{"670207":{"#nid":"670207","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Robot Learns Object Arrangement Preferences Without User Input","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EKartik Ramachandruni knew he would need to find a unique approach to a populated research field.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith a handful of students and researchers at Georgia Tech looking to make breakthroughs in home robotics and object rearrangement, Ramachandruni searched for what others had overlooked.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTo an extent it was challenging, but it was also an opportunity to look at what people are already doing and to get more familiar with the literature,\u201d said Ramachandruni, a Ph.D. student in Robotics. \u201c(Associate) Professor (Sonia) Chernova helped me in deciding how to zone in on the problem and choose a unique perspective.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERamachandruni started exploring how a home robot might organize objects according to user preferences in a pantry or refrigerator without prior instructions required by existing frameworks.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHis persistence paid off. The 2023\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ieee-iros.org\u0022\u003E IEEE International Confrence on Robots and Systems (IROS)\u003C\/a\u003E accepted Ramachandruni\u2019s paper on a novel framework for a context-aware object rearrangement robot.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur goal is to build assistive robots that can perform these organizational tasks,\u201d Ramachandruni said. \u201cWe want these assistive robots to model the user preferences for a better user experience. We don\u2019t want the robot to come into someone\u2019s home and be unaware of these preferences, rearrange their home in a different way, and cause the users to be distressed. At the same time, we don\u2019t want to burden the user with explaining to the robot exactly how they want the robot to organize their home.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERamachandruni\u2019s object rearrangement framework, Context-Aware Semantic Object Rearrangement (ConSOR), uses contextual clues from a pre-arranged environment within its environment to mimic how a person might arrange objects in their kitchen.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf our ConSOR robot rearranged your fridge, it would first observe where objects are already placed to understand how you prefer to organize your fridge,\u201d he said. \u201cThe robot then places new objects in a way that does not disrupt your organizational style.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe only prior knowledge the robot needs is how to recognize certain objects such as a milk carton or a box of cereal. Ramachandruni said he pretrained the model on language datasets that map out objects hierarchically.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe semantic knowledge database we use for training is a hierarchy of words similar to what you would see on a website such as Walmart, where objects are organized by shopping category,\u201d he said. \u201cWe incorporate this commonsense knowledge about object categories to improve organizational performance.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEmbedding commonsense knowledge also means our robot can rearrange objects it hasn\u2019t been trained on. Maybe it\u2019s never seen a soft drink, but it generally knows what beverages are because it\u2019s trained on another object that belongs to the beverage category.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERamachandruni tested ConSOR against two model training baselines. One used a score-based approach that learns how specific users group objects in an environment. It then uses the scores to organize objects for users. The other baseline used the GPT-3 large language model prompted with minimal demonstrations and without fine-tuning to determine the placement of new objects. ConSOR outperformed both baselines.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGPT-3 was a baseline we were comparing against to see whether this huge body of common-sense knowledge can be used directly without any sort of frame,\u201d Ramachandruni said. \u201cThe appeal of LLMs is you don\u2019t need too much data; you just need a small data set to prompt it and give it an idea. We found the LLM did not have the correct inductive bias to correctly reason between different objects to perform this task.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERamachandruni said he anticipates there will be scenarios where user input is required. His future work on the project will include minimizing the effort required by the user in those scenarios to tell the robot its preferences.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere are probably scenarios where it\u2019s just easier to ask the user,\u201d he said. \u201cLet\u2019s say the robot has multiple ideas of how to organize the home, and it\u2019s having trouble deciding between them. Sometimes it\u2019s just easier to ask the user to choose between the options. That would be a human-robot interaction addition to this framework.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIROS is taking place this week in Detroit.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENew research from Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Interactive Computing is empowering robots to use contextual clues to mimic how an individual might organize their pantry or refrigerator. The novel\u0026nbsp;framework, accepted to this week\u0027s\u0026nbsp;2023\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ieee-iros.org\/\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;IEEE International Confrence on Robots and Systems (IROS)\u003C\/a\u003E, allows home robots to organize objects in a user\u0027s environment based on contextual clues and user preferences, minimizing the need for explicit instructions.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Award-winning research from Georgia Tech is empowering robots to use contextual clues to mimic how an individual organizes their pantry."}],"uid":"32045","created_gmt":"2023-10-05 17:36:01","changed_gmt":"2023-10-06 13:27:25","author":"Ben Snedeker","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-10-05T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-10-05T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"671966":{"id":"671966","type":"image","title":"Kartik Ramachandruni-roboticsPhD-linkedin-crop-oct23.jpg","body":null,"created":"1696598297","gmt_created":"2023-10-06 13:18:17","changed":"1696598297","gmt_changed":"2023-10-06 13:18:17","alt":"Georgia Tech robotics Ph.D. student Kartik Ramachandruni poses with a couple of his robot buddies.","file":{"fid":"255134","name":"Kartik Ramachandruni-roboticsPhD-linkedin-crop-oct23.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/10\/06\/Kartik%20Ramachandruni-roboticsPhD-linkedin-crop-oct23.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/10\/06\/Kartik%20Ramachandruni-roboticsPhD-linkedin-crop-oct23.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":70427,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/10\/06\/Kartik%20Ramachandruni-roboticsPhD-linkedin-crop-oct23.jpg?itok=wRt9yNcc"}},"671967":{"id":"671967","type":"image","title":"GT Computing Associate Professor Sonia Chernova_teaching-fall2023.jpg","body":null,"created":"1696598419","gmt_created":"2023-10-06 13:20:19","changed":"1696598419","gmt_changed":"2023-10-06 13:20:19","alt":"Georgis Tech School of Interactive Computing Associate Professor Sonia Chernova presents during a recent robotics seminar.","file":{"fid":"255135","name":"GT Computing Associate Professor Sonia Chernova_teaching-fall2023.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/10\/06\/GT%20Computing%20Associate%20Professor%20Sonia%20Chernova_teaching-fall2023.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/10\/06\/GT%20Computing%20Associate%20Professor%20Sonia%20Chernova_teaching-fall2023.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":173036,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/10\/06\/GT%20Computing%20Associate%20Professor%20Sonia%20Chernova_teaching-fall2023.jpg?itok=RgHzfzvR"}}},"media_ids":["671966","671967"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"50876","name":"School of Interactive Computing"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"10199","name":"Daily Digest"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENathan Deen, Communications Officer I\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Interactive Computing\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003Enathan.deen@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"669031":{"#nid":"669031","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Novel Policy Allows Robots to Perform Interactive Tasks in Sequential Order","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Ph.D. student Niranjan Kumar created the Cascaded Compositional Residual Learning (CCRL) framework, enabling a quadrupedal robot to perform increasingly complex tasks without relearning motions, mirroring human learning, showcased by the robot opening a heavy door using energy transfer, a remarkable achievement in robotics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe CCRL, however, functions as a \u201clibrary\u201d that allows the robot to remember everything it has learned while performing the simple tasks. Each newly obtained skill is added to the library and leveraged for more complex skills. A turning motion, for instance, can be learned on top of walking while serving as the basis for navigation skills.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EKumar said CCRL has broken new ground on interactive navigation research. Interactive navigation is one of several navigation solutions that allow robots to navigate in the real world. These solutions include point navigation, which trains a robot to reach a point on a map, and object navigation, which teaches it to reach a selected object.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInteractive navigation requires a robot to reach a goal location while interacting with obstacles on the way, which has proven to be the most difficult for robots to learn.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe key, Kumar said, to get a robot to go from walking to pushing an object is in the joints and the robot discovering the different types of motions it can make with them.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESo far, Kumar\u2019s policy has reached 10 skills that a robot can learn and deploy. The number of skills it can learn on one policy depends on the hardware the programmer is using.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt just takes longer to train as you keep adding more skills because now the policy also has to figure out how to incorporate all these skills in different situations,\u201d he said. \u201cBut theoretically, you can keep adding more skills indefinitely as long as you have a powerful enough computer to run the policies.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EKumar said he sees CCRL being useful for home assistant robots, which are required to be agile and limber to navigate around a cluttered household. He also said it could possibly serve as a guide dog for the visually impaired.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf you have obstacles in front of someone who is visually impaired, the robot can just clear up the obstacles as the person is walking, open the door for them, and things like that,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Ph.D. student Niranjan Kumar created the Cascaded Compositional Residual Learning (CCRL) framework, enabling a quadrupedal robot to perform increasingly complex tasks without relearning motions, mirroring human learning, showcased by the robot opening a heavy door using energy transfer, a remarkable achievement in robotics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A Georgia Tech Ph.D. student has created a new framework that enables a four-legged robot to perform increasingly complex tasks without relearning motions."}],"uid":"32045","created_gmt":"2023-08-18 12:41:38","changed_gmt":"2023-08-31 15:26:21","author":"Ben Snedeker","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-08-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-08-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"671422":{"id":"671422","type":"image","title":"A four-legged robot at Georgia Tech opens door using sequential steps, but for the first time without having to relearn motions.","body":null,"created":"1692362511","gmt_created":"2023-08-18 12:41:51","changed":"1692362511","gmt_changed":"2023-08-18 12:41:51","alt":"A four-legged robot at Georgia Tech opens door using sequential steps, but for the first time without having to relearn motions.","file":{"fid":"254478","name":"March_16 interactive reach_crop.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/08\/18\/March_16%20interactive%20reach_crop.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/08\/18\/March_16%20interactive%20reach_crop.png","mime":"image\/png","size":561198,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/08\/18\/March_16%20interactive%20reach_crop.png?itok=v1BDxo0s"}}},"media_ids":["671422"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/vKk6NH6Gnug","title":"Four-legged robot kicks open door at Georgia Tech"}],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"50876","name":"School of Interactive Computing"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENathan Deen\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECommunications Officer I\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Interactive Computing\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003Enathan.deen@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["nathan.deen@cc.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"663073":{"#nid":"663073","#data":{"type":"news","title":"GTRI\u0027s SEEDLab Ground Zero for Lunar Flashlight Project","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/newsroom\/lunar-flashlight\u0022\u003ELunar Flashlight\u003C\/a\u003E is small for a satellite, but could be big for research.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENASA plans to launch Lunar Flashlight, a small satellite (SmallSat) about the size of a briefcase that will use lasers to search for water ice inside craters at the Moon\u0026rsquo;s unexplored South Pole.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/feature\/jpl\/nasa-s-lunar-flashlight-ready-to-search-for-the-moon-s-water-ice\u0022\u003ENASA says\u003C\/a\u003E that the Lunar Flashlight, traveling aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, will take about three months to reach its \u0026ldquo;science orbit.\u0026rdquo; The launch itself has been delayed:\u0026nbsp;SpaceX has pushed back the launch several times. Currently, it is expected to launch later this month.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe work on earth leading up to the launch has already taken quite some time.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech and GTRI have been instrumental in the development of the Lunar Flashlight mission. Researchers in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Aerospace Engineering worked with NASA\u0026rsquo;s Marshall Space Flight Center to develop the SmallSat\u0026rsquo;s novel propulsion system. Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) collaborated to assemble and test the Lunar Flashlight.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESeasoned researchers were assisted by students in their efforts.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne such student is Mary Kate Broadway, a student assistant in GTRI\u0026rsquo;s Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory (EOSL), whose academic and professional experiences in modeling and fabrication were called upon to create a near 1:1 model of the Lunar Flashlight SmallSat.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBroadway, who is pursuing a bachelor\u0026rsquo;s degree in mechatronics, robotics, and automation engineering at Kennesaw State University, used GTRI\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/webwise.gtri.gatech.edu\/communities\/working-groups\/workplace-enhancement-working-group\/seedlab\u0022\u003ESEEDLab makerspace\u003C\/a\u003E to fashion the model based on designs produced by NASA.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I got the SolidWorks (a popular solid modeling computer-aided design and computer-aided engineering application) file, and then I started by taking all the SolidWorks parts, making the 3D printables, and then exporting them out as \u0026lsquo;.stl\u0026rsquo; files. Here (at the SEEDLab), I queued everything up and printed it,\u0026rdquo; Broadway explains. She did \u0026ldquo;all of the painting and the printing\u0026rdquo; by herself. \u0026quot;However, of course, the SEEDLab helpers (student assistants) all helped me whenever I had trouble.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBroadway, who already has a BFA in animation and digital arts from Florida State University, has the savvy to make use of the SEEDLab\u0026rsquo;s wide variety of equipment.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the Lunar Flashlight project, Broadway employed:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cul\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EAn Ultimaker S5 FDM, a fused-filament fabrication 3D printer.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EA FormLabs Cameo resin printer.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EA Glowforge 3D laser printer and cutter.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EVarious traditional hand tools.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBroadway employed traditional materials such as PET and PLA plastics for some of the more intricate parts of the model. The main body of the model is aluminum, which Broadway collaborated with the Aero Maker Space on the Georgia Tech campus to get pressed and fashioned to specifications with a Waterjet cutting machine. To simulate working solar panels, Broadway designed printed vinyl labels.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBroadway\u0026rsquo;s supervisor, EOSL Research Engineer Eric Brown, was initially contacted by Principal Research Engineer Jud Ready, Ph.D., who has worked extensively with NASA. Ready has been the liaison to NASA, reporting on Broadway\u0026rsquo;s progress.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs of Nov. 4, just days before the Lunar Flashlight launch, Broadway was still engrossed in making final adjustments to the model, particularly the tight tolerances of its solar arrays. Broadway began working on the Lunar Flashlight project in April. Working part-time at the SEEDLab, she has spent dozens of hours\u0026mdash;amounting to about a month of work--perfecting the device.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter: Christopher Weems\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPhotos: Sean McNeil\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia USA\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;is the nonprofit, applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).\u202fFounded in 1934 as the Engineering Experiment Station, GTRI has grown to more than 2,800 employees, supporting eight laboratories in over 20 locations around the country and performing more than $700 million of problem-solving research annually for government and industry.\u202fGTRI\u0026#39;s renowned researchers combine science, engineering, economics, policy, and technical expertise to solve complex problems for the U.S. federal government, state, and industry.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Mary Kate Broadway, a student assistant in GTRI\u2019s Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory (EOSL), whose academic and professional experiences in modeling and fabrication were called upon to create a near 1:1 model of the Lunar Flashlight SmallSat."}],"uid":"35832","created_gmt":"2022-11-10 13:05:18","changed_gmt":"2022-11-11 16:21:17","author":"Michelle Gowdy","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-11-10T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2022-11-10T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"663071":{"id":"663071","type":"image","title":"GTRI\u0027s Mary Kate Broadway","body":null,"created":"1668084096","gmt_created":"2022-11-10 12:41:36","changed":"1668084096","gmt_changed":"2022-11-10 12:41:36","alt":"","file":{"fid":"251037","name":"2022_1104_image_Lunar Flashlight SEEDLab_Mary Kate Broadway_04.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022_1104_image_Lunar%20Flashlight%20SEEDLab_Mary%20Kate%20Broadway_04.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022_1104_image_Lunar%20Flashlight%20SEEDLab_Mary%20Kate%20Broadway_04.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":423854,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2022_1104_image_Lunar%20Flashlight%20SEEDLab_Mary%20Kate%20Broadway_04.JPG?itok=HoQ77Sca"}}},"media_ids":["663071"],"groups":[{"id":"1276","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"166902","name":"science and technology"},{"id":"191623","name":"SEEDLab"},{"id":"169609","name":"satellite"},{"id":"188307","name":"Lunar Flashlight"},{"id":"167146","name":"space"},{"id":"191624","name":"SmallSat"},{"id":"408","name":"NASA"},{"id":"191625","name":"SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket"},{"id":"2082","name":"aerospace engineering"},{"id":"167880","name":"SpaceX"},{"id":"187527","name":"orbit"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"7689","name":"EOSL"},{"id":"191626","name":"SolidWorks"},{"id":"191627","name":"automation engineering"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E(Interim) Director of Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMichelle Gowdy\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMichelle.Gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E404-407-8060\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["michelle.gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"659461":{"#nid":"659461","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Skin: An Additional Tool for the Versatile Elephant Trunk","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new study from the Georgia Institute of Technology suggests that an elephant\u0026rsquo;s muscles aren\u0026rsquo;t the only way it stretches its trunk \u0026mdash; \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/youtu.be\/3N8WBlk-inA\u0022\u003Eits folded skin also plays an important role\u003C\/a\u003E. The combination of muscle and skin gives the animal the versatility to grab fragile vegetation and rip apart tree trunks.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research, in collaboration with Zoo Atlanta, finds that an elephant\u0026rsquo;s skin doesn\u0026rsquo;t uniformly stretch. The top of the trunk is more flexible than the bottom, and the two sections begin to diverge when an elephant reaches more than 10%. When stretching for food or objects, the dorsal section of the trunk slides further forward.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe findings could improve robotics, which today are typically built for either great strength or flexibility. Unlike an elephant\u0026rsquo;s trunk, the machines can\u0026rsquo;t do both.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/news\/2022\/07\/skin-additional-tool-versatile-elephant-trunk\u0022\u003ERead about the study and see video from the experiments\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Elephant biomechanics suggests a new approach for soft robotics"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new study from the Georgia Institute of Technology suggests that an elephant\u0026rsquo;s muscles aren\u0026rsquo;t the only way it stretches its trunk \u0026mdash; its folded skin also plays an important role. The combination of muscle and skin gives the animal the versatility to grab fragile vegetation and rip apart tree trunks. The findings could help build more flexible robotics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Skin plays an important role in allowing an elephant to stretch its trunk to grab food and other items."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2022-07-18 18:54:20","changed_gmt":"2022-08-24 16:12:13","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-07-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-07-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"659460":{"id":"659460","type":"image","title":"Elephant","body":null,"created":"1658170078","gmt_created":"2022-07-18 18:47:58","changed":"1658170078","gmt_changed":"2022-07-18 18:47:58","alt":"","file":{"fid":"249954","name":"elephant_kelly_homepage1 (1).jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/elephant_kelly_homepage1%20%281%29.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/elephant_kelly_homepage1%20%281%29.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1012140,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/elephant_kelly_homepage1%20%281%29.jpg?itok=IQTsGgij"}}},"media_ids":["659460"],"groups":[{"id":"1237","name":"College of Engineering"},{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"108731","name":"School of Mechanical Engineering"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"},{"id":"166882","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nmaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"658953":{"#nid":"658953","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Introducing GTGraffiti: The Robot That Paints Like a Human","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGraduate students at the Georgia Institute of Technology have built the first graffiti-painting robot system that mimics the fluidity of human movement. Aptly named GTGraffiti, the system uses motion capture technology to record human painting motions and then composes and processes the gestures to program a cable-driven robot that spray paints graffiti artwork.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe project was devised by robotics Ph.D. student Gerry Chen, in collaboration with Juan-Diego Florez, a fellow graduate student;\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/people\/frank-dellaert\u0022\u003EFrank Dellaert\u003C\/a\u003E, robotics professor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ic.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Interactive Computing\u003C\/a\u003E, and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/faculty.cc.gatech.edu\/~seth\/\u0022\u003ESeth Hutchinson\u003C\/a\u003E, professor and KUKA Chair for Robotics. The team\u0026rsquo;s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ieeexplore.ieee.org\/document\/9812008\u0022\u003Epeer-reviewed study of the robot system\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;was published in the International Conference on Robotics and Automation proceedings for\u0026nbsp;2022.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow It Works\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor a robot to be able to paint in a human style, both the robot and the art must be designed with the other in mind \u0026mdash; at least for now. The GTGraffiti system consists of three stages: artwork capture, robot hardware, and planning and control.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFirst, the team uses motion capture technology to record human artists painting \u0026mdash; a strategy that allows for insight into the types of motions required to produce spray-painted artwork. For this study, Chen and the team invited two artists to paint the alphabet in a bubble letter graffiti style. As each artist painted, they recorded the motions of the artist\u0026rsquo;s hand across the canvas, as well as the movements of the spray paint can itself. Capturing hand and spray paint can trajectories is crucial for the robot to be able to paint using similar layering, composition, and motion as those of a human artist.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team then processed the data to analyze each motion for speed, acceleration, and size, and used that information for the next stage \u0026mdash; designing the robot. Taking these data into consideration, as well as portability and accuracy required for the artwork, they chose to use a cable-driven robot. Cable-driven robots, like the Skycams used in sports stadiums for aerial camera shots, are notable for being able to scale to large sizes. The robot runs on a system of cables, motors, and pulleys. The team\u0026rsquo;s robot is currently mounted on a 9 by 10-foot-tall steel frame, but Chen says it should be possible to mount it directly onto a flat structure of almost any size, such as the side of a building.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the third stage, the artist\u0026rsquo;s composition is converted into electrical signals. Taken together, the figures form a library of digital characters, which can be programmed in any size, perspective, and combination to produce words for the robot to paint. A human artist chooses shapes from the library and uses them to compose a piece of art. For this study, the team chose to paint the letters \u0026ldquo;ATL.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOnce the team chooses a sequence and position of characters, they use mathematical equations to generate trajectories for the robot to follow. These algorithmically produced pathways ensure that the robot paints with the correct speed, location, orientation, and perspective. Finally, the pathways are converted into motor commands to be executed. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith all the computing and competing movements, the motors on the robot could potentially work against each other, threatening to rip the robot apart. To address this, the central robot controller is programmed to recalculate motor commands 1,000 times per second so that the robot can function safely and reliably. Once assembled, the robot can then paint an artwork in the style of a human graffiti artist.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhy Art? Why Graffiti?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESome of the most typical industries for robotics applications include manufacturing, biomedicine, automobiles, agriculture, and the military.\u0026nbsp;But the arts, it turns out, can showcase robotics in an especially powerful way.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The arts, especially painting or dancing, exemplify some of the most complex and nuanced motions humans can make,\u0026rdquo; Chen said. \u0026ldquo;So if we want to create robots that can do the highly technical things that humans do, then creating robots that can\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2KRZHxIyrI0\u0022\u003Edance\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;or paint are great goals to shoot for. These are the types of skills that demonstrate the extraordinary capabilities of robots and can also be applied to a variety of other applications.\u0026rdquo; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOn a personal level, Chen is motivated by his hope for people to perceive robots as being helpful to humanity, rather than seeing them as job-stealers or entities that cause feelings of fear, sadness, or doom as often depicted in film.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Graffiti is an art form that is inherently meant to be seen by the masses,\u0026rdquo; Chen said. \u0026ldquo;In that respect, I feel hopeful that we can use graffiti to communicate this idea \u0026mdash; that robots working together with humans can make positive contributions to society.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFuture Directions\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPresently, Chen and the team\u0026rsquo;s plans for the robot are centered around two main thrusts: preserving and amplifying art. To this end, they are currently experimenting with reproducing pre-recorded shapes at different scales and testing the robot\u0026rsquo;s ability to paint larger surfaces. These abilities would enable the robot to paint scaled up versions of original works in different geographical locations and for artists physically unable to engage in onsite spray painting. In theory, an artist would be able to paint an artwork in one part of the world, and a GTGraffiti bot could execute that artwork in another place.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the future, Chen hopes to use GTGraffiti to capture artists painting graffiti in the wild. With the captured motion data, GTGraffiti would be able to reproduce the artwork were it ever painted over or destroyed.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The robot is not generating the art itself, but rather working together with the human artist to enable them to achieve more than they could without the robot,\u0026rdquo; Chen said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EChen envisions that the robot system will eventually have capabilities that allow for real-time artist-robot interaction. He hopes to develop the technology that could enable an artist standing at the foot of a building to spray paint graffiti in a small space while the cable-driven robot copies the painting with giant strokes on the side of the building, for example.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We hope that our research can help artists compose artwork that, executed by a superhuman robot, communicates messages more powerfully than any piece they could have physically painted themselves,\u0026rdquo; said Chen.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGTGraffiti is funded by a National Science Foundation grant that supports research involving human-robot collaboration in artistic endeavors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECitation\u003C\/strong\u003E: G. Chen, S. Baek, J.-D. Florez, W. Qian, S.-W. Leigh, S. Hutchinson, and F. Dellaert, \u0026ldquo;GTGraffiti: Spray painting graffiti art from human painting motions with a cable driven parallel robot,\u0026rdquo; in\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003E2022 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)\u003C\/em\u003E, 2022.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDOI\u003C\/strong\u003E:\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.48550\/arXiv.2109.06238\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1109\/ICRA46639.2022.9812008\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1109\/ICRA46639.2022.9812008\u0022\u003E10.1109\/ICRA46639.2022.9812008\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Catherine Barzler\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EVideo:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EKevin Beasley\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPhotography\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rob Felt\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: Catherine Barzler | catherine.barzler@gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Graduate students at the Georgia Institute of Technology have built the first graffiti-painting robot system that mimics the fluidity of human movement. "}],"uid":"36123","created_gmt":"2022-06-16 16:42:27","changed_gmt":"2022-08-22 13:12:43","author":"Catherine Barzler","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-06-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-06-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"658952":{"id":"658952","type":"image","title":"GTGraffiti finished","body":null,"created":"1655397021","gmt_created":"2022-06-16 16:30:21","changed":"1655397021","gmt_changed":"2022-06-16 16:30:21","alt":"","file":{"fid":"249790","name":"22C5001-P2-006.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/22C5001-P2-006.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/22C5001-P2-006.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":605534,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/22C5001-P2-006.jpg?itok=Pn_x4J_x"}},"658949":{"id":"658949","type":"image","title":"GTGraffiti2 spray can","body":null,"created":"1655396854","gmt_created":"2022-06-16 16:27:34","changed":"1655396854","gmt_changed":"2022-06-16 16:27:34","alt":"","file":{"fid":"249787","name":"Screen Shot 2022-06-14 at 4.41.37 PM.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-14%20at%204.41.37%20PM.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-14%20at%204.41.37%20PM.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2889965,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-14%20at%204.41.37%20PM.png?itok=91DtWoD7"}},"658950":{"id":"658950","type":"image","title":"GTGraffiti artist","body":null,"created":"1655396904","gmt_created":"2022-06-16 16:28:24","changed":"1655396904","gmt_changed":"2022-06-16 16:28:24","alt":"","file":{"fid":"249788","name":"robots_student_spray_painting.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robots_student_spray_painting.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robots_student_spray_painting.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2511210,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/robots_student_spray_painting.png?itok=gxStY6-h"}},"658951":{"id":"658951","type":"image","title":"GTGraffiti mocap","body":null,"created":"1655396944","gmt_created":"2022-06-16 16:29:04","changed":"1655396944","gmt_changed":"2022-06-16 16:29:04","alt":"","file":{"fid":"249789","name":"robots_showing_fingertip_sensors.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robots_showing_fingertip_sensors.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robots_showing_fingertip_sensors.png","mime":"image\/png","size":3022502,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/robots_showing_fingertip_sensors.png?itok=FgJEEIsB"}}},"media_ids":["658952","658949","658950","658951"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"},{"id":"71901","name":"Society and Culture"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECatherine Barzler,\u0026nbsp;Senior Research Writer\/Editor\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["catherine.barzler@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"658858":{"#nid":"658858","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Amazon Robotics Gift Supports Georgia Tech\u2019s Advanced Technology Development Center","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETo help\u0026nbsp;support the growth of startups and individuals working to advance automation and robotics,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.amazon.science\/research-areas\/robotics\u0022\u003EAmazon Robotics\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;today announced it is providing a substantial investment over three years to\u0026nbsp;the Georgia Institute of Technology\u0026rsquo;s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/innovate.gatech.edu\/programs-old\/advanced-technology-development-center-atdc\/\u0022\u003EAdvanced Technology Development Center\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(ATDC).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EATDC is Georgia\u0026rsquo;s technology startup incubator and helps entrepreneurs across the state build, launch, and scale successful companies.\u0026nbsp;The goal of the gift is to accelerate growth of automation and robotics by leveraging staff and resources at ATDC in collaboration with Amazon.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our mission is to support infrastructure for startups and to help foster compelling startup companies with tremendous talent that solve big problems,\u0026rdquo; said Thomas Felis, director of robotics strategy for Amazon Global Robotics. \u0026ldquo;Equally important to us is Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s track record of working with and supporting entrepreneurs from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe funding includes allocation for an ATDC full-time automation and robotics catalyst to recruit and coach companies focused on automation and robotics. The catalyst will identify relevant startups and help onboard them into ATDC\u0026rsquo;s startup pipeline and portfolio.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Georgia Tech is a leader in robotics research, and we are excited to have Amazon support our startup mission at ATDC to bring entrepreneurial ideas to life and to market,\u0026rdquo; said John Avery, ATDC director. \u0026ldquo;Innovation can come from anywhere and everywhere, and this collaboration reflects our commitment to support diverse startup founders.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis effort will also support Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s ongoing robotics research, including the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/robotics\/robotics-industry-program\u0022\u003EInstitute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Amazon sponsorship expands ATDC\u0026rsquo;s targeted vertical focus areas to seven, including financial, health, and retail technology, 5G, logistics and supply chain, and advanced manufacturing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EATDC will also work with Amazon to identify specific areas of technical interest with the aim of developing virtual and physical events to attract relevant startups.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo apply to join the robotics and automation incubator, click\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/atdc.org\/application-for-entrepreneurs-seeking-to-join-the-atdc-robotics-and-automation-vertical\/\u0022\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Funding will go toward assisting diverse entrepreneurs in the fields of robotics and automation."}],"uid":"28137","created_gmt":"2022-06-14 16:51:42","changed_gmt":"2022-06-14 17:03:15","author":"P\u00e9ralte Paul","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-06-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-06-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"658859":{"id":"658859","type":"image","title":"Avery and Felis","body":null,"created":"1655225992","gmt_created":"2022-06-14 16:59:52","changed":"1655225992","gmt_changed":"2022-06-14 16:59:52","alt":"Shot of John Avery and Thomas Felis","file":{"fid":"249736","name":"John and Thomas-1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/John%20and%20Thomas-1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/John%20and%20Thomas-1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":220884,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/John%20and%20Thomas-1.jpg?itok=qk1FKFxM"}}},"media_ids":["658859"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"139","name":"Business"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"81501","name":"Amazon"},{"id":"4238","name":"atdc"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"6503","name":"automation"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"106361","name":"Business and Economic Development"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPeralte C. Paul\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nperalte.paul@comm.gatech.edu\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404.316.1210\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["peralte@atdc.org"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"658195":{"#nid":"658195","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Faces of Research: Meet Kinsey Herrin","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/robotics\u0022\u003EInstitute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech supports and facilitates the operation of several core research facilities on campus. This allows\u0026nbsp;faculty, students, and collaborators to advance the boundaries\u0026nbsp;of robotics research.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis installment of the Faces of Research Q\u0026amp;A series is\u0026nbsp;with \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/herrin\u0022\u003EKinsey Herrin\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is your field of expertise and why did you choose it?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nI\u0026rsquo;m a prosthetist\/orthotist and conduct research in the field of prosthetics, orthotics\/exoskeletons, and rehab robotics. Our goal is to make it easier for people with mobility challenges to live more independent lives by helping them move more easily in the real world. The change we see through our technology sometimes is amazing \u0026mdash;\u0026nbsp;people with amputations can go upstairs, step-over-step instead of stiff legged, and kids with walking disabilities\u0026nbsp;start to have more normal walking patterns. As a kid, I always wanted to help people and this profession is the perfect blend of medicine, science, and art \u0026mdash;\u0026nbsp;all things that I love plus the added benefit of getting to be around some really incredible people.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat makes Georgia Tech Research institutes unique?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nWe\u0026rsquo;re trying to advance technology outside of the lab and into the real world where it can make an impact on real users. That means not only assessing how our users perform with the technology \u0026mdash;\u0026nbsp;does it actually make them walk faster, with\u0026nbsp;a more natural and easy gait \u0026mdash;\u0026nbsp;but also assessing a user\u0026rsquo;s own perspective on technology and using all of that data to keep improving the end results. Our facilities and resources are incredible. I often feel I have access to a dream playground for a research prosthetist\/orthotist. On top of all of that, our faculty and students are not only extremely talented and at the top of their fields, but I think there is a deeper passion for pursuing this goal to make mobility easier for people with physical challenges.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat impact is your research having on the world?\u202f\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nI see our work as having an impact on all people with mobility challenges. We are trying to make the world a better place for them by challenging the status quo and saying what clinicians can currently provide is still not good enough. We can still do more to return people to a new normal after amputation, stroke, brain, and spinal cord injuries. When people can access their own environment independently, it has overwhelmingly positive impacts on their quality of life. I think our research is making great strides toward making that possible.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat do you like to do in your spare time when you are not working on your research or teaching?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nI enjoy being outdoors with my husband and son any chance we get. We love pretty much everything about being on or near water \u0026mdash;\u0026nbsp;fishing, kayaking, canoeing, swimming, and camping. I also have nine\u0026nbsp;backyard chickens and a dog that are hilarious and fun additions to the Herrin chaos.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Senior Research Scientist, Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering"}],"uid":"28137","created_gmt":"2022-05-13 14:41:45","changed_gmt":"2022-05-13 14:50:32","author":"P\u00e9ralte Paul","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-05-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-05-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"658196":{"id":"658196","type":"image","title":"FoR: Kinsey Herrin","body":null,"created":"1652453346","gmt_created":"2022-05-13 14:49:06","changed":"1652453346","gmt_changed":"2022-05-13 14:49:06","alt":"headshot of Kinsey Herrin","file":{"fid":"249503","name":"Faces-of-Research-banner_Herrin-title_01.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Faces-of-Research-banner_Herrin-title_01.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Faces-of-Research-banner_Herrin-title_01.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":490164,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Faces-of-Research-banner_Herrin-title_01.jpg?itok=8a4rPnko"}}},"media_ids":["658196"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1237","name":"College of Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["peralte.paul@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"657308":{"#nid":"657308","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New \u201cMicro-rocker\u201d Bots Are Powered by a Single Electromagnetic Coil","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers have shown that robots about the size of a particle of dust are capable of precise bidirectional control. By harnessing the power of a magnetic field generated by only a single electromagnetic coil, the mobile micro-robots are the smallest of their type.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;There are swimmer micro-robots that move in a fluid with similar size, but these are the smallest \u0026lsquo;walking\u0026rsquo; robots that move on a solid surface,\u0026rdquo; said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff-directory\/azadeh-ansari\u0022\u003EAzadeh Ansari\u003C\/a\u003E, the Sutterfield Family Early Career Assistant Professor at Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech study was recently published in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/link.springer.com\/epdf\/10.1007\/s12213-022-00149-y?sharing_token=6BaiN27mwVkc99vtLSaG3fe4RwlQNchNByi7wbcMAY534Rn_nre52BTa_Z7xlrh6cyolUy9n466Ww7Qz2L30gRo5MLOf7TBMAB6zPtlJr0xHOf1Eu7bqaTbyxfNqz_VCR-ISucKah5fzGAh5bcWtDYPmB-Y66VctYdo7WQA39L4%3D\u0022\u003EJournal of Micro-Bio Robotics\u003C\/a\u003E. Currently, most magnetically-actuated micro-bot systems rely on adding multiple electromagnets to enable full control, resulting in higher power consumption and less flexible setups. Being able to demonstrate that a single coil setup is enough for precise bidirectional motion control is a significant hurdle to clear, according to Ansari. With the micro-bots now much easier to operate, the team has been able to demonstrate micromanipulation capabilities.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;With what we\u0026rsquo;ve shown, we can already think of applying the micro-bots in a lab setting,\u0026rdquo; said Ansari. \u0026ldquo;You could have hundreds of robots on the same substrate working akin to ants in a colony.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn Spring 2019, Ansari\u0026rsquo;s team showcased larger (two millimeters long)\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rh.gatech.edu\/news\/623453\/tiny-vibration-powered-robots-are-size-worlds-smallest-ant\u0022\u003E\u0026ldquo;micro-bristle-bots\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;that could move by harnessing vibrations. Vibrations are no longer needed to move the micro-bots because of their updated \u0026ldquo;rocker\u0026rdquo; design \u0026mdash; hence micro-rocker bots. The new design allows the bots to move by performing a stick\u0026ndash;slip motion with an out-of-plane magnetic field.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EStick-slip motion basically refers to the two states of the robot; one when the robot is in a pinned\/stationary position on the surface and the other when the robot \u0026ldquo;slips\u0026rdquo; slightly in one direction and achieves net motion, according to Ph.D. student Tony Wang. When the magnetic field is turned on, the robot will essentially rise and then fall. This motion enables enough kinetic energy to allow the robot to move.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMore Than a New Design\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEqually as important as the rocker design, the paper demonstrates the novel use of a waveform offset for biasing the direction of the robot\u0026#39;s trajectory. The sign of the magnetic field offset (positive or negative), as well as the rocker\u0026rsquo;s angle with the surface, is what determines the direction the micro-bots will travel. Combined, the rocker design and the magnetic offset make the micro-bots capable of well-controlled, and importantly selectable, movement. The acceleration and deceleration of the micro-rocker bots can further be controlled by changing the frequency of the magnetic field.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 100-micrometre long micro-bots were 3D printed on to a glass substrate via two-photon lithography and subsequently deposited with a nickel thin film, which acts as a semi-hard magnet in response to external magnetic fields. For many lab applications the robots can be directly printed on the substrate that will go under the microscope, but they can also be printed and transported with a micropipette.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;There are lot of areas the micro-robots can be applied to within the current 2D, under-the-microscope process we\u0026rsquo;ve established so far,\u0026rdquo; said Ansari. \u0026ldquo;But there\u0026rsquo;s also a future where they can be injected into living organisms to deliver drugs or repair injuries.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team is currently working to equip a micro-bot with a tip that could potentially insert nanoparticles into biological tissue for drug delivery or DNA extraction. Their findings will be presented at the\u0026nbsp;Hilton Head Workshop 2022: A Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Workshop this June.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E****\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECitation:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003ETony Wang, DeaGyu Kim, Yifan Shi, and Zhijian Hao, Azadeh Ansari \u0026ldquo;Bidirectional microscale rocker robots controlled via neutral position offset\u0026rdquo; (Journal of Micro-Bio Robotics, 2022).\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s12213-022-00149-y\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s12213-022-00149-y\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFunding:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;This work is supported by Georgia Tech Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology (IEN) and the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE-1650044. The device fabrication was performed at the Georgia Tech Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology clean room facilities, a member of the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI), which is supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant ECCS-1542174).\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Once the size of ants, these Georgia Tech 3D-printed micro-robots can now only be seen under a microscope."}],"uid":"36172","created_gmt":"2022-04-14 20:09:19","changed_gmt":"2022-04-19 13:17:07","author":"dwatson71","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-04-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-04-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"657353":{"id":"657353","type":"image","title":"Azadeh Ansari, Georgia Tech Assistant Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering","body":null,"created":"1650044663","gmt_created":"2022-04-15 17:44:23","changed":"1650044663","gmt_changed":"2022-04-15 17:44:23","alt":"","file":{"fid":"249154","name":"Azadeha.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Azadeha.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Azadeha.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":224467,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Azadeha.jpeg?itok=PWNJS39a"}},"657355":{"id":"657355","type":"image","title":"Azadeh Ansari in the lab","body":null,"created":"1650045275","gmt_created":"2022-04-15 17:54:35","changed":"1650045275","gmt_changed":"2022-04-15 17:54:35","alt":"","file":{"fid":"249156","name":"19C10200-P46-010.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/19C10200-P46-010.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/19C10200-P46-010.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1654585,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/19C10200-P46-010.jpg?itok=HMFxTl5H"}}},"media_ids":["657353","657355"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff-directory\/azadeh-ansari","title":"Azadeh Ansari "},{"url":"https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu","title":"ECE"},{"url":"https:\/\/rdcu.be\/cJvPH","title":"Journal of Micro-Bio Robotics "},{"url":"https:\/\/rh.gatech.edu\/news\/623453\/tiny-vibration-powered-robots-are-size-worlds-smallest-ant","title":"Micro-bristle-Bot, 2019"}],"groups":[{"id":"1255","name":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"175301","name":"Azadeh Ansari"},{"id":"190376","name":"micro-rocker bots"},{"id":"2435","name":"ECE"},{"id":"190377","name":"3D-printing"},{"id":"190378","name":"stick-slip motion"},{"id":"1163","name":"microsystems"},{"id":"190379","name":"electromagnetic coil"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDan Watson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dwatson@ece.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Edwatson@ece.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["dwatson@ece.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"657151":{"#nid":"657151","#data":{"type":"news","title":"From Virtual Reality to Ice Slurries: How ATRP is Impacting Georgia, the Nation, and World","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EIn the age of Covid-19, the need for industries to adopt advanced technologies, incorporate more health and safety standards into their daily operations, and maintain a robust workforce is more important than ever.\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Agricultural Technology Research Program (ATRP) at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is leading efforts to equip Georgia\u0026#39;s agribusiness and food processing industries with the technology and skills to remain competitive and at the forefront of the global transformation that has been accelerated by the pandemic. ATRP works in collaboration with university and industry partners, especially within Georgia\u0026#39;s poultry industry \u0026ndash; which has a \u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.agr.georgia.gov\/poultry-emergency-rule-notice.aspx#:~:text=Furthermore%2C%20Georgia\u2019s%20poultry%20industry%20has%20a%20%2428%20billion,major%20and%20real%20threat%20to%20Georgia\u2019s%20public%20welfare.