilities
for maintaining the existing TDM network and developing plans to migrate services
to the VoIP network.
Abstract
Dynamic maneuvers are an important aspect of legged locomotion that are
used to negotiate difficult terrain conditions and are employed in
pursuit/evade situations. They involve a sudden change in trajectory or speed
and include turning, jumping, or stopping suddenly. In this talk, a new approach
is presented to develop these dynamic maneuvers in a 3D galloping quadruped robot.
A multi-objective evolutionary algorithm is employed to generate the jump-start,
the high-speed turn, the running jump, and the sudden-stop. The control approach
and fitness criteria will be described for each maneuver, and biological-mode
solutions will be presented. The results will be summarized in a video of a
dynamic graphical simulation for a sequence of maneuvers in difficult terrain conditions.
Biography
David E. Orin received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from
The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio in 1976. From 1976-1980, he taught
at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio in the Department of Electrical
Engineering and Applied Physics. Since 1981, he has been at The Ohio State
University, where he is currently Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Orin's research interests center on biped and quadruped locomotion and graphical dynamic simulation. He has over 150 publications. His research has been supported by NSF, Sandia National Laboratories, DARPA, NASA, Cray Research, NRL, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the Honda Research Institute. He is a Fellow of the IEEE (1993). His commitment to education has resulted in his receiving the Eta Kappa Nu Professor of the Year Award in the EE Department at OSU (1998-9), and the MacQuigg Award for Outstanding Teaching in the College of Engineering (2003). He served as a Part Editor on the Editorial Board for the award-winning Springer Handbook of Robotics.
Orin has served the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) in a number of roles including Secretary (1991-5), Vice President for Finance (1996-2003), and AdCom member (1993-5, 2004-6, 2009). He received the Distinguished Service Award in 2004 for his leadership in financial activities. He is currently serving as the President Elect and will become President for a term in 2012-3. He first met Dick twenty five years ago when Dick was a faculty member at the University of Michigan. They have served together on the IEEE RAS Executive Committee, and more recently as Co-Chairs of the IEEE RAS Awards Committee and Fellow Evaluation Committee. Under Dick's leadership, a number of policies and procedures for both awards and nominations have been instituted and documented to ensure a fair and orderly process.
Abstract
Older adults are living longer and more fulfilling lives, and
they desire to live as independently as possible. But independent
lifestyles come with risks, such as debilitating falls and
deteriorating health resulting from inadequate care. To address
these issues, we have been developing an integrated sensor network
to enhance safety and monitor health conditions using smart
sensing technology. The continuous assessment of physical and
cognitive function is a key indicator of initial decline in health
and functional ability. Identifying and assessing problems while
they are still small can provide a window of opportunity for
interventions that will alleviate the problem areas before they
become catastrophic. In this talk, Dr. Skubic will describe ongoing
interdisciplinary work to investigate the use of sensor technology and
automated reasoning to provide early identification of illness and
functional decline. The integrated sensor network under development
includes motion detectors, a bed sensor that captures pulse, respiration
and restlessness in bed, a stove temperature sensor, and new fall
detectors using radar and acoustic sensing. In addition, a video
sensor network using silhouette imagery for privacy is being developed
to capture gait parameters such as walking speed, step length, and
body sway for use in assessing fall risk. The network is being tested
in TigerPlace, an aging-in-place facility designed to help residents
manage illness and impairments and stay as healthy and independent
as possible.
Biography
Marjorie Skubic received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from Texas A&M
University in 1997 under the direction of Professor Dick Volz, where
she specialized in distributed telerobotics and robot programming by
demonstration. She is currently a Professor in the Electrical and Computer
Engineering Department at the University of Missouri, Columbia with a joint
appointment in Computer Science. Dr. Skubic has over 130 publications and
has received funding by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes
of Health, the U.S. Administration on Aging, the National Geospatial Intelligence
Agency, the Naval Research Lab, and the U.S. Army. In addition to her academic
experience, she has spent 14 years working in industry on real-time
applications such as data acquisition and automation. Her current research
interests include sensory perception, computational intelligence, spatial
referencing interfaces, human-robot interaction, and sensor networks for
eldercare. In 2006, Dr. Skubic established the Center for Eldercare and
Rehabilitation Technology at the University of Missouri and serves as
the Center Director for this interdisciplinary team. The focus of the center's
work includes monitoring systems for tracking the physical and cognitive
health of elderly residents in their homes, capturing sensor data, extracting
activity and gait patterns, identifying changes in patterns, and logging
alerts that flag possible adverse health conditions.
Abstract
Scientific study of animals in situ requires vigilant observation of detailed
animal behavior over weeks or months. When animals live in remote and/or
inhospitable locations, observation can be an arduous, expensive, dangerous,
and lonely experience for scientists. Emerging advances in robot cameras,
long-range wireless networking, and distributed sensors make feasible a new
class of portable robotic observatories that can allow groups of scientists,
via the internet, to remotely observe, record, and index detailed animal activity.
