Plenary Talks
Plenary Talk I: Tuesday, May 4, 2010 (13:15-14:10)
Dena’ina Center Tikahtnu A/B/C
Professor Yoshihiko Nakamura
Department of Mechano-Informatics, University of Tokyo
Robotics from Anthropomorphism
Abstract: One would safely say that the concept of robot is historically originated from anthropomorphism. Robotics has developed its scientific and technological foundations thanks to the best endeavors of our pioneers. We now have in our hands general mathematical theories and variety of physical equipments that allows us to choose a solution even from non-anthropomorphic systems. Is anthropomorphism a slough for modern robotics? A scientist could say that anthropomorphism provides a means to understand human by robotic construction. Are there any technological reasons for further development of robotics from anthropomorphism? It is the point of this talk. Humans are innate and trained with skills to understand the partner of communication. The skills are extraordinary sensitive to humans and anthropomorphic characters. Our recent research started from mathematical modeling of non-declarative skills of communication from anthropomorphism, and now approaches to connecting between the non-declarative skills and the declarative skills based on natural language. This talk introduces the scope of robotics from anthropomorphism, with the recent results of our research, and advocates its further study.
Biography: Yoshihiko Nakamura received Ph.D. in Precision Engineering from Kyoto University in 1985. He was Assistant Professor at Kyoto University for 1982-1987, and became Assistant and then Associate Professor at University of California at Santa Barbara before moving to University of Tokyo in 1991. He is currently Professor at Department of Mechano-Informatics. Dr. Nakamura’s research stems from kinematics, dynamics, and control. Humanoid robotics, cognitive robotics, neuromusculoskeletal human modeling, biomedical systems applications, and their computational algorithms and software are the current fields of his research. The publications of Dr. Nakamura and his colleagues have received various academic awards including King-Sun Fu Memorial Best Transactions Paper Award, IEEE Transaction of Robotics and Automation in 2001 and 2002. He was appointed as Distinguished Lecture for 2006-2008 of Robotics and Automation Society of IEEE and received Most Active Distinguished Lecture Award in 2007. He currently serves as Vice President of IFToMM, and Chairman of the Japan Council of IFToMM. Dr. Nakamura is a Foreign Member of the Academy of Engineering Science of Serbia and a Fellow of the Robotics Society of Japan, the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the World Academy of Art and Science.
Plenary Talk II: Wednesday, May 5, 2010 (13:15-14:10)
Dena’ina Center Tikahtnu A/B/C
Professor Deirdre Meldrum, Electrical Engineering
Dean, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering
Director, Center for Ecogenomics, Biodesign Institute
Director, NIH COE in Genomic Sciences, Microscale Life Sciences Center
Arizona State University
Automation to Understand and Ultimately Improve Health and the Environment for the Future
Abstract: Advances in automation combined with molecular biology, nanotechnology, chemistry, materials and communications are enabling significant technology advances that permit deeper understanding of human health, disease and our environment. In turn, new diagnostic capabilities and real-time monitoring systems are being developed to detect and respond to, or in some cases prevent, changes in living organisms and the environment. Automation and its role in the rapidly evolving fields of medicine and the environment will be addressed by presenting relevant ongoing research in centers in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering and the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University along with other relevant results in these fields. The technologies presented are being applied to fundamental problems of biology and health including cancer, heart disease, and stroke. Further development of the technology to make it small, robust in the real environment (human body, oceans, etc.), fast, and low power will enable in vivo diagnostics in humans and real-time monitoring of microbial populations in the environment. The talk will delve into exciting possibilities for the future.
Biography: Deirdre R. Meldrum received her B.S. degree in civil engineering from the University of Washington in Seattle in 1983, M.S. degree in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, in 1985, and Ph.D. in electrical engineering degree from Stanford University in California in 1993. Meldrum joined the faculty at the University of Washington in 1992, rising to full professor in electrical engineering in 2001. She was awarded an NIH Special Emphasis Research Career Award (SERCA) in 1993 to train in biology and genetics, bring her engineering expertise to the genome project, and develop automated laboratory instrumentation. She was founder and director of the Genomation Laboratory in the Department of Electrical Engineering with research interests in genome automation, microscale systems for biological applications, ecogenomics, robotics, and control systems. In 1996, she was awarded a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers “for recognition of innovative research utilizing a broad set of interdisciplinary approaches to advance DNA sequencing technology.” In 2001, Meldrum was awarded an $18 million grant for an NIH Center of Excellence in Genomics Science, which led to the establishment of the Microscale Life Sciences Center. The MLSC grant was renewed for an additional $18 million, and five years, 2006-2011. Meldrum’s move in 2007 to the position as dean of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering brings the MLSC to Arizona State University. Meldrum is a member of the National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a Fellow of IEEE. She was Senior Editor and now Chair of the Advisory Board for the IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering.
Plenary Talk III: Thursday, May 6, 2010 (13:15-14:10)
Dena’ina Center Tikahtnu A/B/C
Professor Raffaello D’Andrea
ETH Zurich & Kiva Systems
Towards a 10,000 Mobile Robot Smart Warehouse
Abstract: Order fulfillment is a multi-billion dollar business. Existing solutions range from the highly automated – cost effective but inflexible – to people pushing carts around in warehouses manually filling orders – flexible but not cost effective. In this talk I will describe a radical new approach to order fulfillment that is both flexible and cost effective. The key idea is to use hundreds of networked, autonomous mobile robots that carry inventory-storing pods to human operators. The result is a distribution facility that is dynamic, self-organizing, and adaptive. Various challenges had to be overcome in order to make this an economically viable system, including the design of robust autonomous mobile robots, real-time wireless control of hundreds of moving agents, the coordination of these agents, and the design of various algorithms that allow the system to adapt and reconfigure itself based on the environment and operating conditions. I will discuss these challenges and new ones, and the research opportunities in the space of mobile robot enabled smart warehouses.
Biography: Raffaello D'Andrea is Professor of Dynamic Systems and Control at ETH Zurich and Technical Co-Founder of Kiva Systems, a company that develops adaptive and self-configuring warehouse automation systems using hundreds of networked, mobile robots. Also a creator of dynamic sculpture, he has shown his work at international venues including the Venice Biennale, the Luminato Festival, Ars Electronica, and ideaCity; two of his pieces are in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Canada. He is an IEEE Fellow and a recipient of the IEEE/IFR Invention and Entrepreneurship Award, a United States Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering, and two best paper awards from the American Automatic Control Council and the IEEE. He was the faculty advisor and system architect of the Cornell Robot Soccer Team, four-time world champions at the international RoboCup competition in Sweden, Australia, Italy, and Japan. He is also a recipient of a National Science Foundation Career Award and several teaching awards in the area of project-based learning.