\u0022\u003E$28 billion\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E annual impact on the Georgia economy \u0026ndash; on projects involving robotics, advanced sensors, environmental treatment, and worker and food safety technologies. ATRP\u0026#39;s ultimate goal is to transition technologies from concept to commercialization as quickly and economically as possible.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;Our role is to support the agriculture industry in the state of Georgia and the world \u0026ndash; we are Georgia-focused first, but what we do in Georgia is going to impact the world,\u0026quot; said Doug Britton, a GTRI principal research engineer and ATRP program manager.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EProblem Solved\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe ATRP\u0026#39;s origins date back to 1973, when the Georgia Poultry Federation requested engineering support from GTRI and Georgia Tech on issues troubling the poultry industry. The Georgia Poultry Federation represents the Georgia poultry industry\u0026#39;s interests at the state and federal levels on legislative and regulatory issues.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;They received concerns from neighbors and friends about all of the noise coming out of mills used to make animal feeds,\u0026quot; Britton said. \u0026quot;So, they asked Georgia Tech to do acoustics analysis to see if there was some way to reduce those noise levels.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFrom there, ATRP was born.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EATRP conducts state-sponsored and contract research for industry and government agencies. For FY 21, ATRP received roughly $2 million in funding from the state of Georgia. ATRP\u0026#39;s Automation and Robotics Research received the majority of that funding, at 41%, followed by Technology Transfer\/Outreach\/Technical Assistance, which received 16%. Environmental and Biological Systems Research came in third at 14%; followed by Food Safety Research at 13%; Program Support with 9%; and Imaging and Sensor Research at 7%.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EATRP benefits from significant industry support, with 15 companies and associations actively participating in research projects. In addition, over 35 individuals sit on the ATRP industry advisory committee, representing 28 different companies and organizations. For FY 2021, ATRP had nine research prototypes in various stages of development; five exploratory research projects; three provisional patent applications; five invention disclosures; 33 published articles, papers, and presentations; 18 participating industry and academic partners; and 21 technical assistance service requests fulfilled.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EVR to the Rescue\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne of ATRP\u0026#39;s provisional patents relates to its work around incorporating automation solutions, specifically virtual reality (VR), into poultry processing to boost efficiency and enhance worker safety.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWorking in a poultry processing plant can be challenging.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFood processing environments are often kept quite cold by design to prevent pathogen growth. Low temperatures, combined with the physical demands of the job, have contributed to the industry\u0026rsquo;s high turnover rates that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. According to recent \u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ncfh.org\/poultry-workers.html\u0022\u003Eestimates\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E, poultry worker turnover ranges from 40% to 100% annually, and amid Covid-19, increased risks for disease transmission and cross-contamination pose even more obstacles for the sector.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo address these issues, ATRP is exploring ways to combine VR with factory-based robotics in certain poultry processing operations, such as cone loading, which could allow workers to perform their jobs in safer environments \u0026ndash; or even from home. Cone loading is when chicken carcasses that have had their legs and thighs removed are placed onto a cone for further processing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;Cone loading sounds like a really easy task, and it is,\u0026quot; said Konrad Ahlin, a GTRI research engineer who has expertise in robotics. \u0026quot;But the problem is having a dedicated person doing that for extended periods \u0026ndash; it\u0026#39;s physically demanding on the person, and it\u0026#39;s a menial, trivial task that\u0026#39;s unfortunately just necessary.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EATRP\u0026#39;s \u0026quot;expert-in-the-loop\u0026quot; robotics solution would allow human workers to provide key information to robot systems performing the operation \u0026ndash; all from a virtual reality environment. So far, attempts to fully automate common poultry processing operations have not been successful due to chickens\u0026#39; irregular and malleable shapes. But VR could solve that challenge, Ahlin noted.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;Virtual reality is creating this bridge where information can intuitively pass between human operators and robotic devices in a way that hasn\u0026#39;t been possible before,\u0026quot; Ahlin said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EATRP has filed a provisional patent for its VR research and is also working with the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) to develop a commercialization roadmap for the technology. The GRA is an Atlanta-based nonprofit that expands research capacity at Georgia universities, then seeds and shapes startup companies around inventions and discoveries.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGary McMurray, a GTRI principal research engineer and division chief of GTRI\u0026#39;s Intelligent Sustainable Technologies Division, said VR\u0026#39;s potential to defy geographic limitations could be transformative for the manufacturing industry at large.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;There are lots of reasons that this technology could have a big impact on manufacturing, which is struggling with finding people to do jobs,\u0026quot; McMurray said. \u0026quot;With this technology, you could be sitting in West Virginia, put on a VR headset, and work from the comfort of your home. You\u0026#39;re no longer tied to geography, and that\u0026#39;s really powerful.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EConcept to Commercialization\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMany ATRP projects are already having an impact outside the lab.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003EInterferometric Biosensing\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne of those is an interferometric biosensor that can be configured to rapidly detect a variety of pathogens and chemicals across multiple industries. The technology has been licensed exclusively to Valdosta, Ga.-based Salvus\u0026trade;, which is a part of the CJB\u0026reg; family of companies.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESalvus, which develops and manufactures chemical contaminant and pathogen detection technologies for the food and agriculture, life sciences, water quality, and specialty chemical industries, has said it expects to begin clinical and market trials for the biosensor sometime in 2022.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We have been able to apply our commercialization and manufacturing experience to the breakthrough work that Dr. Xu and the ATRP team have accomplished,\u0026quot; said Ron Levin, director of strategy for Salvus. \u0026quot;It is rewarding to discuss this technology with potential commercial partners and to hear their excitement for the technology in so many potential applications.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJie Xu, a GTRI principal research scientist who is leading the Salvus project, said her team is currently working with Salvus to ensure the technology\u0026#39;s core electrical, mechanical, and chemical functions perform seamlessly ahead of deployment.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;In a controlled environment, such as a lab, the technology works beautifully,\u0026quot; Xu said. \u0026quot;But when you move it outside of the lab, you have to account for a lot of unknown factors.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe science behind the Salvus detection system is called interferometry, which exploits the interference of light waves to precisely determine the rate at which target particles attach to the sensor\u0026#39;s surface. The sensor contains two separate channels \u0026ndash; a sensing channel and a reference channel.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe sensing channel detects the specific target of interest, such as a virus or chemical. This signal is then compared to the reference channel, which allows the sensor to quantify the level or amount of the specific target and provide an accurate reading. A major benefit of the technology is its ability to complete tests in a matter of minutes or seconds. In a medical setting, a device utilizing this technology would allow clinicians to process a patient sample and have results ready before the patient leaves the premises \u0026ndash; eliminating the need to send patients home to await lab testing results. Meanwhile, at a water processing facility, workers would be able to use this device to test the water and immediately know how much treatment is required.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe technology has been tested in more than 50 diverse applications, including the detection of Covid-19, Salmonella, avian influenza, and many different chemicals.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;Salvus came to us and asked if we could research ways to speed up in-the-field testing of pathogens and chemical contaminants,\u0026quot; Xu said. \u0026quot; So, instead of a company sending a sample to the lab and waiting weeks to get the lab results, our proprietary technology would produce results right on the spot.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003EDynamic Filtration\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnother project making headway in the commercial space is ATRP\u0026#39;s Dynamic Filtration System. ATRP conducted in-plant trials of the patented filtration technology in FY 2021. During the trials, the system was licensed for poultry processing by Watson Agriculture and Food, a subsidiary of venture capital firm Watson Holdings that invests in technologies to solve major world problems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe technology consists of a unique filtration system that is designed to separate various levels of solids, fats, and other materials from wastewater used in poultry processing. The process keeps the filtered materials from clogging the system, allowing for greater throughput. In addition, it captures the filtered materials that have additional value as a byproduct. Current work is focused on screening smaller particles to further improve water recyclability and wastewater treatment in poultry processing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;Universities are excellent at finding problems to solve, and I chose to partner with Georgia Tech for its reputation as being a leading research institute that has some of the best engineers in the world,\u0026quot; said Trey Watson, founder and CEO of Watson Holdings. \u0026quot;Even though water filtration is just one component of the poultry production process, it greatly enhances consumer safety and is both cost- and energy-efficient for the poultry industry, and I am excited to continue working with Georgia Tech and GTRI as we create additional solutions for tomorrow\u0026#39;s problems.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EIce in Motion\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENearly everyone remembers the Slurpee slushies found at their local 7-Elevens.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EATRP researchers are applying a similar concept, along with rotational kinematics, to poultry processing to ensure product quality and safety. A distinction between ATRP\u0026#39;s ice slurry mixture and Slurpee slushies is that the ice particles ATRP uses are finer, and its ice slurry blend is more homogenous.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring processing, chicken carcasses are typically immersed in screw augers of chilled water to lower their temperature to a degree that prevents pathogen growth. A screw auger is a mechanism used in bulk handling that utilizes a rotating helical screw blade to move liquid or granular materials through a shaft. However, this process requires carcasses to be removed from a shackle line before immersion, which can result in lost traceability; increased cross-contamination risks due to direct contact between carcasses; and additional labor to rehang the carcasses onto processing line shackles after chilling.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EATRP is working to solve these challenges by keeping carcasses shackled during the immersive chilling process. For the chilling medium, ATRP is using either conventional chilled water or ice slurry, which is a mix of tiny ice crystals and liquid water. Compared to conventional liquid water, ice slurry provides the additional chilling effects of ice while retaining a liquid-like form that is easily transportable and could result in higher cooling rates.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;One thing about ice slurry is that you can pump it like a liquid instead of trying to load it and carry it around like traditional ice,\u0026quot; said Comas Haynes, a GTRI principal research engineer who is leading the project. \u0026quot;And because of its liquid nature, it can really go around the contour of the carcasses, which results in faster chilling times.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team has built a new carousel-type test rig that better mimics real-world conditions, wherein the carcasses remain shackled during immersive chilling to alleviate the aforementioned screw conveyor issues. The addition of passive, or non-motorized, rotational effects along with conventional \u0026ldquo;line speed\u0026rdquo; translation is producing promising reductions in chill time. This has already been shown for chilled water, and there is a near-term plan to test this enhancement in ice slurry as well, Haynes said. Georgia Tech has also filed a patent on its rotational chilling enhancement research.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EFailing Forward\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhatever the project, ATRP continuously seeks to translate novel research concepts into commercially viable products for poultry, agribusiness, and food manufacturing industries in Georgia, the nation, and the world, that maximize productivity and efficiency, advance safety and health, and minimize environmental impacts.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;We want to be viewed as thinking outside the box \u0026ndash; that\u0026#39;s part of our role, and we embrace it,\u0026quot; Britton said. Britton added that GTRI provides industry partners with a safe environment to take risks and the cutting-edge technologies to achieve maximum success.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;I always tell my industry stakeholders that GTRI is a great place to fail,\u0026quot; Britton said. \u0026quot;If we fail here, it means we don\u0026#39;t fail out there.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nWriter: \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:anna.akins@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EAnna Akins\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nPhotos: Christopher Moore\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E is the nonprofit, applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).\u202fFounded in 1934 as the Engineering Experiment Station, GTRI has grown to more than 2,800 employees supporting eight laboratories in over 20 locations around the country and performing more than $700 million of problem-solving research annually for government and industry.\u202fGTRI\u0026#39;s renowned researchers combine science, engineering, economics, policy, and technical expertise to solve complex problems for the U.S. federal government, state, and industry.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The Agricultural Technology Research Program (ATRP) at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is leading efforts to equip Georgia\u0027s agribusiness and food processing industries to remain competitive and at the forefront of the global transformation."}],"uid":"35832","created_gmt":"2022-04-11 14:48:15","changed_gmt":"2022-04-11 14:56:51","author":"Michelle Gowdy","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-04-11T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-04-11T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"657149":{"id":"657149","type":"image","title":"GTRI Researcher Comas Haynes","body":null,"created":"1649688070","gmt_created":"2022-04-11 14:41:10","changed":"1649688070","gmt_changed":"2022-04-11 14:41:10","alt":"","file":{"fid":"249067","name":"Comas Haynes.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Comas%20Haynes.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Comas%20Haynes.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":900815,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Comas%20Haynes.jpg?itok=bkHzPYha"}},"657145":{"id":"657145","type":"image","title":"GTRI Research Engineer Konrad Ahlin","body":null,"created":"1649687732","gmt_created":"2022-04-11 14:35:32","changed":"1649687732","gmt_changed":"2022-04-11 14:35:32","alt":"","file":{"fid":"249066","name":"GTRI Research Engineer Konrad Ahlin.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/GTRI%20Research%20Engineer%20Konrad%20Ahlin.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/GTRI%20Research%20Engineer%20Konrad%20Ahlin.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":507926,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/GTRI%20Research%20Engineer%20Konrad%20Ahlin.jpg?itok=u0xaTj0b"}}},"media_ids":["657149","657145"],"groups":[{"id":"1276","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"166902","name":"science and technology"},{"id":"145251","name":"virtual reality"},{"id":"670","name":"atrp"},{"id":"13059","name":"Agricultural Technology Research Program"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"669","name":"agriculture"},{"id":"190338","name":"impacting the state"},{"id":"190339","name":"Georgia impact"},{"id":"57811","name":"food processing"},{"id":"1464","name":"Georgia Research Alliance"},{"id":"10677","name":"biosensing"},{"id":"668","name":"poultry"},{"id":"148381","name":"vr"},{"id":"342","name":"Georgia"},{"id":"57801","name":"poultry processing"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E(Interim) Director of Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMichelle Gowdy\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMichelle.Gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E404-407-8060\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["michelle.gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"651725":{"#nid":"651725","#data":{"type":"news","title":"How to Make an Exosuit that Helps with Awkward Lifts","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn the last few years, mechanically assistive exosuits, long depicted in works of popular science fiction and film, have finally started to see commercial deployment, according to \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/young\u0022\u003EAaron Young\u003C\/a\u003E, professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. Most of these exosuits have a so-called passive design, assisting the wearer with unpowered elements like springs.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EActive exosuits that incorporate electronics and powered motors are yet to be broadly applied. They tend to be big and heavy, and rely on rigid exoskeletons to transfer weight from body to ground. Exoskeletons add a great deal of stiffness, as well, Young said. Putting on most active exosuits is a little like becoming one with a forklift, restricting a wearer to lifting weights in a vertical plane.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor all these reasons, Young\u0026rsquo;s Asymmetric Back eXosuit (ABX) described in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ieeexplore.ieee.org\/document\/9559874\u0022\u003EOctober 5 issue of IEEE Transactions on Robotics\u003C\/a\u003E is highly non-standard. There\u0026rsquo;s no exoskeleton, no rigid structure, nothing that makes contact with the floor. If the wearer is just standing there, it does nothing except for adding 14 pounds to their legs. But if they raise their body from a leaning over position, it makes a somewhat frantic noise: that is the sound of the ABX helping them rotate their torso, helping them twist.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlthough most active exosuits support vertical lifts, rotating and twisting movements are also ubiquitous, especially in certain fields of manual labor like garbage collection and baggage handling. In many cases, these motions can be awkward and strenuous, leading to work-related injuries as well as back pain, according to Young. Back pain, in turn, is directly correlated with the strength of compressive forces and shear forces that are applied to the spine.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn designing their exosuit, the researchers sought a way to reduce these loads on the spinal joints. Putting it on looks a little like donning a futuristic backpack. Two motors are first strapped onto the back of each upper thigh. These motors are then connected to the back of the opposite shoulders, each with their own cable, making for two cables that diagonally overlap. The exosuit provides assistance by applying tension to the cables when it detects a wearer rise from a bending posture.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026#39;s definitely a different sensation than a sort of standard exoskeleton. It\u0026#39;s not your standard design,\u0026rdquo; said Young.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause the diagonal cables have a component of motion that is horizontal, they exert a pull on the torso that can aid in twisting it from side to side. In tests, the researchers showed that when a wearer of the ABX swung a weight from the ground to one side, the exosuit reduced their back muscle activations by an average of 16%, as measured by electromyography (EMG) sensors. The exosuit also provided a 37% reduction in back muscle exertion when a wearer lifted weights symmetrically, straight off the ground \u0026ndash; an assistance level comparable to more rigid designs.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;People definitely felt like the technology is assisting them, which is great. And we did see the concurrent EMG reduction,\u0026rdquo; said Young. \u0026ldquo;I think it\u0026rsquo;s a great first step.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a sense, wearing the exosuit is almost like strapping two additional muscles onto the body \u0026ndash; unconventional muscles, which run directly from back to leg. Interestingly, it is the positioning of these muscles rather than their brute strength that makes them functional, said Young.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe motors pull the cables with much less power than the muscles in the body. However, the cables are positioned much further away from the joints. Through this positioning, the cables obtain greater leverage and mechanical advantage, allowing the wearer to reduce their overall muscular output and hence the load that they place on their spine. (Spinal loading was not directly measured in the study.)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAside from its overall performance, it is the flexible, asymmetric nature of the suit that really makes it unique, Young said. There are currently no other active exosuits that provide assistance for twisting and rotating through a comparable range of motion. While other exosuits also use cables, none have arranged them along diagonal lines.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EYoung is currently seeking collaborations with industry partners to further develop the exosuit. In future work, he sees its control system as a point to improve. Currently, when a person raises their torso from a lowered position, the cables simply pull with constant tension. But it should be possible to make the system detect different actions of the wearer and adjust its pull in response.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EReferences\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJ. M. Li, D. D. Molinaro, A. S. King, A. Mazumdar and A. J. Young, \u0026quot;Design and Validation of a Cable-Driven Asymmetric Back Exosuit,\u0026quot; in IEEE Transactions on Robotics, doi: 10.1109\/TRO.2021.3112280.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout Georgia Tech\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is a top 10 public research university developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its nearly 40,000 students representing 50 states and 149 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New exosuit invented by Georgia Tech researchers reduces muscular exertion required for rotating and twisting motions."}],"uid":"35899","created_gmt":"2021-10-14 19:49:28","changed_gmt":"2021-10-15 17:05:40","author":"Mordechai Rorvig","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-10-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-10-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"651722":{"id":"651722","type":"image","title":"Aaron Young 001","body":null,"created":"1634240470","gmt_created":"2021-10-14 19:41:10","changed":"1634317475","gmt_changed":"2021-10-15 17:04:35","alt":"","file":{"fid":"247263","name":"BexoStill_padded.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/BexoStill_padded.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/BexoStill_padded.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":413732,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/BexoStill_padded.jpg?itok=S1G1BWGQ"}}},"media_ids":["651722"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39461","name":"Manufacturing, Trade, and Logistics"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMordechai Rorvig\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nSenior Science Writer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["mrorvig@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"651600":{"#nid":"651600","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Biomolecular Engineer Wins Grant to Make Microorganism-Inspired Machines","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhat do the cylinder in an internal combustion engine and the four-millimeter-long creature, \u003Cem\u003ESpirostomum ambiguum\u003C\/em\u003E, have in common? Surprisingly, quite a bit. Both are similarly shaped. Both shrink to a fraction of their size in an instant. And both release about the same amount of power output per cubic centimeter in volume. But for all we know about the engine, we know relatively little about the living organism.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESaad Bhamla, a professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech, recently received an \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/reporter.nih.gov\/search\/Oknss65S00GZ6zWXumkEyw\/project-details\/10273361\u0022\u003EOutstanding Investigator Award\u003C\/a\u003E from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health, to continue\u0026nbsp;studying\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003ESpirostomum\u003C\/em\u003E and attempt to build machines based on similar principles. The grant will provide his research group with $1.98 million in funding over five years.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor Bhamla, the comparison between the organism and the engine is more than just an analogy. He is now working to build something directly akin to a micro-engine, with pistons and cylinders made out of synthetic cells similar to \u003Cem\u003ESpirostomum\u003C\/em\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;That\u0026#39;s basically the stuff of my dreams,\u0026rdquo; Bhamla said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOnce built, he believes that these molecular engines might prove far more efficient than other miniaturized power sources. The chief difficulty will be making a synthetic cell that functions like \u003Cem\u003ESpirostomum\u003C\/em\u003E, Bhamla said. Today, most synthetic cells do very different things, like\u0026nbsp;producing lab-grown meat.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We still think of them as basically bags of fluid,\u0026rdquo; said Bhamla. \u0026ldquo;They don\u0026#39;t move, they just hang around in test tubes.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOver the last few years, Bhamla and colleagues have learned more about how \u003Cem\u003ESpirostomum\u003C\/em\u003E works. Its capabilities come from its use of an unconventional fuel, calcium, rather than adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the molecule that powers most human cells.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.biorxiv.org\/content\/10.1101\/854836v1.full\u0022\u003Epreprint\u003C\/a\u003E from 2019, Bhamla and Xinjing Xu, then an undergraduate student at Georgia Tech, figured out exactly what makes the organism contract. They found that when calcium binds to \u003Cem\u003ESpirostomum\u0026rsquo;s\u003C\/em\u003E skeletal mesh, it forces each cell of the skeleton to coil tight.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne of Bhamla\u0026rsquo;s current doctoral students, Xiangting Lei, is already examining how to replicate this mechanism in a synthetic cell. She is investigating how to give the cell external triggers so that engineers can make it contract whenever they want. Bhamla plans to use the funds from the grant to hire several more graduate students to study these systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe goal is to create modern versions of what were historically known as mechanochemical\u0026nbsp;machines. A rich literature on these chemically-powered machines had been created in the sixties, only to be forgotten, Bhamla said. It seemed to be a classic case of science getting ahead of itself.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;They didn\u0026#39;t have the right optical tools and soft materials to do this,\u0026rdquo; said Bhamla. \u0026ldquo;This is a great time to revisit [the research] because I think this time, we might be able to have much more success.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout Georgia Tech\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is a top 10 public research university developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its nearly 40,000 students representing 50 states and 149 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"To make a micro-robot that moves, look to what nature does, first."}],"uid":"35899","created_gmt":"2021-10-12 13:49:11","changed_gmt":"2021-10-13 14:05:51","author":"Mordechai Rorvig","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-10-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-10-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"651598":{"id":"651598","type":"image","title":"Saad Bhamla 001","body":null,"created":"1634045637","gmt_created":"2021-10-12 13:33:57","changed":"1634045637","gmt_changed":"2021-10-12 13:33:57","alt":"","file":{"fid":"247219","name":"DSC_3036.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/DSC_3036.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/DSC_3036.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":449663,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/DSC_3036.jpg?itok=fwUB9O-L"}}},"media_ids":["651598"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMordechai Rorvig\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nSenior Science Writer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["mrorvig@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"650598":{"#nid":"650598","#data":{"type":"news","title":"A Glimpse into the Peach Orchard of the Future","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPeaches, not surprisingly, pack a punch for Georgia\u0026#39;s economy.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOver 130 million pounds of peaches are produced in Georgia per year, and the Southern staple has a total farm gate value of over $71 million, according to recent \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/extension.uga.edu\/topic-areas\/fruit-vegetable-ornamentals-production\/peaches.html\u0022\u003Eestimates\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut cultivating peaches is a complex and manually-intensive process that has put a strain on many farms stretched for time and workers. To solve this problem, the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) has developed an intelligent robot that is designed to handle the human-based tasks of thinning and pruning peach trees, which could result in significant cost savings for peach farms in Georgia. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;Most folks are familiar with the harvesting of fruit and picking it up at the market,\u0026quot; said Ai-Ping Hu, a GTRI senior research engineer who is leading the robot design project. \u0026quot;But there\u0026#39;s actually a lot more stuff that gets done before that point in the cultivation cycle.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBy using a LIDAR remote sensing system \u0026ndash; which determines distances by targeting an object with a laser and measuring the amount of time it takes for the laser beam to reflect back \u0026ndash; and a highly-specialized GPS technology that measures locations as specific as a fraction of an inch, the robot is able to self-navigate through peach orchards while steering clear of obstacles. Once at a peach tree, the robot uses an embedded 3D camera to determine which peaches need to be removed\u003Cs\u003E,\u003C\/s\u003E and removes the peaches using a claw-like device, known as an end effector, that is connected to the end of its arm.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe robot specifically addresses two key components of the peach cultivation cycle: tree pruning and tree thinning.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETree pruning refers to the selective removal of branches prior to the spring growing season, which typically occurs from mid-May to early August, and serves many purposes \u0026ndash; including exposing more interior surface areas of the fruit trees to sunlight and removing undesired older growth to enable new growth to better thrive.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETree thinning, meanwhile, is when small or undeveloped peaches, known as peachlets, are removed from peach trees to allow for bigger and better peaches to grow, Hu explained.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;If you just let all the peaches grow to maturity, then what you\u0026#39;ll end up getting is a tree of really small peaches,\u0026quot; Hu said. \u0026quot;What you want to do is have relatively few peaches, but you want the ones that remain to be nice and big and sweet \u0026ndash; ones you can actually sell.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut so far, there are no robots on the market that have been able to fully replace humans in the peach cultivation due to peach orchards\u0026#39; unstructured environments, which includes unpredictable weather, uneven terrain, and trees\u0026#39; different shapes and sizes, Hu noted.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;In an orchard, no two trees are ever the same,\u0026quot; Hu added. \u0026quot;You could have a sunny day or a really cloudy day \u0026ndash; that\u0026#39;s going to affect the way the technology on the robot can operate.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;There\u0026#39;s no robot in the world right now that can harvest or thin peaches as well as people can,\u0026quot; Hu said. \u0026quot;The technology\u0026#39;s not quite there yet.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrent efforts to automate the harvesting of peaches and other specialty crops so far have not been as successful as advancements in commodity crop automation, where machines can collect hundreds of acres of the good at a time. Commodity crops include items such as corn, wheat, and soybeans.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;Specialty crops are still very reliant on manual labor,\u0026quot; Hu said. \u0026quot;That\u0026#39;s really different from something like wheat, where one person driving a combine can harvest thousands of acres, hundreds of acres. Whereas for [peach harvesting], because everything is so individualized so unique, it\u0026#39;s really been difficult to automate.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo address these unique issues, GTRI is exploring ways to incorporate artificial intelligence and deep learning training methods to improve the robot\u0026#39;s image classification abilities and overall performance. GTRI has also partnered with Dario Chavez, an associate professor in the Department of Horticulture at the University of Georgia Griffin Campus in Griffin, Ga., to further explore the intelligent automation of peach farming.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGary McMurray, a GTRI principal research engineer and division chief of GTRI\u0026#39;s Intelligent Sustainable Technologies Division, said the novel robot stands to transform the fruit cultivation process for many farms that have struggled to grow trees that are strong enough to withstand unpredictable environmental conditions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;This is something that directly affects the yield of the trees,\u0026quot; McMurray said. \u0026quot;It\u0026#39;s money in the pocket of the growers.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EWriter: Anna Akins \u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPhoto Credit: Ai-Ping Hu \u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is developing a robot that utilizes deep learning to automate certain aspects of the peach cultivation process, which could be a boon for many Georgia peach farmsgrappling with a shortage of workers."}],"uid":"35832","created_gmt":"2021-09-09 14:03:43","changed_gmt":"2021-09-15 15:58:15","author":"Michelle Gowdy","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-09-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-09-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"650597":{"id":"650597","type":"image","title":"GTRI\u0027s Peachy Robot Utilizes Deep Learning to Automate Certain Aspects of the Peach Cultivation Process","body":null,"created":"1631195426","gmt_created":"2021-09-09 13:50:26","changed":"1631195426","gmt_changed":"2021-09-09 13:50:26","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246895","name":"Peach robot pic 1.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Peach%20robot%20pic%201.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Peach%20robot%20pic%201.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1549137,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Peach%20robot%20pic%201.JPG?itok=DZXYHWAi"}},"650594":{"id":"650594","type":"image","title":"GTRI\u0027s Peachy Robot","body":null,"created":"1631191929","gmt_created":"2021-09-09 12:52:09","changed":"1631191929","gmt_changed":"2021-09-09 12:52:09","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246892","name":"Peach robot pic 5 .jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Peach%20robot%20pic%205%20.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Peach%20robot%20pic%205%20.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1021263,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Peach%20robot%20pic%205%20.jpg?itok=5er6ph3C"}}},"media_ids":["650597","650594"],"groups":[{"id":"1276","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1317","name":"News Briefs"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"166902","name":"science and technology"},{"id":"290","name":"Economy"},{"id":"171151","name":"State of Georgia"},{"id":"109581","name":"deep learning"},{"id":"6503","name":"automation"},{"id":"188822","name":"peach robot"},{"id":"188823","name":"peach farm"},{"id":"111431","name":"lidar"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"166890","name":"sustainability"},{"id":"1033","name":"Economic Impact"},{"id":"23681","name":"Food Processing Technology"},{"id":"188834","name":"agritech"},{"id":"669","name":"agriculture"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E(Interim) Director of Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMichelle Gowdy\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMichelle.Gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E404-407-8060\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["michelle.gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"650214":{"#nid":"650214","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The Mechanics of Pellet-Carrying Honey Bees","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENew research led by Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s College of Engineering finds that honey bees have developed a way to transform pollen particles into a viscoelastic pellet, allowing them to transport pollen efficiently, quickly, and reliably to their hive.\u0026nbsp;The study also suggests the insects remove pollen from their bodies at speeds 2-10 times slower than their typical grooming speeds.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo collect and transport pollen, honey bees mix pollen particles with regurgitated nectar and form it into a pellet, which clings to each of their hind legs. The honey bees then deposit the pellets into a cell within the hive by carefully scraping them off using their other legs.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe study, from the lab of\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;Professor\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/hu\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EDavid Hu\u003C\/a\u003E, sought to better understand the mechanics of this process which could inspire new ways to manufacture and manipulate soft materials. Hu holds a joint appointment in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe paper, \u0026ldquo;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/royalsocietypublishing.org\/doi\/abs\/10.1098\/rsif.2021.0549?af=R\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EBiomechanics of Pollen Removal By the Honey Bee\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026rdquo; is published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026ldquo;We measured the viscoelastic material properties of a pollen pellet,\u0026rdquo; said Marguerite Matherne, a recent Georgia Tech mechanical engineering Ph.D. graduate who now teaches at Northeastern University. \u0026ldquo;We found that the pellets have a really long relaxation time, which means they remain mostly in a solid form during the transport process. This is good because it keeps the pellet from melting or falling apart from vibration during flight.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMatherne and the Georgia Tech research team also tried to replicate how honey bees remove the pellets from their hind legs in the lab. They built a device that scraped adhered pollen pellets from bee legs. The invention produced two discoveries. The first was that the honey bees were much more efficient in removing the pellet than the scraping device they built (the device left much more pollen residue on the leg). They also found that slower removal speeds reduce the force and work required to remove pellets under shear stress.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If you remove it slowly, you can avoid applying the excessive force required to remove it quickly,\u0026rdquo; said Hu, Matherne\u0026rsquo;s former Georgia Tech advisor. \u0026ldquo;Removing a pollen pellet is like the opposite of ripping off a Band-Aid.\u0026rdquo;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nMatherne said that there are two key components to the efficiency of the honey bees transporting these pellets. First, the pellets are gooey, allowing them to stick to the hind legs. But, she said, the bees also have a special structure on their legs called the corbicula. It\u0026rsquo;s fringed with long, curved hairs and becomes embedded into the pellet, allowing for adhesion.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition, honey bees can collect pollen particles in various shapes and sizes, while also developing a way to transport them. This is different from other species of bees, which only collect and carry specific types of pollen that are similar in size. They also use different transport techniques.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Honey bees collect from flowers miles and miles away,\u0026rdquo; said Hu. \u0026ldquo;The pollen can change in size by a factor of 10. They must collect all these individual particles and bring it back to one place. And they must do a dozen foraging trips each day, all while keeping their bodies clean. They solve it all by this special method they created to exploit the pellet\u0026rsquo;s soft material properties.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research team believes further studies could lead to new developments in medical patches or fastener applications for soft materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s kind of like smart gooey Velcro for soft materials,\u0026rdquo; said Hu. \u0026ldquo;It could be a fastener and it knows when you\u0026rsquo;re trying to remove it so that you don\u0026rsquo;t have to use an excessive amount of force.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMatherne suggests that it\u0026rsquo;s also important to understand the pollinating process since 35% of the world\u0026rsquo;s crop production depends on pollinators.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Honey bees are really important pollinators,\u0026rdquo; said Matherne. \u0026ldquo;If we want to create a world where we can keep up our pollinators, I think it\u0026rsquo;s important to understand exactly what they\u0026rsquo;re doing.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECITATION: Matherne, M., et.al., \u0026quot;Biomechanics of pollen pellet removal by the honey bee.\u0026quot; (Journal of the Royal Society Interface)\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1098\/rsif.2021.0549\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1098\/rsif.2021.0549\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Understanding how honey bees transport pollen pellets to their hive may inspire new ways to manufacture and manipulate soft materials"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENew research led by Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s College of Engineering finds that honey bees have developed a way to transform pollen particles into a viscoelastic pellet, allowing them to transport pollen efficiently, quickly, and reliably to their hive.\u0026nbsp;The study also suggests the insects remove pollen from their bodies at speeds 2-10 times slower than their typical grooming speeds.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Honey bees have developed a way to transform pollen particles into a viscoelastic pellet."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2021-08-30 16:17:02","changed_gmt":"2021-08-31 02:47:05","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-08-30T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-08-30T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"650215":{"id":"650215","type":"image","title":"Honey Bee Pollen Pellet","body":null,"created":"1630340340","gmt_created":"2021-08-30 16:19:00","changed":"1630340340","gmt_changed":"2021-08-30 16:19:00","alt":"Honey bee on flower","file":{"fid":"246793","name":"1024px-Godvor.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/1024px-Godvor.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/1024px-Godvor.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":164785,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/1024px-Godvor.jpeg?itok=VqCPRiUj"}}},"media_ids":["650215"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/news\/2017\/03\/28\/hair-spacing-keeps-honeybees-clean-during-pollination","title":"Hair Spacing Keeps Honeybees Clean During Pollination"}],"groups":[{"id":"1237","name":"College of Engineering"},{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"167936","name":"Soft materials"},{"id":"215","name":"manufacturing"},{"id":"20121","name":"biologically inspired design"},{"id":"166882","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECandler Hobbs\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Enigneering\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\ncandler.hobbs@coe.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["candler.hobbs@coe.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"650136":{"#nid":"650136","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Shreyes Melkote Appointed Novelis Innovation Hub Executive Director at Georgia Tech ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology and Novelis, Inc., the world leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, announced that Shreyes Melkote will serve as the new executive director of the Novelis Innovation Hub at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs Melkote assumes his appointment, Georgia Tech commends George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering Regents Professor Surya Kalidindi\u0026rsquo;s service as the inaugural interim executive director during the Novelis Innovation Hub\u0026rsquo;s first two years.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESince its establishment in 2019, the Novelis Innovation Hub has set a bold vision to foster world-class partnerships and collaborated with the Institute on battery research, electronics, robotics, high-throughput research, and additive manufacturing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAdvancing Mobility and Sustainability Goals\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith additional investment and a permanent leadership appointment to guide the Innovation Hub, Novelis hopes to further advance its position in the aluminum industry through innovation in new technology and application domains, including sustainable mobility, electronics, advanced manufacturing, and supply chain.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Sustainability is an important element of what Novelis wants to accomplish,\u0026rdquo; said Melkote, noting Novelis\u0026rsquo;s target to reduce its carbon footprint by 30% by 2026 and to be net carbon neutral by 2050. \u0026ldquo;Georgia Tech is focused on a lot of basic science, technologies, and business practices relevant to enabling a more sustainable enterprise.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMelkote is uniquely qualified for the role, having led the Georgia Tech-Boeing Strategic University Partnership for the last eight years while serving as associate director of \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/manufacturing\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI)\u003C\/a\u003E. He facilitated the establishment of the Boeing Manufacturing Development Center, an on-campus lab where students and faculty regularly collaborate with a resident Boeing engineer.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I see this as an opportunity to leverage my experience and knowledge from the Boeing partnership and to expand it. Novelis is engaged in the entire lifecycle of innovation, from early-stage basic research, to applied research and commercialization that will impact society at large,\u0026rdquo; said Melkote, who also holds the Morris M. Bryan, Jr. Professorship in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. He will work closely with Dr. Raj Gopalaswamy, Novelis\u0026rsquo; global technology director for new domains, who will lead Novelis\u0026rsquo; engagement with Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;To keep advancing the aluminum industry toward the circular economy, we must increase the pace of innovation and develop new solutions that demonstrate aluminum\u0026rsquo;s superior sustainability benefits,\u0026rdquo; said Gopalaswamy. \u0026nbsp;\u0026ldquo;Through research partnerships with world-leading institutions like Georgia Tech, we can fulfill the growing needs for aluminum applications that help our customers meet their sustainability goals faster and more efficiently.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMelkote agreed, adding, \u0026ldquo;What\u0026rsquo;s exciting is that \u0026nbsp;Novelis wants to look at the cutting edge of research and see how they can leverage that knowledge to innovate and develop new products.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;re thrilled to have Professor Melkote take on this leadership position in our growing collaboration with Novelis,\u0026rdquo; said Julia Kubanek, vice president for Interdisciplinary Research at Georgia Tech. \u0026ldquo;He brings substantial experience to this new role, having built Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s partnership with Boeing and served as associate director of the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute for several years.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EKubanek added that Melkote is well positioned to help Novelis broaden its relationship with Georgia Tech faculty and students, while engaging in key research areas to accelerate Novelis\u0026rsquo;s product innovation. Additionally, the Innovation Hub intends to not only fund research, but also establish a Scholars Program to fund research fellowships for Georgia Tech graduate and undergraduate students.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Novelis\u0026rsquo;s philanthropy commitment allows us to innovate on the educational front, where we can make investments that benefit both Georgia Tech and our educational mission,\u0026rdquo; said Melkote. \u0026ldquo;In doing so, we help train the next generation of engineers who will go on to work for companies like Novelis that are committed to sustainability.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E***\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout Georgia Tech \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is a top 10 public research university developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its nearly 40,000 students representing 50 states and 149 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Melkote to help Novelis achieve sustainability, mobility, and future workforce goals "}],"uid":"34602","created_gmt":"2021-08-26 18:14:15","changed_gmt":"2021-08-26 18:14:15","author":"Georgia Parmelee","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-08-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-08-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"650134":{"id":"650134","type":"image","title":"Melkote headshot","body":null,"created":"1630001280","gmt_created":"2021-08-26 18:08:00","changed":"1630001280","gmt_changed":"2021-08-26 18:08:00","alt":"Shreyes Melkote headshot","file":{"fid":"246762","name":"Screen Shot 2021-08-26 at 2.07.22 PM.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202021-08-26%20at%202.07.22%20PM.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202021-08-26%20at%202.07.22%20PM.png","mime":"image\/png","size":5592309,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202021-08-26%20at%202.07.22%20PM.png?itok=spaFmrM6"}}},"media_ids":["650134"],"groups":[{"id":"155831","name":"Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI)"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"186857","name":"go-gtmi"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Anne Wainscott-Sargent\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["asargent7@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"649344":{"#nid":"649344","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Rivera-Hern\u00e1ndez Wins NASA Grant to Aid Current Mars Rover Missions \u2014 and Find \u2018Martian Lakes\u2019 for Future Rovers and Crews","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThere\u0026rsquo;s a good reason why the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/mars2020\/\u0022\u003EMars 2020 Mission Perseverance Rover\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and its mini-copter counterpart\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/technology\/helicopter\/\u0022\u003EIngenuity\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;are currently busy exploring the edges of the Jezero Crater on the Red Planet. Water once flowed freely there, as it did eons ago at similar sites on Earth \u0026mdash; and perhaps with it, water-deposited evidence of life deep beneath Jezero\u0026rsquo;s rust-colored boulders and sand.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThose so-called terrestrial analog sites on Earth helped NASA choose Jezero for the mission. \u0026ldquo;Ancient lake beds are a major target for Mars exploration, as they provide evidence for sustained liquid water in Mars\u0026rsquo; past \u0026mdash; and lake muds commonly preserve biosignatures on Earth\u003Cem\u003E,\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Esays\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/people\/rivera-hernandez-dr-frances\u0022\u003EFrances Rivera-Hern\u0026aacute;ndez\u003C\/a\u003E, assistant professor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;Thus, if life ever persisted on early Mars, their past presence may be preserved in ancient lake beds.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERivera-Hern\u0026aacute;ndez, who joined Georgia Tech in January, will soon get a chance to study another analog site in the Antarctic, thanks to a four-year $700,000 NASA grant awarded to her research proposal, \u0026ldquo;Paleolake deposits in Miers Valley, Antarctica: An analog depositional record for Martian lakes through late Noachian to early Hesperian climatic transitions.