As a shorthand for such an instrument, we propose the acronym CONE: Collaborative
Observatory for Natural Environments.
One challenge is to develop a mathematical framework for collaborative observation. Collaborative observation includes (1) collaboration between humans of different backgrounds, skill sets, and authority/permission levels, (2) collaboration between humans and automated agents whose behavior arises from sensor inputs and/or computation, and (3) automatic detection of species and activities.
In this talk, I will summarize our four-year development of algorithms, CONE systems, lessons learned, and results of field experiments.
Biography
Dezhen Song is an Assistant Professor with Texas A&M University, College Station,
Texas, TX, USA. Song received his Ph.D. in 2004 from University of California,
Berkeley, MS and BS from Zhejiang University in 1998 and 1995, respectively.
Song's primary research area is networked robotics, computer vision, optimization,
and stochastic modeling. Dr. Song received the Kayamori Best Paper Award of the
2005 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (with J. Yi and
S. Ding). He received NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award in 2007.
Song co-chaired IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) Technical Committee
on Networked Robots from 2007 to 2009. Song is an associate editor of IEEE
Transactions on Robotics and an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on
Automation Science and Engineering.
Dick has been a great mentor of mine since I joined TAMU. With no reservations, he helped me set up my lab, taught me how to write proposals, gave me invaluable suggestions, and the list goes on. It is such a privilege to have him as my friend, my mentor, and my colleague.
Abstract
Looking at modeling and control from a network and physical point of view
opens new reasoning and paradigms very useful for engineering applications
and robotics. After an overview of running activities at the University of
Twente, the presentation will introduce some examples of results which have
been achieved using a port-based approach for modeling and control of
robotics systems.
Biography
Stefano Stramigioli received the M.Sc. with honors (cum laude) in 1992 and
the Ph.D with honors (cum laude) in 1998. Between the two degrees he worked as
a researcher at the University of Twente, began his enterprise with which he
generated two patents and received the Dutch Institute of System and Control
certificate. Since 1998 he has been faculty member and he is currently full
professor of Advanced Robotics and chair holder of the Control Engineering group
at the University of Twente. He is an officer and Senior Member of IEEE. He has
more than 100 publications including 4 books, book chapters, journal and conference
contributions. He has been associate Editor of the IEEE Robotics and Automation
Magazine, Editor in Chief of the IEEE ITSC Newsletter, he is a member of the
Editorial Board of the Springer Journal of Intelligent Service Robotics, Editor
in Chief of the Robotics and Automation Magazine , AdCom member for IEEE RAS
and currently Vice President for Membership of IEEE-RAS. He has chaired the
Technical Committee on Intelligent Transportation Systems. He is a member of
the ESA Topical Team on Dynamics of Prehension in Micro-gravity and its
application to Robotics and Prosthetics.
I have known Dick for many years now. Dick has been a great coach, teacher, example of professionally in my career and a friend. He was the one who advice to set up the Electronic Product and Services Board which I have the pleasure to lead and the one who made it possible. After that he has advised me in all steps within RAS, as an Adcom member, as EiC of RAM and all other functions I have had the pleasure to serve. I consider Dick as the example of a men with integrity and devotion for his work. I have enjoyed his coaching, friendship and teaching. Thanks Dick!
Abstract
R&D of rescue robots in Japan started after Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake to
save precious human lives at disasters. After 10 years of contributions
of many people, some systems have grown up to practical level. This
talk will introduce development of Active Scope Camera (ASC), a thin
serpentine robot which can enter gap of rubble piles 5 cm wide to search
victims inside. ASC was awarded The Robot Award 2008. It also introduces
Kenaf, a tracked vehicle with the highest mobility in the world, which
has been developed in a NEDO project.
Biography
Satoshi Tadokoro (M'89-SM'06-F'09) received the B. E. degree in precision
machinery engineering in 1982, the M. E. degree in 1984 from the University
of Tokyo, and the D. E. degree in 1991 from Kobe University. He has been
a professor of Graduate School of Information Sciences, Tohoku University
since 2005. He was a project leader of MEXT DDT Project on rescue robotics
in 2002-2007 having contribution of more than 100 professors nationwide.