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJust like the drilling and sampling now going on at Jezero Crater on Mars, Rivera-Hern\u0026aacute;ndez\u0026rsquo;s work may help NASA choose future Mars destinations for both robotic rover and crewed missions. That\u0026rsquo;s because Rivera-Hern\u0026aacute;ndez is also a collaborating scientist on NASA\u0026rsquo;s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/msl\/home\/\u0022\u003ECuriosity Rover\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;mission. \u0026ldquo;Lessons learned through the Antarctic project will help inform my work on the mission, as we have been characterizing lake bed deposits with the Rover,\u0026rdquo; she says. Since landing on Mars in 2012, Curiosity has traveled nearly 26 km (16\u003Cem\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E14 miles) around the rim of Gale Crater, another probable dry lake.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I was ecstatic to hear that my grant was funded, and excited to be heading to Antarctica for field work,\u0026rdquo; says Rivera-Hern\u0026aacute;ndez, who will serve as the study\u0026rsquo;s principal investigator. Her co-investigator is Tyler Mackey, an assistant professor at the University of New Mexico. The grant will also provide funding for two graduate students, one from each institution. Field work is planned to start in January 2024.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Before the field season, we will be performing remote sensing observations of our field site and performing lab-based analyses on modern lake samples to plan for the field work studying ancient lake beds,\u0026rdquo; Rivera-Hern\u0026aacute;ndez says.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/planetas.eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EHer lab team\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;will study the deposits of a large Antarctic lake that persisted through climate changes 10,000 to 20,000 years ago to better recognize those similar changes in ancient lake beds on Mars, like those being explored by Curiosity and Perseverance.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Currently, liquid water is not stable on the surface of Mars, but we have abundant geologic evidence for the presence of lakes on early Mars, suggesting that Mars\u0026rsquo; climate was different in the past and that it changed through time,\u0026rdquo; Rivera-Hern\u0026aacute;ndez says. \u0026ldquo;But we still do not have a good understanding on whether this climatic transition was abrupt or gradual, or if Mars was significantly warmer when the lakes were present.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat\u0026rsquo;s an unknown because lakes can form in a variety of climates, she adds. Examples are found in polar regions on Earth, where liquid water exists in lakes with permanent ice covers. \u0026ldquo;However, when ice is present in a lake, there are processes that are unique, and sometimes these produce deposits that may be recorded in lake beds. Thus, past climate may be inferred from lake beds if these unique deposits are recognized and distinguished from other deposit types.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERivera-Hernadez\u0026rsquo;s project will also help scientists recognize these unique deposits in ancient lake beds on Mars \u0026mdash; by studying the deposits of that ancient Antarctic lake which experienced periods with and without an ice cover, due to those climatic changes on Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Frances Rivera-Hern\u00e1ndez and her team will soon head to Antarctica to study an ancient lake bed that may aid in search for past life on Mars, plus clues to climatic changes"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences assistant professor Frances Rivera-Hern\u0026aacute;ndez will receive $700,000 over the next four years to study an ancient lake bed in Antarctica \u0026mdash; with the hope\u0026nbsp;of using samples and data to\u0026nbsp;help NASA determine future landing sites for Mars missions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Frances Rivera-Hern\u00e1ndez and her team will soon head to Antarctica to study an ancient lake bed that may aid in search for past life on Mars, plus clues to climatic changes"}],"uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2021-08-09 15:16:08","changed_gmt":"2021-08-12 18:55:46","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-08-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-08-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"649339":{"id":"649339","type":"image","title":"Frances Rivera-Hern\u00e1ndez taking field samples in Antarctica in 2015 (Photo Frances Rivera-Hernandez)","body":null,"created":"1628518718","gmt_created":"2021-08-09 14:18:38","changed":"1628793789","gmt_changed":"2021-08-12 18:43:09","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246533","name":"Rivera-Hernandez in Antarctica 2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Rivera-Hernandez%20in%20Antarctica%202.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Rivera-Hernandez%20in%20Antarctica%202.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":426633,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Rivera-Hernandez%20in%20Antarctica%202.jpg?itok=14LSPdhn"}},"649340":{"id":"649340","type":"image","title":"Miers Valley in Antarctica (Photo Pierre Roudier\/Wikimedia)","body":null,"created":"1628518865","gmt_created":"2021-08-09 14:21:05","changed":"1628518865","gmt_changed":"2021-08-09 14:21:05","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246534","name":"Miers Valley Antarctica Photo Pierre Roudier Wikimedia.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Miers%20Valley%20Antarctica%20Photo%20Pierre%20Roudier%20Wikimedia.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Miers%20Valley%20Antarctica%20Photo%20Pierre%20Roudier%20Wikimedia.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1084662,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Miers%20Valley%20Antarctica%20Photo%20Pierre%20Roudier%20Wikimedia.jpg?itok=9UHyCLVA"}},"649341":{"id":"649341","type":"image","title":"Frances Rivera-Hern\u00e1ndez","body":null,"created":"1628519088","gmt_created":"2021-08-09 14:24:48","changed":"1628793993","gmt_changed":"2021-08-12 18:46:33","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246535","name":"Frances 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Perseverance"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/summer-on-mars-nasas-perseverance-rover-is-one-of-three-missions-ready-to-launch\/","title":"Summer on Mars: NASA\u2019s Perseverance Rover Is One of Three Missions Ready to Launch"},{"url":"https:\/\/scitechdaily.com\/clues-to-chilly-ancient-mars-buried-in-rocks-discovered-by-nasas-curiosity-rover\/","title":"Clues to Chilly Ancient Mars Buried in Rocks Discovered by NASA\u2019s Curiosity Rover"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.space.com\/curiosity-rover-nine-years-on-mars","title":"9 years on Mars! Curiosity rover marks another anniversary"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"364801","name":"EAS"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166926","name":"School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences"},{"id":"187439","name":"Frances Rivera-Hernandez"},{"id":"82391","name":"Antarctica"},{"id":"182496","name":"analog sites"},{"id":"188445","name":"Mars missions"},{"id":"80341","name":"curiosity rover"},{"id":"188444","name":"Miers Valley"},{"id":"831","name":"climate change"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERenay San Miguel\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer II\/Science Writer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-894-5209\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["renay.san@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"649133":{"#nid":"649133","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Joins the U.S. National Science Foundation to Advance AI Research and Education","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor decades, the Georgia Institute of Technology has focused on advancing artificial intelligence through interdisciplinary research and education designed to produce leading-edge technologies. Over the next five years, Georgia Tech will make a substantial investment in AI that includes hiring an additional 100 researchers in the field, further solidifying its standing as a leader in the teaching and discovery of machine learning.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EToday, Georgia Tech received two National Science Foundation (NSF) Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes awards, totaling $40 million. A third award for $20 million was granted to the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA), with Georgia Tech serving as one of the leading academic institutions.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It is essential that we bring together our best minds to ensure that AI delivers on its promise to create a more prosperous, sustainable, safe, and fair future for everyone,\u0026rdquo; said\u0026nbsp;\u0026Aacute;ngel Cabrera, president of Georgia Tech.\u0026nbsp;\u0026ldquo;These NSF awards recognize Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s vast expertise in machine learning and AI and will help us further develop our resources and amplify our impact in these crucial fields.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EChaouki T. Abdallah, executive vice president for Research at Georgia Tech, concurred, citing major efforts under development to help create a more robust and inclusive future of AI, both on campus and beyond.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We are incredibly grateful to the NSF for their investment and excited for the opportunities made possible because of this research,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;At Tech, our mission is to advance technology and improve the human condition, catalyzing research that matters. We invested in a unified approach to interdisciplinary research aligned with industry relevance and societal impact, and these awards demonstrate a clear return on that strategy.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECollectively, NSF made a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/news\/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=303176\u0022\u003E$220 million investment in 11 new NSF-led Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I am delighted to announce the establishment of new NSF National AI Research Institutes as we look to expand into all 50 states,\u0026rdquo; said National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. \u0026ldquo;These Institutes are hubs for academia, industry, and government to accelerate discovery and innovation in AI. Inspiring talent and ideas everywhere in this important area will lead to new capabilities that improve our lives, from medicine to entertainment to transportation and cybersecurity, and position us in the vanguard of competitiveness and prosperity.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELed by NSF, and in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u0026rsquo;s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Google, Amazon, Intel, and Accenture, the National AI Research Institutes will act as connections in a broader nationwide network to pursue transformational advances in a range of economic sectors, and science and engineering fields \u0026mdash; from food system security to next-generation edge networks. In addition to Georgia Tech and GRA, the University of California San Diego, Duke University, Iowa State University, North Carolina State University, The Ohio State University, and University of Washington are the lead universities included in the 11 AI Institutes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe AI Institutes at Georgia Tech \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe three newly established Institutes will address societal challenges, including home care for aging adults; energy, logistics, and supply chains; sustainability; the widening gap in job opportunities; and changing needs in workforce development.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/news\/649114\/new-ai-institute-builds-tech-support-aging\u0022\u003ENSF AI Institute for Collaborative Assistance and Responsive Interaction for Networked Groups (AI-CARING)\u003C\/a\u003E will seek to create a vibrant discipline focused on personalized, collaborative AI systems that will improve quality of care for the aging. The systems will learn individual models of human behavior and how they change over time and use that knowledge to better collaborate and communicate in caregiving environments. Led by Sonia Chernova, associate professor of interactive computing at Georgia Tech, the AI systems will help a growing population of older adults sustain independence, improve quality of life, and increase effectiveness of care coordination across the care network.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The AI-CARING Institute builds on our existing strengths in AI and in technology for aging. It will create not only novel solutions, but a new generation of researchers focused on the interaction between the two,\u0026rdquo; said Charles Isbell, dean and John P. Imlay Jr. Chair in the College of Computing. \u0026ldquo;Our aim is to build cutting-edge technologies that improve the lives of everyone, and I can\u0026rsquo;t think of a better example than AI-CARING.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.isye.gatech.edu\/news\/team-led-isyes-pascal-van-hentenryck-awarded-20m-nsf-grant-fund-center-study-ai-and\u0022\u003ENSF AI Institute for Advances in Optimization (AI4Opt)\u003C\/a\u003E will revolutionize decision-making on a large scale \u0026ndash; fusing AI and mathematical optimization into intelligent systems that will achieve breakthroughs that neither field can achieve independently. Additionally, it will create pathways from high school to undergraduate and graduate education and workforce development training for AI in engineering that will empower a generation of underrepresented students and teachers to join the AI revolution. Led by Pascal Van Hentenryck, A. Russell Chandler III chair and professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech, AI4Opt will tackle use cases in energy, resilience and sustainability, supply chains, and circuit design and control.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;AI4Opt, with its focus on AI and optimization, will create new pathways for novel tools that allow better engineering applications to benefit society,\u0026rdquo; said Raheem Beyah, dean of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s College of Engineering and Southern Company Chair. \u0026ldquo;This will allow engineers to build\u0026nbsp;higher quality\u0026nbsp;materials, more efficient renewable resources, new computing systems, and more, while also reinforcing the field as a career path for diverse students.\u0026nbsp;The new institute complements the College\u0026rsquo;s commitment to the integration of AI in engineering disciplines.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ic.gatech.edu\/news\/649137\/georgia-tech-will-help-bring-critical-advancements-online-learning-part-multimillion\u0022\u003ENSF AI Institute for Adult Learning and Online Education (ALOE)\u003C\/a\u003E will lead the country and the world in the development of novel AI theories and techniques for enhancing the quality of adult online education, making this mode of learning comparable to that of in-person education in STEM disciplines. Together with partners in the technical college systems and educational technology sector, ALOE will advance online learning using virtual assistants to make education more available, affordable, achievable, and ultimately more equitable. This Institute is led by the GRA, with support from Georgia Tech and the University System of Georgia (USG). Ashok Goel, professor in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech, will serve as executive director. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Online education for adults has enormous implications for tomorrow\u0026rsquo;s workforce,\u0026rdquo; said Myk Garn, a GRA senior advisor, assistant vice chancellor for New Models of Learning at the USG, and ALOE\u0026rsquo;s principal investigator. \u0026ldquo;Yet, serious questions remain about the quality of online learning and how best to teach adults online. Artificial intelligence offers a powerful technology for dramatically improving the quality of online learning and adult education.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Future of AI at Georgia Tech\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech is poised to strategically reimagine the future of AI. Currently, 66% of Georgia Tech undergraduate computer science students have an academic concentration in Intelligence, focusing on the top-to-bottom computational models of intelligence. The College of Computing\u0026rsquo;s recently launched Ph.D. program in machine learning pulls from faculty in all six colleges across the Institute, and many new courses are being developed that teach AI as a tool for science and engineering. Georgia Tech is exploring the potential creation of a school or college of AI within the next five years, further building on its expansive AI and machine learning footprint. The NSF AI Institutes awards will enable all AI-related academic programs to scale and further differentiate Georgia Tech as a leader in AI education.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAdditionally, the awards will expand and complement ongoing AI research efforts at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). In the last fiscal year, GTRI received millions of dollars in research awards from the Department of Defense and other sponsors for AI-affiliated research, and currently, many GTRI researchers are focused on AI-affiliated projects.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;As part of Georgia Tech, GTRI will greatly benefit from the advances in AI that will be achieved as a result of these NSF-funded Institutes, helping us further excel in our aim to deliver leading-edge AI research that benefits national security,\u0026rdquo; said Mark Whorton, GTRI\u0026rsquo;s chief technology officer. \u0026ldquo;GTRI is one of the nation\u0026rsquo;s leading institutes of applied research for national security specifically because of our deep engagement and close affiliation with the academic units of Georgia Tech. AI is a tool we use in conducting larger research objectives, and we believe strongly that these AI Institutes will enable GTRI to put more research into practice.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Georgia Tech has for decades now been pursuing new AI technologies, and now leads the way in AI that is responsible to the needs of the humans who use it,\u0026rdquo; Isbell said. \u0026ldquo;We have also worked hard to expand access to AI, especially for underrepresented groups. These Institutes will build on that history, expanding both our ability to create new technologies and to train the next generation of innovators. I look forward to watching them grow and develop.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout the Georgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is a top 10 public research university developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its nearly 40,000 students, representing 50 states and 149 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning.\u0026nbsp;As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout the National Science Foundation \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe U.S. National Science Foundation propels the nation forward by advancing fundamental research in all fields of science and engineering. NSF supports research and people by providing facilities, instruments, and funding to support their ingenuity and sustain the U.S. as a global leader in research and innovation. With a fiscal year 2021 budget of $8.5 billion, NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities, and institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 40,000 competitive proposals and makes about 11,000 new awards. Those awards include support for cooperative research with industry, Arctic and Antarctic research and operations, and U.S. participation in international scientific efforts.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout the Georgia Research Alliance\u003C\/strong\u003E\u2028\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) helps Georgia\u0026rsquo;s university scientists do more research and start more companies. By expanding research and entrepreneurship capacity at public and private universities, GRA grows the Georgia economy by driving more investment in the state, developing a high-tech workforce, and strengthening Georgia\u0026rsquo;s reputation for innovation.\u0026nbsp;For 30 years, GRA has worked in partnership with the University System of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Economic Development to create the companies and jobs of Georgia\u0026rsquo;s future. Visit \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gra.org\/\u0022\u003EGRA.org\u003C\/a\u003E for more information.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EContact: Georgia Parmelee | \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:georgia.parmelee@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Egeorgia.parmelee@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E | 404.281.7818\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech received two National Science Foundation Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes awards, totaling $40 million. Over the next five years, Georgia Tech will make a substantial investment in AI that includes hiring an additional 100 researchers in the field, further solidifying its standing as a leader in the teaching and discovery of machine learning.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Today, Georgia Tech received two National Science Foundation Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes awards, totaling $40 million."}],"uid":"34602","created_gmt":"2021-07-29 15:00:39","changed_gmt":"2021-08-06 16:23:40","author":"Georgia Parmelee","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-07-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-07-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"649130":{"id":"649130","type":"image","title":"AI map","body":null,"created":"1627568719","gmt_created":"2021-07-29 14:25:19","changed":"1627568719","gmt_changed":"2021-07-29 14:25:19","alt":"map of AI institutes in US","file":{"fid":"246448","name":"AI_map.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/AI_map.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/AI_map.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":422470,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/AI_map.jpg?itok=M0IGxegq"}},"649128":{"id":"649128","type":"image","title":"PIs for AI Institues","body":null,"created":"1627568604","gmt_created":"2021-07-29 14:23:24","changed":"1627576219","gmt_changed":"2021-07-29 16:30:19","alt":"Pascal Van Hentenryck and Sonia Chernova","file":{"fid":"246446","name":"nsf graphic-740px[52].jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nsf%20graphic-740px%5B52%5D.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nsf%20graphic-740px%5B52%5D.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":120078,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/nsf%20graphic-740px%5B52%5D.jpg?itok=cc88Xsh2"}},"649129":{"id":"649129","type":"image","title":"Ashok headshot","body":null,"created":"1627568645","gmt_created":"2021-07-29 14:24:05","changed":"1627572766","gmt_changed":"2021-07-29 15:32:46","alt":"Ashok Goel headshot","file":{"fid":"246447","name":"ashok headshot.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ashok%20headshot.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ashok%20headshot.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":36870,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ashok%20headshot.jpg?itok=VpzipVLY"}}},"media_ids":["649130","649128","649129"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1276","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"443951","name":"School of Psychology"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"142","name":"City Planning, Transportation, and Urban Growth"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"187023","name":"go-data"},{"id":"188087","name":"go-irim"},{"id":"188084","name":"go-ipat"},{"id":"173894","name":"ML@GT"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Parmelee\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\ngeorgia.parmelee@gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["georgia.parmelee@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"648192":{"#nid":"648192","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Subterranean Investigations","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.news.ucsb.edu\/2021\/020333\/subterranean-investigations\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EBy Sonia Fernandez (UC Santa Barbara)\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWe\u0026rsquo;ve seen robots take to the air, dive beneath the waves and perform all sorts of maneuvers on land. Now, researchers at UC Santa Barbara and Georgia Institute of Technology are exploring a new frontier: the ground beneath our feet. Taking their cues from plants and animals that have evolved to navigate subterranean spaces, they\u0026rsquo;ve developed a fast, controllable soft robot that can burrow through sand. The technology not only enables new applications for fast, precise and minimally invasive movement underground, but also lays mechanical foundations for new types of robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The biggest challenges with moving through the ground are simply the forces involved,\u0026rdquo; said Nicholas Naclerio, a graduate student researcher in the lab of UC Santa Barbara mechanical engineering professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/me.ucsb.edu\/people\/elliot-hawkes\u0022\u003EElliot Hawkes\u003C\/a\u003E and lead author of a paper on the cover of the journal \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/robotics.sciencemag.org\/content\/6\/55\/eabe2922\u0022\u003EScience Robotics\u003C\/a\u003E. Whereas air and water offer little resistance to objects moving through them, he explained, the subterranean world is another story.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If you\u0026rsquo;re trying to move through the ground, you have to push the soil, sand or other medium out of the way,\u0026rdquo; Naclerio said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFortunately, the natural world provides numerous examples of underground navigation in the form of plants and fungi that build underground networks and animals that have mastered the ability to tunnel directly through granular media. Gaining a mechanical understanding of how plants and animals have mastered subterranean navigation opens up many possibilities for science and technology, according to \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDaniel Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, Dunn Family Professor of Physics at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Discovery of principles by which diverse organisms successfully swim and dig within granular media can lead to development of new kinds of mechanisms and robots that can take advantage of such principles,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;And reciprocally, development of a robot with such capabilities can inspire new animal studies as well as point to new phenomena in the physics of granular substrates.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers had a good head start with a vine-like soft robot designed in the Hawkes Lab that mimics plants and the way they navigate by growing from their tips, while the rest of the body remains stationary. In the subterranean setting, tip extension, according to the researchers, keeps resisting forces low and localized only to the growing end; if the whole body moved as it grew, friction over the entire surface would increase as more of the robot entered the sand until the robot could no longer move.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBurrowing animals, meanwhile, serve as inspiration for an additional strategy called granular fluidization, which suspends the particles in a fluid-like state and allows the animal to overcome the high level of resistance presented by sand or loose soil. The southern sand octopus, for instance, expels a jet of water into the ground, and uses its arms to pull itself into the temporarily loosened sand. That ability made its way onto the researchers\u0026rsquo; robot in the form of a tip-based flow device that shoots air into the region just ahead of the growing end, enabling it to move into that area.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The biggest challenge we found and what took the longest to solve was when we switched to horizontal burrowing, our robots would always surface,\u0026rdquo; Naclerio said. Whereas gases or liquids evenly flow over and under a traveling symmetric object, he explained, in fluidized sand, the distribution of forces is not as balanced, and creates a significant lift force for the horizontally travelling robot. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s much easier to push the sand up and out of the way than it is to compact it down.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo understand the robot\u0026rsquo;s behavior and the largely unexplored\u0026nbsp; physics of air-aided intrusions, the team took drag and lift measurements as a result of different angles of airflow into from the tip of a solid rod shoved horizontally into sand.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Frictional force response in granular materials greatly differs from that of Newtonian fluids, as intruding into sand can compact and stress large swaths of terrain in the direction of motion due to high friction,\u0026rdquo; said Andras Karsai, a graduate student researcher in Goldman\u0026rsquo;s lab. \u0026ldquo;To mitigate this, a low-density fluid that lifts and pushes grains away from an intruder will often reduce the net frictional stress it has to overcome.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUnlike with gas or liquid, where a downward fluid jet would create lift for the travelling object, in sand the downward air flow reduced the lift forces and excavated the sand below the robot\u0026rsquo;s growing tip. This, combined with inspiration from the sandfish lizard, whose wedge-shaped head favors downward movement, allowed the researchers to modulate the resisting forces and keep the robot moving horizontally without rising out of the sand.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA small, exploratory, soft robot such as this has a variety of applications where shallow burrowing through dry granular media is needed, such as soil sampling, underground installation of utilities and erosion control. Tip extension enables changes in direction, while also allowing the body of the robot to modulate how firmly anchored it is in the medium \u0026mdash; control that could become useful for exploration in low gravity environments. In fact, the team is working on a project with NASA to develop burrowing for the moon or even more distant bodies, like Enceladus, a moon of Jupiter.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We believe burrowing has the potential to open new avenues and enable new capabilities for extraterrestrial robotics,\u0026rdquo; Hawkes said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EResearch for this paper was conducted also by Mason Murray-Cooper, Yasemin Ozkan-Aydin and Enes Aydin at Georgia Institute of Technology. \u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFunding: \u003C\/strong\u003EThis work is supported by the NSF (grant nos. 1637446, 1915445, 1915355, and 1935548), the Army Research Office (grant no. GR10005043), the Packard Foundation, and by an Early Career Faculty grant from NASA\u0026rsquo;s Space Technology Research Grants Program. The work of Nicholas D. Naclerio is supported by a NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship. \u003Cstrong\u003ECompeting interests:\u003C\/strong\u003E Nicholas D. Naclerio and Elliot W. Hawkes are authors of international patent application WO2020060858A1, related to this work. All other authors declare that they have no competing interests. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1126\/scirobotics.abe2922\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Physicists at Georgia Tech and engineers at UC Santa Barbara are exploring the shallow underground world with a burrowing soft robot"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWe\u0026rsquo;ve seen robots take to the air, dive beneath the waves, and perform all sorts of maneuvers on land. Now, physicists at Georgia Tech and engineers at UC Santa Barbara are exploring the shallow underground world with a fast, steerable, burrowing soft robot.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Physicists at Georgia Tech and engineers at UC Santa Barbara are exploring the shallow underground world with a burrowing soft robot"}],"uid":"34528","created_gmt":"2021-06-17 18:23:53","changed_gmt":"2021-06-24 18:59:59","author":"jhunt7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-06-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-06-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"648193":{"id":"648193","type":"image","title":"Researchers have developed a fast, steerable, burrowing soft robot (Photo: UC Santa Barbara)","body":null,"created":"1623954918","gmt_created":"2021-06-17 18:35:18","changed":"1623954918","gmt_changed":"2021-06-17 18:35:18","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246067","name":"DSC00508 2.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/DSC00508%202.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/DSC00508%202.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":450082,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/DSC00508%202.JPG?itok=xmnjvCn9"}},"648195":{"id":"648195","type":"image","title":"A small, exploratory, soft robot such as this has a variety of applications where shallow burrowing through dry granular media is needed, such as soil sampling, underground installation of utilities and erosion control (Photo: UC Santa Barbara)","body":null,"created":"1623955405","gmt_created":"2021-06-17 18:43:25","changed":"1623955405","gmt_changed":"2021-06-17 18:43:25","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246069","name":"IMG_1370.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_1370.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_1370.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":463559,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/IMG_1370.jpeg?itok=SUrboUyH"}},"648194":{"id":"648194","type":"image","title":"Science Robotics, June 2021 Online Cover: Groundbreaking Soft Robot (Credit: Sicheng Wang)","body":null,"created":"1623955296","gmt_created":"2021-06-17 18:41:36","changed":"1623955296","gmt_changed":"2021-06-17 18:41:36","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246068","name":"Science Robotics cover June 2021.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Science%20Robotics%20cover%20June%202021.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Science%20Robotics%20cover%20June%202021.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":423338,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Science%20Robotics%20cover%20June%202021.jpg?itok=LD6EAajR"}}},"media_ids":["648193","648195","648194"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.news.ucsb.edu\/2021\/020333\/subterranean-investigations","title":"UCSB The Current: Subterranean Investigations"},{"url":"https:\/\/crablab.gatech.edu\/","title":"Daniel Goldman: CRAB Lab"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"47881","name":"Dan Goldman"},{"id":"12040","name":"Daniel Goldman"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"186871","name":"soft robotics"},{"id":"188095","name":"burrowing robot"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"7688","name":"biomimicry"},{"id":"188096","name":"UC Santa Barbara"},{"id":"188097","name":"Elliot Hawkes"},{"id":"188098","name":"Science Robotics"},{"id":"188099","name":"granular substrates"},{"id":"188100","name":"air-aided intrusions"},{"id":"188101","name":"Andras Karsai"},{"id":"188102","name":"soil sampling"},{"id":"188103","name":"underground installation of utilities"},{"id":"188104","name":"erosion control"},{"id":"188105","name":"burrowing for the moon"},{"id":"408","name":"NASA"},{"id":"188106","name":"ARO"},{"id":"171847","name":"Army Research Office"},{"id":"363","name":"NSF"},{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESonia Fernandez\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nSenior Writer, Science and Engineering\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nPublic Affairs and Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nUC Santa Barbara\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n(805) 893-4765\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nsonia.fernandez@ucsb.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n(404) 385-5207\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\njess@cos.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jess@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"648161":{"#nid":"648161","#data":{"type":"news","title":"If I Had a Hammer: A Simple Tool to Enable Remote Neurological Examinations","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, clinics and patients alike began cancelling all non-urgent appointments and procedures in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus. A boom in telemedicine was borne out of necessity as healthcare workers, administrators, and scientists creatively advanced technologies to fill a void in care.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring this time, Georgia Institute of Technology professor Jun Ueda and Ph.D. student Waiman Meinhold, along with their collaborators at NITI-ON Co. and Tohoku University in Japan, began to explore how they might contribute. By employing their previously engineered \u0026ldquo;smart\u0026rdquo; tendon hammer and developing a mobile app to accompany it, Meinhold, Ueda, and their collaborators devised a system that enables the deep tendon reflex exam to be performed remotely, filling a gap in neurological healthcare delivery.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe deep tendon reflex exam is both a basic and crucial part of neurological assessment and is often the first step in identifying neurological illnesses. The traditional exam consists of two main parts. First, using a silicone hammer, a physician taps on a patient\u0026rsquo;s tendon to trigger a reflex response. Next, the physician grades the reflex on a numerical scale. To characterize the reflex, a trained physician relies primarily on previous experience, visual cues, and the \u0026ldquo;feel\u0026rdquo; of the hammer rebounding in their hand. Until now, the physical act of reflex elicitation has been completely out of reach for telemedicine. Hitting the correct spot on the tendon is crucial and is necessary in order to elicit a proper reflex response.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAccording to Meinhold and Ueda\u0026rsquo;s research, a patient\u0026rsquo;s caretaker or family member may be able to easily step in to assist with this critical component of the neurological exam. They will simply need to obtain the smart tendon hammer and download the accompanying mobile application for data analysis.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo make this advance possible, Meinhold and Ueda modified a standard commercially available reflex hammer by furnishing it with a small wireless Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) capable of measuring and streaming the hammer\u0026rsquo;s acceleration data. In the course of their research, Meinhold and Ueda proved that by taking the hammer\u0026rsquo;s acceleration measurements from on-tendon and off-tendon locations and running them through a classification algorithm, they can reliably distinguish whether or not the hammer has hit the correct spot.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHow would this remote exam work, exactly? Equipped with the smart hammer, the lay person uses the app to select which tendon they will test (bicep, Achilles, patellar, etc.), which calls up the pre-programmed \u0026ldquo;classifier\u0026rdquo; for that particular tendon. These \u0026ldquo;classifiers\u0026rdquo; are basic forms of artificial intelligence that use aggregated acceleration data collected from experiments to categorize each tap into one of two categories: correct or incorrect. The lay person then uses the smart tendon hammer to administer a tap on the patient\u0026rsquo;s tendon. As contact is made, the hammer streams acceleration data via Bluetooth to the app, which interprets the data and gives instant feedback to the user about whether they have tapped the correct location. In addition, colored LEDs on the hammer indicate a tap\u0026rsquo;s success, with a green light indicating a correct tap and a red light indicating an incorrect tap. The user is prompted to keep tapping until they log several correct taps.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECrucially, Meinhold and Ueda showed that lay people can adequately perform tendon tapping. Their research appeared in the peer-reviewed journal\u003Cem\u003E Frontiers in Robotics and AI\u003C\/em\u003E on March 16, 2021. There, moving their smart hammer closer to clinical implementation, Meinhold and Ueda directly compared the manual tapping variability between a novice and a trained clinician. The results were reassuring. The team found that while novices had more variability in their tapping than clinicians, their skill level was adequate. They reliably elicited tendon reflexes. Their research demonstrates that a tool is within reach to allow for remote implementation of deep tendon reflex exam.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut could lay users also aid in grading reflexes? The work by Meinhold and Ueda suggests that non-experts may be able to help. To investigate this, they tested a simple training scheme. They provided participants and physicians with a training video on how to grade reflexes, and then assigned unlabeled videos for them to score. They found that while novices were able to grade reflexes with relatively low error rates, expert physicians outperformed them. Physicians excelled at grading from video, making no errors. To access this expert grading, Meinhold and Ueda envision that through the app, lay users could upload videos of the tendon tapping and reflex response. Physicians could then easily grade the patient\u0026rsquo;s reflexes from their office.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBy revolutionizing a traditional neurological assessment procedure, the smart hammer system developed at Georgia Tech is poised to kick-start a new wave in telemedicine.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EText - Catherine Barzler\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nImages \u0026ndash; Christa Ernst\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/frobt.2021.618656\/full\u0022\u003EA Smart Tendon Hammer System for Remote Neurological Examination\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nW. Meinhold, Y.Yamakawa, H. Honda, T. Mori, S. Izumi and Jun Ueda\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nFontiers in Robotics and AI, #8, 2021\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDOI=10.3389\/frobt.2021.618656\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"A Smart Tendon Hammer System for Remote Neurological Examination"}],"field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"By employing their previously engineered \u201csmart\u201d tendon hammer and developing a mobile app to accompany it, Meinhold, Ueda, and their collaborators devised a system that enables the deep tendon reflex exam to be performed remotely..."}],"uid":"27863","created_gmt":"2021-06-16 16:17:45","changed_gmt":"2021-06-21 12:37:59","author":"Christa Ernst","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-06-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-06-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"648159":{"id":"648159","type":"image","title":"Smart Tendon Hammer","body":null,"created":"1623859367","gmt_created":"2021-06-16 16:02:47","changed":"1635275774","gmt_changed":"2021-10-26 19:16:14","alt":"A Smart Tendon Hammer System for Remote Neurological Examination","file":{"fid":"246056","name":"Tendon Hammer for News Item 1280x720.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Tendon%20Hammer%20for%20News%20Item%201280x720.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Tendon%20Hammer%20for%20News%20Item%201280x720.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1348407,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Tendon%20Hammer%20for%20News%20Item%201280x720.png?itok=pdklyfcU"}},"648160":{"id":"648160","type":"image","title":"Jun Ueda Smart Hammer","body":null,"created":"1623859676","gmt_created":"2021-06-16 16:07:56","changed":"1635275612","gmt_changed":"2021-10-26 19:13:32","alt":"Jun Ueda, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering Professor","file":{"fid":"246057","name":"Jun Ueda George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering  IEN IRIM 6-15-21 Headshot CME.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Jun%20Ueda%20George%20W.%20Woodruff%20School%20of%20Mechanical%20Engineering%20%20IEN%20IRIM%206-15-21%20Headshot%20CME.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Jun%20Ueda%20George%20W.%20Woodruff%20School%20of%20Mechanical%20Engineering%20%20IEN%20IRIM%206-15-21%20Headshot%20CME.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1710818,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Jun%20Ueda%20George%20W.%20Woodruff%20School%20of%20Mechanical%20Engineering%20%20IEN%20IRIM%206-15-21%20Headshot%20CME.png?itok=SmfHeJMs"}}},"media_ids":["648159","648160"],"groups":[{"id":"198081","name":"Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC)"},{"id":"217141","name":"Georgia Tech Materials Institute"},{"id":"197261","name":"Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"142761","name":"IRIM"},{"id":"1271","name":"NanoTECH"},{"id":"213771","name":"The Center for MEMS and Microsystems Technologies"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"188086","name":"remote diagnostics"},{"id":"188087","name":"go-irim"},{"id":"166968","name":"the Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"13887","name":"Jun Ueda"},{"id":"541","name":"Mechanical Engineering"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["christa.ernst@research.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"645616":{"#nid":"645616","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Control System Helps Several Drones Team Up to Deliver Heavy Packages ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMany parcel delivery drones of the future are expected to handle packages weighing five pounds or less, a restriction that would allow small, standardized UAVs to handle a large percentage of the deliveries now done by ground vehicles. But will that relegate heavier packages to slower delivery by conventional trucks and vans?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA research team at the Georgia Institute of Technology has developed a modular solution for handling larger packages without the need for a complex fleet of drones of varying sizes. By allowing teams of small drones to collaboratively lift objects using an adaptive control algorithm, the strategy could allow a wide range of packages to be delivered using a combination of several standard-sized vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond simplifying the drone fleet, the work could provide more robust drone operations and reduce the noise and safety concerns involved in operating large autonomous UAVs in populated areas. In addition to commercial package delivery, the system might also be used by the military to resupply small groups of soldiers in the field.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;A delivery truck could carry a dozen drones in the back, and depending on how heavy a particular package is, it might use as many as six drones to carry the package,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/aerospace.gatech.edu\/people\/jonathan-rogers\u0022\u003EJonathan Rogers\u003C\/a\u003E, the Lockheed Martin Associate Professor of Avionics Integration in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/aerospace.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;That would allow flexibility in the weight of the packages that could be delivered and eliminate the need to build and maintain several different sizes of delivery drones.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research was supported, in part, by a National Science Foundation graduate student fellowship and by the Hives independent research and development program of the Georgia Tech Research Institute. A paper on the research has been submitted to the \u003Cem\u003EJournal of Aircraft\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA centralized computer system developed by graduate student Kevin Webb would monitor each of the drones lifting a package, sharing information about their location and the thrust being provided by their motors. The control system would coordinate the issuance of commands for navigation and delivery of the package.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The idea is to make multi-UAV cooperative flight easy from the user perspective,\u0026rdquo; Rogers said. \u0026ldquo;We take care of the difficult issues using the onboard intelligence, rather than expecting a human to precisely measure the package weight, center of gravity, and drone relative positions. We want to make this easy enough so that a package delivery driver could operate the system consistently.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe challenges of controlling a group of robots connected together to lift a package is more complex in many ways than controlling a swarm of robots that fly independently.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Most swarm work involves vehicles that are not connected, but flying in formations,\u0026rdquo; Rogers said. \u0026ldquo;In that case, the individual dynamics of a specific vehicle are not constrained by what the other vehicles are doing. For us, the challenge is that the vehicles are being pulled in different directions by what the other vehicles connected to the package are doing.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team of drones would autonomously connect to a docking structure attached to a package, using an infrared guidance system that eliminates the need for humans to attach the vehicles. That could come in handy for drones sent to retrieve packages that a customer is returning. By knowing how much thrust they are producing and the altitude they are maintaining, the drone teams could even estimate the weight of the package they\u0026rsquo;re picking up.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWebb and Rogers have built a demonstration in which four small quadrotor drones work together to lift a box that\u0026rsquo;s 2 feet by 2 feet by 2 feet and weighs 12 pounds. The control algorithm isn\u0026rsquo;t limited to four vehicles and could manage \u0026ldquo;as many vehicles as you could put around the package,\u0026rdquo; Rogers said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the military, the modular cargo system could allow squads of soldiers at remote locations to be resupplied without the cost or risk of operating a large autonomous helicopter. A military UAV package retrieval team could be made up of individual vehicles carried by each soldier.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;That would distribute a big lifting capability in smaller packages, which equates to small drones that could be used to team up,\u0026rdquo; Rogers said. \u0026ldquo;Putting small drones together would allow them to do bigger things than they could do individually.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBringing multiple vehicles together creates a more difficult control challenge, but Rogers argues the benefits are worth the complexity. \u0026ldquo;The idea of having multiple machines working together provides better scalability than building a larger device every time you have a larger task,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;We think this is the right way to fill that gap.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing multiple drones to carry a heavy package could also allow more redundancy in the delivery system. Should one of the drones fail, the others should be able to pick up the load \u0026ndash; an issue managed by the central control system. That part of the control strategy hasn\u0026rsquo;t yet been tested, but it is part of Rogers\u0026rsquo; plan for future development of the system.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMore research is also needed on the docking system that connects the drones to packages. The structures will have to be made strong and rigid enough to connect to and lift the packages, while being inexpensive enough to be disposable.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I think the major technologies are already here, and given an adequate investment, a system could be fielded within five years to deliver packages with multiple drones,\u0026rdquo; Rogers said. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s not a technical challenge as much as it is a regulatory issue and a question of societal acceptance.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu) or Anne Wainscott-Sargent (404-435-5784) (asargent7@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA research team at the Georgia Institute of Technology has developed a modular solution for drone delivery of larger packages without the need for a complex fleet of drones of varying sizes. By allowing teams of small drones to collaboratively lift objects using an adaptive control algorithm, the strategy could allow a wide range of packages to be delivered using a combination of several standard-sized vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have developed a control system that will enable teams of drones to carry heavy packages."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2021-03-22 17:40:42","changed_gmt":"2021-03-22 17:42:02","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-03-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-03-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"645610":{"id":"645610","type":"image","title":"Four drones team up to lift a package","body":null,"created":"1616433879","gmt_created":"2021-03-22 17:24:39","changed":"1616433879","gmt_changed":"2021-03-22 17:24:39","alt":"Four drones attached to a package","file":{"fid":"245089","name":"drones3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/drones3.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/drones3.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":916866,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/drones3.jpg?itok=GTyi5kdz"}},"645611":{"id":"645611","type":"image","title":"Drones collaborate to lift package","body":null,"created":"1616433982","gmt_created":"2021-03-22 17:26:22","changed":"1616433982","gmt_changed":"2021-03-22 17:26:22","alt":"Four drones lift a 12-pound package","file":{"fid":"245090","name":"drone-flying.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/drone-flying.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/drone-flying.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":857824,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/drone-flying.jpg?itok=yeuSQ_KU"}},"645612":{"id":"645612","type":"image","title":"Adjusting drone control system","body":null,"created":"1616434064","gmt_created":"2021-03-22 17:27:44","changed":"1616434064","gmt_changed":"2021-03-22 17:27:44","alt":"Researcher adjusting control system","file":{"fid":"245091","name":"drones2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/drones2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/drones2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1037051,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/drones2.jpg?itok=cvNvGM4i"}},"645613":{"id":"645613","type":"image","title":"Monitoring the algorithm controlling the drones","body":null,"created":"1616434165","gmt_created":"2021-03-22 17:29:25","changed":"1616434165","gmt_changed":"2021-03-22 17:29:25","alt":"Monitoring the control system","file":{"fid":"245092","name":"drones4.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/drones4.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/drones4.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1471074,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/drones4.jpg?itok=lzciq_Zh"}}},"media_ids":["645610","645611","645612","645613"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1500","name":"UAV"},{"id":"187353","name":"drone"},{"id":"172051","name":"control system"},{"id":"187354","name":"parcel delivery"},{"id":"187355","name":"package delivery"},{"id":"7264","name":"autonomous"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"645131":{"#nid":"645131","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Receives $2.2M in Toyota Research Institute Robotics Funding","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology is one of 16 academic institutions selected for \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.tri.global\/\u0022\u003EToyota Research Institute\u0026rsquo;s (TRI) \u003C\/a\u003Ecollaborative research program.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFounded in 2015 and now in its second wave of investment with top universities, TRI will invest more than $75 million over the next five years. The university partners will focus on breakthroughs around tough technological challenges in key research priority areas of automated driving, robotics, and machine-assisted cognition.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Georgia Tech is honored to work closely with TRI to advance robotics in key fields. It\u0026rsquo;s an exciting start to what we hope will be a longer-term collaboration,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/~seth\/\u0022\u003ESeth Hutchinson\u003C\/a\u003E, executive director of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/robotics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInstitute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines\u003C\/a\u003E and professor and KUKA Chair for Robotics in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ic.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Interactive Computing\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;This new phase of university research is about pushing even further and doing so with a broader, more diverse set of stakeholders. To get to the best ideas, collaboration is critical. And we sought out universities like Georgia Tech that share our vision of using AI for human amplification and societal good. The funded projects will contribute to two TRI focus areas: automated driving and home robotics,\u0026quot; said Eric Krotkov, TRI chief science officer.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe two Georgia Tech projects total $2.2M over the next three years. Under the agreement, each team will be paired with TRI researchers, who will serve as co-investigators.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAn Outdoor MiniCity to Test Autonomous Driving\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nThe first research project aims to make it easier for universities to test autonomous vehicles, building on Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/autorally.github.io\/media\/\u0022\u003EAutoRally\u003C\/a\u003E platform. Georgia Tech researchers use this small-scale autonomous dirt track to test aggressive driving. The car can control turns and calculate for on-course obstacles at speeds approaching 20 miles per hour. The software and simulation environment could help make future self-driving cars safer under similar hazardous road conditions. Georgia Tech researchers will build on this platform to develop a scale-model MiniCity environment to develop and test autonomy algorithms.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrent autonomous vehicle testing is done by industry using full-size vehicles on city streets \u0026ndash; an expensive proposition not viable for the broader academic research community.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026ldquo;There\u0026rsquo;s a barrier to entry for the science in the field,\u0026rdquo; said principal investigator \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rehg.org\/contact\/\u0022\u003EJames Rehg\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ic.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Interactive Computing\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;Our platform uses a one-fifth scale vehicle, freeing us to do research at lower cost and without taking any risks \u0026ndash; we can crash our car and it\u0026rsquo;s inexpensive to repair and nobody gets hurt.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe autonomous cars will navigate the MiniCity and avoid hazards while obeying speed and traffic rules. Sensors will enable the cars to sense obstacles and make decisions on how fast to drive or how to steer. \u0026ldquo;We are addressing the issue of reproducibility of autonomous driving in a test environment,\u0026rdquo; Rehg said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of TRI\u0026rsquo;s three original funded universities, is leading the research project. MIT operates an indoor autonomous driving track that simulates paved city streets. With Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s outdoor track, researchers can then see how autonomous cars perform over gravel, dirt, and other more realistic driving conditions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAccording to Rehg, autonomy testing presents unique challenges. \u0026ldquo;There\u0026rsquo;s a reason you get a driver\u0026rsquo;s test \u0026mdash; you have to understand the variety of situations that can arise in driving and the rules, and you must understand how the context can change and make all the right decisions for safety.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith the MiniCity, Rehg and fellow investigator Evangelos Theodorou, an associate professor in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering, hope to develop a standardized testbed and protocol for testing and then invite academic teams to compete and measure the driving performance of their vehicles. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHuman-assist Robots to Help People Age in Place\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s other TRI research project involves robotics that can assist older adults. It reflects Toyota and TRI\u0026rsquo;s priority to help older adults age in place.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s really a powerful thing to have independence and be able to do things for yourself,\u0026rdquo; said the project\u0026rsquo;s principal investigator,\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/petitinstitute.gatech.edu\/charles-kemp\u0022\u003E Charlie Kemp\u003C\/a\u003E, associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E and adjunct associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ic.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Interactive Computing\u003C\/a\u003E. Kemp also is a co-founder and the chief technology officer of Hello Robot Inc., a company that has commercialized robotic assistance technologies initially developed in his lab. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELooking at the aging issue, Kemp and co-PI Hutchinson will examine how to take advantage of complementary characteristics that can lead to better physical collaboration between an individual and a robot.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We are asking, \u0026lsquo;How can an individual and a particular robot best work together?\u0026rsquo; \u0026lsquo;How do we individualize the robot to the person to give them a better quality of life?\u0026rsquo;\u0026rdquo; Kemp said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThey plan to take a modeling approach initially using physics simulations and, later, conducting studies with young able-bodied participants, healthy older adults, and older adults with impairments.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers will use sensing technology \u0026ndash; including pressure sensors on beds that pinpoint a person\u0026rsquo;s body position and movement, as well as capacitive sensors that help the robot to better perceive a person\u0026rsquo;s body position up close. Such information can help with activities like dressing. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s a very intimate interaction between the robot and the human,\u0026rdquo; Hutchinson said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBoth investigators share TRI\u0026rsquo;s view that robotics that can assist older adults with daily living could make a major impact in the well-being of an increasingly graying population. In fact, during the next three decades, the global population over the age of 65 is projected to more than double. Japan, headquarters for Toyota, has the highest proportion of older citizens of any country in the world, with one in four people over 65. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We have talked about robots helping older adults for decades and we\u0026rsquo;re still not there,\u0026rdquo; said Kemp. \u0026ldquo;There\u0026rsquo;s a real opportunity to help people. As I get older, I\u0026rsquo;d love for this technology to be there for me and for my loved ones. While we still have a long way to go, the research can get us closer,\u0026rdquo; he added.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHutchinson acknowledged that it will take time before people see robotic assistive technologies in hospitals or people\u0026rsquo;s homes, but the potential is there.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;What is most exciting about the TRI project is it has the potential to show up in people\u0026rsquo;s homes because TRI is invested in getting it there. And that means our research could really make an impact on a broad scale instead of only touching research journals or elite practitioners in the field,\u0026rdquo; he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERobotics Success Takes a Village\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nThe investigators agree that Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s multidisciplinary focus within robotics is a strength that will serve them well in their work with TRI, and especially in the future when autonomy goes mainstream.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If you think about what it\u0026rsquo;s going to take for autonomous vehicles to really exist in the world on a large scale and deliver passengers in high volumes, it\u0026rsquo;s going to require all those things \u0026ndash; engineering, science policy, law, and ethics \u0026ndash; all those disciplines coming together,\u0026rdquo; said Rehg.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nKemp agreed, noting that since founding his \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sites.gatech.edu\/hrl\/\u0022\u003EHealthcare Robotics Lab\u003C\/a\u003E in 2007, he\u0026rsquo;s attracted students from across engineering disciplines \u0026mdash; from mechanical and computing to electrical, aerospace, and biomedical. \u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026ldquo;It\u0026#39;s definitely something that\u0026#39;s distinctive about Georgia Tech \u0026mdash; it\u0026#39;s a real strength,\u0026rdquo; he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ECharlie Kemp owns equity in Hello Robot and is an inventor of Georgia Tech intellectual property (IP) licensed by Hello Robot. Consequently, he benefits from increases in the value of Hello Robot and receives royalties via Georgia Tech for sales made by Hello Robot. The terms of this arrangement have been reviewed and approved by Georgia Tech in accordance with its conflict-of-interest policies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Research Projects to Advance Autonomous Driving Testbed, Human-Robot Collaboration"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers will create an outdoor minicity to test autonomous driving in an urban area, while another team will focus on home robotics to help aging populations and robots better collaborate.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers will collaborate with TRI on two research projects: the first to advance autonomous vehicle testing and the second,  to improve the way robots assist older adults with daily living tasks."}],"uid":"35692","created_gmt":"2021-03-08 21:31:54","changed_gmt":"2021-03-11 01:07:58","author":"Anne Sargent","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-03-08T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2021-03-08T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"645119":{"id":"645119","type":"image","title":"AutoRally ","body":null,"created":"1615236952","gmt_created":"2021-03-08 20:55:52","changed":"1615240710","gmt_changed":"2021-03-08 21:58:30","alt":"","file":{"fid":"244942","name":"thumbnail_test-track.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/thumbnail_test-track.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/thumbnail_test-track.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":261914,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/thumbnail_test-track.jpg?itok=VXx2cZ6l"}},"645222":{"id":"645222","type":"image","title":"Stretch with Professor Charlie Kemp","body":null,"created":"1615424723","gmt_created":"2021-03-11 01:05:23","changed":"1615424723","gmt_changed":"2021-03-11 01:05:23","alt":"Professor Charlie Kemp with his robot, Stretch.","file":{"fid":"244964","name":"original_with_post_processing_20210310_1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/original_with_post_processing_20210310_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/original_with_post_processing_20210310_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1430942,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/original_with_post_processing_20210310_1.jpg?itok=DzJigKDo"}}},"media_ids":["645119","645222"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187238","name":"Toyota Research Institute"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"174666","name":"autonomous driving"},{"id":"187244","name":"human-robot collaboration"},{"id":"15273","name":"aging in place"},{"id":"5525","name":"assistive technologies"},{"id":"14786","name":"James Rehg"},{"id":"169760","name":"Seth Hutchinson"},{"id":"79401","name":"Charles Kemp"},{"id":"126571","name":"go-PetitInstitute"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39511","name":"Public Service, Leadership, and Policy"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAnne Wainscott-Sargent\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404-435-5784)\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["asargent7@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"644073":{"#nid":"644073","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Collective Worm and Robot \u201cBlobs\u201d Protect Individuals, Swarm Together","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIndividually, California blackworms live an unremarkable life eating microorganisms in ponds and serving as tropical fish food for aquarium enthusiasts. But together, tens, hundreds, or thousands of the centimeter-long creatures can collaborate to form a \u0026ldquo;worm blob,\u0026rdquo; a shape-shifting living liquid that collectively protects its members from drying out and helps them escape threats such as excessive heat.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile other organisms form collective flocks, schools, or swarms for such purposes as mating, predation, and protection, the Lumbriculus variegatus worms are unusual in their ability to braid themselves together to accomplish tasks that unconnected individuals cannot. A new study reported by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology describes how the worms self-organize to act as entangled \u0026ldquo;active matter,\u0026rdquo; creating surprising collective behaviors whose principles have been applied to help blobs of simple robots evolve their own locomotion.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research, supported by the National Science Foundation and the Army Research Office, was reported Feb. 5 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E. Findings from the work could help developers of swarm robots understand how emergent behavior of entangled active matter can produce unexpected, complex, and potentially useful mechanically driven behaviors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECollective Behavior in Worms\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe spark for the research came several years ago in California, where \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/people\/saad-bhamla\u0022\u003ESaad Bhamla\u003C\/a\u003E was intrigued by blobs of the worms he saw in a backyard pond.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We were curious about why these worms would form these living blobs,\u0026rdquo; said Bhamla, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;We have now shown through mathematical models and biological experiments that forming the blobs confers a kind of collective decision-making that enables worms in a larger blob to survive longer against desiccation. We also showed that they can move together, a collective behavior that\u0026rsquo;s not done by any other organisms we know of at the macro scale.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESuch collective behavior in living systems is of interest to researchers exploring ways to apply the principles of living systems to human-designed systems such as swarm robots, in which individuals must also work together to create complex behaviors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The worm blob collective turns out to have capabilities that are more than what the individuals have, a wonderful example of biological emergence,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDaniel Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, a Dunn Family Professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E, who studies the physics of living systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhy the Worms Form Blobs\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe worm blob system was studied extensively by Yasemin Ozkan-Aydin, a research associate in Goldman\u0026rsquo;s lab. Using bundles of worms she originally ordered from a California aquarium supply company \u0026ndash; and now raises in Georgia Tech labs \u0026ndash; Ozkan-Aydin put the worms through several experiments. Those included development of a \u0026ldquo;worm gymnasium\u0026rdquo; that allowed her to measure the strength of individual worms, knowledge important to understanding how small numbers of the creatures can move an entire blob.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShe started by taking the aquatic worms out of the water and watching their behavior. First, they individually began searching for water. When that search failed, they formed a ball-shaped blob in which individuals took turns on the outer surface exposed to the air where evaporation was taking place \u0026ndash; behavior she theorized would reduce the effect of evaporation on the collective. By studying the blobs, she learned that worms in a blob could survive out of water 10 times longer than individual worms could.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;They would certainly want to reduce desiccation, but the way in which they would do this is not obvious and points to a kind of collective intelligence in the system,\u0026rdquo; said Goldman. \u0026ldquo;They are not just surface-minimizing machines. They are looking to exploit good conditions and resources.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EUsing Blobs to Escape Threats\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOzkan-Aydin also studied how worm blobs responded to both temperature gradients and intense light. The worms need a specific range of temperatures to survive and dislike intense light. When a blob was placed on a heated plate, it slowly moved away from the hotter portion of the plate to the cooler portion and under intense light formed tightly entangled blobs. The worms appeared to divide responsibilities for the movement, with some individuals pulling the blob while others helped lift the aggregation to reduce friction.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs with evaporation, the collective activity improves the chances of survival for the entire group, which can range from 10 worms up to as many as 50,000.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;For an individual worm going from hot to cold, survival depends on chance,\u0026rdquo; said Bhamla. \u0026ldquo;When they move as a blob, they move more slowly because they have to coordinate the mechanics. But if they move as a blob, 95% of them get to the cold side, so being part of the blob confers many survival advantages.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA Worm Gymnasium\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers noted that only two or three \u0026ldquo;puller\u0026rdquo; worms were needed to drag a 15-worm blob. That led them to wonder just how strong the creatures were, so Ozkan-Aydin created a series of poles and cantilevers in which she could measure the forces exerted by individual worms. This \u0026ldquo;worm gymnasium\u0026rdquo; allowed her to appreciate how the pullers managed to do their jobs.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;When the worms are happy and cool, they stretch out and grab onto one of the poles with their heads and they pull onto it,\u0026rdquo; Bhamla said. \u0026ldquo;When they are pulling, you can see the deflection of the cantilever to which their tails were attached. Yasemin was able to use known weights to calibrate the forces the worms create. The force measurement shows the individual worms are packing a lot of power.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESome worms were stronger than others, and as the temperature increased, their willingness to work out at the gym declined.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EApplying Worm Principles to Robots\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOzkan-Aydin also applied the principles observed in the worms to small robotic blobs composed of \u0026ldquo;smart active particles,\u0026rdquo; six 3D-printed robots with two arms and two sensors allowing them to sense light. She added a mesh enclosure and pins to arms that allowed these \u0026ldquo;smarticles\u0026rdquo; to be entangled like the worms and tested a variety of gaits and movements that could be programmed into them.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Depending on the intensity, the robots try to move away from the light,\u0026rdquo; Ozkan-Aydin said. \u0026ldquo;They generate emergent behavior that is similar to what we saw in the worms.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShe noted that there was no communication among the robots. \u0026ldquo;Each robot is doing its own thing in a decentralized way,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;Using just the mechanical interaction and the attraction each robot had for light intensity, we could control the robot blob.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBy measuring the energy consumption of an individual robot when it performed different gaits (wiggle and crawl), she determined that the wiggle gait uses less power than the crawl gait. The researchers anticipate that by exploiting gait differentiation, future entangled robotic swarms could improve their energy efficiency.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EExpanding What Robot Swarms Can Do\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers hope to continue their study of the collective dynamics of the worm blobs and apply what they learn to swarm robots, which must work together with little communication to accomplish tasks that they could not do alone. But those systems must be able to work in the real world.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Often people want to make robot swarms do specific things, but they tend to be operating in pristine environments with simple situations,\u0026rdquo; said Goldman. \u0026ldquo;With these blobs, the whole point is that they work only because of physical interaction among the individuals. That\u0026rsquo;s an interesting factor to bring into robotics.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAmong the challenges ahead are recruiting graduate students willing to work with the worm blobs, which have the consistency of bread dough.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The worms are very nice to work with,\u0026rdquo; said Ozkan-Aydin. \u0026ldquo;We can play with them and they are very friendly. But it takes a person who is very comfortable working with living systems.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe project shows how the biological world can provide insights beneficial to the field of robotics, said Kathryn Dickson, program director of the Physiological Mechanisms and Biomechanics Program at the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This discovery shows that observations of animal behavior in natural settings, along with biological experiments and modeling, can offer new insights, and how new knowledge gained from interdisciplinary research can help humans, for example, in the robotic control applications arising from this work,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under grants CAREER 1941933 and 1817334 and the Army Research Office under grant W911NF-11-1-0514. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Yasemin Ozkan-Aydin, Daniel I. Goldman, and M. Saad Bhamla, \u0026ldquo;Collective dynamics in entangled worm and robot blobs. (\u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E, 2021). \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.2010542118\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.2010542118\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIndividually, California blackworms live an unremarkable life eating microorganisms in ponds and serving as tropical fish food for aquarium enthusiasts. But together, tens, hundreds, or thousands of the centimeter-long creatures can collaborate to form a \u0026ldquo;worm blob,\u0026rdquo; a shape-shifting living liquid that collectively protects its members from drying out and helps them escape threats such as excessive heat.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Research into \u0022blobs\u0022 formed by worms and robots could help developers of swarm robots better utilize emergent behavior."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2021-02-10 17:50:47","changed_gmt":"2021-02-10 17:52:29","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-02-10T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2021-02-10T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"644063":{"id":"644063","type":"image","title":"Worm blobs create collective behavior","body":null,"created":"1612977380","gmt_created":"2021-02-10 17:16:20","changed":"1612977380","gmt_changed":"2021-02-10 17:16:20","alt":"Blobs of California blackworms in bottles","file":{"fid":"244530","name":"worm-blobs_3202.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/worm-blobs_3202.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/worm-blobs_3202.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":523457,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/worm-blobs_3202.jpg?itok=QsJpZbV5"}},"644064":{"id":"644064","type":"image","title":"Closeup of smart active particle (smarticle)","body":null,"created":"1612977504","gmt_created":"2021-02-10 17:18:24","changed":"1612977504","gmt_changed":"2021-02-10 17:18:24","alt":"Closeup of robotic smarticles","file":{"fid":"244531","name":"smarticle_2917.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticle_2917.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticle_2917.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":247973,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/smarticle_2917.jpg?itok=0NvJXMvX"}},"644067":{"id":"644067","type":"image","title":"Group of smart active particles (smarticles)","body":null,"created":"1612977805","gmt_created":"2021-02-10 17:23:25","changed":"1612977805","gmt_changed":"2021-02-10 17:23:25","alt":"Group of smart active particles (smarticles)","file":{"fid":"244533","name":"smarticle-blob_2976.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticle-blob_2976.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticle-blob_2976.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":589131,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/smarticle-blob_2976.jpg?itok=ynQ3aO5V"}},"644069":{"id":"644069","type":"image","title":"Daniel Goldman and smarticle","body":null,"created":"1612977934","gmt_created":"2021-02-10 17:25:34","changed":"1612977934","gmt_changed":"2021-02-10 17:25:34","alt":"Dan Goldman holds smart active particle robot","file":{"fid":"244534","name":"smarticle-goldman_3146.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticle-goldman_3146.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticle-goldman_3146.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":398887,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/smarticle-goldman_3146.jpg?itok=S1JKssdW"}},"644066":{"id":"644066","type":"image","title":"Robot blob and worm blob","body":null,"created":"1612977688","gmt_created":"2021-02-10 17:21:28","changed":"1612977688","gmt_changed":"2021-02-10 17:21:28","alt":"Robot blob and worm blob compared","file":{"fid":"244532","name":"smarticle-worm-blob_2963.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticle-worm-blob_2963.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticle-worm-blob_2963.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":460225,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/smarticle-worm-blob_2963.jpg?itok=XMi9en8a"}},"644071":{"id":"644071","type":"image","title":"Smarticles interact to form a robot blob","body":null,"created":"1612978286","gmt_created":"2021-02-10 17:31:26","changed":"1612978286","gmt_changed":"2021-02-10 17:31:26","alt":"Smarticles interact to form a robot blob","file":{"fid":"244536","name":"worm-blobs_2906.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/worm-blobs_2906.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/worm-blobs_2906.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":456628,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/worm-blobs_2906.jpg?itok=6TYPlifj"}},"644070":{"id":"644070","type":"image","title":"Living liquid of worm blobs","body":null,"created":"1612978167","gmt_created":"2021-02-10 17:29:27","changed":"1612978167","gmt_changed":"2021-02-10 17:29:27","alt":"Worm blob flows from a hand","file":{"fid":"244535","name":"worm-blob_2971.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/worm-blob_2971.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/worm-blob_2971.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":314541,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/worm-blob_2971.jpg?itok=EZ-wa6jZ"}}},"media_ids":["644063","644064","644067","644069","644066","644071","644070"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"186986","name":"worm blob"},{"id":"182389","name":"smarticle"},{"id":"186987","name":"robot blob"},{"id":"181005","name":"collective behavior"},{"id":"175602","name":"living systems"},{"id":"186555","name":"active matter"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"642447":{"#nid":"642447","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Spontaneous Robot Dances Highlight a New Kind of Order in Active Matter","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPredicting when and how collections of particles, robots, or animals become orderly remains a challenge across science and engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the 19th century, scientists and engineers developed the discipline of statistical mechanics, which predicts how groups of simple particles transition between order and disorder, as when a collection of randomly colliding atoms freezes to form a uniform crystal lattice.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMore challenging to predict are the collective behaviors that can be achieved when the particles become more complicated, such that they can move under their own power. This type of system \u0026mdash; observed in bird flocks, bacterial colonies, and robot swarms \u0026mdash; goes by the name \u0026quot;active matter.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs reported in the January 1, 2021 issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E, a team of physicists and engineers have proposed a new principle by which active matter systems can spontaneously order, without need for higher level instructions or even programmed interaction among the agents. And they have demonstrated this principle in a variety of systems, including groups of periodically shape-changing robots called \u0026quot;smarticles\u0026quot; \u0026mdash; smart, active particles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe theory, developed by Postdoctoral Researcher Pavel Chvykov at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology while a student of Prof. Jeremy England, who is now a researcher in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics \u003C\/a\u003Eat Georgia Institute of Technology, posits that certain types of active matter with sufficiently messy dynamics will spontaneously find what the researchers refer to as \u0026quot;low rattling\u0026quot; states.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Rattling is when matter takes energy flowing into it and turns it into random motion,\u0026rdquo; England said. \u0026ldquo;Rattling can be greater either when the motion is more violent, or more random. Conversely, low rattling is either very slight or highly organized \u0026mdash; or both. So, the idea is that if your matter and energy source allow for the possibility of a low rattling state, the system will randomly rearrange until it finds that state and then gets stuck there. If you supply energy through forces with a particular pattern, this means the selected state will discover a way for the matter to move that finely matches that pattern.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo develop their theory, England and Chvykov took inspiration from a phenomenon \u0026mdash; dubbed thermophoresis \u0026mdash; discovered by the Swiss physicist Charles Soret in the late 19th century. In Soret\u0026#39;s experiments, he discovered that subjecting an initially uniform salt solution in a tube to a difference in temperature would spontaneously lead to an increase in salt concentration in the colder region \u0026mdash; which corresponds to an increase in order of the solution.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EChvykov and England developed numerous mathematical models to demonstrate the low rattling principle, but it wasn\u0026#39;t until they connected with \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDaniel Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, Dunn Family Professor of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology, that they were able to test their predictions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESaid Goldman, \u0026quot;A few years back, I saw England give a seminar and thought that some of our smarticle robots might prove valuable to test this theory.\u0026quot; Working with Chvykov, who visited Goldman\u0026#39;s lab, Ph.D. students William Savoie and Akash Vardhan used three flapping smarticles enclosed in a ring to compare experiments to theory. The students observed that instead of displaying complicated dynamics and exploring the container completely, the robots would spontaneously self-organize into a few dances \u0026mdash; for example, one dance consists of three robots slapping each other\u0026#39;s arms in sequence. These dances could persist for hundreds of flaps, but suddenly lose stability and be replaced by a dance of a different pattern.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter first demonstrating that these simple dances were indeed low rattling states, Chvykov worked with engineers at Northwestern University, Prof. Todd Murphey and Ph.D. student Thomas Berrueta, who developed more refined and better controlled smarticles. The improved smarticles allowed the researchers to test the limits of the theory, including how the types and number of dances varied for different arm flapping patterns, as well as how these dances could be controlled. \u0026quot;By controlling sequences of low rattling states, we were able to make the system reach configurations that do useful work,\u0026quot; Berrueta said. The Northwestern University researchers say that these findings may have broad practical implications for micro-robotic swarms, active matter, and metamaterials.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs England noted: \u0026ldquo;For robot swarms, it\u0026rsquo;s about getting many adaptive and smart group behaviors that you can design to be realized in a single swarm, even though the individual robots are relatively cheap and computationally simple. For living cells and novel materials, it might be about understanding what the \u0026lsquo;swarm\u0026rsquo; of atoms or proteins can get you, as far as new material or computational properties.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe study\u0026rsquo;s Georgia Tech-based team includes Jeremy L. England, a Physics of Living Systems scientist who researches with the School of Physics; Dunn Family Professor Daniel Goldman; professor Kurt Wiesenfeld, and graduate students Akash Vardhan (Quantitative Biosciences) and William Savoie (School of Physics). They join Pavel Chvykov (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), along with professor Todd D. Murphey and graduate students Thomas A. Berrueta and Alexander Samland of Northwestern University.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis material is based on work supported by the Army Research Office under awards from ARO W911NF-18-1-0101, ARO MURI Award W911NF-19-1-0233, ARO W911NF-13-1-0347, by the National Science Foundation under grants PoLS-0957659, PHY-1205878, PHY-1205878, PHY-1205878, and DMR-1551095, NSF CBET-1637764, by the James S. McDonnell Foundation Scholar Grant 220020476, and the Georgia Institute of Technology Dunn Family Professorship. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Chvykov \u0026amp; Berrueta, et al., \u0026ldquo;Low rattling: A predictive principle for self-organization in active collectives,\u0026rdquo; (Science 2021).\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/science.sciencemag.org\/content\/371\/6524\/90\/tab-pdf\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/science.sciencemag.org\/content\/371\/6524\/90\/tab-pdf\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have proposed a new principle by which active matter systems can spontaneously order, without need for higher level instructions or even programmed interaction among the agents. And they have demonstrated this principle in a variety of systems, including groups of periodically shape-changing robots called \u0026quot;smarticles.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have proposed a new principle by which active matter systems can spontaneously order, without need for higher level instructions."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2020-12-31 19:22:12","changed_gmt":"2020-12-31 19:29:55","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-12-31T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2020-12-31T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"642445":{"id":"642445","type":"image","title":"Swarm of smarticles","body":null,"created":"1609442091","gmt_created":"2020-12-31 19:14:51","changed":"1609442091","gmt_changed":"2020-12-31 19:14:51","alt":"Smarticles in a ring","file":{"fid":"244012","name":"angle1.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/angle1.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/angle1.png","mime":"image\/png","size":512873,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/angle1.png?itok=IrNqcNqW"}},"642446":{"id":"642446","type":"image","title":"Possible smarticle shapes","body":null,"created":"1609442220","gmt_created":"2020-12-31 19:17:00","changed":"1609442220","gmt_changed":"2020-12-31 19:17:00","alt":"Composite smarticle shapes","file":{"fid":"244013","name":"composite2.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/composite2.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/composite2.png","mime":"image\/png","size":549665,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/composite2.png?itok=kfNFJZLk"}}},"media_ids":["642445","642446"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"182389","name":"smarticle"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"186555","name":"active matter"},{"id":"186556","name":"order"},{"id":"47881","name":"Dan Goldman"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"639322":{"#nid":"639322","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Extending Origami Into Untethered Robots and Morphing Devices","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA team of researchers from The Ohio State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology has extended the possibility of origami, the ancient art of paper folding, for modern engineering applications such as untethered robotics and morphing devices.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers demonstrated for the first time a multifunctional, magnetically responsive origami system, possessing distributed, untethered control capabilities. The untethered magnetic actuation separates the power source and controller out of the system, allowing scalable applications.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers foresee that this actuation solution can be applied locally and remotely on complex origami assemblies. The actuation strategy enables a myriad of new applications, ranging from morphing robotics and satellites to biomedical devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;By distributively integrating the programmed magnetic soft materials into the bi-stable origami assembly, the magnetic actuation provides independent control of the folding and unfolding of each unit cell with instantaneous shape locking, which enables various robotic motion for functions such as tunable physical properties and configurable electronics for digital computing,\u0026rdquo; said principal investigator Ruike (Renee) Zhao, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Ohio State.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research, \u0026quot;Untethered control of functional origami microrobots with distributed actuation,\u0026quot; was reported Sept. 14 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E. The work was sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have explored for decades how to leverage origami folding techniques in advanced engineering applications, such as morphing structures and devices. However, most actuation methods require physical bonds to external stimuli and lead to excessive wiring to provide the driving force for origami folding.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new, untethered system is free from those rigid and often relatively bulky power sources, allowing faster speed and distributed actuation of the multifunctional structure.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo demonstrate this, researchers constructed a system of magnetic-responsive materials in a cylindrical origami pattern that consists of identical triangular panels known as a Kresling pattern. This pattern allows the cylinder\u0026rsquo;s walls to buckle under axial or torsional load.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The Kresling pattern offers a very rich design space, which was crucial in coupling its mechanical response with magnetically responsive materials to achieve on-demand, untethered actuation, including our multifunctional origami for digital computing,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cee.gatech.edu\/people\/Faculty\/6709\/overview\u0022\u003EGlaucio Paulino\u003C\/a\u003E, professor and Raymond Allen Jones Chair in the Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cee.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Civil and Environmental Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBy controlling the magnetic field, researchers were able to control the direction, intensity, and speed of the material\u0026rsquo;s folding and deployment. In the tests, researchers achieved untethered actuation as fast as one tenth of a second with instantaneous shape locking.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENext, researchers attached a magnetized plate to each of the Kresling unit cells. This allowed them to utilize a two-dimensional magnetic field to actuate the unit cells simultaneously or independently by using different magnetic torques of the plates and distinct geometric-mechanical properties of each unit cell.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The multi-unit Kresling assembly is an origami robot in which the bi-stable folding and unfolding create robotic motion. It can passively sense and actively respond to the external environment. By integrating electronic circuits into the origami robot, it further enables intelligent autonomous robots with integrated actuation, sensing, and decision making,\u0026rdquo; Zhao said. \u0026ldquo;For example, the external pressure or forces that act on the robot will trigger the passive folding of the robot, indicating the presence of an obstacle. The robot can then actively unfold itself and decide the next move.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe untethered magnetic control pushes the boundary of the application of origami systems, which could lead to solutions of next-generation biomimetic soft robots and robotic systems for advanced engineering applications.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We anticipate that the reported magnetic origami system is applicable beyond the bounds of this work, including future origami-inspired robots, morphing mechanisms, biomedical devices, and outer space structures,\u0026rdquo; Paulino said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis research was supported by Prof. Zhao\u0026rsquo;s two recent NSF Awards from the Mechanics of Materials and Structures program (NSF Award #1943070, #1939543) and Ohio State\u0026rsquo;s Institute of Material Research. The authors at Georgia Tech acknowledge NSF (Award #1538830) and the Raymond Allen Jones Chair. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E- Written by The Ohio State University\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA team of researchers from The Ohio State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology has extended the possibility of origami, the ancient art of paper folding, for modern engineering applications such as untethered robotics and morphing devices.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have extended the possibility of origami for modern engineering applications such as untethered robotics and morphing devices.\u00a0"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2020-09-21 13:30:20","changed_gmt":"2020-09-21 13:42:01","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-09-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2020-09-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"639320":{"id":"639320","type":"image","title":"Extending Origami","body":null,"created":"1600694572","gmt_created":"2020-09-21 13:22:52","changed":"1600694572","gmt_changed":"2020-09-21 13:22:52","alt":"Origami-based robots","file":{"fid":"243076","name":"origami-robot2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/origami-robot2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/origami-robot2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":574413,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/origami-robot2.jpg?itok=LMjwhair"}},"639321":{"id":"639321","type":"image","title":"Extending Origami - 2","body":null,"created":"1600694640","gmt_created":"2020-09-21 13:24:00","changed":"1600694640","gmt_changed":"2020-09-21 13:24:00","alt":"Origami robot","file":{"fid":"243077","name":"origami-robot.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/origami-robot.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/origami-robot.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":675793,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/origami-robot.jpg?itok=oKyoJyeN"}}},"media_ids":["639320","639321"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4332","name":"origami"},{"id":"185892","name":"origami robotics"},{"id":"185893","name":"morphing devices"},{"id":"185894","name":"magnetically responsive"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"636291":{"#nid":"636291","#data":{"type":"news","title":"\u2018SlothBot in the Garden\u2019 Demonstrates Hyper-Efficient Conservation Robot","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor the next several months, visitors to the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/atlantabg.org\/\u0022\u003EAtlanta Botanical Garden\u003C\/a\u003E will be able to observe the testing of a new high-tech tool in the battle to save some of the world\u0026rsquo;s most endangered species. SlothBot, a slow-moving and energy-efficient robot that can linger in the trees to monitor animals, plants, and the environment below, will be tested near the Garden\u0026rsquo;s popular Canopy Walk.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBuilt by robotics engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology to take advantage of the low-energy lifestyle of real sloths, SlothBot demonstrates how being slow can be ideal for certain applications. Powered by solar panels and using innovative power management technology, SlothBot moves along a cable strung between two large trees as it monitors temperature, weather, carbon dioxide levels, and other information in the Garden\u0026rsquo;s 30-acre midtown Atlanta forest.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;SlothBot embraces slowness as a design principle,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff-directory\/magnus-egerstedt-0\u0022\u003EMagnus Egerstedt\u003C\/a\u003E, professor and Steve W. Chaddick School Chair in the Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;That\u0026rsquo;s not how robots are typically designed today, but being slow and hyper-energy efficient will allow SlothBot to linger in the environment to observe things we can only see by being present continuously for months, or even years.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAbout three feet long, SlothBot\u0026rsquo;s whimsical 3D-printed shell helps protect its motors, gearing, batteries, and sensing equipment from the weather. The robot is programmed to move only when necessary, and will locate sunlight when its batteries need recharging. At the Atlanta Botanical Garden, SlothBot will operate on a single 100-foot cable, but in larger environmental applications, it will be able to switch from cable to cable to cover more territory.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The most exciting goal we\u0026rsquo;ll demonstrate with SlothBot is the union of robotics and technology with conservation,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/atlantabg.org\/article\/emily-e-d-coffey-ph-d\/\u0022\u003EEmily Coffey\u003C\/a\u003E, vice president for conservation and research at the Garden. \u0026ldquo;We do conservation research on imperiled plants and ecosystems around the world, and SlothBot will help us find new and exciting ways to advance our research and conservation goals.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESupported by the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research, SlothBot could help scientists better understand the abiotic factors affecting critical ecosystems, providing a new tool for developing information needed to protect rare species and endangered ecosystems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;SlothBot could do some of our research remotely and help us understand what\u0026rsquo;s happening with pollinators, interactions between plants and animals, and other phenomena that are difficult to observe otherwise,\u0026rdquo; Coffey added. \u0026ldquo;With the rapid loss of biodiversity and with more than a quarter of the world\u0026rsquo;s plants potentially heading toward extinction, SlothBot offers us another way to work toward conserving those species.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInspiration for the robot came from a visit Egerstedt made to a vineyard in Costa Rica where he saw two-toed sloths creeping along overhead wires in their search for food in the tree canopy. \u0026ldquo;It turns out that they were strategically slow, which is what we need if we want to deploy robots for long periods of time,\u0026rdquo; he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA few other robotic systems have already demonstrated the value of slowness. Among the best known are the Mars Exploration Rovers that gathered information on the red planet for more than a dozen years. \u0026ldquo;Speed wasn\u0026rsquo;t really all that important to the Mars Rovers,\u0026rdquo; Egerstedt noted. \u0026ldquo;But they learned a lot during their leisurely exploration of the planet.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond conservation, SlothBot could have applications for precision agriculture, where the robot\u0026rsquo;s camera and other sensors traveling in overhead wires could provide early detection of crop diseases, measure humidity, and watch for insect infestation. After testing in the Atlanta Botanical Garden, the researchers hope to move SlothBot to South America to observe orchid pollination or the lives of endangered frogs.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research team, which includes Ph.D students Gennaro Notomista and Yousef Emam, undergraduate student Amy Yao, and postdoctoral researcher Sean Wilson, considered multiple locomotion techniques for the SlothBot. Wheeled robots are common, but in the natural world they can easily be defeated by obstacles like rocks or mud. Flying robots require too much energy to linger for long. That\u0026rsquo;s why Egerstedt\u0026rsquo;s observation of the wire-crawling sloths was so important.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s really fascinating to think about robots becoming part of the environment, a member of an ecosystem,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;While we\u0026rsquo;re not building an anatomical replica of the living sloth, we believe our robot can be integrated to be part of the ecosystem it\u0026rsquo;s observing like a real sloth.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe SlothBot launched in the Atlanta Botanical Garden is the second version of a system originally reported in May 2019 at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation. That robot was a much smaller laboratory prototype.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond their conservation goals, the researchers hope SlothBot will provide a new way to stimulate interest in conservation from the Garden\u0026rsquo;s visitors. \u0026ldquo;This will help us tell the story of the merger between technology and conservation,\u0026rdquo; Coffey said. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s a unique way to engage the public and bring forward a new way to tell our story.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd that should be especially interesting to children visiting the Garden.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This new way of thinking about robots should trigger curiosity among the kids who will walk by it,\u0026rdquo; said Egerstedt. \u0026ldquo;Thanks to SlothBot, I\u0026rsquo;m hoping we will get an entirely new generation interested in what robotics can do to make the world better.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was sponsored by the U.S. Office of Naval Research through Grant N00014-15-2115 and by the National Science Foundation through Grant 1531195. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon, Georgia Tech (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu); Danny Flanders, Atlanta Botanical Garden (404-591-1550) (dflanders@atlantabg.org).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor the next several months, visitors to the Atlanta Botanical Garden will be able to observe the testing of a new high-tech tool in the battle to save some of the world\u0026rsquo;s most endangered species. SlothBot, a slow-moving and energy-efficient robot that can linger in the trees to monitor animals, plants, and the environment below, will be tested near the Garden\u0026rsquo;s popular Canopy Walk.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Visitors to the Atlanta Botanical Garden can observe the testing of SlothBot, a new high-tech tool in the battle to save some of the world\u2019s most endangered species."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2020-06-17 02:18:11","changed_gmt":"2020-06-17 02:19:36","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-06-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2020-06-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"636285":{"id":"636285","type":"image","title":"SlothBot operating in Atlanta Botanical Garden - 2","body":null,"created":"1592358753","gmt_created":"2020-06-17 01:52:33","changed":"1592358753","gmt_changed":"2020-06-17 01:52:33","alt":"SlothBot at Atlanta Botanical Garden","file":{"fid":"242107","name":"slothbot-16.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/slothbot-16.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/slothbot-16.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":580841,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/slothbot-16.jpg?itok=VSSFxDko"}},"636284":{"id":"636284","type":"image","title":"SlothBot research team at Atlanta Botanical Garden","body":null,"created":"1592358513","gmt_created":"2020-06-17 01:48:33","changed":"1592358803","gmt_changed":"2020-06-17 01:53:23","alt":"SlothBot research team","file":{"fid":"242106","name":"slothbot-08.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/slothbot-08.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/slothbot-08.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1062762,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/slothbot-08.jpg?itok=zA1B2N1K"}},"636283":{"id":"636283","type":"image","title":"SlothBot operating in Atlanta Botanical Garden","body":null,"created":"1592358388","gmt_created":"2020-06-17 01:46:28","changed":"1592358388","gmt_changed":"2020-06-17 01:46:28","alt":"SlothBot at Atlanta Botanical Garden","file":{"fid":"242105","name":"slothbot-18.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/slothbot-18.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/slothbot-18.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":618544,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/slothbot-18.jpg?itok=0Lh6W3Eh"}},"636287":{"id":"636287","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech - Atlanta Botanical Garden Collaboration","body":null,"created":"1592359063","gmt_created":"2020-06-17 01:57:43","changed":"1592359149","gmt_changed":"2020-06-17 01:59:09","alt":"Magnus Egersted and Emily Coffey","file":{"fid":"242110","name":"slothbot-11.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/slothbot-11_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/slothbot-11_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1131543,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/slothbot-11_0.jpg?itok=qL65JfDH"}},"636288":{"id":"636288","type":"image","title":"Magnus Egerstedt and SlothBot","body":null,"created":"1592359280","gmt_created":"2020-06-17 02:01:20","changed":"1592359280","gmt_changed":"2020-06-17 02:01:20","alt":"Magnus Egerstedt with SlothBot","file":{"fid":"242112","name":"slothbot-14.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/slothbot-14.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/slothbot-14.