He established RoboCupRescue in 1999, TC on Rescue Engineering of SICE in
2000 (the first chair), IEEE Robotics and Automation Society TC on Safety,
Security and Rescue Robotics in 2001 (the first chair), and International
Rescue System Institute (IRS) in 2002. He was IEEE RAS Japan Chapter Chair
in 2003-2005. He is at present President of IRS, trustee of The RoboCup
Federation, Chair of JSME Robotics Mechatronics Division, and IEEE Robotics
and Automation Society AdCom member. He received The Robot Award 2008,
FDMA Commissioner Highest Award in 2008, JSME Funai Award in 2007, Best Book
Author Award from AEM Society in 2006, RMD Academic Achievement Award in 2005,
etc. His research interest is in rescue robotics, virtual reality and new
actuators. He has been collaborating with Prof. Dick Volz in administration
of IEEE Robotics and Automation Society since 2001.
Abstract
I will present a general, sensing-based real-time adaptive motion planning
(RAMP) paradigm for robots in unknown and unpredictable environments. RAMP
enables simultaneous path and trajectory planning and simultaneous planning
and execution of motion in real-time. Planning and execution of motion readily
adapts to not only changes in an environment but also consequent changes
in goals and optimization objectives of a robot's motion. I will first
introduce the basic RAMP algorithm. I will then present research results
based on applying/extending RAMP to on-line motion planning for different
kinds of robots and tasks in environments with unknown obstacles or unknown
obstacle motions, including mobile manipulators, nonholonomic robot vehicles,
mobile robots in pursuit and evasion, and continuum manipulators. If time
allows, I will also introduce a general approach to detect in real-time if
a robot trajectory is guaranteed collision-free or not no matter how
obstacles move, which can be used by any real-time robot motion planner.
Biography
Jing Xiao received her Ph.D. degree in Computer, Information, and
Control Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,
Michigan, USA. Her Ph.D. advisor was Professor Richard Volz.
She is currently a Professor of Computer Science and also
serves as the Associate Dean for Research, College of Computing and
Informatics, University of North Carolina - Charlotte, USA. From October
to December 1997, she was a visiting researcher at the Scientific
Research Laboratories of the Ford Motor Company, and from January to
June 1998, she was a Visiting Associate Professor at the Robotics Lab of
Computer Science Department, Stanford University. From August 1998 to
December 2000, she was the Program Director of the Robotics and Human
Augmentation Program at the U.S. National Science Foundation. She is a
senior member of IEEE. Her research interests cover robotics, haptics,
and intelligent systems in general. In particular, her research in
robotics has been focused on the theme of making robot motions,
especially in manipulation and assembly, robust to uncertainties and
adaptive to changes in environments and circumstances. Her work in
haptics is focused on rendering complex contact states and compliant
motion during virtual manipulation.
Abstract
About 15 years ago, Dr. Volz, Dr. Ioerger, and I collaborated with an interdisciplinary
research team (supported by a MURI from AFOSR) to develop an agent technology
(CAST: Collaborative Agents Simulating Teamwork). Our goal was to model intelligent
human behaviors in a team context for intelligent team training. CAST is a
cognitively-inspired agent architecture with a "shared mental model" to enable
agents to anticipate needs of teammates and proactively assist them in a timely
fashion without overloading them. Because decision making is a key component
for teams, a shared decision making process based on Recognition-Primed Decision
(RPD) was explicitly adopted in the second generation of CAST (i.e. R-CAST).
Through a 4-year research supported by Army Research Lab under Advanced Decision
Architectures (ADA) Collaborative Technology Alliance (CTA), we conducted
a series of human-agent experiments to improve our understandings about factors
that affect emerging intelligence from both machines (i.e., agents) and people.
In recent years, social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc) has turned the
Web into a new virtual world of mass social interactions around the world.
In this talk, I will summarize major outcomes of our previous research, and
discuss our ongoing research regarding social intelligence emerging from interaction
between machines and human in various contexts, including cyber situation awareness
and disaster relief for Haiti.
Biography
Dr. John Yen received his PhD in Computer Science from University of California,
Berkeley in 1986. After spending three years at University of Southern California
Information Sciences Institute (USC/ISI) as an AI research scientist, he was
recruited by Dr. Volz to join Texas A&M University as an Assistant Professor in 1989.
With the encouragement and support of Dr. Volz, he established the Center for Fuzzy
Logic and Intelligent Systems Research in 1992, which promoted industrial applications
of fuzzy logic by organizing conferences, establishing an industry consortium, and
publishing a textbook (with Dr. Reza Langari) on Fuzzy Logic. He collaborated with
Dr. Volz (and Dr. Ioerger) on research related to intelligent team training and
intelligent agent technology. They co-authored a paper on formal foundations of
CAST agents in Artificial Intelligence Journal. He joined College of IST at Penn State
University in 2001 as University Professor of Information Sciences and Technology.
Since then, he has served as Professor-in-Charge and Associate Dean for Research and
Education of the college. Currently, he is the Director of Strategic Research
Initiatives of the college. Dr. Yen received NSF Yourng Investigator Award and is
a Fellow of IEEE. His current research interests include intelligent agents,
network science, and social computing.
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