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":886307,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/slothbot-14.jpg?itok=M3ToVOUi"}},"636289":{"id":"636289","type":"image","title":"SlothBot in the Lab","body":null,"created":"1592359383","gmt_created":"2020-06-17 02:03:03","changed":"1592359383","gmt_changed":"2020-06-17 02:03:03","alt":"SlothBot researchers in the lab","file":{"fid":"242113","name":"slothbot_3044.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/slothbot_3044.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/slothbot_3044.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1567004,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/slothbot_3044.jpg?itok=tAPn6pXc"}}},"media_ids":["636285","636284","636283","636287","636288","636289"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"635512":{"#nid":"635512","#data":{"type":"news","title":"People Think Robots Are Pretty Incompetent and Not Funny, New Study Says","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDang robots are crummy at so many jobs, and they tell lousy jokes to boot. In two new studies, these were common biases human participants held toward\u0026nbsp;robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe studies were originally intended to test for gender bias, that is, if people thought a robot believed to be female may be less competent at some jobs than a robot believed to be male and vice versa. The studies\u0026#39; titles even included the words \u0026quot;gender,\u0026quot; \u0026quot;stereotypes,\u0026quot; and \u0026quot;preference,\u0026quot; but researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology discovered no significant sexism against the machines.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This did surprise us. There was only a very slight difference in a couple of jobs but not significant. There was, for example, a small preference for a male robot over a female robot as a package deliverer,\u0026rdquo; said Ayanna Howard, the principal investigator in both studies. Howard is a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ic.gatech.edu\/people\/ayanna-howard\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eprofessor in and the chair of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Interactive Computing\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlthough robots are not sentient, as people increasingly interface with them, we begin to humanize the machines. Howard studies what goes right as we integrate robots into society and what goes wrong, and much of both has to do with how the humans feel around robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EI hate robots\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Surveillance robots are not socially engaging, but when we see them, we still may act like we would when we see a police officer, maybe not jaywalking and being very conscientious of our behavior,\u0026rdquo; said Howard, who is also\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff-directory\/ayanna-maccalla-howard\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ELinda J. and Mark C. Smith Chair and Professor in Bioengineering in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Then there are emotionally engaging robots designed to tap into our feelings and work with our behavior. If you look at these examples, they lead us to treat these robots as if they were fellow intelligent beings.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt\u0026rsquo;s a good thing robots don\u0026rsquo;t have feelings because what study participants lacked in gender bias they more than made up for in judgments against the humanoid robots\u0026#39; competence. That predisposition was so strong that Howard wondered if it may have overridden any potential gender biases against robots \u0026ndash; after all, social science studies have shown that gender biases are still prevalent with respect to human jobs, even if implicit.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn questionnaires, humanoid robots introduced themselves via video to randomly recruited online survey respondents, who ranged in age from their twenties to their seventies and were mostly college-educated. The humans ranked robots\u0026rsquo; career competencies compared to human abilities, only trusting the machines to competently perform a handful of simple jobs.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPass the scalpel\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The results baffled us because the things that people thought robots were less able to do were things that they do well. One was the profession of surgeon. There are\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.davincisurgery.com\/procedures\/gynecology-surgery\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EDa Vinci robots that are pervasive in surgical suites\u003C\/a\u003E, but respondents didn\u0026rsquo;t think robots were competent enough,\u0026rdquo; Howard said. \u0026ldquo;Security guard \u0026ndash; people didn\u0026rsquo;t think robots were competent at that, and there are companies that specialize in great robot security.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECumulatively, the 200 participants across the two studies thought robots would also fail as nannies, therapists, nurses, firefighters, and totally bomb as comedians. But they felt confident bots would make fantastic package deliverers and receptionists, pretty good servers, and solid tour guides.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers could not say where the competence biases originate. Howard could only speculate that some of the bad rap may have come from media stories of robots doing things like falling into swimming pools or injuring people.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIt\u0026rsquo;s a boy\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDespite the lack of gender bias, participants readily assigned genders to the humanoid robots. For example, people accepted gender prompts by robots introducing themselves in videos.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIf a robot said, \u0026ldquo;Hi, my name is James,\u0026rdquo; in a male-sounding voice, people mostly identified the robot as male. If it said, \u0026ldquo;Hi, my name is Mary,\u0026rdquo; in a female voice, people mostly said it was female.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESome robots greeted people by saying \u0026ldquo;Hi\u0026rdquo; in a neutral sounding voice, and still, most participants assigned the robot a gender. The most common choice was male followed by neutral then by female. For Howard, this was an important takeaway from the study for robot developers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Developers should not force gender on robots. People are going to gender according to their own experiences. Give the user that right. Don\u0026rsquo;t reinforce gender stereotypes,\u0026rdquo; Howard said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESocial is good\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESome in the\u0026nbsp;field advocate for not building robots in humanoid form at all in order to discourage any kind of\u0026nbsp;humanization, but the Georgia Tech team takes a less stringent approach.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;There is no single one-size-fits-all answer on whether it is appropriate to design robots to look like human beings.\u0026nbsp; It depends on a variety of ethical considerations and other factors, including whether people might trust a robot too much\u0026nbsp;if it has a human-like appearance,\u0026quot; said Jason Borenstein, a co-principal investigator on one of the papers and an ethics\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/spp.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/jason-borenstein\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eresearcher in Georgia Tech\u0026#39;s School of Public Policy\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Robots can be good for social interaction. They could be very helpful in elder care facilities to keep people company. They might also make better nannies than letting the TV babysit the kids,\u0026rdquo; said Howard, who also defended robots\u0026rsquo; comedic talent, provided they are programmed for that.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If you ever go to an amusement park, there are animatronics that tell really good jokes.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERead the studies\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe two studies were submitted to conferences that were canceled due to COVID-19.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhy Should We Gender? The Effect of Robot Gendering and Occupational Stereotypes on Human Trust and Perceived Competency was published in\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/3319502.3374778\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EProceedings of 2020 ACM Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI\u0026rsquo;20)\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, which appeared in March 2020. Robot Gendering: Influences on Trust, Occupational Competency, and Preference of Robot Over Human appeared in\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003ECHI 2020 Extended Abstracts\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E(computer-human interaction, DOI: 10.1145\/3334480.3382930).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research was funded by the National Science Foundation and by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe papers\u0026rsquo; coauthors were De\u0026rsquo;Aira Bryant, Kantwon Rogers, and Jason Borenstein from Georgia Tech. The National Science foundation funded via grant 1849101. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation funded via grant G-2019-11435. Any findings, conclusions, or recommendations are those of the authors and not necessarily of the sponsors.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAlso read: \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rh.gatech.edu\/news\/635143\/surfaces-grip-gecko-feet-could-be-easily-mass-produced\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESurfaces that grip like gecko feet may come to an assembly line near you\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHere\u0026#39;s how to\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rh.gatech.edu\/subscribe\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Esubscribe to our free science and technology email\u0026nbsp;newsletter\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter \u0026amp; media inquiries\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404-272-2780), email:\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Good thing humanoid robots don\u0027t have feelings because people think they are pretty incompetent."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2020-05-19 17:58:30","changed_gmt":"2020-05-28 13:17:53","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-05-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2020-05-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"635511":{"id":"635511","type":"image","title":"Incompetent robots not funny","body":null,"created":"1589910479","gmt_created":"2020-05-19 17:47:59","changed":"1589910479","gmt_changed":"2020-05-19 17:47:59","alt":"","file":{"fid":"241843","name":"robot head.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robot%20head.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robot%20head.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":239540,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/robot%20head.jpg?itok=Bwwrzggx"}},"635506":{"id":"635506","type":"image","title":"Humanoid robots say hi","body":null,"created":"1589909850","gmt_created":"2020-05-19 17:37:30","changed":"1589909850","gmt_changed":"2020-05-19 17:37:30","alt":"","file":{"fid":"241839","name":"Robot intros.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Robot%20intros.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Robot%20intros.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1364920,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Robot%20intros.jpg?itok=bbXpGlS-"}},"635507":{"id":"635507","type":"image","title":"Ayanna Howard with humanoid robot","body":null,"created":"1589910140","gmt_created":"2020-05-19 17:42:20","changed":"1589910140","gmt_changed":"2020-05-19 17:42:20","alt":"","file":{"fid":"241840","name":"corobots_robot_howard.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/corobots_robot_howard.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/corobots_robot_howard.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":169353,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/corobots_robot_howard.jpg?itok=ucw8z_L4"}}},"media_ids":["635511","635506","635507"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"151","name":"Policy, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"169956","name":"robot-human interaction"},{"id":"86991","name":"gender bias"},{"id":"184850","name":"no gender bias"},{"id":"184851","name":"lack of gender bias"},{"id":"184849","name":"competency"},{"id":"184852","name":"stereotype"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"},{"id":"71901","name":"Society and Culture"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"635326":{"#nid":"635326","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Planetary Exploration Rover Avoids Sand Traps with \u201cRear Rotator Pedaling\u201d","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe rolling hills of Mars or the moon are a long way from the nearest tow truck. That\u0026rsquo;s why the next generation of exploration rovers will need to be good at climbing hills covered with loose material and avoiding entrapment on soft granular surfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBuilt with wheeled appendages that can be lifted and wheels able to wiggle,\u0026nbsp;a new robot known as the \u0026ldquo;Mini Rover\u0026rdquo; has developed and tested complex locomotion techniques robust enough to help it climb hills covered with such granular material \u0026ndash; and avoid the risk of getting ignominiously stuck on some remote planet or moon.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing a complex move the researchers dubbed \u0026ldquo;rear rotator pedaling,\u0026rdquo; the robot can climb a slope by using its unique design to combine paddling, walking, and wheel spinning motions. The rover\u0026rsquo;s behaviors were modeled using a branch of physics known as terradynamics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;When loose materials flow, that can create problems for robots moving across it,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDan Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, the Dunn Family Professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0026ldquo;This rover has enough degrees of freedom that it can get out of jams pretty effectively. By avalanching materials from the front wheels, it creates a localized fluid hill for the back wheels that is not as steep as the real slope. The rover is always self-generating and self-organizing a good hill for itself.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research was reported on May 13 as the cover article in the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience Robotics\u003C\/em\u003E. The work was supported by the NASA National Robotics Initiative and the Army Research Office.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA robot built by NASA\u0026rsquo;s Johnson Space Center pioneered the ability to spin its wheels, sweep the surface with those wheels and lift each of its wheeled appendages where necessary, creating a broad range of potential motions. Using in-house 3D printers, the Georgia Tech researchers collaborated with the Johnson Space Center to re-create those capabilities in a scaled-down vehicle with four wheeled appendages driven by 12 different motors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The rover was developed with a modular mechatronic architecture, commercially available components, and a minimal number of parts,\u0026rdquo; said Siddharth Shrivastava, an undergraduate student in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;This enabled our team to use our robot as a robust laboratory tool and focus our efforts on exploring creative and interesting experiments without worrying about damaging the rover, service downtime, or hitting performance limitations.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe rover\u0026rsquo;s broad range of movements gave the research team an opportunity to test many variations that were studied using granular drag force measurements and modified Resistive Force Theory. Shrivastava and School of Physics Ph.D. candidate Andras Karsai began with the gaits explored by the NASA RP15 robot, and were able to experiment with locomotion schemes that could not have been tested on a full-size rover.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers also tested their experimental gaits on slopes designed to simulate planetary and lunar hills using a fluidized bed system known as SCATTER (Systematic Creation of Arbitrary Terrain and Testing of Exploratory Robots) that could be tilted to evaluate the role of controlling the granular substrate. Karsai and Shrivastava collaborated with Yasemin Ozkan-Aydin, a postdoctoral research fellow in Goldman\u0026rsquo;s lab, to study the rover motion in the SCATTER test facility.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;By creating a small robot with capabilities similar to the RP15 rover, we could test the principles of locomoting with various gaits in a controlled laboratory environment,\u0026rdquo; Karsai said. \u0026ldquo;In our tests, we primarily varied the gait, the locomotion medium, and the slope the robot had to climb. We quickly iterated over many gait strategies and terrain conditions to examine the phenomena that emerged.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the paper, the authors describe a gait that allowed the rover to climb a steep slope with the front wheels stirring up the granular material \u0026ndash; poppy seeds for the lab testing \u0026ndash; and pushing them back toward the rear wheels. The rear wheels wiggled from side-to-side, lifting and spinning to create a motion that resembles paddling in water. The material pushed to the back wheels effectively changed the slope the rear wheels had to climb, allowing the rover to make steady progress up a hill that might have stopped a simple wheeled robot.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe experiments provided a variation on earlier robophysics work in Goldman\u0026rsquo;s group that involved moving with legs or flippers, which had emphasized disturbing the granular surfaces as little as possible to avoid getting the robot stuck.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In our previous studies of pure legged robots, modeled on animals, we had kind of figured out that the secret was to not make a mess,\u0026rdquo; said Goldman. \u0026ldquo;If you end up making too much of a mess with most robots, you end up just paddling and digging into the granular material. If you want fast locomotion, we found that you should try to keep the material as solid as possible by tweaking the parameters of motion.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut simple motions had proved problematic for Mars rovers, which got stuck in granular materials. Goldman says the gait discovered by Shrivastava, Karsai and Ozkan-Aydin might be able to help future rovers avoid that fate.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This combination of lifting and wheeling and paddling, if used properly, provides the ability to maintain some forward progress even if it is slow,\u0026rdquo; Goldman said. \u0026ldquo;Through our laboratory experiments, we have shown principles that could lead to improved robustness in planetary exploration \u0026ndash; and even in challenging surfaces on our own planet.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers hope next to scale up the unusual gaits to larger robots, and to explore the idea of studying robots and their localized environments together. \u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;d like to think about the locomotor and its environment as a single entity,\u0026rdquo; Goldman said. \u0026ldquo;There are certainly some interesting granular and soft matter physics issues to explore.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThough the Mini Rover was designed to study lunar and planetary exploration, the lessons learned could also be applicable to terrestrial locomotion \u0026ndash; an area of interest to the Army Research Laboratory, one of the project\u0026rsquo;s sponsors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;This basic research is revealing exciting new approaches for locomotion in complex terrain,\u0026quot; said Dr. Samuel Stanton, program manager, Army Research Office, an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command\u0026#39;s Army Research Laboratory. \u0026quot;This could lead to platforms capable of intelligently transitioning between wheeled and legged modes of movement to maintain high operational tempo.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond those already mentioned, the researchers worked with Robert Ambrose and William Bluethmann at NASA, and traveled to NASA JSC to study the full-size NASA RP15 rover.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis work was supported by the Army Research Office (W911NF-18-1-0120) and the NASA National Robotics Initiative (NNX15AR21G). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Siddharth Shrivastava, Andras Karsai, Yasemin Ozkan-Aydin, Ross Pettinger, William Bluethmann, Robert O. Ambrose, Daniel I. Goldman, \u0026ldquo;Material remodeling on granular terrain yields robustness benefits for a robophysical rover.\u0026rdquo; (Science Robotics, May 2020)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBuilt with wheeled appendages that can be lifted and wheels able to wiggle, a new robot known as the \u0026ldquo;Mini Rover\u0026rdquo; has developed and tested complex locomotion techniques robust enough to help it climb hills covered with granular material \u0026ndash; and avoid the risk of getting ignominiously stuck on some remote planet or moon.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Using the Mini Rover, researchers have studied locomotion techniques that could help future rovers work on granular lunar and planetary surfaces."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2020-05-13 14:22:47","changed_gmt":"2020-05-13 17:50:59","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-05-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2020-05-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"635320":{"id":"635320","type":"image","title":"Mini Rover moving on sand","body":null,"created":"1589378228","gmt_created":"2020-05-13 13:57:08","changed":"1589378228","gmt_changed":"2020-05-13 13:57:08","alt":"Mini Rover in sand","file":{"fid":"241746","name":"mini-rover-1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":502031,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mini-rover-1.jpg?itok=B4UJ2OGx"}},"635321":{"id":"635321","type":"image","title":"Mini Rover moving on sand - 2","body":null,"created":"1589378378","gmt_created":"2020-05-13 13:59:38","changed":"1589378378","gmt_changed":"2020-05-13 13:59:38","alt":"Mini Rover in sand","file":{"fid":"241747","name":"mini-rover-2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":775928,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mini-rover-2.jpg?itok=cLOCRqkS"}},"635322":{"id":"635322","type":"image","title":"Mini Rover in laboratory track bed","body":null,"created":"1589378574","gmt_created":"2020-05-13 14:02:54","changed":"1589378574","gmt_changed":"2020-05-13 14:02:54","alt":"Mini Rover in track bed","file":{"fid":"241748","name":"mini-rover-5.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-5.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-5.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":737962,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mini-rover-5.jpg?itok=u4b4X_Ed"}},"635323":{"id":"635323","type":"image","title":"Mini Rover tested on simulated hill","body":null,"created":"1589378747","gmt_created":"2020-05-13 14:05:47","changed":"1589378747","gmt_changed":"2020-05-13 14:05:47","alt":"Mini Rover in fluidized bed","file":{"fid":"241749","name":"mini-rover-4.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-4.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-4.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":721288,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mini-rover-4.jpg?itok=PtdL_eIo"}},"635324":{"id":"635324","type":"image","title":"Close up of Mini Rover appendage","body":null,"created":"1589378900","gmt_created":"2020-05-13 14:08:20","changed":"1589378900","gmt_changed":"2020-05-13 14:08:20","alt":"Appendage for Mini Rover","file":{"fid":"241750","name":"mini-rover-3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-3.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-3.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":542065,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mini-rover-3.jpg?itok=KERqtw06"}}},"media_ids":["635320","635321","635322","635323","635324"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"184799","name":"Mini Rover"},{"id":"7057","name":"Mars"},{"id":"184802","name":"planetary exploration"},{"id":"184805","name":"lunar exploration"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"47881","name":"Dan Goldman"},{"id":"184807","name":"granular material"},{"id":"62221","name":"terradynamics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"631809":{"#nid":"631809","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Robotic Submarine Snaps First-Ever Images at Foundation of Notorious Antarctic Glacier","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDuring an unprecedented scientific campaign on an Antarctic glacier notorious for contributions to sea-level, researchers took first-ever images at the glacier\u0026rsquo;s foundations on the ocean floor. The area is key to Thwaites Glacier\u0026rsquo;s potential to become more dangerous, and in the coming months, the research team hopes to give the world a clearer picture of its condition.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe images, taken by a robotic underwater vehicle, were part of a broad set of data collected in a variety of experiments by an international team. The\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/thwaitesglacier.org\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EInternational Thwaites Glacier Collaboration\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(ITGC)\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/thwaitesglacier.org\/news\/scientists-drill-first-time-remote-antarctic-glacier\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eannounced the completion of this first-ever major research venture\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;on the glacier coincident with the 200-year anniversary of the discovery of Antarctica in 1820.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlready, Thwaites accounts for about four percent of global sea-level rise. Researchers have had concerns that a tipping point in the stability at its foundations could result in a run-away collapse of the glacier and boost sea levels by as much as 25 inches. By studying multiple aspects of Thwaites, the ITGC wants to understand more about the likelihood that the glacier the size of Florida may reach such instability in the coming decades.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELine of concern\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe area of concern that the underwater vehicle visited is called the grounding line, and it is important to the stability of Thwaites Glacier\u0026rsquo;s footing. It is the line between where the glacier rests on the ocean bed and where it floats over water. The farther back the grounding line recedes, the faster the ice can flow into the sea, pushing up sea-level.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Visiting the grounding line is one of the reasons work like this is important because we can drive right up to it and actually measure where it is,\u0026rdquo; said Britney Schmidt, an ITGC co-investigator from the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026#39;s the first time anyone has done that or has ever even seen the grounding zone of a major glacier under the water, and that\u0026rsquo;s the place where the greatest degree of melting and destabilization can occur.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe underwater robot,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/schmidt.eas.gatech.edu\/icefin\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EIcefin, was engineered by Schmidt\u0026rsquo;s Georgia Tech lab\u003C\/a\u003E. The Georgia Tech team was part of a greater collaboration between researchers from the U.S. and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), who lived and worked on Thwaites in December and January. A BAS hot water drill melted a hole 590 meters deep (1,935 feet) to access the ocean cavity for Icefin.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Icefin swam over 15 km (9.3 miles) round trip during five missions.\u0026nbsp;This included two passes up to the grounding zone, including one where we got as close as we physically could to the place where the seafloor meets the ice,\u0026rdquo; said Schmidt, who is\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/schmidt.eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ean associate professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;We saw amazing ice interactions driven by sediments at the line and from the rapid melting from warm ocean water.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Csup\u003E\u003Cem\u003E[Ready for graduate school?\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gradadmiss.gatech.edu\/apply-now\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EHere\u0026#39;s how to apply to Georgia Tech.\u003C\/a\u003E]\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/sup\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHistoric research venture\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the coming months and years, the ITGC team made up of researchers from multiple universities and research institutions in the U.S. and the UK will publish studies with thorough findings based on the unprecedented data collected during the field campaign.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe array of research the scientists carried out research included seismic and radar measurements and using hot water drills to make holes between 300 and 700 meters (985 and 2,300 feet) deep down to the ocean and glacier bed below Thwaites\u0026rsquo; ice. Researchers also took cores of sediment from the seafloor and under parts of the glacier grounded on the bed to examine the quality of the foothold that it offers Thwaites.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We know that warmer ocean waters are eroding many of West Antarctica\u0026rsquo;s glaciers, but we\u0026rsquo;re particularly concerned about Thwaites. This new data will provide a new perspective of the processes taking place, so we can predict future change with more certainty,\u0026rdquo; said Keith Nicholls, an oceanographer from the British Antarctic Survey.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENicholls is a co-principal investigator on the project that involved Schmidt along with David Holland of New York University. The research is funded by the National Science Foundation, the UK Natural Environment Research Council, the U.S. Antarctic Program, and the British Antarctic Survey.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAntarctica sea-level background\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOver the past 30 years, the amount of ice flowing to the sea from Thwaites and its neighboring glaciers has nearly doubled.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;While Greenland\u0026#39;s contribution to sea level has already reached an alarming rate, Antarctica is just now picking up its contributions to sea level,\u0026rdquo; Schmidt said. \u0026ldquo;It has the largest body of ice on Earth and will contribute more and more of sea-level rise over the next 100 years and beyond. It\u0026rsquo;s a massive source of uncertainty in the climate system.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWatch\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=f0AWsJ0cmLE\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EBBC News report on this research\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EExternal News Coverage:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBBC News-\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/science-environment-51097309?ocid=socialflow_twitter\u0022\u003EAntarctica melting: Climate change and the journey to the \u0026#39;doomsday glacier\u0026#39;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Atlantic- \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/science\/archive\/2020\/01\/watch-video-one-worlds-most-important-places\/605731\/?utm_content=edit-promo\u0026amp;utm_source=twitter\u0026amp;utm_campaign=the-atlantic\u0026amp;utm_medium=social\u0026amp;utm_term=2020-01-30T14%3A00%3A33\u0022\u003EThe New Video of One of the Scariest Places on Earth\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Washington Post-\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/climate-environment\/2020\/01\/30\/unprecedented-data-confirm-that-antarcticas-most-dangerous-glacier-is-melting-below\/\u0022\u003EUnprecedented data confirms that Antarctica\u0026rsquo;s most dangerous glacier is melting from below\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBBC Newsround-\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/newsround\/51268527\u0022\u003EClimate change: Scientists concerned about future of Antarctic glacier\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDaily Mail Online-\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sciencetech\/article-7938183\/Scientists-drilled-Antarcticas-doomsday-Thwaites-glacier.html\u0022\u003EScientists drill into Antarctica\u0026#39;s \u0026#39;doomsday\u0026#39; Thwaites glacier for the first time in a bid to stop dramatic sea level rise as the ice shelf the size of BRITAIN melts at an alarming rate\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EYahoo News-\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/uk.news.yahoo.com\/thwaites-glacier-antarctica-185028043.html?guccounter=1\u0026amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cDovL3RyYW5zaXRpb24ubWVsdHdhdGVyLmNvbS9yZWRpcmVjdD91cmw9aHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZ1ay5uZXdzLnlhaG9vLmNvbSUyRnRod2FpdGVzLWdsYWNpZXItYW50YXJjdGljYS0xODUwMjgwNDMuaHRtbCZ0cmFuc2l0aW9uVG9rZW49ZXlKMGVYQWlPaUpLVjFRaUxDSmhiR2NpT2lKSVV6VXhNaUo5LmV5Sm9iM04wYm1GdFpTSTZJblZyTG01bGQzTXVlV0ZvYjI4dVkyOXRJbjAuTkJQT2J3U3VMcFNUNEVUa180ak1yQTI4eUl4QXRiWjJvbUtUS0FhdWk1akJmMFlDbU1nZGZUZGttWHU1UTRWc2lRZXBjWlB5dnRKVWVFeVlpX0dpUVE\u0026amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAIRM-4giOYbmjW1hRxQ4iZ-18X61yqEBJCY4ITCFbBFdWvtWtBSNEfakpuj_hrNCwh3OrXO-FRFuyJabFIBmLQhdjng1A9-dgzaxtFWIJnMz5tZGzEv5kS-aEHKOwZ4vESHlK501McjqvhE70gDBlzsMnwR5R20orgdJK9UMYLqI\u0022\u003EScientists drill into \u0026lsquo;doomsday glacier\u0026rsquo; the size of Britain to see if it\u0026rsquo;s going to collapse\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFox News-\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/science\/antarctica-doomsday-glacier-alarming-new-trait\u0022\u003EAntarctica\u0026rsquo;s \u0026lsquo;doomsday glacier\u0026rsquo; reveals alarming new trait to scientists\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECosmos Magazine- \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cosmosmagazine.com\/climate\/here-s-what-s-below-an-unstable-glacier\u0022\u003EHere\u0026#39;s what\u0026#39;s below an unstable glacier\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPBS Newshour- \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/show\/visiting-the-most-vulnerable-place-on-earth-the-doomsday-glacier\u0022\u003EA risky expedition to study the \u0026lsquo;doomsday glacier\u0026rsquo;\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENOVA Next-\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wgbh\/nova\/article\/warm-water-found-beneath-thwaites-glacier-antarctica\/\u0022\u003EScientists find warm water beneath Antarctica\u0026rsquo;s most at-risk glacier\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMore reading:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rh.gatech.edu\/news\/623053\/instability-antarctic-ice-projected-make-sea-level-rise-rapidly\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EInstability in Antarctic Ice Projected to Make Sea Level Rise Rapidly\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003Eand\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rh.gatech.edu\/news\/628264\/reframing-antarcticas-meltwater-pond-dangers-ice-shelves-and-sea-level\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EReframing Antarctica\u0026rsquo;s Meltwater Pond Dangers to Ice Shelves and Sea Level\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAny findings, conclusions, or recommendations are those of the authors and not necessarily of the sponsors.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter \u0026amp;\u0026nbsp;Media Representative\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404-272-2780), email:\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThese are the first-ever images taken at the foundations of the glacier that inspires more fear of sea-level rise than any other - Thwaites Glacier. Its\u0026nbsp;grounding line is integral to Thwaites\u0026#39; fate and that of the world\u0026#39;s coastlines, and an underwater vehicle from the Georgia Institute of Technology has made the\u0026nbsp;first-ever visit to it as a part of the historic International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"These are the first-ever images taken at the foundations of the glacier that inspires more fear of sea-level rise than any other - Thwaites Glacier."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2020-01-29 14:13:46","changed_gmt":"2020-04-24 15:59:46","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-01-29T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2020-01-29T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"623047":{"id":"623047","type":"image","title":"Thwaites Glacier\u0027s outer edge","body":null,"created":"1562610337","gmt_created":"2019-07-08 18:25:37","changed":"1580307455","gmt_changed":"2020-01-29 14:17:35","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237266","name":"ThwaitesGlacier20170530.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ThwaitesGlacier20170530.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ThwaitesGlacier20170530.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":410935,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ThwaitesGlacier20170530.jpg?itok=9errBw10"}},"631805":{"id":"631805","type":"image","title":"Britney Schmidt with Icefin after last Thwaites dive","body":null,"created":"1580304570","gmt_created":"2020-01-29 13:29:30","changed":"1580304570","gmt_changed":"2020-01-29 13:29:30","alt":"","file":{"fid":"240390","name":"ddichek-0056.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ddichek-0056.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ddichek-0056.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":635186,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ddichek-0056.jpg?itok=e_BJp8MM"}},"631804":{"id":"631804","type":"image","title":"Thwaites Glacier grounding line","body":null,"created":"1580304373","gmt_created":"2020-01-29 13:26:13","changed":"1580308039","gmt_changed":"2020-01-29 14:27:19","alt":"","file":{"fid":"240389","name":"Icefin_GZ.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Icefin_GZ.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Icefin_GZ.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":915130,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Icefin_GZ.jpg?itok=Laq-XdI0"}},"631807":{"id":"631807","type":"image","title":"Thwaites Glacier research camp","body":null,"created":"1580305975","gmt_created":"2020-01-29 13:52:55","changed":"1580305975","gmt_changed":"2020-01-29 13:52:55","alt":"","file":{"fid":"240392","name":"ddichek-9579.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ddichek-9579.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ddichek-9579.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":196784,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ddichek-9579.jpg?itok=edjSALr6"}},"631806":{"id":"631806","type":"image","title":"Icefin and team on Thwaites","body":null,"created":"1580305341","gmt_created":"2020-01-29 13:42:21","changed":"1580305341","gmt_changed":"2020-01-29 13:42:21","alt":"","file":{"fid":"240391","name":"ddichek-0060.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ddichek-0060.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ddichek-0060.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":647478,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ddichek-0060.jpg?itok=P-g6NiNa"}},"623049":{"id":"623049","type":"image","title":"Glacier grounding line diagram","body":null,"created":"1562610606","gmt_created":"2019-07-08 18:30:06","changed":"1580308347","gmt_changed":"2020-01-29 14:32:27","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237268","name":"Fig-2.-Grounding-line.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Fig-2.-Grounding-line.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Fig-2.-Grounding-line.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":993394,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Fig-2.-Grounding-line.jpg?itok=mkp-isQG"}},"631808":{"id":"631808","type":"image","title":"Thwaites grounding zone, sediment in the ice","body":null,"created":"1580306212","gmt_created":"2020-01-29 13:56:52","changed":"1580306212","gmt_changed":"2020-01-29 13:56:52","alt":"","file":{"fid":"240393","name":"Icefin_GZ_ice.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Icefin_GZ_ice.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Icefin_GZ_ice.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":588610,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Icefin_GZ_ice.jpg?itok=QVBbNr_s"}}},"media_ids":["623047","631805","631804","631807","631806","623049","631808"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"181645","name":"Thwaites Glacier"},{"id":"82391","name":"Antarctica"},{"id":"183751","name":"grounding line"},{"id":"183752","name":"grounding zone"},{"id":"183753","name":"Instability"},{"id":"183754","name":"autonomous undersea vehicles"},{"id":"183755","name":"Autonomous Underwater Vehicle"},{"id":"95691","name":"auv"},{"id":"183756","name":"Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (Auvs)"},{"id":"183757","name":"Sea-level rise"},{"id":"183758","name":"Sealevel"},{"id":"168986","name":"sea level rise"},{"id":"831","name":"climate change"},{"id":"182534","name":"Global Warming Climate Change"},{"id":"182535","name":"Global Warming Research"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"633018":{"#nid":"633018","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Shriners Hospitals for Children and Georgia Tech Announce Research Affiliation ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EYou see and want the glass of milk on the table across the room. That\u0026rsquo;s no problem for most of us, who will simply walk to the table, grab the glass, and enjoy the milk. Triggering all of that limb movement is a complex set of coordinated neuromuscular commands and actions, which are not so simple for that segment of the population with, say, cerebral palsy or spinal cord injury.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo help young people struggling with those conditions \u0026ndash; or orthopedic problems like clubfoot, scoliosis, and osteogenesis imperfecta, among other things \u0026ndash; Shriners Hospitals for Children\u0026reg; and the Georgia Institute of Technology have launched an ambitious collaborative research effort to address these conditions, including the development of devices to facilitate limb movement and function.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new research affiliation brings together the clinical, surgical, and scientific expertise of Shriners Hospitals for Children physicians and researchers with Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s cutting-edge expertise in biomedical engineering, robotics, and device development. The coordinated effort also will leverage the two organizations\u0026rsquo; proficiency in big data and artificial intelligence tools for personalized medicine, according to Marc Lalande, Ph.D., vice president of research programs for Shriners Hospitals for Children.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our joint goals, through genetic and genomic data gathered by Shriners Hospitals for Children, are to improve patient therapeutic responses by optimizing individualized treatment regimens and reducing adverse events,\u0026rdquo; Lalande said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESeveral joint projects already are underway.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Jaydev-Desai\u0022\u003EJaydev Desai\u003C\/a\u003E, professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E (BME) at Georgia Tech and Emory University, is working with Scott Kozin, M.D., chief of staff and hand surgeon at Shriners Hospitals for Children-Philadelphia, on a wearable customized robotic exoskeleton with voice recognition for children with cervical spine injury.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This is a patient specific system for kids with spinal cord injury,\u0026rdquo; explained Desai, who is director of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/medicalrobotics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Center for Medical Robotics\u003C\/a\u003E and associate director of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.robotics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInstitute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;The system is designed to translate voice commands into actions, meaning the exoskeleton will conform to the proper shape and posture of the fingers, so to speak, depending on the task. The idea is to enhance the child\u0026rsquo;s ability to perform the activities of daily living.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EKozin expects his patients with spinal cord injuries will benefit from Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s innovative pediatric prosthesis development \u0026ndash; its utility, actuation, and dexterity. \u0026ldquo;Alternative pathways for the recovery of sensation will enhance their function and independence. We are excited about this new collaboration combining institutions with similar missions and visions devoted to improving the lives of children,\u0026rdquo; said Kozin, who also is collaborating with Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Frank-L.-Hammond%20III\u0022\u003EFrank Hammond\u003C\/a\u003E (assistant professor in BME and mechanical engineering) on wearable sensory transfer devices for patients with diminished peripheral sensation or amputations, improving their ability to use intuitively powered prostheses and orthoses.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAdditionally, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/young\u0022\u003EAaron Young\u003C\/a\u003E, assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech, is working with David Westberry, M.D., pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Shriners Hospitals for Children-Greenville, on a smart robotic exoskeleton designed to address excessive knee flexion (crouch gait), a condition common in patients with cerebral palsy. The condition can lead to permanent joint deformity if untreated, as well as reduced independence and locomotion capability.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The device is basically a lightweight, wearable robot designed to assist physical therapists working on pediatric mobility \u0026ndash; the idea is to essentially retrain the child\u0026rsquo;s neuroplasticity,\u0026rdquo; said Young, who is testing the device with Westberry at Shriners Hospitals for Children-Greenville in South Carolina. \u0026ldquo;The exciting thing about Shriners Hospitals for Children-Greenville is that it has an advanced motion analysis center where Shriners\u0026rsquo; physicians and researchers are looking at not just the child\u0026rsquo;s gait, but also at the internal mechanics. It\u0026rsquo;s very rewarding to collaborate with the Shriners team \u0026ndash; they are very quantitative in their approach to treatment.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat quantitative approach includes the integration of biomedical informatics, data science, and artificial intelligence into the clinical research programs of the Shriners Hospitals for Children network of 14 pediatric motion analysis centers and the healthcare system\u0026rsquo;s newly launched Genomics Institute. As part of this process, researchers are collaborating with \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/May-Dongmei-Wang\u0022\u003EDongmei Wang\u003C\/a\u003E, BME professor at Georgia Tech, where she is director of the Biomedical Informatics and Bioimaging Lab.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This collaboration is extremely important for us because not only have we committed to work on a major national need in youth health, but also because we have been planning to establish a pediatric big data center using advanced IT and AI,\u0026rdquo; said Wang, whose collaborators at Shriners Hospitals for Children include Gerald Harris (Motion Analysis, Shriners Hospitals for Children-Chicago) and Kamran Shazand (Shriners Hospitals for Children Genomics Institute, Tampa, Florida).\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our lab has piloted multiple pediatric projects,\u0026rdquo; Wang said. \u0026ldquo;But this project represents a quantum leap, taking our work to the next level, in a real-world pediatric care setting. Shriners Hospitals for Children is a perfect fit for us.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELeanne West, Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s chief engineer of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ptc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Epediatric technologies\u003C\/a\u003E, said she\u0026rsquo;s looking forward to \u0026ldquo;the unique research opportunities this relationship with Shriners Hospitals for Children will provide. It will be exciting to see what is possible for us to achieve together.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout pediatric device research at Georgia Tech\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s wide-ranging efforts in pediatric device development brings the institute\u0026rsquo;s engineers and scientists together with clinical experts and researchers to develop innovative technological solutions to problems in the health and care of children. The work provides opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration in pediatrics, creating breakthrough discoveries, enhancing the lives of children and young adults.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout Shriners Hospitals for Children\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nShriners Hospitals for Children is changing lives every day through innovative pediatric specialty care, world-class research, and outstanding medical education. Its healthcare system provides care for children with orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate. All care and services are provided regardless of families\u0026rsquo; ability to pay. Since opening its first location in 1922, the healthcare system has treated more than 1.4 million children. For more information, visit \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/shrinershospitalsforchildren.org\u0022\u003Eshrinershospitalsforchildren.org\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Jerry Grillo\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EYou see and want the glass of milk on the table across the room. That\u0026rsquo;s no problem for most of us, who will simply walk to the table, grab the glass, and enjoy the milk. Triggering all of that limb movement is a complex set of coordinated neuromuscular commands and actions, which are not so simple for that segment of the population with, say, cerebral palsy or spinal cord injury.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new collaborative research effort will help children with cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury and other conditions."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2020-02-27 01:44:06","changed_gmt":"2020-02-27 01:47:07","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-02-26T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2020-02-26T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"633015":{"id":"633015","type":"image","title":"Pediatric Knee Exoskeleton","body":null,"created":"1582766700","gmt_created":"2020-02-27 01:25:00","changed":"1582766700","gmt_changed":"2020-02-27 01:25:00","alt":"Testing pediatric knee exoskeleton","file":{"fid":"240864","name":"shriners-004.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/shriners-004.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/shriners-004.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":657092,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/shriners-004.jpg?itok=2hm1o9Xj"}},"633016":{"id":"633016","type":"image","title":"Pediatric Knee Exoskeleton2","body":null,"created":"1582766835","gmt_created":"2020-02-27 01:27:15","changed":"1582766835","gmt_changed":"2020-02-27 01:27:15","alt":"Pediatric knee exoskeleton","file":{"fid":"240865","name":"shriners-006.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/shriners-006.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/shriners-006.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":395948,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/shriners-006.jpg?itok=a3dNMMiX"}},"633017":{"id":"633017","type":"image","title":"Researcher Aaron Young","body":null,"created":"1582766961","gmt_created":"2020-02-27 01:29:21","changed":"1582766961","gmt_changed":"2020-02-27 01:29:21","alt":"Researcher Aaron Young with pediatric knee exoskeleton","file":{"fid":"240866","name":"shriners-008.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/shriners-008.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/shriners-008.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":394494,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/shriners-008.jpg?itok=HI-pFyNt"}}},"media_ids":["633015","633016","633017"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2585","name":"pediatric"},{"id":"179123","name":"pediatric technology"},{"id":"89521","name":"Exoskeleton"},{"id":"172346","name":"Pediatric Technology Center"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"604462":{"#nid":"604462","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Robot Designed to Defend Factories Against Cyberthreats","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIt\u0026rsquo;s small enough to fit inside a shoebox, yet this robot on four wheels has a big mission: keeping factories and other large facilities safe from hackers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMeet the HoneyBot.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDeveloped by a team of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the diminutive device is designed to lure in digital troublemakers who have set their sights on industrial facilities. HoneyBot will then trick the bad actors into giving up valuable information to cybersecurity professionals.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe decoy robot arrives as more and more devices \u0026ndash; never designed to operate on the Internet \u0026ndash; are coming online in homes and factories alike, opening up a new range of possibilities for hackers looking to wreak havoc in both the digital and physical world.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Robots do more now than they ever have, and some companies are moving forward with, not just the assembly line robots, but free-standing robots that can actually drive around factory floors,\u0026rdquo; said Raheem Beyah, the Motorola Foundation Professor and interim Steve W. Chaddick School Chair in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. \u0026ldquo;In that type of setting, you can imagine how dangerous this could be if a hacker gains access to those machines. At a minimum, they could cause harm to whatever products are being produced. If it\u0026rsquo;s a large enough robot, it could destroy parts or the assembly line. In a worst-case scenario, it could injure or cause death to the humans in the vicinity.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInternet security professionals long have employed decoy computer systems known as \u0026ldquo;honeypots\u0026rdquo; as a way to throw cyberattackers off the trail. The research team applied the same concept to the HoneyBot, which is partially funded with a grant from the National Science Foundation. Once hackers gain access to the decoy, they leave behind valuable information that can help companies further secure their networks.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;A lot of cyberattacks go unanswered or unpunished because there\u0026rsquo;s this level of anonymity afforded to malicious actors on the internet, and it\u0026rsquo;s hard for companies to say who is responsible,\u0026rdquo; said Celine Irvene, a Georgia Tech graduate student who worked with Beyah to devise the new robot. \u0026ldquo;Honeypots give security professionals the ability to study the attackers, determine what methods they are using, and figure out where they are or potentially even who they are.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe gadget can be monitored and controlled through the internet. But unlike other remote-controlled robots, the HoneyBot\u0026rsquo;s special ability is tricking its operators into thinking it is performing one task, when in reality it\u0026rsquo;s doing something completely different.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The idea behind a honeypot is that you don\u0026rsquo;t want the attackers to know they\u0026rsquo;re in a honeypot,\u0026rdquo; Beyah said. \u0026ldquo;If the attacker is smart and is looking out for the potential of a honeypot, maybe they\u0026rsquo;d look at different sensors on the robot, like an accelerometer or speedometer, to verify the robot is doing what it had been instructed. That\u0026rsquo;s where we would be spoofing that information as well. The hacker would see from looking at the sensors that acceleration occurred from point A to point B.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a factory setting, such a HoneyBot robot could sit motionless in a corner, springing to life when a hacker gains access \u0026ndash; a visual indicator that a malicious actor is targeting the facility.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERather than allowing the hacker to then run amok in the physical world, the robot could be designed to follow certain commands deemed harmless \u0026ndash; such as meandering slowly about or picking up objects \u0026ndash; but stopping short of actually doing anything dangerous.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESo far, their technique seems to be working.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn experiments designed to test how convincing the false sensor data would be to individuals remotely controlling the device, volunteers in December 2017 used a virtual interface to control the robot and could not to see what was happening in real life. To entice the volunteers to break the rules, at specific spots within the maze, they encountered forbidden \u0026ldquo;shortcuts\u0026rdquo; that would allow them to finish the maze faster.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the real maze back in the lab, no shortcut existed, and if the participants opted to go through it, the robot instead remained still. Meanwhile, the volunteers \u0026ndash; who have now unwittingly become hackers for the purposes of the experiment \u0026ndash; were fed simulated sensor data indicating they passed through the shortcut and continued along.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We wanted to make sure they felt that this robot was doing this real thing,\u0026rdquo; Beyah said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn surveys after the experiment, participants who actually controlled the device the whole time and those who were being fed simulated data about the fake shortcut both indicated that the data was believable at similar rates.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This is a good sign because it indicates that we\u0026rsquo;re on the right track,\u0026rdquo; Irvene said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1544332. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"This robot is designed to lure in digital troublemakers who have set their sights on industrial facilities. HoneyBot will then trick the bad actors into giving up valuable information to cybersecurity professionals. "}],"uid":"31758","created_gmt":"2018-03-29 17:40:01","changed_gmt":"2020-01-07 15:16:10","author":"Josh Brown","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-03-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-03-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"604473":{"id":"604473","type":"image","title":"HoneyBot Robot","body":null,"created":"1522349112","gmt_created":"2018-03-29 18:45:12","changed":"1522349141","gmt_changed":"2018-03-29 18:45:41","alt":"","file":{"fid":"230430","name":"Screen Shot 2018-03-29 at 2.42.49 PM.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202018-03-29%20at%202.42.49%20PM.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202018-03-29%20at%202.42.49%20PM.png","mime":"image\/png","size":4381742,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202018-03-29%20at%202.42.49%20PM.png?itok=XSR9kYJb"}},"604468":{"id":"604468","type":"image","title":"Raheem Beyah and Celine Irvene","body":null,"created":"1522348166","gmt_created":"2018-03-29 18:29:26","changed":"1522348166","gmt_changed":"2018-03-29 18:29:26","alt":"","file":{"fid":"230422","name":"Fixer2sm.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Fixer2sm.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Fixer2sm.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":153541,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Fixer2sm.jpg?itok=keLX9SZJ"}}},"media_ids":["604473","604468"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"1404","name":"Cybersecurity"},{"id":"177568","name":"cyber physical systems"},{"id":"67741","name":"Raheem Beyah"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"145171","name":"Cybersecurity"},{"id":"39461","name":"Manufacturing, Trade, and Logistics"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:john.toon@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["john.toon@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"626381":{"#nid":"626381","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Shape-Shifting Robot Built from \u201cSmarticles\u201d Shows New Locomotion Strategy","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBuilding conventional robots typically requires carefully combining components like motors, batteries, actuators, body segments, legs and wheels. Now, researchers have taken a new approach, building a robot entirely from smaller robots known as \u0026ldquo;smarticles\u0026rdquo; to unlock the principles of a potentially new locomotion technique.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 3D-printed smarticles \u0026mdash; short for smart active particles \u0026mdash; can do just one thing: flap their two arms. But when five of these smarticles are confined in a circle, they begin to nudge one another, forming a robophysical system known as a \u0026ldquo;supersmarticle\u0026rdquo; that can move by itself. Adding a light or sound sensor allows the supersmarticle to move in response to the stimulus \u0026mdash; and even be controlled well enough to navigate a maze.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThough rudimentary now, the notion of making robots from smaller robots \u0026mdash; and taking advantage of the group capabilities that arise by combining individuals \u0026mdash; could provide mechanically based control over very small robots. Ultimately, the emergent behavior of the group could provide a new locomotion and control approach for small robots that could potentially change shapes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;These are very rudimentary robots whose behavior is dominated by mechanics and the laws of physics,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDan Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, a Dunn Family Professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0026ldquo;We are not looking to put sophisticated control, sensing, and computation on them all. As robots become smaller and smaller, we\u0026rsquo;ll have to use mechanics and physics principles to control them because they won\u0026rsquo;t have the level of computation and sensing we would need for conventional control.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research, which was supported by the Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation, was reported September 18 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience Robotics\u003C\/em\u003E. Researchers from Northwestern University also contributed to the project.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe foundation for the research came from an unlikely source: a study of construction staples. By pouring these heavy-duty staples into a container with removable sides, former Ph.D. student Nick Gravish \u0026mdash; now a faculty member at the University of California San Diego \u0026mdash; created structures that would stand by themselves after the container\u0026rsquo;s walls were removed.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShaking the staple towers eventually caused them to collapse, but the observations led to a realization that simple entangling of mechanical objects could create structures with capabilities well beyond those of the individual components.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;A robot made of other rudimentary robots became the vision,\u0026rdquo; Goldman said. \u0026ldquo;You could imagine making a robot in which you would tweak its geometric parameters a bit and what emerges is qualitatively new behaviors.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo explore the concept, graduate research assistant Will Savoie used a 3D printer to create battery-powered smarticles, which have motors, simple sensors, and limited computing power. The devices can change their location only when they interact with other devices while enclosed by a ring.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Even though no individual robot could move on its own, the cloud composed of multiple robots could move as it pushed itself apart and shrink as it pulled itself together,\u0026rdquo; Goldman explained. \u0026ldquo;If you put a ring around the cloud of little robots, they start kicking each other around, and the larger ring \u0026mdash; what we call a supersmarticle \u0026mdash; moves around randomly.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers noticed that if one small robot stopped moving, perhaps because its battery died, the group of smarticles would begin moving in the direction of that stalled robot. Graduate student Ross Warkentin learned he could control the movement by adding photo sensors to the robots that halt the arm flapping when a strong beam of light hits one of them.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If you angle the flashlight just right, you can highlight the robot you want to be inactive, and that causes the ring to lurch toward or away from it, even though no robots are programmed to move toward the light,\u0026rdquo; Goldman said. \u0026ldquo;That allowed steering of the ensemble in a very rudimentary, stochastic way.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Physics Professor Kurt Wiesenfeld and graduate student Zack Jackson modeled the movement of the these smarticles and supersmarticles to understand how the nudges and mass of the ring affected overall movement. Researchers from Northwestern University studied how the interactions between the smarticles provided directional control.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;For many robots, we have electrical current move motors that generate forces on parts that collectively move a robot reliably,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.mccormick.northwestern.edu\/research-faculty\/directory\/profiles\/murphey-todd.html\u0022\u003ETodd Murphey\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor of mechanical engineering who worked with Northwestern graduate students Thomas Berrueta and Ana Pervan. \u0026ldquo;We learned that although individual smarticles interact with each other through a chaos of wiggling impacts that are each unpredictable, the whole robot composed of those smarticles moves predictably and in a way that we can exploit in software.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn future work, Goldman envisions more complex interactions that utilize the simple sensing and movement capabilities of the smarticles. \u0026ldquo;People have been interested in making a certain kind of swarm robots that are composed of other robots,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;These structures could be reconfigured on demand to meet specific needs by tweaking their geometry.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe project is of interest to the U.S. Army because it could lead to new robotic systems capable of changing their shapes, modalities and functions, said Sam Stanton. He is program manager of complex dynamics and systems at the Army Research Office, an element of U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command\u0026rsquo;s Army Research Laboratory.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Future Army unmanned systems and networks of systems are imagined to be capable of transforming their shape, modality, and function. For example, a robotic swarm may someday be capable of moving to a river and then autonomously forming a structure to span the gap,\u0026rdquo; Stanton said. \u0026ldquo;Dan Goldman\u0026#39;s research is identifying physical principles that may prove essential for engineering emergent behavior in future robot collectives as well as new understanding of fundamental tradeoffs in system performance, responsiveness, uncertainty, resiliency, and adaptivity.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, the research also included Georgia Tech graduate student Shengkai Li.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis material is based upon work supported by the Army Research Office under award W911NF-13-1-0347 and by the National Science Foundation under grants PoLS-0957659, PHY-1205878, DMR-1551095, PHY-1205878. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: William Savoie, et al., \u0026ldquo;A robot made of robots: emergent transport and control of a smarticle ensemble,\u0026rdquo; (Science Robotics 2019).\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Assistance\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBuilding conventional robots typically requires carefully combining components like motors, batteries, actuators, body segments, legs and wheels. Now, researchers have taken a new approach, building a robot entirely from smaller robots known as \u0026ldquo;smarticles\u0026rdquo; to unlock the principles of a potentially new locomotion technique.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have built a robot entirely from smaller robots known as \u0022smarticles.\u0022"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-09-18 19:54:15","changed_gmt":"2019-09-18 19:57:38","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-09-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-09-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"626375":{"id":"626375","type":"image","title":"Close-up of Smart Active Particle","body":null,"created":"1568835251","gmt_created":"2019-09-18 19:34:11","changed":"1568835251","gmt_changed":"2019-09-18 19:34:11","alt":"Photo of smart active particle (smarticle)","file":{"fid":"238472","name":"smarticles-003.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticles-003.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticles-003.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":457502,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/smarticles-003.jpg?itok=A-vIg9Yz"}},"626376":{"id":"626376","type":"image","title":"Supersmarticle Based on Five Smarticles","body":null,"created":"1568835406","gmt_created":"2019-09-18 19:36:46","changed":"1568835406","gmt_changed":"2019-09-18 19:36:46","alt":"Supersmarticle composed of five smarticles","file":{"fid":"238473","name":"smarticles-001.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticles-001.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticles-001.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":347614,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/smarticles-001.jpg?itok=yHb-ziqK"}},"626377":{"id":"626377","type":"image","title":"Controlling a Supersmarticle","body":null,"created":"1568835521","gmt_created":"2019-09-18 19:38:41","changed":"1568835521","gmt_changed":"2019-09-18 19:38:41","alt":"Light controlling a supersmarticle","file":{"fid":"238474","name":"smarticles-002.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticles-002.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticles-002.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":743971,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/smarticles-002.jpg?itok=qP1AsqkE"}},"626378":{"id":"626378","type":"image","title":"Researchers with Smarticles","body":null,"created":"1568835643","gmt_created":"2019-09-18 19:40:43","changed":"1568835643","gmt_changed":"2019-09-18 19:40:43","alt":"Researchers with smarticles","file":{"fid":"238475","name":"smarticles-004.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticles-004.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticles-004.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":506131,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/smarticles-004.jpg?itok=C1Cxwx4b"}},"626379":{"id":"626379","type":"image","title":"Smarticle student researchers","body":null,"created":"1568835760","gmt_created":"2019-09-18 19:42:40","changed":"1568835760","gmt_changed":"2019-09-18 19:42:40","alt":"Students from Northwestern University","file":{"fid":"238476","name":"murphey_smarticle.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/murphey_smarticle.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/murphey_smarticle.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1139992,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/murphey_smarticle.jpg?itok=EsK5ZMmy"}}},"media_ids":["626375","626376","626377","626378","626379"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"377","name":"locomotion"},{"id":"182389","name":"smarticle"},{"id":"182390","name":"supersmarticle"},{"id":"181004","name":"emergent behavior"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"625040":{"#nid":"625040","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Scurrying Roaches Help Researchers Steady Staggering Robots","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EEw, a cockroach! But it zips off before the swatter appears. Now, researchers have leveraged the bug\u0026rsquo;s superb scurrying skills to create a cleverly simple method to assess and improve locomotion in robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENormally, tedious modeling of mechanics, electronics, and information science is required to understand how insects\u0026rsquo; or robots\u0026rsquo; moving parts coordinate smoothly to take them places. But\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-019-11613-y\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ein a new study\u003C\/a\u003E, biomechanics researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology boiled down the sprints of cockroaches to handy principles and equations they then used to make a test robot amble about better.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe method told the researchers about how each leg operates on its own, how they all come together as a whole, and the harmony or lack thereof in how they do it. Despite bugs\u0026rsquo; and bots\u0026rsquo; utterly divergent motion dynamics, the new method worked for both and should work for other robots and animals, too.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe biological robot, the roach, was the far superior runner with neurological signals guiding six impeccably evolved legs. The mechanical robot, a consumer model, had four stubby legs and no nervous system but relied instead for locomotion control on coarse physical forces traveling through its chassis as crude signals to roughly coordinate its clunky gait.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The robot was much bulkier and could hardly sense its environment. The cockroach had many senses and can adapt better to rough terrain. Bumps as high as its hips wouldn\u0026rsquo;t slow it down at all,\u0026rdquo; said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/izaak-neveln-776315b2\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EIzaak Neveln\u003C\/a\u003E, the study\u0026rsquo;s first author, who was a postdoctoral researcher in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sponberg.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Elab of Simon Sponberg at Georgia Tech\u003C\/a\u003Eduring the study.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAdvanced simplicity\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe method, or \u0026ldquo;measure,\u0026rdquo; as the study calls it, transcended these huge differences, which pervade animal-inspired robotics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The measure is general (universal) in the sense that it can be used regardless of whether the signals are neural spiking patterns,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.lexico.com\/en\/definition\/kinematics\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ekinematics\u003C\/a\u003E, voltages or forces and does not depend on the particular relationship between the signals,\u0026rdquo; the study\u0026rsquo;s authors wrote.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENo matter how a bug or a bot functions, the measure\u0026rsquo;s mathematical inputs and outputs are always in the same units. The measure will not always eliminate the need for modeling, but it stands to shorten and guide modeling and avert anguishing missteps.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe authors\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-019-11613-y\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Epublished the study in the journal\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003ENature Communications\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;in August 2019. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation.\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sponberg.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESponberg is an assistant professor\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Physics and in the School of Biological Sciences.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECentralization vs. decentralization\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOften a bot or an animal sends many walking signals through a central system to harmonize locomotion, but not all signals are centralized. Even in humans, though locomotion strongly depends on signals from the central nervous system, some neural signals are confined to regions of the body; they are localized signals.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESome insects appear to move with little centralization -- such as stick bugs, also known as walking sticks, whose legs prod about nearly independently. Stick bugs are\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=YxtWFd1yVoc\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ewonky runners\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The idea has been that the stick bugs have the more localized control of motion, whereas a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/youtu.be\/1ro6PNqkHEM?t=18\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ecockroach goes very fast\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and needs to maintain stability, and its motion control is probably more centralized, more clocklike,\u0026rdquo; Neveln said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EStrong centralization of signals generally coordinates locomotion better. Centralized signals\u0026nbsp;could be code traveling through an elaborate robot\u0026rsquo;s wiring, a cockroach\u0026rsquo;s central neurons synching its legs, or the clunky robot\u0026#39;s chassis tilting away from a leg thumping the ground thus putting weight onto an opposing leg.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERoboticists need to see through the differences and figure out the interplay of a locomotor\u0026rsquo;s local and central signals.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Csup\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003E[Ready for graduate school?\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gradadmiss.gatech.edu\/apply-now\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EHere\u0026#39;s how to apply to Georgia Tech.\u003C\/a\u003E]\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/sup\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECool physics\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new \u0026ldquo;measure\u0026rdquo; does this by focusing on an overarching phenomenon in the walking legs, which\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/images.app.goo.gl\/BYTfJYwuZw53yJsT7\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ecan be seen as pendula\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;moving back and forth. For great locomotion, they need to synch up in what is called phase-coupling oscillations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA fun, easy experiment illustrates this physics principle. If a few, say six, metronomes \u0026ndash; ticking rhythm pendula that piano teachers use -- are swinging out of sync, and you place them all on a platform that freely sways along with the metronomes\u0026rsquo; swings,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/youtu.be\/Aaxw4zbULMs?t=5\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ethe swings will sync up in unison\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Phase_portrait#\/media\/File:Pendulum_phase_portrait_illustration.svg\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ephases, or directions, of their oscillations\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;are coupling with each other by centralizing their composite mechanical impulses through the platform. This particular example of phase-coupling is mechanical, but it can also be computational or neurological -- like in the roach.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIts legs would be analogous to the swinging metronomes, and central neuromuscular activity analogous to the free-swaying platform. In the roach, not all six legs swing in the same direction.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Their synchronization is not uniform. Three legs are synchronized in phase with each other -- the front and back legs of one side with the middle leg of the other side -- and those three are synchronized out of phase with the other three,\u0026rdquo; Neveln said. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s an alternating tripod gait. One tripod of three legs alternates with the other tripod of three legs.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EUseless pogoing\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd just like pendula, each leg\u0026rsquo;s swings can be graphed as a wave. All the legs\u0026rsquo; waves can be averaged into an overall roach scurry wave and then developed into more useful math that relates centralization with decentralization and factors like\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.lexico.com\/en\/definition\/entropy\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eentropy\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;that can throw locomotion control off.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe resulting principles and math benefited the clunky robot, which has strong decentralized signals in its leg motors that react to leg contact with the ground, and centralized control weaker than that of the stick bug. The researchers graphed out the robot\u0026#39;s\u0026nbsp;movements, too, but they didn\u0026#39;t result in the neatly synced group of waves that the cockroach had produced.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers turned with the principles and math to the clunky robot, which initially was out of sorts -- bucking or hopping uselessly like a pogo stick. Then the scientists strengthened centralized control by re-weighting its chassis to make it move more coherently.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The metronomes on the platform are mechanical coupling, and our robot coordinates control that way,\u0026rdquo; Neveln said. \u0026ldquo;You can change the mechanical coupling of the robot by repositioning its weights. We were able to predict the changes this would make by using the measure we developed from the cockroach.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECockroach surprises\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers also wired up specific roach muscles and neurons to observe their syncopations with the scurry waves. Seventeen cockroaches took 2,982 strides to inform the principles and math, and the bugs also sprung surprises on the researchers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne stuck out: The scientists had thought signaling centralized more when the roach sped up, but instead, both central and local signaling strengthened, perhaps doubling down on the message: Run!\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Amoolya Tiramulai coauthored the paper. The National Science Foundation funded the research (grant # NSF CAREER MPS\/PoLS 1554790). Any findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the authors and not necessarily of the NSF.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter \u0026amp;\u0026nbsp;Media Representative\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404-660-1408), email:\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETo walk or run with finesse, roaches and\u0026nbsp;robots coordinate leg movements via signals sent through centralized systems -- but\u0026nbsp;utterly divergent ones. Despite their seemingly unbridgeable differences,\u0026nbsp;researchers have devised handy principles and equations from studying roaches\u0026nbsp;to assess how both beasts and bots locomote and to improve robotic gait.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have leveraged cockroaches\u0027 scurrying skills for a cleverly simple method to assess and improve locomotion in robots."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2019-08-22 20:47:25","changed_gmt":"2019-08-26 15:06:02","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-08-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-08-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"625034":{"id":"625034","type":"image","title":"Off-the-shelf robot with four legs","body":null,"created":"1566505226","gmt_created":"2019-08-22 20:20:26","changed":"1566831950","gmt_changed":"2019-08-26 15:05:50","alt":"","file":{"fid":"238011","name":"Minotaur2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Minotaur2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Minotaur2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":408218,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Minotaur2.jpg?itok=3T9atz4Y"}},"625031":{"id":"625031","type":"image","title":"The swings of cockroach legs as rough sine waves","body":null,"created":"1566505031","gmt_created":"2019-08-22 20:17:11","changed":"1566505031","gmt_changed":"2019-08-22 20:17:11","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237971","name":"Screen Shot 2019-08-09 at 16.07.27.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202019-08-09%20at%2016.07.27.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202019-08-09%20at%2016.07.27.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1031075,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202019-08-09%20at%2016.07.27.png?itok=xIJ4sQHo"}},"625035":{"id":"625035","type":"image","title":"Cockroach Blaberus discoidalis","body":null,"created":"1566506115","gmt_created":"2019-08-22 20:35:15","changed":"1566506115","gmt_changed":"2019-08-22 20:35:15","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237975","name":"Naturkundliche_Sammlung_U\u0308bermaxx_U\u0308berseemuseum_Bremen_0036.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Naturkundliche_Sammlung_U%CC%88bermaxx_U%CC%88berseemuseum_Bremen_0036.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Naturkundliche_Sammlung_U%CC%88bermaxx_U%CC%88berseemuseum_Bremen_0036.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":649861,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Naturkundliche_Sammlung_U%CC%88bermaxx_U%CC%88berseemuseum_Bremen_0036.jpeg?itok=nT4eLYyb"}}},"media_ids":["625034","625031","625035"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"182104","name":"Roach"},{"id":"182105","name":"Cockroach"},{"id":"182106","name":"phase-coupled oscillations"},{"id":"182107","name":"GAIT"},{"id":"7719","name":"walk"},{"id":"4285","name":"running"},{"id":"182108","name":"running ability"},{"id":"182109","name":"walking ability"},{"id":"182110","name":"Coupled-oscillator network"},{"id":"377","name":"locomotion"},{"id":"182111","name":"locomotor"},{"id":"182112","name":"locomotor instability"},{"id":"7738","name":"central nervous system"},{"id":"182113","name":"Information-based centralization"},{"id":"182114","name":"global control"},{"id":"182115","name":"local control"},{"id":"182116","name":"global signal"},{"id":"182117","name":"local signal"},{"id":"7121","name":"kinematics"},{"id":"2552","name":"robotic"},{"id":"182118","name":"centralization-decentralization axis"},{"id":"182119","name":"Kuramoto"},{"id":"182120","name":"mechanosensory feedback"},{"id":"181092","name":"Inertia"},{"id":"171924","name":"entropy"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"623759":{"#nid":"623759","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Hackers Could Use Connected Cars to Gridlock Whole Cities","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn the year 2026, at rush hour, your self-driving car abruptly shuts down right where it blocks traffic. You climb out to see gridlock down every street in view, then a news alert on your watch tells you that hackers have paralyzed all Manhattan traffic by randomly stranding internet-connected cars.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFlashback to July 2019, the dawn of autonomous vehicles and other connected cars, and physicists at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Multiscale Systems, Inc. have applied physics \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/journals.aps.org\/pre\/abstract\/10.1103\/PhysRevE.100.012316\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ein a new study\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E to simulate what it would take for future hackers to wreak exactly this widespread havoc by randomly stranding these cars. The researchers want to expand the current discussion on automotive cybersecurity, which mainly focuses on hacks that could \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/money.cnn.com\/technology\/our-driverless-future\/keep-hackers-out-of-your-driverless-car\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ecrash one car\u003C\/a\u003E or run over one pedestrian, to include potential mass mayhem.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThey warn that even with increasingly tighter cyber defenses, the amount of data breached has soared in the past four years, but objects becoming hackable can convert the rising cyber threat into a potential physical menace.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Unlike most of the data breaches we hear about, hacked cars have physical consequences,\u0026rdquo; said Peter Yunker, who co-led the study and is an\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/peter-yunker\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eassistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt may not be that hard for state, terroristic, or mischievous actors to commandeer parts of the internet of things, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.spectator.co.uk\/2018\/07\/the-dream-of-driverless-cars-is-dying\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eincluding cars\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;With cars, one of the worrying things is that currently there is effectively one central computing system, and a lot runs through it. You don\u0026rsquo;t necessarily have separate systems to run your car and run your satellite radio. If you can get into one, you may be able to get into the other,\u0026rdquo; said Jesse Silverberg of Multiscale Systems, Inc., who co-led the study with Yunker\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFreezing traffic solid\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn simulations of hacking internet-connected cars, the researchers froze traffic in Manhattan nearly solid, and it would not even take that to wreak havoc. Here are their results, and the numbers are conservative for reasons mentioned below.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Randomly stalling 20 percent of cars during rush hour would mean total traffic freeze. At 20 percent, the city has been broken up into small islands, where you may be able to inch around a few blocks, but no one would be able to move across town,\u0026rdquo; said David Yanni, a graduate research assistant in Yunker\u0026rsquo;s lab.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENot all cars on the road would have to be connected, just enough for hackers to stall 20 percent of all cars on the road. For example, if 40 percent of all cars on the road were connected, hacking half would suffice.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHacking 10 percent of all cars at rush hour would debilitate traffic enough to prevent emergency vehicles from expediently cutting through traffic that is inching along citywide. The same thing would happen with a 20 percent hack during intermediate daytime traffic.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers\u0026rsquo; results appear \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/journals.aps.org\/pre\/abstract\/10.1103\/PhysRevE.100.012316\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ein the journal\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EPhysical Review E\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;on July 20, 2019\u003C\/a\u003E. The study is not embargoed.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Csup\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003E[Ready for graduate school?\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gradadmiss.gatech.edu\/apply-now\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EHere\u0026#39;s how to apply to Georgia Tech.\u003C\/a\u003E]\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/sup\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIt could take less\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the city to be safe, hacking damage would have to be below that. In other cities, things could be worse.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Manhattan has a nice grid, and that makes traffic more efficient. Looking at cities without large grids like Atlanta, Boston, or Los Angeles, and we think hackers could do worse harm because a grid makes you more robust with redundancies to get to the same places down many different routes,\u0026rdquo; Yunker said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers left out factors that would likely worsen hacking damage, thus a real-world hack may require stalling even fewer cars to shut down Manhattan.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I want to emphasize that we only considered static situations \u0026ndash; if roads are blocked or not blocked. In many cases, blocked roads spill over traffic into other roads, which we also did not include. If we were to factor in these other things, the number of cars you\u0026rsquo;d have to stall would likely drop down significantly,\u0026rdquo; Yunker said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers also did not factor in ensuing public panic nor car occupants becoming pedestrians that would further block streets or cause accidents. Nor did they consider hacks that would target cars at locations that maximize trouble.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThey also stress that they are not cybersecurity experts, nor are they saying anything about the likelihood of someone carrying out such a hack. They simply want to give security experts a calculable idea of the scale of a hack that would shut a city down.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers do have some general ideas of how to reduce the potential damage.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Split up the digital network influencing the cars to make it impossible to access too many cars through one network,\u0026rdquo; said lead author Skanka Vivek, a postdoctoral researcher in Yunker\u0026rsquo;s lab. \u0026ldquo;If you could also make sure that cars next to each other can\u0026rsquo;t be hacked at the same time that would decrease the risk of them blocking off traffic together.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETraffic jams as physics\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EYunker researches in soft matter physics, which looks at how constituent parts \u0026ndash; in this case, connected cars \u0026ndash; act as one whole physical phenomenon. The research team analyzed the movements of cars on streets with varying numbers of lanes, including how they get around stalled vehicles and found they could apply a physics approach to what they observed.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Whether traffic is halted or not can be explained by classic percolation theory used in many different fields of physics and mathematics,\u0026rdquo; Yunker said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Percolation_theory\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EPercolation theory\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;is often used in materials science to determine if a desirable quality like a specific rigidity will spread throughout a material to make the final product uniformly stable. In this case, stalled cars spread to make formerly flowing streets rigid and stuck.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe shut streets would be only those in which hacked cars have cut off all lanes or in which they have become hindrances that other cars can\u0026rsquo;t maneuver around and do not include streets where hacked cars still allow traffic flow.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers chose Manhattan for their simulations because a lot of data was available on that city\u0026rsquo;s traffic patterns.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAlso READ: \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/connected-new-world\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0026#39;s cybersecurity researchers tackle the\u0026nbsp;internet of things\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe study was coauthored by Skanda Vivek and David Yanni of Georgia Tech and Jesse Silverberg of Multiscale Systems, Inc. Any findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the authors.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter \u0026amp;\u0026nbsp;Media Representative\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404-660-1408), email:\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn a future where\u0026nbsp;self-driving and other internet-connected cars share the roads with the rest of us, hackers could not only wreck the occasional vehicle but possibly compound attacks to gridlock whole cities by stalling out a limited percentage of connected cars. Physicists calculated how many stalled cars would cause how much mayhem.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Hackers could gridlock whole cities by stalling out a limited percentage of self-driving and other connected vehicles."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2019-07-29 15:20:09","changed_gmt":"2019-08-01 16:54:43","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-07-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-07-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"623747":{"id":"623747","type":"image","title":"Manhattan gridlock","body":null,"created":"1564409967","gmt_created":"2019-07-29 14:19:27","changed":"1564409967","gmt_changed":"2019-07-29 14:19:27","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237567","name":"New_York_City_Gridlock.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/New_York_City_Gridlock.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/New_York_City_Gridlock.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3358855,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/New_York_City_Gridlock.jpg?itok=-WKHgQ_u"}},"623752":{"id":"623752","type":"image","title":"Gridlock Manhattan","body":null,"created":"1564410856","gmt_created":"2019-07-29 14:34:16","changed":"1564410856","gmt_changed":"2019-07-29 14:34:16","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237571","name":"New_York_City_Gridlock.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/New_York_City_Gridlock_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/New_York_City_Gridlock_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3358855,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/New_York_City_Gridlock_0.jpg?itok=263_Ebtl"}},"623754":{"id":"623754","type":"image","title":"Stranded connected cars block traffic","body":null,"created":"1564411039","gmt_created":"2019-07-29 14:37:19","changed":"1564411039","gmt_changed":"2019-07-29 14:37:19","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237573","name":"blocking.scenario.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/blocking.scenario.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/blocking.scenario.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":832265,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/blocking.scenario.jpg?itok=NqO3O_Wl"}},"623760":{"id":"623760","type":"image","title":"Hacked Manhattan grid maps","body":null,"created":"1564414826","gmt_created":"2019-07-29 15:40:26","changed":"1564414826","gmt_changed":"2019-07-29 15:40:26","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237579","name":"Manhattan.hacked.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Manhattan.hacked.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Manhattan.hacked.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":398772,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Manhattan.hacked.jpg?itok=5VxMLCLt"}},"623757":{"id":"623757","type":"image","title":"Gridlock math","body":null,"created":"1564412526","gmt_created":"2019-07-29 15:02:06","changed":"1564412526","gmt_changed":"2019-07-29 15:02:06","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237575","name":"selfdriving.equation.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/selfdriving.equation.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/selfdriving.equation.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2511870,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/selfdriving.equation.png?itok=Juhc6kHo"}},"623758":{"id":"623758","type":"image","title":"Peter Yunker looking at territorial cholera strains","body":null,"created":"1564412886","gmt_created":"2019-07-29 15:08:06","changed":"1564412886","gmt_changed":"2019-07-29 15:08:06","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237578","name":"Yunker.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Yunker.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Yunker.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4750443,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Yunker.jpg?itok=THNpGecs"}}},"media_ids":["623747","623752","623754","623760","623757","623758"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"142","name":"City Planning, Transportation, and Urban Growth"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"151","name":"Policy, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"171930","name":"self-driving"},{"id":"169008","name":"self-driving cars"},{"id":"181813","name":"self-driving car"},{"id":"181814","name":"self-driving simulation"},{"id":"98601","name":"hacking"},{"id":"181815","name":"Hackers"},{"id":"181816","name":"Percolation"},{"id":"181817","name":"percolation threshhold"},{"id":"167045","name":"simulation"},{"id":"181818","name":"cybersceurity"},{"id":"2200","name":"Cyber Attack"},{"id":"10840","name":"cyber attacks"},{"id":"181819","name":"cyber breaches"},{"id":"181820","name":"cyber campaigns"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"167858","name":"soft matter"},{"id":"181821","name":"soft matter physics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"145171","name":"Cybersecurity"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"623453":{"#nid":"623453","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tiny Vibration-Powered Robots Are the Size of the World\u2019s Smallest Ant","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have created a new type of tiny 3D-printed robot that moves by harnessing vibration from piezoelectric actuators, ultrasound sources or even tiny speakers. Swarms of these \u0026ldquo;micro-bristle-bots\u0026rdquo; might work together to sense environmental changes, move materials \u0026ndash; or perhaps one day repair injuries inside the human body.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe prototype robots respond to different vibration frequencies depending on their configurations, allowing researchers to control individual bots by adjusting the vibration. Approximately two millimeters long \u0026ndash; about the size of the world\u0026rsquo;s smallest ant \u0026ndash; the bots can cover four times their own length in a second despite the physical limitations of their small size.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We are working to make the technology robust, and we have a lot of potential applications in mind,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff-directory\/azadeh-ansari\u0022\u003EAzadeh Ansari\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0026ldquo;We are working at the intersection of mechanics, electronics, biology and physics. It\u0026rsquo;s a very rich area and there\u0026rsquo;s a lot of room for multidisciplinary concepts.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA paper describing the micro-bristle-bots has been accepted for publication in the \u003Cem\u003EJournal of Micromechanics and Microengineering\u003C\/em\u003E. The research was supported by a seed grant from Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology. In addition to Ansari, the research team includes George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering Associate Professor Jun Ueda and graduate students DeaGyu Kim and Zhijian (Chris) Hao.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe micro-bristle-bots consist of a piezoelectric actuator glued onto a polymer body that is 3D-printed using two-photon polymerization lithography (TPP). The actuator generates vibration and is powered externally because no batteries are small enough to fit onto the bot. The vibrations can also come from a piezoelectric shaker beneath the surface on which the robots move, from an ultrasound\/sonar source, or even from a tiny acoustic speaker.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe vibrations move the springy legs up and down, propelling the micro-bot forward. Each robot can be designed to respond to different vibration frequencies depending on leg size, diameter, design and overall geometry. The amplitude of the vibrations controls the speed at which the micro-bots move.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;As the micro-bristle-bots move up and down, the vertical motion is translated into a directional movement by optimizing the design of the legs, which look like bristles,\u0026rdquo; explained Ansari. \u0026ldquo;The legs of the micro-robot are designed with specific angles that allow them to bend and move in one direction in resonant response to the vibration.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe micro-bristle-bots are made in a 3D printer using the TPP process, a technique that polymerizes a monomer resin material. Once the portion of the resin block struck by the ultraviolet light has been chemically developed, the remainder can be washed away, leaving the desired robotic structure.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s writing rather than traditional lithography,\u0026rdquo; Ansari explained. \u0026ldquo;You are left with the structure that you write with a laser on the resin material. The process now takes quite a while, so we are looking at ways to scale it up to make hundreds or thousands of micro-bots at a time.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESome of the robots have four legs, while others have six. First author DeaGyu Kim made hundreds of the tiny structures to determine the ideal configuration.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe piezoelectric actuators, which use the material lead zirconate titanate (PZT), vibrate when electric voltage is applied to them. In reverse, they can also be used to generate a voltage, when they are vibrated, a capability the micro-bristle-bots could use to power up onboard sensors when they are actuated by external vibrations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnsari and her team are working to add steering capability to the robots by joining two slightly different micro-bristle-bots together. Because each of the joined micro-bots would respond to different vibration frequencies, the combination could be steered by varying the frequencies and amplitudes. \u0026ldquo;Once you have a fully steerable micro-robot, you can imagine doing a lot of interesting things,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOther researchers have worked on micro-robots that use magnetic fields to produce movement, Ansari noted. While that is useful for moving entire swarms at once, magnetic forces cannot easily be used to address individual robots within a swarm. The micro-bristle-bots created by Ansari and her team are believed to be the smallest robots powered by vibration.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe micro-bristle-bots are approximately two millimeters in length, 1.8 millimeters wide and 0.8 millimeters thick, and weigh about five milligrams. The 3D printer can produce smaller robots, but with a reduced mass, the adhesion forces between the tiny devices and a surface can get very large. Sometimes, the micro-bots cannot be separated from the tweezers used to pick them up.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnsari and her team have built a \u0026ldquo;playground\u0026rdquo; in which multiple micro-bots can move around as the researchers learn more about what they can do. They are also interested in developing micro-bots that can jump and swim.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We can look at the collective behavior of ants, for example, and apply what we learn from them to our little robots,\u0026rdquo; she added. \u0026ldquo;These micro-bristle-bots walk nicely in a laboratory environment, but there is a lot more we will have to do before they can go out into the outside world.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe micro-bot fabrication was performed at the Georgia Tech Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology, a member of the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure, which is supported by the National Science Foundation through grant ECCS-1542173.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: DeaGyu Kim, Zhijian Hao, Jun Ueda and Azadeh Ansari, \u0026ldquo;A 5mg micro-bristle-bot fabricated by two-photon lithography\u0026rdquo; (\u003Cem\u003EJournal of Micromechanics and Microengineering\u003C\/em\u003E, 2019). \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1088\/1361-6439\/ab309b\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1088\/1361-6439\/ab309b\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have created a new type of tiny 3D-printed robot that moves by harnessing vibration from piezoelectric actuators, ultrasound sources or even tiny speakers. Swarms of these \u0026ldquo;micro-bristle-bots\u0026rdquo; might work together to sense environmental changes, move materials \u0026ndash; or perhaps one day repair injuries inside the human body.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The size of an ant, the micro-bristle-bot moves by harnessing vibration."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-07-16 20:24:50","changed_gmt":"2019-07-16 20:27:46","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-07-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-07-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"623446":{"id":"623446","type":"image","title":"Micro-bristle-bot with penny","body":null,"created":"1563307246","gmt_created":"2019-07-16 20:00:46","changed":"1563307246","gmt_changed":"2019-07-16 20:00:46","alt":"Micro-bristle-bot shown with a penny","file":{"fid":"237437","name":"bristle-bot-011.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bristle-bot-011.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bristle-bot-011.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":703772,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bristle-bot-011.jpg?itok=I6KV-k1y"}},"623447":{"id":"623447","type":"image","title":"Micro-bristle-bot close-up","body":null,"created":"1563307421","gmt_created":"2019-07-16 20:03:41","changed":"1563307421","gmt_changed":"2019-07-16 20:03:41","alt":"Close-up of micro-bristle bot robot","file":{"fid":"237438","name":"bristle-bot-008.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bristle-bot-008.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bristle-bot-008.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":209254,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bristle-bot-008.jpg?itok=4tYRgLgr"}},"623448":{"id":"623448","type":"image","title":"Micro-bristle-bot with penny-vert","body":null,"created":"1563307543","gmt_created":"2019-07-16 20:05:43","changed":"1563307543","gmt_changed":"2019-07-16 20:05:43","alt":"Micro-bristle-bot shown with a penny","file":{"fid":"237439","name":"bristle-bot-012.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bristle-bot-012.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bristle-bot-012.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":471043,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bristle-bot-012.jpg?itok=AKegkc2y"}},"623452":{"id":"623452","type":"image","title":"Micro-bristle-bot team","body":null,"created":"1563308009","gmt_created":"2019-07-16 20:13:29","changed":"1563308009","gmt_changed":"2019-07-16 20:13:29","alt":"Micro-bristle-bot research team","file":{"fid":"237443","name":"bristle-bot-007.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bristle-bot-007.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bristle-bot-007.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":681358,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bristle-bot-007.jpg?itok=b2fhzvzj"}},"623449":{"id":"623449","type":"image","title":"Testing a micro-bristle-bot","body":null,"created":"1563307674","gmt_created":"2019-07-16 20:07:54","changed":"1563307674","gmt_changed":"2019-07-16 20:07:54","alt":"Testing a micro-bristle-bot","file":{"fid":"237440","name":"bristle-bot-005.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bristle-bot-005.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bristle-bot-005.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":495744,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bristle-bot-005.jpg?itok=xFybDbjE"}},"623451":{"id":"623451","type":"image","title":"Microscope image of micro-bristle-bot","body":null,"created":"1563307896","gmt_created":"2019-07-16 20:11:36","changed":"1563307896","gmt_changed":"2019-07-16 20:11:36","alt":"Micro-bristle-bot with penny under microscope","file":{"fid":"237442","name":"bristle-bot-009.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bristle-bot-009.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bristle-bot-009.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":523183,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bristle-bot-009.jpg?itok=BlUbb6eP"}}},"media_ids":["623446","623447","623448","623452","623449","623451"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"181741","name":"micro-bristle-bot"},{"id":"13895","name":"Vibration"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"179119","name":"3D printed"},{"id":"7699","name":"piezoelectric"},{"id":"175301","name":"Azadeh Ansari"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"622803":{"#nid":"622803","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Names Director for Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology has named James J. Hudgens to be the new director of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E (GTRI), Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s applied research division. Currently director of the Threat Intelligence Center (TIC) at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Hudgens will become a Georgia Tech senior vice president and GTRI\u0026rsquo;s director effective September 2, 2019.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHudgens holds a Ph.D. in ceramic engineering from Iowa State University. He has led research and development programs in national security, cybersecurity, quantum information science, and photonic microsystems. He also led programs in data analytics, synthetic aperture radar, and airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems before becoming director of the $265 million-per-year TIC, which has a staff of 550 professionals working in six states and 136 different laboratories.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA senior technology executive with 23 years of experience in national security research, Hudgens has also held positions at optical networking firm Mahi Networks, defense contractor Raytheon Electronic Systems, and semiconductor company Texas Instruments. In 2013, he won the Department of Energy Secretary\u0026rsquo;s Honor Award for Achievement for leading the Copperhead counter-IED program.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Jim Hudgens has extensive experience building and leading federally sponsored programs that are at the center of GTRI\u0026rsquo;s core research areas,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.research.gatech.edu\/meet-dr-chaouki-t-abdallah\u0022\u003EChaouki Abdallah\u003C\/a\u003E, Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Executive Vice President for Research. \u0026ldquo;His experience developing and managing programs at Sandia National Laboratories and major private-sector defense contractors will support GTRI\u0026rsquo;s continued growth in service to our nation\u0026rsquo;s defense agencies and other important state and federal sponsors.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI has more than 2,300 employees conducting nearly $500 million worth of research across a broad range of technology areas that focus on solving critical challenges for government and industry sponsors. GTRI is one of the world\u0026rsquo;s leading applied research and development organizations, and is an integral part of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s research program.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Georgia Tech, through GTRI, is entrusted with a vital role in our national security,\u0026rdquo; Hudgens said. \u0026ldquo;I know firsthand that GTRI and other Georgia Tech researchers are known for the exceptional quality of their work in delivering innovative solutions to the most complex national security challenges.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It is a great privilege for me to join the combined University System of Georgia and Georgia Tech family to develop a shared vision for how we will build on this reputation to advance one of the nation\u0026rsquo;s leading technological research universities,\u0026rdquo; he added. \u0026ldquo;I thank Georgia Tech President G.P. \u0026ldquo;Bud\u0026rdquo; Peterson, Provost Rafael Bras, and Executive Vice President Abdallah for the honor of becoming part of GTRI\u0026rsquo;s 85-year legacy of service to the state of Georgia and our nation.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn congratulating Hudgens, Peterson emphasized GTRI\u0026rsquo;s important role in the nation, region, state \u0026ndash; and Georgia Tech itself.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;For decades, the U.S. government and industry have looked to Georgia Tech \u0026ndash; in particular GTRI \u0026ndash; as they seek to find and develop effective, creative solutions in national security and other mission-critical areas,\u0026rdquo; Peterson said. \u0026ldquo;We are pleased to welcome Jim Hudgens to lead one of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s most important missions in support of our nation, region, and state.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHudgens\u0026rsquo; selection came after a five-month national search during which he was one of four finalists to make presentations to Georgia Tech faculty and staff.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.sandia.gov\u0022\u003ESandia National Laboratories\u003C\/a\u003E is a multi-mission laboratory operated for the U.S. Department of Energy\u0026rsquo;s National Nuclear Security Administration. Sandia has major research and development responsibilities in nuclear deterrence, global security, defense, energy technologies, and economic competitiveness, with main facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Livermore, California. Sandia is the largest of the country\u0026rsquo;s 17 national laboratories.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI conducts research through eight laboratories located on Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s midtown Atlanta campus, in a research facility near Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Smyrna, Georgia, and in Huntsville, Alabama. GTRI also has more than a dozen locations around the nation where it serves the needs of its research sponsors. GTRI\u0026rsquo;s research spans a variety of disciplines, including autonomous systems, cybersecurity, electromagnetics, electronic warfare, modeling and simulation, sensors, systems engineering, test and evaluation, and threat systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Assistance\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology has named James J. Hudgens to be the new director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s applied research division. Currently director of the Threat Intelligence Center (TIC) at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Hudgens will become a Georgia Tech senior vice president and GTRI\u0026rsquo;s director effective September 2, 2019.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The Georgia Institute of Technology has named James J. Hudgens to be the new director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), Georgia Tech\u2019s applied research division. "}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-06-27 10:58:59","changed_gmt":"2019-06-27 12:50:51","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-06-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-06-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"622802":{"id":"622802","type":"image","title":"James J. Hudgens","body":null,"created":"1561632650","gmt_created":"2019-06-27 10:50:50","changed":"1561632650","gmt_changed":"2019-06-27 10:50:50","alt":"James J. Hudgens photo","file":{"fid":"237192","name":"james-hudgens-2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/james-hudgens-2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/james-hudgens-2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":198333,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/james-hudgens-2.jpg?itok=rcLbppQh"}}},"media_ids":["622802","622802"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"1366","name":"defense"},{"id":"181593","name":"James Hudgens"},{"id":"181594","name":"Jim Hudgens"},{"id":"525","name":"military"},{"id":"167571","name":"Sandia"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"145171","name":"Cybersecurity"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"622103":{"#nid":"622103","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Slothbot Takes a Leisurely Approach to Environmental Monitoring","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor environmental monitoring, precision agriculture, infrastructure maintenance and certain security applications, slow and energy efficient can be better than fast and always needing a recharge. That\u0026rsquo;s where \u0026ldquo;SlothBot\u0026rdquo; comes in.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPowered by a pair of photovoltaic panels and designed to linger in the forest canopy continuously for months, SlothBot moves only when it must to measure environmental changes \u0026ndash; such as weather and chemical factors in the environment \u0026ndash; that can be observed only with a long-term presence. The proof-of-concept hyper-efficient robot, described May 21 at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Montreal, may soon be hanging out among treetop cables in the Atlanta Botanical Garden.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In robotics, it seems we are always pushing for faster, more agile and more extreme robots,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff-directory\/magnus-egerstedt-0\u0022\u003EMagnus Egerstedt\u003C\/a\u003E, the Steve W. Chaddick School Chair of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and principal investigator for Slothbot. \u0026ldquo;But there are many applications where there is no need to be fast. You just have to be out there persistently over long periods of time, observing what\u0026rsquo;s going on.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBased on what Egerstedt called the \u0026ldquo;theory of slowness,\u0026rdquo; Graduate Research Assistant Gennaro Notomista designed SlothBot together with his colleague, Yousef Emam, using 3D-printed parts for the gearing and wire-switching mechanisms needed to crawl through a network of wires in the trees. The greatest challenge for a wire-crawling robot is switching from one cable to another without falling, Notomista said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The challenge is smoothly holding onto one wire while grabbing another,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s a tricky maneuver and you have to do it right to provide a fail-safe transition. Making sure the switches work well over long periods of time is really the biggest challenge.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMechanically, SlothBot consists of two bodies connected by an actuated hinge. Each body houses a driving motor connected to a rim on which a tire is mounted. The use of wheels for locomotion is simple, energy efficient and safer than other types of wire-based locomotion, the researchers say.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESlothBot has so far operated in a network of cables on the Georgia Tech campus. Next, a new 3D-printed shell \u0026ndash; that makes the robot look more like a sloth \u0026ndash; will protect the motors, gears, actuators, cameras, computer and other components from the rain and wind. That will set the stage for longer-term studies in the tree canopy at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, where Egerstedt hopes visitors will see a SlothBot monitoring conditions as early as this fall.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe name SlothBot is not a coincidence. Real-life sloths are small mammals that live in jungle canopies of South and Central America. Making their living by eating tree leaves, the animals can survive on the daily caloric equivalent of a small potato. With their slow metabolism, sloths rest as much 22 hours a day and seldom descend from the trees where they can spend their entire lives.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The life of a sloth is pretty slow-moving and there\u0026rsquo;s not a lot of excitement on a day-to-day level,\u0026rdquo; said Jonathan Pauli, an associate professor in the Department of Forest \u0026amp; Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who has consulted with the Georgia Tech team on the project. \u0026ldquo;The nice thing about a very slow life history is that you don\u0026rsquo;t really need a lot of energy input. You can have a long duration and persistence in a limited area with very little energy inputs over a long period of time.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat\u0026rsquo;s exactly what the researchers expect from SlothBot, whose development has been funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;There is a lot we don\u0026rsquo;t know about what actually happens under dense tree-covered areas,\u0026rdquo; Egerstedt said. \u0026ldquo;Most of the time SlothBot will be just hanging out there, and every now and then it will move into a sunny spot to recharge the battery.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers also hope to test SlothBot in a cacao plantation in Costa Rica that is already home to real sloths. \u0026ldquo;The cables used to move cacao have become a sloth superhighway because the animals find them useful to move around,\u0026rdquo; Egerstedt said. \u0026ldquo;If all goes well, we will deploy SlothBots along the cables to monitor the sloths.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEgerstedt is known for algorithms that drive swarms of small wheeled or flying robots. But during a visit to Costa Rica, he became interested in sloths and began developing what he calls \u0026ldquo;a theory of slowness\u0026rdquo; together with Professor Ron Arkin in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Interactive Computing. The theory leverages the benefits of energy efficiency.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If you are doing things like environmental monitoring, you want to be out in the forest for months,\u0026rdquo; Egerstedt said. \u0026ldquo;That changes the way you think about control systems at a high level.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFlying robots are already used for environmental monitoring, but their high energy needs mean they cannot linger for long. Wheeled robots can get by with less energy, but they can get stuck in mud or be hampered by tree roots, and cannot get a big picture view from the ground.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The thing that costs energy more than anything else is movement,\u0026rdquo; Egerstedt said. \u0026ldquo;Moving is much more expensive than sensing or thinking. For environmental robots, you should only move when you absolutely have to. We had to think about what that would be like.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor Pauli, who studies a variety of wildlife, working with Egerstedt to help SlothBot come to life has been gratifying.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It is great to see a robot inspired by the biology of sloths,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;It has been fun to share how sloths and other organisms that live in these ecosystems for long periods of time live their lives. It will be interesting to see robots mirroring what we see in natural ecological communities.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was sponsored by the U.S. Office of Naval Research through Grant N00014-15-2115. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the ONR.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: \u0026quot;The SlothBot: A Novel Design for a Wire-Traversing Robot,\u0026quot; IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, (Volume 4, Issue 2, April 2019)\u003Cem\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ieeexplore.ieee.org\/document\/8642808\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/ieeexplore.ieee.org\/document\/8642808\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor environmental monitoring, precision agriculture, infrastructure maintenance and certain security applications, slow and energy efficient can be better than fast and always needing a recharge. That\u0026rsquo;s where \u0026ldquo;SlothBot\u0026rdquo; comes in.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Slow and energy-efficient SlothBot will handle environmental monitoring and other tasks."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-05-30 18:44:43","changed_gmt":"2019-06-03 18:02:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-05-30T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-05-30T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"622097":{"id":"622097","type":"image","title":"SlothBot on a cable","body":null,"created":"1559241086","gmt_created":"2019-05-30 18:31:26","changed":"1559241086","gmt_changed":"2019-05-30 18:31:26","alt":"Gennaro Notomista with SlothBot","file":{"fid":"236960","name":"slothbot-005.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/slothbot-005.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/slothbot-005.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":472630,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/slothbot-005.jpg?itok=1D4jUORm"}},"622098":{"id":"622098","type":"image","title":"SlothBot on a cable - 2","body":null,"created":"1559241184","gmt_created":"2019-05-30 18:33:04","changed":"1559241184","gmt_changed":"2019-05-30 18:33:04","alt":"SlothBot, robot, cable, monitoring","file":{"fid":"236961","name":"slothbot-001.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/slothbot-001.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/slothbot-001.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":443202,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/slothbot-001.jpg?itok=9C2wSD-U"}},"622099":{"id":"622099","type":"image","title":"Sloth moving along a cable","body":null,"created":"1559241292","gmt_created":"2019-05-30 18:34:52","changed":"1559241292","gmt_changed":"2019-05-30 18:34:52","alt":"SlothBot, robot, cable, monkitoring","file":{"fid":"236962","name":"two-toed.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/two-toed.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/two-toed.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":662236,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/two-toed.jpg?itok=zkrKGitl"}},"622101":{"id":"622101","type":"image","title":"Components of SlothBot","body":null,"created":"1559241403","gmt_created":"2019-05-30 18:36:43","changed":"1559241403","gmt_changed":"2019-05-30 18:36:43","alt":"Components of SlothBot","file":{"fid":"236963","name":"slothbot-007.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/slothbot-007.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/slothbot-007.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":591827,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/slothbot-007.jpg?itok=qWTjEtOz"}},"622102":{"id":"622102","type":"image","title":"Components of SlothBot - 2","body":null,"created":"1559241487","gmt_created":"2019-05-30 18:38:07","changed":"1559241487","gmt_changed":"2019-05-30 18:38:07","alt":"SlothBot, robot, environmental monitoring","file":{"fid":"236964","name":"slothbot-009.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/slothbot-009.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/slothbot-009.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":405788,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/slothbot-009.jpg?itok=0HQWHzxr"}}},"media_ids":["622097","622098","622099","622101","622102"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"181413","name":"SlothBot"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"103651","name":"environmental monitoring"},{"id":"181414","name":"energy-efficient"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"620260":{"#nid":"620260","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Awarded $6.25 Million to Study Collective Emergent Behavior","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers have been awarded $6.25 million from the Department of Defense (DoD) to use collective emergent behavior to achieve task-oriented objectives.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDoD\u0026rsquo;s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiatives (MURI) Program funds projects that bring researchers together from diverse backgrounds to work on a complex problem. I\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ideas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Enstitute for Data Engineering and Science \u003C\/a\u003Eco-director, Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/people.math.gatech.edu\/~randall\/\u0022\u003EDana Randall\u003C\/a\u003E, is project investigator and leads a team of six that includes \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDaniel Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, Dunn Family Professor in the School of Physics. The Formal Foundations of Algorithmic Matter and Emergent Computation team also includes chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, and computational science researchers from other universities.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers are trying to predict and design emergent behavior within computation by using basic algorithms on simple machines to perform complex tasks. Emergent behavior is when a microscopic change in a parameter creates a macroscopic change to a system. This collective behavior is easy to find in nature, from a swarm of bees to a colony of ants, but also appears in other scientific disciplines.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;A MURI lets us take a deep dive toward understanding how many computationally limited components at the micro-scale can be programmed to work collectively to produce useful behavior at the macro-scale,\u0026rdquo; said Randall, who is also the ADVANCE Professor of Computing. \u0026ldquo;Our interdisciplinary team combines expertise in many fields, mimicking the research by forming a collaboration that is also greater than the sum of its parts.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe MURI hybrid approach to algorithmic matter combines traditional logic-based programming with non-traditional computational methods, such as using physical characteristics of the interacting matter to drive a system toward collective behavior. One of the goals is to program based on this predictable emergent behavior. The approach also predicts basic properties of the collective\u0026rsquo;s emergent behavior, like whether it will behave like a gas, fluid, or solid. In this context, emergent behavior turns into emergent collective computation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;MURI promises basic algorithms that allow very simple machines to work collectively to perform amazingly complex tasks,\u0026rdquo; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) chemical engineering Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/srg.mit.edu\/\u0022\u003EMichael Strano\u003C\/a\u003E said. \u0026ldquo;Our team will examine systems of autonomous cell-like particles that interact and respond to the movement of their neighbors in a programmable way. Theorists will be able to test ideas of emergent computation from these simple devices and learn how to execute tasks from the behavior of relatively simple, autonomous particles.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlthough the behavior has footing in physics, computer science, and swarm robotics, there is no underlying framework to explain why until this research. The multidisciplinary approach allows theory and experiment to continuously inform each other and determine the computational capabilities of emergent behavior. The team has an ideal range of expertise in machine learning, control theory, and non-equilibrium physics and algorithms. They are also working with experimentalists who build collective systems at granular and microscopic scales.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;An exciting aspect of this collaboration will be our attempts to interface and integrate ideas and tools from robotics, non-equilibrium physics, control theory, and computer science to develop task-capable swarms,\u0026rdquo; Goldman said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis MURI project will run for five years and is funded by the Army Research Office. In addition to Randall, Goldman, and Strano, the team also includes Arizona State computational science and engineering Professor Andrea Richa, MIT physics Associate Professor Jeremy England, and Northwestern mechanical engineering Professor Todd Murphey.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe overarching goal is to find how simplistic the computation can be for this complexity. This could lead to advances in engineered systems achieving specific task-oriented goals.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The MURI promises nothing short of the transformation of robots,\u0026rdquo; Strano said, \u0026ldquo;from the large, bulky constructions that we think of today, to future clouds or swarms that enable functions that are currently impossible to realize.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Tess Malone\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers have been awarded $6.25 million from the Department of Defense (DoD) to use collective emergent behavior to achieve task-oriented objectives.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have been awarded $6.25 million to use collective emergent behavior."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-04-10 00:15:17","changed_gmt":"2019-04-10 00:16:15","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-04-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-04-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"620256":{"id":"620256","type":"image","title":"Vibrating robots with magnetic interactions","body":null,"created":"1554854240","gmt_created":"2019-04-09 23:57:20","changed":"1554854240","gmt_changed":"2019-04-09 23:57:20","alt":"Vibrating robots use magnetic interaction","file":{"fid":"236163","name":"emergent-behavior-003.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/emergent-behavior-003.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/emergent-behavior-003.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":631207,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/emergent-behavior-003.jpg?itok=qjmj7Q3c"}},"620257":{"id":"620257","type":"image","title":"Mimicking ferromagnetic materials","body":null,"created":"1554854384","gmt_created":"2019-04-09 23:59:44","changed":"1554854384","gmt_changed":"2019-04-09 23:59:44","alt":"Collection of vibrating robots","file":{"fid":"236164","name":"emergent-behavior-007.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/emergent-behavior-007.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/emergent-behavior-007.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":551716,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/emergent-behavior-007.jpg?itok=accGKpBw"}},"620258":{"id":"620258","type":"image","title":"Researchers for MURI","body":null,"created":"1554854549","gmt_created":"2019-04-10 00:02:29","changed":"1554854549","gmt_changed":"2019-04-10 00:02:29","alt":"MURI researchers","file":{"fid":"236165","name":"emergent-behavior-015.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/emergent-behavior-015.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/emergent-behavior-015.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":616211,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/emergent-behavior-015.jpg?itok=-UKwTau6"}},"620259":{"id":"620259","type":"image","title":"Researchers for MURI-2","body":null,"created":"1554854661","gmt_created":"2019-04-10 00:04:21","changed":"1554854661","gmt_changed":"2019-04-10 00:04:21","alt":"MURI researchers","file":{"fid":"236166","name":"emergent-behavior-016.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/emergent-behavior-016.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/emergent-behavior-016.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":608760,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/emergent-behavior-016.jpg?itok=pWS45jY_"}}},"media_ids":["620256","620257","620258","620259"],"groups":[{"id":"545781","name":"Institute for Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"143","name":"Digital Media and Entertainment"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"181004","name":"emergent behavior"},{"id":"181005","name":"collective behavior"},{"id":"24211","name":"MURI"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"181009","name":"vibrating robot"},{"id":"3167","name":"algorithm"},{"id":"10467","name":"Dana Randall"},{"id":"47881","name":"Dan Goldman"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETess Malone\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECollege of Computing\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["tess.malone@cc.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"619317":{"#nid":"619317","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Seeing through a Robot\u2019s Eyes Helps Those with Profound Motor Impairments","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAn interface system that uses augmented reality technology could help individuals with profound motor impairments operate a humanoid robot to feed themselves and perform routine personal care tasks such as scratching an itch and applying skin lotion. The web-based interface displays a \u0026ldquo;robot\u0026rsquo;s eye view\u0026rdquo; of surroundings to help users interact with the world through the machine.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe system, described March 15 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EPLOS ONE\u003C\/em\u003E, could help make sophisticated robots more useful to people who do not have experience operating complex robotic systems. Study participants interacted with the robot interface using standard assistive computer access technologies \u0026mdash; such as eye trackers and head trackers \u0026mdash; that they were already using to control their personal computers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe paper reported on two studies showing how such \u0026ldquo;robotic body surrogates\u0026rdquo; \u0026ndash; which can perform tasks similar to those of humans \u0026ndash; could improve the quality of life for users. The work could provide a foundation for developing faster and more capable assistive robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our results suggest that people with profound motor deficits can improve their quality of life using robotic body surrogates,\u0026rdquo; said Phillip Grice, a recent Georgia Institute of Technology Ph.D. graduate who is first author of the paper. \u0026ldquo;We have taken the first step toward making it possible for someone to purchase an appropriate type of robot, have it in their home and derive real benefit from it.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGrice and Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Charlie-Kemp\u0022\u003ECharlie Kemp\u003C\/a\u003E from the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University\u003C\/a\u003E used a PR2 mobile manipulator manufactured by Willow Garage for the two studies. The wheeled robot has 20 degrees of freedom, with two arms and a \u0026ldquo;head,\u0026rdquo; giving it the ability to manipulate objects such as water bottles, washcloths, hairbrushes and even an electric shaver.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our goal is to give people with limited use of their own bodies access to robotic bodies so they can interact with the world in new ways,\u0026rdquo; said Kemp.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn their first study, Grice and Kemp made the PR2 available across the internet to a group of 15 participants with severe motor impairments. The participants learned to control the robot remotely, using their own assistive equipment to operate a mouse cursor to perform a personal care task. Eighty percent of the participants were able to manipulate the robot to pick up a water bottle and bring it to the mouth of a mannequin.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Compared to able-bodied persons, the capabilities of the robot are limited,\u0026rdquo; Grice said. \u0026ldquo;But the participants were able to perform tasks effectively and showed improvement on a clinical evaluation that measured their ability to manipulate objects compared to what they would have been able to do without the robot.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the second study, the researchers provided the PR2 and interface system to Henry Evans, a California man who has been helping Georgia Tech researchers study and improve assistive robotic systems since 2011. Evans, who has very limited control of his body, tested the robot in his home for seven days and not only completed tasks, but also devised novel uses combining the operation of both robot arms at the same time \u0026ndash; using one arm to control a washcloth and the other to use a brush.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The system was very liberating to me, in that it enabled me to independently manipulate my environment for the first time since my stroke,\u0026rdquo; said Evans. \u0026ldquo;With respect to other people, I was thrilled to see Phil get overwhelmingly positive results when he objectively tested the system with 15 other people.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers were pleased that Evans developed new uses for the robot, combining motion of the two arms in ways they had not expected.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;When we gave Henry free access to the robot for a week, he found new opportunities for using it that we had not anticipated,\u0026rdquo; said Grice. \u0026ldquo;This is important because a lot of the assistive technology available today is designed for very specific purposes. What Henry has shown is that this system is powerful in providing assistance and empowering users. The opportunities for this are potentially very broad.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe interface allowed Evans to care for himself in bed over an extended period of time. \u0026ldquo;The most helpful aspect of the interface system was that I could operate the robot completely independently, with only small head movements using an extremely intuitive graphical user interface,\u0026rdquo; Evans said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe web-based interface shows users what the world looks like from cameras located in the robot\u0026rsquo;s head. Clickable controls overlaid on the view allow the users to move the robot around in a home or other environment and control the robot\u0026rsquo;s hands and arms. When users move the robot\u0026rsquo;s head, for instance, the screen displays the mouse cursor as a pair of eyeballs to show where the robot will look when the user clicks. Clicking on a disc surrounding the robotic hands allows users to select a motion. While driving the robot around a room, lines following the cursor on the interface indicate the direction it will travel.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBuilding the interface around the actions of a simple single-button mouse allows people with a range of disabilities to use the interface without lengthy training sessions.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Having an interface that individuals with a wide range of physical impairments can operate means we can provide access to a broad range of people, a form of universal design,\u0026rdquo; Grice noted. \u0026ldquo;Because of its capability, this is a very complex system, so the challenge we had to overcome was to make it accessible to individuals who have very limited control of their own bodies.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile the results of the study demonstrated what the researchers had set out to do, Kemp agrees that improvements can be made. The existing system is slow, and mistakes made by users can create significant setbacks. Still, he said, \u0026ldquo;People could use this technology today and really benefit from it.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe cost and size of the PR2 would need to be significantly reduced for the system to be commercially viable, Evans suggested. Kemp says these studies point the way to a new type of assistive technology.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It seems plausible to me based on this study that robotic body surrogates could provide significant benefits to users,\u0026rdquo; Kemp added.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis work was supported by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), grant 90RE5016-01-00 via RERC TechSAge, National Science Foundation Award IIS-1150157, by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program Award, and the Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly of Fulton County Scholar Award.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EKemp is a cofounder, a board member, an equity holder, and the CTO of Hello Robot Inc., which is developing products related to this research. This research could affect his personal financial status. The terms of this arrangement have been reviewed and approved by Georgia Tech in accordance with its conflict of interest policies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Phillip M. Grice and Charles C. Kemp, \u0026ldquo;In-home and remote use of robotic body surrogates by people with profound motor deficits\u0026rdquo; (PLOS ONE 2019).\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0212904\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0212904\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta,Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0171\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAn interface system that uses augmented reality technology could help individuals with profound motor impairments operate a humanoid robot to feed themselves and perform routine personal care tasks such as scratching an itch and applying skin lotion. The web-based interface displays a \u0026ldquo;robot\u0026rsquo;s eye view\u0026rdquo; of surroundings to help users interact with the world through the machine.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"An interface system that uses augmented reality technology could help individuals with profound motor impairments operate a humanoid robot to feed themselves and perform routine personal care tasks."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-03-15 18:17:52","changed_gmt":"2019-03-21 20:00:38","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-03-15T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-03-15T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"619310":{"id":"619310","type":"image","title":"Controlling the PR2 Robot","body":null,"created":"1552672836","gmt_created":"2019-03-15 18:00:36","changed":"1552672836","gmt_changed":"2019-03-15 18:00:36","alt":"View used to control the PR2 robot","file":{"fid":"235764","name":"PR2-controls.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/PR2-controls.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/PR2-controls.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2004863,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/PR2-controls.png?itok=SwLsQfqV"}},"619311":{"id":"619311","type":"image","title":"Retrieving a cup with the robot","body":null,"created":"1552672973","gmt_created":"2019-03-15 18:02:53","changed":"1552672973","gmt_changed":"2019-03-15 18:02:53","alt":"PR2 robot retrieves a cup.","file":{"fid":"235765","name":"PR2-cup.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/PR2-cup.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/PR2-cup.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1133399,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/PR2-cup.png?itok=fVQB6hlH"}},"619312":{"id":"619312","type":"image","title":"Henry Evans shaving with the robot","body":null,"created":"1552673119","gmt_created":"2019-03-15 18:05:19","changed":"1552673119","gmt_changed":"2019-03-15 18:05:19","alt":"Shaving with a robot","file":{"fid":"235766","name":"PR2-shaving.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/PR2-shaving.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/PR2-shaving.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2206226,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/PR2-shaving.png?itok=WZPFrAzK"}},"619313":{"id":"619313","type":"image","title":"PR2 robot arm","body":null,"created":"1552673270","gmt_created":"2019-03-15 18:07:50","changed":"1552673270","gmt_changed":"2019-03-15 18:07:50","alt":"PR2 robot arm","file":{"fid":"235768","name":"PR2-arm.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/PR2-arm.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/PR2-arm.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1303857,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/PR2-arm.png?itok=tLdtuQ1N"}},"619315":{"id":"619315","type":"image","title":"PR2 humanoid robot","body":null,"created":"1552673390","gmt_created":"2019-03-15 18:09:50","changed":"1552673390","gmt_changed":"2019-03-15 18:09:50","alt":"robot, humanoid robot, interface, augmented reality, PR2","file":{"fid":"235769","name":"PR2-robot.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/PR2-robot.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/PR2-robot.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":850723,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/PR2-robot.jpg?itok=QyHO0ecV"}}},"media_ids":["619310","619311","619312","619313","619315"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1597","name":"Augmented Reality"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"180814","name":"humanoid robot"},{"id":"2815","name":"interface"},{"id":"180816","name":"PR2 Charlie Kemp"},{"id":"180817","name":"robotic body surrogate"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"618865":{"#nid":"618865","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Ultra-Low Power Chips Help Make Small Robots More Capable","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAn ultra-low power hybrid chip inspired by the brain could help give palm-sized robots the ability to collaborate and learn from their experiences. Combined with new generations of low-power motors and sensors, the new application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) \u0026ndash; which operates on milliwatts of power \u0026ndash; could help intelligent swarm robots operate for hours instead of minutes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo conserve power, the chips use a hybrid digital-analog time-domain processor in which the pulse-width of signals encodes information. The neural network IC accommodates both model-based programming and collaborative reinforcement learning, potentially providing the small robots larger capabilities for reconnaissance, search-and-rescue and other missions.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology demonstrated robotic cars driven by the unique ASICs at the 2019 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC). The research was sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) through the Center for Brain-inspired Computing Enabling Autonomous Intelligence (CBRIC).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We are trying to bring intelligence to these very small robots so they can learn about their environment and move around autonomously, without infrastructure,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff-directory\/arijit-raychowdhury\u0022\u003EArijit Raychowdhury\u003C\/a\u003E, associate professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;To accomplish that, we want to bring low-power circuit concepts to these very small devices so they can make decisions on their own. There is a huge demand for very small, but capable robots that do not require infrastructure.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe cars demonstrated by Raychowdhury and graduate students Ningyuan Cao, Muya Chang and Anupam Golder navigate through an arena floored by rubber pads and surrounded by cardboard block walls. As they search for a target, the robots must avoid traffic cones and each other, learning from the environment as they go and continuously communicating with each other.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe cars use inertial and ultrasound sensors to determine their location and detect objects around them. Information from the sensors goes to the hybrid ASIC, which serves as the \u0026ldquo;brain\u0026rdquo; of the vehicles. Instructions then go to a Raspberry Pi controller, which sends instructions to the electric motors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn palm-sized robots, three major systems consume power: the motors and controllers used to drive and steer the wheels, the processor, and the sensing system. In the cars built by Raychowdhury\u0026rsquo;s team, the low-power ASIC means that the motors consume the bulk of the power. \u0026ldquo;We have been able to push the compute power down to a level where the budget is dominated by the needs of the motors,\u0026rdquo; he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team is working with collaborators on motors that use micro-electromechanical (MEMS) technology able to operate with much less power than conventional motors.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We would want to build a system in which sensing power, communications and computer power, and actuation are at about the same level, on the order of hundreds of milliwatts,\u0026rdquo; said Raychowdhury, who is the ON Semiconductor Associate Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. \u0026ldquo;If we can build these palm-sized robots with efficient motors and controllers, we should be able to provide runtimes of several hours on a couple of AA batteries. We now have a good idea what kind of computing platforms we need to deliver this, but we still need the other components to catch up.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn time domain computing, information is carried on two different voltages, encoded in the width of the pulses. That gives the circuits the energy-efficiency advantages of analog circuits with the robustness of digital devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The size of the chip is reduced by half, and the power consumption is one-third what a traditional digital chip would need,\u0026rdquo; said Raychowdhury. \u0026ldquo;We used several techniques in both logic and memory designs for reducing power consumption to the milliwatt range while meeting target performance.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith each pulse-width representing a different value, the system is slower than digital or analog devices, but Raychowdhury says the speed is sufficient for the small robots. (A milliwatt is a thousandth of a watt).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;For these control systems, we don\u0026rsquo;t need circuits that operate at multiple gigahertz because the devices aren\u0026rsquo;t moving that quickly,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;We are sacrificing a little performance to get extreme power efficiencies. Even if the compute operates at 10 or 100 megahertz, that will be enough for our target applications.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 65-nanometer CMOS chips accommodate both kinds of learning appropriate for a robot. The system can be programmed to follow model-based algorithms, and it can learn from its environment using a reinforcement system that encourages better and better performance over time \u0026ndash; much like a child who learns to walk by bumping into things.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;You start the system out with a predetermined set of weights in the neural network so the robot can start from a good place and not crash immediately or give erroneous information,\u0026rdquo; Raychowdhury said. \u0026ldquo;When you deploy it in a new location, the environment will have some structures that it will recognize and some that the system will have to learn. The system will then make decisions on its own, and it will gauge the effectiveness of each decision to optimize its motion.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECommunication between the robots allow them to collaborate to seek a target.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In a collaborative environment, the robot not only needs to understand what it is doing, but also what others in the same group are doing,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;They will be working to maximize the total reward of the group as opposed to the reward of the individual.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith their ISSCC demonstration providing a proof-of-concept, the team is continuing to optimize designs and is working on a system-on-chip to integrate the computation and control circuitry.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We want to enable more and more functionality in these small robots,\u0026rdquo; Raychowdhury added. \u0026ldquo;We have shown what is possible, and what we have done will now need to be augmented by other innovations.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis project was supported by the Semiconductor Research Corporation under grant JUMP CBRIC task ID 2777.006.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ningyuan Cao, Muya Chang, Arijit Raychowdhury, \u0026ldquo;A 65 nm 1.1-to-9.1 TOPS\/W Hybrid-Digital-Mixed-Signal Computing Platform for Accelerating Model-Based and Model Free Swarm Robotics.\u0026rdquo; (2019 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Assistance\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWant to stay informed about the latest Georgia Tech research? Subscribe to our free monthly e-newsletter at\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/subscribe\u0022\u003Ewww.rh.gatech.edu\/subscribe\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAn ultra-low power hybrid chip inspired by the brain could help give palm-sized robots the ability to collaborate and learn from their experiences. Combined with new generations of low-power motors and sensors, the new application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) \u0026ndash; which operates on milliwatts of power \u0026ndash; could help intelligent swarm robots operate for hours instead of minutes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"An ultra-low power hybrid chip inspired by the brain could help give palm-sized robots the ability to collaborate and learn from their experiences."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-03-06 02:36:17","changed_gmt":"2019-03-06 02:37:19","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-03-05T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2019-03-05T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"618859":{"id":"618859","type":"image","title":"Ultra-low power chip runs robotic car","body":null,"created":"1551838422","gmt_created":"2019-03-06 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network"},{"id":"4897","name":"collaborative"},{"id":"856","name":"Intelligence"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"618439":{"#nid":"618439","#data":{"type":"news","title":"When Sand-Slithering Snakes Behave Like Light Waves","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDesert snakes slithering across the sand at night can encounter obstacles such as plants or twigs that alter the direction of their travel. While studying that motion to learn how limbless animals control their bodies in such environments, researchers discovered that snakes colliding with these obstacles mimic aspects of light or subatomic particles when they encounter a diffraction grating.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe effect of this \u0026ldquo;mechanical diffraction\u0026rdquo; allowed researchers to observe how the snakes\u0026rsquo; trajectories were altered through passive mechanisms governed by the skeletal and muscular dynamics of the animals\u0026rsquo; propagating body waves. The researchers studied live snakes as they slithered through an obstacle made up of six force-sensitive rigid pegs that buckled the animals\u0026rsquo; bodies, changing their paths in predictable ways.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe results, described February 25 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E, indicate that the Western Shovel-nosed snakes (\u003Cem\u003EChionactis occipitalis\u003C\/em\u003E) do not deliberately change direction when they encounter obstacles while speeding across the sand. Understanding the movement of these limbless animals could help engineers improve the control of autonomous search and rescue robots designed to operate on sand, grass and other complex environments.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The idea behind passive dynamics is that there are waveform shape changes being made by the animal that are driven entirely by the passive properties of their bodies,\u0026rdquo; said Perrin Schiebel, a recent Ph.D. graduate of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0026ldquo;Instead of sending a signal to activate a muscle, the interaction of the snakes\u0026rsquo; bodies with the external environment is what causes the shape change. The forces of the obstacles are pushing the snake bodies into a new shape.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe colorful shovel-nosed snake normally uses a sinusoidal S-shaped wave to move across the deserts of the Southwest United States. Running into rigid pegs in a laboratory environment doesn\u0026rsquo;t lead it to actively change that waveform, which Schiebel and colleagues studied using high-speed video cameras with eight different animals.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a study supported by the National Science Foundation, Army Research Office, Defense Advanced Projects Agency, and a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship, the researchers used 253 snake trips to build up a diffraction pattern. Remarkably, the pattern also revealed that the scattering directions were \u0026ldquo;quantized\u0026rdquo; such that the probability of finding a snake behind the array could be represented in a pattern mimicking wave interference. A computational model was able to capture the pattern, demonstrating how the snakes\u0026rsquo; direction would be altered by obstacle encounters via passive body buckling.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;One problem with robots moving in the real world is that we don\u0026rsquo;t yet have principles by which we can understand how best to control these robots on granular surfaces like sand, leaf litter, rubble or grass,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDaniel Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, Dunn Family Professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Physics and a researcher in the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience. \u0026ldquo;The point of this study was to try to understand how limbless locomotors, which have long bodies that can bend in interesting ways using potentially complicated neuromechanical control schemes, manage to move through complicated terrain.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe snake experiment was suggested by a robotic study done by postdoctoral fellow Jennifer Rieser, who found similar behavior among robots encountering obstacles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The robot tends to have aspects that mimic features of the subatomic world \u0026mdash; the quantum world,\u0026rdquo; Goldman explained. \u0026ldquo;When it collides with barriers, a robot propagates through those barriers using waves of body bending. Its trajectory deviates as it exits the barriers, and many repeated trials reveal a \u0026lsquo;lumpy\u0026rsquo; scattering pattern, analogous to experiments. We realized that we could use this surprising and beautiful phenomenon, classical physics but with self-propulsion a key feature, as a scattering experiment to interrogate the control scheme used by the snakes.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EExperimentally, the researchers used a \u0026ldquo;snake arena\u0026rdquo; covered with shag carpet to mimic sand. Undergraduate students Alex Hubbard and Lillian Chen released the snakes one at a time into the arena and encouraged them to slither through the grating.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe eyes of the desert snakes are naturally covered with scales to protect them. The researchers used children\u0026rsquo;s face paint to temporarily \u0026ldquo;blindfold\u0026rdquo; the animals so they would not be distracted by the researchers. The paint did not harm the animals.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;When we put the snakes down in the arena, they started moving using the same waveform they use on desert sand,\u0026rdquo; explained Schiebel. \u0026ldquo;They would then encounter the dowel grating, pass through it, and continue on the other side still using that waveform.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInstead of continuing to travel through the arena in a straight line, the snakes would exit at a different angle, though they did not grab the posts or use them to assist their movement. Schiebel worked with Zeb Rocklin, a Georgia Tech assistant professor of physics, to model the directional changes. The model showed how simple interactions between the snakes\u0026#39; wave pattern and the grating produce patterns of favored scattering directions.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We think the snake is essentially operating in a model that control engineers would consider \u0026lsquo;open loop,\u0026rsquo;\u0026rdquo; said Goldman. \u0026ldquo;It is setting a particular motor program on its body, which generates the characteristic wave pattern, and when it collides with the obstacle, its body mechanics allow it to deform and move the posts without degrading its speed.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGoldman believes the work could help developers of snake-like robots improve their control schemes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We think that our discoveries of the role of passive dynamics in the snake can facilitate new snake robot designs that will enable them to move through complex environments more fluidly,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;The goal would be to build search and rescue robots that can get into these complex environments and help first responders.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd as a bonus, Goldman said, \u0026ldquo;We find that the richness of interactions between self-propelled systems like snakes and robots with their environment is fascinating from the standpoint of \u0026lsquo;active matter\u0026rsquo; physics.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis work was supported by National Science Foundation Physics of Living Systems program awards PHY-1205878, PHY-1150760 and CMMI-1361778; by the Army Research Office through award W911NF-11-1-0514; U.S. DoD National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG) 32 CFR 168a; and by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsor organizations.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Perrin E. Schiebel, et al., \u0026ldquo;Mechanical diffraction reveals the role of passive dynamics in a slithering snake,\u0026rdquo; (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDesert snakes slithering across the sand at night can encounter obstacles such as plants or twigs that alter the direction of their travel -- and cause them to mimic aspects of light or subatomic particles when they encounter a diffraction grating.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study shows how the motion of snakes moving across a sandy surface can be affected by obstacles."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-02-25 19:50:30","changed_gmt":"2019-02-28 17:02:50","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-02-25T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2019-02-25T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"618431":{"id":"618431","type":"image","title":"Studying snakes on granular surfaces","body":null,"created":"1551122968","gmt_created":"2019-02-25 19:29:28","changed":"1551122968","gmt_changed":"2019-02-25 19:29:28","alt":"studying snakes on a granular surface","file":{"fid":"235389","name":"snakes-as-waves-012.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/snakes-as-waves-012.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/snakes-as-waves-012.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":725086,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/snakes-as-waves-012.jpg?itok=XdD3TAIv"}},"618433":{"id":"618433","type":"image","title":"Snake moving through peg array","body":null,"created":"1551123245","gmt_created":"2019-02-25 19:34:05","changed":"1551123245","gmt_changed":"2019-02-25 19:34:05","alt":"Snake moving through peg array","file":{"fid":"235391","name":"snakes-as-waves-008.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/snakes-as-waves-008.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/snakes-as-waves-008.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":807876,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/snakes-as-waves-008.jpg?itok=de4SqhxO"}},"618432":{"id":"618432","type":"image","title":"Perrin Schiebel with snake arena","body":null,"created":"1551123114","gmt_created":"2019-02-25 19:31:54","changed":"1551123114","gmt_changed":"2019-02-25 19:31:54","alt":"Researcher Perrin Schiebel with snake","file":{"fid":"235390","name":"snakes-as-waves-007.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/snakes-as-waves-007.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/snakes-as-waves-007.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":476282,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/snakes-as-waves-007.jpg?itok=qikhebML"}},"618434":{"id":"618434","type":"image","title":"Snake research team","body":null,"created":"1551123354","gmt_created":"2019-02-25 19:35:54","changed":"1551123354","gmt_changed":"2019-02-25 19:35:54","alt":"Snake research team","file":{"fid":"235392","name":"snakes-as-waves-020.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/snakes-as-waves-020.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/snakes-as-waves-020.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":600495,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/snakes-as-waves-020.jpg?itok=QWXAQz90"}}},"media_ids":["618431","618433","618432","618434"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"126571","name":"go-PetitInstitute"},{"id":"169001","name":"Snake"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"169242","name":"sand"},{"id":"180635","name":"passive 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Seth Hutchinson as the new executive director of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.robotics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInstitute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines\u003C\/a\u003E (IRIM). \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/~seth\/\u0022\u003EHutchinson\u003C\/a\u003E is a professor and KUKA Chair for Robotics in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s College of Computing and has served as associate director of IRIM.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBefore joining Georgia Tech in January 2018, he was a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Hutchinson holds a bachelor of science, master of science and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Purdue University.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Seth is internationally known for his work in robotics as evidenced by his more than 200 publications, his editor-in-chief role of the \u003Cem\u003EIEEE Transactions on Robotics\u003C\/em\u003E and his recent selection as president-elect of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society,\u0026rdquo; said Chaouki Abdallah, Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s executive vice president for research. \u0026ldquo;I am pleased that he will be the new executive director of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines, and I look forward to working with him toward the goal of making Georgia Tech the leader in robotics, autonomy and manufacturing.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHutchinson\u0026rsquo;s research interests lie in vision-based control, motion planning, planning under uncertainty, pursuit-evasion, localization and mapping, locomotion and bio-inspired robotics. Hutchinson is the coauthor of two books, \u0026ldquo;\u003Cem\u003EPrinciples of Robot Motion - Theory, Algorithms, and Implementations\u003C\/em\u003E,\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;\u003Cem\u003ERobot Modeling and Control\u003C\/em\u003E.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The robotics research happening here at Georgia Tech is among the best in the world, from actuators to high-level reasoning,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;I honestly cannot think of a place I\u0026rsquo;d rather be right now than here, working with this group of people.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAt Georgia Tech, IRIM serves as an umbrella under which robotics researchers, educators and students from across campus can come together to advance the many high-powered and diverse robotics activities.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIRIM\u0026rsquo;s mission is to create new and exciting opportunities for faculty collaboration; educate the next generation of robotics experts, entrepreneurs, and academic leaders; and partner with industry and government to pursue truly transformative robotics research. IRIM serves more than 90 faculty members, 180 graduate students and 40 robotics labs. The robotics program at Georgia Tech attracts more than $60 million in research annually.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology has selected Seth Hutchinson as the new executive director of the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines (IRIM). 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An African elephant also picks up many items at once but with only one appendage\u0026mdash;its soft, heavy trunk. How the elephant solves this challenge could provide inspiration for future robotics.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA wild African elephant eats rapidly, consuming 190 grams of food a minute, to provide adequate fuel for its vast bulk. \u0026ldquo;Elephants are in a rush when they are eating,\u0026rdquo; said David L. Hu, associate professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Biology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The elephant diet consists of large volumes of plant materials such as leaves, fruit and roots. To eat these, elephants sweep loose items into a pile and crush them into a manageable solid that can be picked up by the trunk.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;They don\u0026rsquo;t just use the trunk\u0026rsquo;s strong muscles to squeeze the plants together,\u0026rdquo; said Hu. \u0026ldquo;The elephants also use the weight of the trunk, and they do that by forming a joint in the trunk. The trunk below the joint becomes a stiff pillar that applies weight to the pile of plant materials.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAbout 30 percent of the applied force is derived from the pillar\u0026rsquo;s weight alone, and about 70 percent from exerting muscular effort, according to a new study published in the \u003Cem\u003EJournal of the Royal Society Interface\u003C\/em\u003E by Hu and colleagues at Georgia Tech, the Rochester Institute of Technology and Zoo Atlanta.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe African elephant can raise or lower the trunk joint\u0026rsquo;s height by up to 11 centimeters to increase or reduce the applied force. \u0026ldquo;When elephants need more force, the joint is higher up on the trunk,\u0026rdquo; Hu said. Elephant trunks weigh about 150 kilograms and have 40,000 muscles. \u0026ldquo;The huge number of muscles in the trunk allows the elephant great freedom for where it puts this joint.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHu and his colleagues studied a 34-year-old female African elephant (Loxodonta africana) over several weeks in the summer of 2017. All experiments were supervised by the staff at Zoo Atlanta. Food was arranged by hand into a pile in the center of a force plate to measure how much force the animal generated.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe elephant\u0026rsquo;s trunk is similar to other boneless organs in nature such as the octopus\u0026rsquo;s arm and the human tongue. But unlike an octopus\u0026rsquo;s arm, an elephant\u0026rsquo;s trunk is heavy enough to provide significant force on an object without muscular pressure. This is the first study to show that an animal can use the weight of its own appendage to help apply force and the first with a live elephant to understand forces that it can apply to materials.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing mathematical models, the researchers found that the greater the number of objects to be squeezed and picked up, the greater the force that must be applied.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Picking up two objects requires very little force to press them together, while picking up 40,000 objects requires a lot of force,\u0026rdquo; Hu said. This principle was tested experimentally with the live elephant by presenting multiple food items varying in number from four to 40,000 in number. The experiments showed that the elephant could vary forces applied with its trunk by a factor of four depending on the number of food items to be picked up.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis research could have applications in robotics, where heavier machines would appear to have few advantages over smaller ones. But, in the future, heavy robotic manipulators could be designed with several adjustable joints that use the device\u0026rsquo;s own weight to provide adjustable pressure and save energy. There are currently no commercial robots designed to apply their own weight to objects, Hu noted.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;You could have future robots with several joints, which could apply various weight pressures below joints to help compress objects together for lifting them efficiently,\u0026rdquo; said Hu. \u0026ldquo;This would allow you to use the weight of the joints themselves to provide force instead of relying on batteries and extra motors to apply these forces, and that would mean using less energy. For instance, you could have a heavy robot with four joints, and by bending the top joint, the weight below it could apply a load. If you wanted to provide less weight pressure, you could instead bend the second-from-the-top joint. This study shows that there are some advantages for robots in being big and heavy.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfrican elephants like the ones in this study have two muscular extensions at the tip of their trunk resembling a pair of fingers that also could be studied as models for future robotics. It\u0026rsquo;s not well known that elephants have such projections, and this understanding could inform work that is already underway. \u0026ldquo;The elephant\u0026rsquo;s technique with these extensions might be used to develop soft robotic grippers that can pick up delicate items such as fruit without damaging them,\u0026rdquo; Hu noted.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis work was supported by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and the U.S. Army Research Office Mechanical Sciences Division, Complex Dynamics and Systems Program, under contract W911NF-12-R-0011.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Jianing Wu, et al., \u0026ldquo;Elephant trunks form joints to squeeze together small objects,\u0026rdquo; (Journal of the Royal Society Interface 15, 2018) \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1098\/rsif.2018.0377\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1098\/rsif.2018.0377\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Tibbetts\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new study demonstrates the physics that elephants use to feed themselves the massive quantities of leaves, fruit and roots needed to sustain their multi-ton bodies.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study shows how elephants use the trunks to compress food before eating it."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2018-10-25 01:06:44","changed_gmt":"2018-10-25 12:07:13","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-10-24T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-10-24T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"613263":{"id":"613263","type":"image","title":"Elephant at Zoo Atlanta","body":null,"created":"1540429042","gmt_created":"2018-10-25 00:57:22","changed":"1540429042","gmt_changed":"2018-10-25 00:57:22","alt":"Elephant at Zoo Atlanta","file":{"fid":"233471","name":"elephant_tara_ZA_2488-b.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/elephant_tara_ZA_2488-b.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/elephant_tara_ZA_2488-b.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1017010,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/elephant_tara_ZA_2488-b.jpg?itok=u_srUbd_"}},"613264":{"id":"613264","type":"image","title":"Elephant research enclosure","body":null,"created":"1540429170","gmt_created":"2018-10-25 00:59:30","changed":"1540429170","gmt_changed":"2018-10-25 00:59:30","alt":"Elephant in experimental enclosure at Zoo Atlanta","file":{"fid":"233472","name":"elephant.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/elephant.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/elephant.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1353077,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/elephant.jpg?itok=DJQ43k7S"}},"613265":{"id":"613265","type":"image","title":"Elephant trunk","body":null,"created":"1540429265","gmt_created":"2018-10-25 01:01:05","changed":"1540429265","gmt_changed":"2018-10-25 01:01:05","alt":"Closeup of elephant trunk","file":{"fid":"233473","name":"eleplant-trunk_5340.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/eleplant-trunk_5340.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/eleplant-trunk_5340.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3082693,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/eleplant-trunk_5340.jpg?itok=f6YtujWf"}}},"media_ids":["613263","613264","613265"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"96651","name":"elephant"},{"id":"179490","name":"elephant trunk"},{"id":"6765","name":"zoo atlanta"},{"id":"297","name":"David Hu"},{"id":"126571","name":"go-PetitInstitute"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"611967":{"#nid":"611967","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Drones, Driverless Cars and Difficult Decisions ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERobots are here. They\u0026rsquo;ve entered our daily lives and can be found in our homes, hospitals and our streets.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThese robot and human interactions raise a series of questions that the general public and lawmakers must face.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;When robots start truly engaging with us, what does that really mean?\u0026rdquo; asked Magnus Egerstedt, the Steve W. Chaddick School Chair and a professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. \u0026ldquo;And what does it mean for us to interact with them?\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe emerging debate on ethics and robotics was the focus of two panel discussion Georgia Tech hosted Tuesday in Washington, D.C. The event \u0026ndash; \u0026ldquo;Drones, Driverless Cars and Difficult Decisions\u0026rdquo; examined the expectations humans have about robots\u0026rsquo; capabilities and limits. They also spoke of the responsibilities that researchers, scientists, corporations and policymakers have as well.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA luncheon roundtable, held on Capitol Hill, attracted congressional staffers, representatives from national associations and others from the D.C. policy community.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring the evening roundtable held at the National Press Club, reporters from\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EInside Higher Ed\u003C\/em\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EThe Washington Post\u003C\/em\u003Eand\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EU.S. News \u0026amp; World Report\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Easked questions and helped guide the conversation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to Egerstedt two other Georgia Tech professors served on the panel: Ronald Arkin, director of the Mobile Robot Laboratory in the College of Computing, and Ayanna Howard, chair of the School of Interactive Computing in the College of Computing and the the Linda J. and Mark C. Smith Chair professor.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe other four panelists were: Cindy Grimm, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Oregon State University; Benjamin Kuipers, a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Michigan; Bertram Malle, a professor in the department of cognitive, linguistic and psychological sciences at Brown University; and Reid Simmons, a research professor in robotics and computer science at Carnegie Mellon University.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EArkin said for years researchers focused on making new discoveries without paying as much attention to the implications. But there is acknowledgement of the responsibilities that roboticists have to make sure they don\u0026rsquo;t promise more than they can deliver.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe noted the complexities in programming a robot on how to be good.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We don\u0026rsquo;t have the answers for all this yet,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;We are just beginning to make forays into this space \u0026hellip; Please be patient.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech hosts a panel discussion in Washington, D.C. about the emerging debate on ethics and robotics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech hosts a panel discussion in Washington, D.C. about the emerging debate on ethics and robotics."}],"uid":"27918","created_gmt":"2018-09-26 01:16:37","changed_gmt":"2018-09-26 13:08:54","author":"Laura Diamond","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-09-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-09-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"611973":{"id":"611973","type":"image","title":"Robotarium Robot","body":null,"created":"1537967316","gmt_created":"2018-09-26 13:08:36","changed":"1537967316","gmt_changed":"2018-09-26 13:08:36","alt":"Robotarium Robot","file":{"fid":"232970","name":"Dn9CkHzUwAAz07W.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Dn9CkHzUwAAz07W.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Dn9CkHzUwAAz07W.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":119699,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Dn9CkHzUwAAz07W.jpg?itok=kLStGWHD"}}},"media_ids":["611973"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"133","name":"Special Events and Guest Speakers"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"2556","name":"artificial intelligence"},{"id":"1496","name":"Ethics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"},{"id":"71901","name":"Society and Culture"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor media inquiries:\u0026nbsp;Laura Diamond,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["laura.diamond@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"603589":{"#nid":"603589","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The Minds of the New Machines - Machine Learning at Georgia Tech","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMachine learning has been around for decades, but the advent of big data and more powerful computers has increased its impact significantly\u0026nbsp;\u0026mdash; \u0026shy;moving machine learning beyond pattern recognition and natural language processing into a broad array of scientific disciplines.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA subcategory of artificial intelligence, machine learning deals with the construction of algorithms that enable computers to learn from and react to data rather than following explicitly programmed instructions. \u0026ldquo;Machine-learning algorithms build a model based on inputs and then use that model to make other hypotheses, predictions, or decisions,\u0026rdquo; explained\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/people\/irfan-essa\u0022\u003EIrfan Essa\u003C\/a\u003E, professor and associate dean in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECollege of Computing\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;who also directs the Institute\u0026rsquo;s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ml.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECenter for Machine Learning\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEstablished in June 2016, the Center for Machine Learning is comprised of researchers from six colleges and 13 schools at Georgia Tech\u0026nbsp;\u0026mdash; a number that keeps growing. \u0026ldquo;Among our goals is to better coordinate research efforts across campus, serve as a home for machine learning leaders, and train the next generation of leaders,\u0026rdquo; Essa said, referring to Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s new\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/minds-new-machines#phd-program\u0022\u003EPh.D. program in machine learning\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWithin the center, researchers are striving to advance both basic and applied science. \u0026ldquo;For example, one foundational goal is to really understand deep learning at its core,\u0026rdquo; Essa said. \u0026ldquo;We want to develop new theories and innovative algorithms, rather than just using deep learning as a black box for inputs and outputs.\u0026rdquo; And on the applied research front, the center has seven focal areas: health care, education, logistics, social networks, the financial sector, information security, and robotics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESee the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/minds-new-machines\u0022\u003Ecomplete article\u003C\/a\u003E from \u003Cem\u003EResearch Horizons\u003C\/em\u003E magazine.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"New theories and innovative algorithms support improved prediction and decision-making."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMachine learning has been around for decades, but the advent of big data and more powerful computers has increased its impact significantly. Georgia Tech researchers are\u0026nbsp;advancing\u0026nbsp;both basic and applied science involved.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers are advancing the basic and applied science of machine learning."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2018-03-09 19:00:00","changed_gmt":"2018-03-09 19:01:31","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-03-09T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2018-03-09T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"603587":{"id":"603587","type":"image","title":"Minds of the New Machines","body":null,"created":"1520621292","gmt_created":"2018-03-09 18:48:12","changed":"1520621292","gmt_changed":"2018-03-09 18:48:12","alt":"Graphic for Minds of the New Machines","file":{"fid":"230065","name":"machines.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/machines.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/machines.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":156731,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/machines.jpg?itok=IDchl-or"}},"603588":{"id":"603588","type":"image","title":"Anticipatory intelligence","body":null,"created":"1520621446","gmt_created":"2018-03-09 18:50:46","changed":"1520621446","gmt_changed":"2018-03-09 18:50:46","alt":"Erica Briscoe and Zsolt Kira with news screens","file":{"fid":"230066","name":"briscoe-kira.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/briscoe-kira.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/briscoe-kira.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":235557,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/briscoe-kira.jpg?itok=1bH3hNJD"}}},"media_ids":["603587","603588"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"9167","name":"machine learning"},{"id":"5660","name":"algorithms"},{"id":"2835","name":"ai"},{"id":"2556","name":"artificial intelligence"},{"id":"177352","name":"Iran Essa"},{"id":"173555","name":"Center for Machine Learning"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"602925":{"#nid":"602925","#data":{"type":"news","title":" The Next Frontier in Mechanical Engineering","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDrone technology is quickly evolving \u0026ndash;no longer just for military use, these flying robots now have a place within commercial enterprise. Also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, drones today have practical applications, like delivering packages for Amazon or allowing realtors to take aerial video to show off a sale property.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo date, there is usually a weight limit on how much a drone can carry, restricting its usefulness. But Jonathan Rogers, assistant professor at the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, is trying to change that. He is designing, building and programming robotic drones that can link up and carry larger, heavier objects as a unit\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In my lab, we are working with multiple drones that lift and fly packages together,\u0026rdquo; said Rogers. \u0026ldquo;This involves distributing heavy lift capabilities into a number of small drone units that can then organize themselves to pick the object up.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith exceptional portability, unobtrusive size and remote control, drones are ideal for situations that are dangerous for humans. Rogers has designed the world\u0026rsquo;s first heavy lift small drones \u0026ndash; robots that can work together to lift and evacuate wounded soldiers from the battlefield or civilians from a disaster area. Theoretically, three to four man-portable robots fly out together, connect to the person, and lift them 500 yards out of harm\u0026rsquo;s way.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEach drone has eight large propellers and can fold up into a backpack for portability. The drone can lift a 65 pound object, and with three or four drones working together, a human can be lifted. Rogers explains that it\u0026rsquo;s all about thrust density, a term he invented.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Determining how much thrust you can pack into a small area is important when you are using multiple vehicles to lift a specific object,\u0026rdquo; said Rogers. \u0026ldquo;When you pack a large amount of thrust into a small object, the laws of physics work against you, so you need more power. That\u0026rsquo;s why we only fly the soldiers about 500 yards away after they are lifted from the battlefield.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe drones Rogers works on are part of a new field called cooperative flight control, where multiple drones connect to an object that they know very little about and move it in a stable way. Rogers has named these drones \u0026ldquo;modular vertical lift robots,\u0026rdquo; and they also have useful implications for package delivery.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrently, Rogers and his team are working on a funded project with the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) to test multiple vertical lift robots that connect up to deliver supplies. The robots are programed to take into account flexible logistics by connecting to the object (payload) and determining its weight and size and how to move it in a stable way. The small robots work together as a team, known as multi agent control.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Right now we are most concerned with ensuring the robots fly in a stable way once they analyze the payload and mass center,\u0026rdquo; said Rogers. \u0026ldquo;We are calling this autonomous flightworthiness determination (AFWD), and it\u0026rsquo;s a topic in the field that no one else has explored.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA major challenge for AFWD and cooperative flight control is determining how the drones are going to attach to the payload. Rogers has developed a docking apparatus, so the robot vehicles can attach to the object. When a flexible payload, like a human, doesn\u0026rsquo;t have docks, Rogers is looking into using manipulators with soft gripper technology on the robots. Then the robots will have a flexible way of grasping the human.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the next 20 to 30 years, Rogers predicts that mobile robots moving together will be employed in everyday situations. But a key hurdle remains \u0026ndash; normalizing the technology to ensure it is compatible with and trusted by humans.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I am really invested in creating new mechanisms and autonomy algorithms that allow robots to serve a beneficial purpose in society,\u0026rdquo; said Rogers. \u0026ldquo;The modular vehicle lift robot that can operate during disaster situations is a great example of the type of technology that can benefit people. Also, the drone docks we are designing will be a key piece of equipment that hundreds of companies can use to do their jobs better. Making an impact on society is really our goal.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERogers hopes to start lifting objects this summer.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Drones work together to save wounded soldiers "}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETo date, there is usually a weight limit on how much a drone can carry, restricting its usefulness. But Jonathan Rogers, assistant professor at the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, is trying to change that. He is designing, building and programming robotic drones that can link up and carry larger, heavier objects as a unit.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Drones are being designed, built and programmed to link up and carry larger, heavier objects as a unit."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2018-02-26 19:54:50","changed_gmt":"2018-02-26 20:55:52","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-02-26T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2018-02-26T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"602922":{"id":"602922","type":"image","title":"Jonathan Rogers ","body":null,"created":"1519671071","gmt_created":"2018-02-26 18:51:11","changed":"1519671071","gmt_changed":"2018-02-26 18:51:11","alt":"Jonathan Rogers","file":{"fid":"229795","name":"rogers.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rogers.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rogers.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":737885,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rogers.jpg?itok=r8UDOQSF"}}},"media_ids":["602922"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/features\/creating-next-robotics","title":"Tarzan Robot: The Future of Farming"},{"url":"http:\/\/ireal.gatech.edu\/","title":"Jonathan Rogers\u0027 Lab"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"108731","name":"School of Mechanical Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"34141","name":"Drones"},{"id":"177227","name":"solider"},{"id":"114051","name":"Jonathan Rogers"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Parmelee\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-385-0181\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\ngeorgia.parmelee@coe.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["georgia.parmelee@coe.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"601678":{"#nid":"601678","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Neurons Get the Beat and Keep It Going in Drumrolls","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA neuron firing deep in the brain might sound a little like: Drumroll\u0026hellip;cymbal crash! Drumroll\u0026hellip;cymbal crash! Repeat. With emphasis on \u0026ldquo;repeat,\u0026rdquo; \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.jneurosci.org\/content\/early\/2017\/12\/26\/JNEUROSCI.1519-17.2017\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eaccording to a new study.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhat used to look like fleeting cacophonies of electrical impulses in the brain is looking to neuroscience researchers more and more like a sustained matrix of electronic percussion. For years, they have been analyzing patterns hidden in neurons\u0026rsquo; electrical buzzes, and now, they have revealed in neurons continued stretches of orderly drumroll-like rumblings speckled with thrashing impulses, or spikes, that stimulate neighboring neurons.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;These signaling patterns last a lot longer than we thought,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/singer.gatech.edu\/lab\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EAnnabelle Singer, an assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/a\u003E. Singer led the \u003Cem\u003Ein vivo\u003C\/em\u003E study on mice together with \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/syntheticneurobiology.org\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EEd Boyden, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPersistent neurons\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We used to think that neurons would fire spikes to neighboring neurons for a few milliseconds, and that was all it would take to make the next neuron spike,\u0026rdquo; Singer said. \u0026ldquo;Now we\u0026rsquo;re seeing that you get these repeating patterns of rumblings and spikes sustained over hundreds of milliseconds, even close to a full second.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat\u0026rsquo;s about how long it takes a human heart to complete one full beat.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe rumblings are jumbly fluctuations of electrical potential within a neuron before it fires a spike. The spikes are big electrical signals that communicate with neighboring neurons.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETaken together, the sum of the spikes in the brain make its circuitry compute so that we can walk, talk, and live life.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.jneurosci.org\/content\/early\/2017\/12\/26\/JNEUROSCI.1519-17.2017\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Epublished their study on the newly discovered patterns in the \u003Cem\u003EJournal of Neuroscience\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. Official publication date is February 14, 2018, but the study is already available online without embargo. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Friends of the McGovern Institute, the New York Stem Cell Foundation, the MIT Intelligence Initiative, and the Lane Family.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EQuestions and answers\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe combination of observing the patterns\u0026rsquo; percussion-like characteristics as well as their sustained lengths in the brains of awake mice make this a novel finding, Singer said. Some similar previous studies have been performed on mice that were anesthetized, which strongly altered brain activity when compared to awake brains.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHere are some questions and answers about the observed patterns and their significance.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat do these sustained patterns look like?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers recorded the activities of individual neurons in the hippocampus, which is located in the lower center of the brain, with a robotic device called a \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/news\/583105\/robotic-cleaning-technique-could-automate-neuroscience-research\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Epatch clamp\u003C\/a\u003E. It\u0026rsquo;s a hollow glass needle one micron\u0026nbsp;in diameter that latches onto a single neuron via suction and measures its electrical activity.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers observed electrical rumblings, symbolized here by a drumroll. And they observed spikes, symbolized here by a cymbal crash.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThough the pattern of rumblings wasn\u0026rsquo;t uniform, it rose and fell like a drumroll undulating between softer and louder volumes. Spikes occurred much more rarely than drumbeats, but with notable timing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The spikes repeated in the same spots with high precision, so they weren\u0026rsquo;t just random,\u0026rdquo; Singer said. \u0026ldquo;They came around the peaks of rumblings, not always right on top of a peak but within a hair of it.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt would be like a cymbal crash hitting not every time, but every few times the undulating drumroll topped a volume peak. And the drumroll-cymbal-crash patterns sustained themselves for surprisingly long periods.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The time periods of activity that was structured like this were much longer than we expected,\u0026rdquo; Singer said. \u0026ldquo;People have shown sustained periods of signaling like this for 100 to 300 milliseconds before, but this appears to be the first time it\u0026rsquo;s been seen for 900 milliseconds (nearly a full second), and it may go on even longer.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat are neurons doing with these rumblings and spikes?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen one neuron fires a spike, that electronic impulse hits neighboring neurons and influences the receiving neurons\u0026rsquo; rumblings until they fire spikes, too.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;A neuron receives these fast inputs. There are many different drumbeat patterns coming from many different neurons around it,\u0026rdquo; Singer said. \u0026ldquo;The patterns we observed in one neuron were being driven by other neurons firing into it like a whole drum section with short little bursts.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAt first sight, that may appear to be a cacophony, but if the jumbly patterns repeat, a consistent percussion of rumblings in the neuron may result.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow may this influence the way we picture neurons at work?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I think people have thought about neuron firings as random then suddenly organized in a concerted kind of way,\u0026rdquo; Singer said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat could be pictured as many neurons behaving spastically until it was time to get to work, then abruptly firing as a group in near unison. This does appear to happen under the right circumstances, but as a prevailing picture of neuron firing, \u0026nbsp;it may be lacking something.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;re starting to see more structure, very complex structure in what was thought to be randomness,\u0026rdquo; Singer said. \u0026ldquo;There is a lot of activity that is ongoing that is organized and that we need to understand, as well.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers examined cells important for memory, but further research will be required to know what role the observed firing patterns may have in its function. The researchers are also working together with engineers at Georgia Tech to develop new robotic patch clamping devices that listen simultaneously to the firings of neurons connected to one another.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/cosmos-cranium\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EAlso READ our feature on\u0026nbsp;neurology research: The Brain, Cosmos in the Cranium\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELike this article? \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/subscribe\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGet our email newsletter here.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThese researchers also collaborated on the study: Craig Forest, Ilya Kolb, and Michael Wang of Georgia Tech; Giovanni Talei Franzesi, and Edward S. Boyden of MIT, and Suhasa Kodandaramaiah previously at Georgia Tech and MIT and now at the University of Minnesota. The research was funded by the following of the National Institutes of Health sources: Computational Neuroscience Training (grant DA032466-02), a Director\u0026rsquo;s Pioneer Award (1DP1NS087724), a Transformative Award (1R01MH103910), and further NIH grants (1R01EY023173, 1R01NS067199, 1R01DA029639, 1U01MH106027 and 5R44NS08310803). It was also funded by the Cognitive Rhythms Collaborative, which is funded by the National Science Foundation\u0026rsquo;s Division of Mathematical Science (grant 10421134), and funding also came from the MIT Intelligence Initiative, the Lane Family, and the Friends of the McGovern Institute.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDOI:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.1519-17.2017\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Some of what researchers believed to be chaotic electric potentials in neurons are turning out the be surprisingly orderly."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2018-01-31 18:28:48","changed_gmt":"2018-02-06 18:05:49","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-02-01T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2018-02-01T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"601671":{"id":"601671","type":"image","title":"Healthy neuron illustration NIA\/NIH","body":null,"created":"1517421149","gmt_created":"2018-01-31 17:52:29","changed":"1517421149","gmt_changed":"2018-01-31 17:52:29","alt":"","file":{"fid":"229330","name":"healthy neuron NIH.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/healthy%20neuron%20NIH.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/healthy%20neuron%20NIH.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1592716,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/healthy%20neuron%20NIH.jpg?itok=ciAt63Li"}},"601674":{"id":"601674","type":"image","title":"Annabelle Singer in her BME lab","body":null,"created":"1517421911","gmt_created":"2018-01-31 18:05:11","changed":"1517421911","gmt_changed":"2018-01-31 18:05:11","alt":"","file":{"fid":"229331","name":"Annabelle.sm_.file_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Annabelle.sm_.file_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Annabelle.sm_.file_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3865897,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Annabelle.sm_.file_.jpg?itok=TF8cLGZn"}},"601670":{"id":"601670","type":"image","title":"Synapse illustration with messenger molecules and neurons","body":null,"created":"1517420529","gmt_created":"2018-01-31 17:42:09","changed":"1517420529","gmt_changed":"2018-01-31 17:42:09","alt":"","file":{"fid":"229329","name":"Synapse.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Synapse.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Synapse.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1441140,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Synapse.jpg?itok=TKzaBBSN"}},"601669":{"id":"601669","type":"image","title":"Patch clamp diagram","body":null,"created":"1517420267","gmt_created":"2018-01-31 17:37:47","changed":"1517420267","gmt_changed":"2018-01-31 17:37:47","alt":"","file":{"fid":"229328","name":"1-17-cosmos-patch-clamp.gif","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/1-17-cosmos-patch-clamp.gif","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/1-17-cosmos-patch-clamp.gif","mime":"image\/gif","size":25015,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/1-17-cosmos-patch-clamp.gif?itok=q4QM3TiE"}},"601675":{"id":"601675","type":"image","title":"Craig Forest in his IBB lab","body":null,"created":"1517422081","gmt_created":"2018-01-31 18:08:01","changed":"1517422081","gmt_changed":"2018-01-31 18:08:01","alt":"","file":{"fid":"229332","name":"1-17-cosmos-forest.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/1-17-cosmos-forest.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/1-17-cosmos-forest.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":494083,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/1-17-cosmos-forest.jpg?itok=mJcBf-DD"}},"583097":{"id":"583097","type":"image","title":"Patch-clamping equipment3","body":null,"created":"1477419228","gmt_created":"2016-10-25 18:13:48","changed":"1477419228","gmt_changed":"2016-10-25 18:13:48","alt":"Patch-clamping setup","file":{"fid":"222274","name":"patch-clamp4251.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/patch-clamp4251.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/patch-clamp4251.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1717137,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/patch-clamp4251.jpg?itok=RfjV4ofr"}}},"media_ids":["601671","601674","601670","601669","601675","583097"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"32691","name":"patch clamp"},{"id":"12333","name":"Craig Forest"},{"id":"176963","name":"self-cleaning patch clamp"},{"id":"176966","name":"multiclamper"},{"id":"7276","name":"neuron"},{"id":"176956","name":"action potential"},{"id":"176964","name":"neuron rumbling"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EBen Brumfield\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E@benbgatech\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"599489":{"#nid":"599489","#data":{"type":"news","title":"College of Computing Selects Ayanna Howard to Lead School of Interactive Computing","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFollowing a national search, the Georgia Tech College of Computing has selected \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ayanna_Howard\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAyanna Howard\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, professor and Linda J. and Mark C. Smith Chair in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) to chair its \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ic.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Interactive Computing\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHoward, who is also associate chair for faculty development in ECE, will succeed Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/people\/annie-anton\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAnnie Ant\u0026oacute;n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, who served in the role from 2012-17. Ant\u0026oacute;n finished her five-year term in June 2017 and remains a professor within the school. Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/people\/amy-bruckman\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAmy Bruckman\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E has served as the interim chair since July.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Ayanna Howard is the perfect individual to lead our School of Interactive Computing, and we are excited to welcome her to the College,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/people\/zvi-galil\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EZvi Galil\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, John P. Imlay Jr. Dean of Computing. \u0026ldquo;She brings a wealth of experience in research and administration, and she has consistently succeeded in leadership opportunities both inside and outside Georgia Tech. Her vision and energy will help ensure that IC will continue to be a national leader in computing research and education.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs a testimony to her interdisciplinary focus, Howard has collaborated with a number of IC researchers in the past and said the she is looking forward to fostering new \u0026ndash; and fruitful \u0026ndash; \u0026nbsp;relationships with the school\u0026rsquo;s faculty and staff.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I am thrilled for the opportunity to work with the amazing faculty, staff, and students within the School of Interactive Computing,\u0026rdquo; Howard said. \u0026ldquo;They are already national leaders in some of the most important fields of modern computing, and I look forward to building on that foundation and continuing to pursue research and innovation that addresses real challenges facing our world today.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHoward received her bachelor\u0026rsquo;s degree in engineering from Brown University, her master\u0026rsquo;s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California, and her Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, in 1999.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHer research is highlighted by her focus on technology development for intelligent agents that must interact with and in a human-centered world. This work, which addresses issues of human-robot interaction, learning, and autonomous control, has resulted in more than 200 peer-reviewed publications. To date, her accomplishments have been highlighted through a number of awards and articles, including highlights in \u003Cem\u003ETime\u003C\/em\u003E, \u003Cem\u003EBlack Enterprise\u003C\/em\u003E, and \u003Cem\u003EUSA Today\u003C\/em\u003E. She was named an \u003Cem\u003EMIT Technology Review\u003C\/em\u003E top young innovator and recognized as one of the 23 most powerful women engineers in the world by \u003Cem\u003EBusiness Insider\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShe has more than 20 years of research and development experience covering a number of projects that have been supported by organizations like the National Science Foundation, Procter and Gamble, NASA, ExxonMobil, Intel, and the Grammy Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHoward is the director of the Human-Automation Systems Lab (HumAnS), and in 2015 founded a $3 million traineeship initiative in health care robotics. In 2013, she founded \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/zyrobotics.com\/\u0022\u003EZyrobotics\u003C\/a\u003E as a university spin-off and holds a position in the company as chief technology officer. Zyrobotics is currently licensing technology derived from her research and has released its first suite of mobile therapy and educational products for children with differing needs.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFrom 1993-2005, Howard worked at NASA\u0026rsquo;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she was a senior robotics researcher and deputy manager in the Office of the Chief Scientist. She has also served as the associate director of research for Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines and as chair of the multidisciplinary robotics Ph.D. program at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHoward will assume her new role in January 2018. Her appointment is contingent upon approval by Georgia Tech President \u003Cstrong\u003EG.P. \u0026ldquo;Bud\u0026rdquo; Peterson\u003C\/strong\u003E and the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. She will retain her current Linda J. and Mark C. Smith endowment after transitioning to the School of Interactive Computing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAyanna Howard named chair of School of Interactive Computing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Following a national search, the Georgia Tech College of Computing has selected Ayanna Howard, professor and Linda J. and Mark C. Smith Chair in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) to chair its School of Interactive Computing."}],"uid":"33939","created_gmt":"2017-12-04 16:50:43","changed_gmt":"2017-12-04 18:55:47","author":"David Mitchell","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-12-04T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2017-12-04T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"599491":{"id":"599491","type":"image","title":"Ayanna Howard","body":null,"created":"1512406963","gmt_created":"2017-12-04 17:02:43","changed":"1512406963","gmt_changed":"2017-12-04 17:02:43","alt":"","file":{"fid":"228552","name":"howard_3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/howard_3.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/howard_3.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":127038,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/howard_3.jpg?itok=qZrE0dg9"}},"599486":{"id":"599486","type":"image","title":"Ayanna Howard headshot","body":null,"created":"1512405411","gmt_created":"2017-12-04 16:36:51","changed":"1512405411","gmt_changed":"2017-12-04 16:36:51","alt":"Ayanna Howard","file":{"fid":"228550","name":"Howard 2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Howard%202.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Howard%202.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":327205,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Howard%202.jpg?itok=DxobYIDu"}}},"media_ids":["599491","599486"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/robotics.gatech.edu","title":"Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines"}],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"50876","name":"School of Interactive Computing"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"825","name":"Ayanna Howard"},{"id":"81491","name":"Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines (IRIM)"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"166848","name":"School of Interactive Computing"},{"id":"654","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"27641","name":"annie anton"},{"id":"8472","name":"amy bruckman"},{"id":"22401","name":"G. P. Bud Peterson"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDavid Mitchell\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:david.mitchell@cc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Edavid.mitchell@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.mitchell@cc.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"597463":{"#nid":"597463","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Army Grant Supports Development of Intelligent, Adaptive and Resilient Robot Teams","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.arl.army.mil\/www\/default.cfm\u0022\u003EU.S. Army Research Laboratory\u003C\/a\u003E has awarded an alliance headed by the University of Pennsylvania a five-year, $27 million grant to develop new methods of creating autonomous, intelligent and resilient teams of robots.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThese teams, consisting of multiple types of robots and sensors with varying abilities, are designed to assist humans in a wide range of missions in dynamically changing, harsh and contested environments. These include search and rescue of hostages, information gathering after terrorist attacks or natural disasters, and humanitarian missions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe award is part of ARL\u0026rsquo;s Distributed and Collaborative Intelligent Systems and Technology (DCIST) Collaborative Research Alliance. Penn Engineering will lead this alliance in collaboration with the Army Research Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology\u0026rsquo;s Aeronautics and Astronautics Department, and the Georgia Institute of Technology. The consortium also includes faculty from University of California San Diego, University of California Berkeley and University of Southern California.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDCIST involves imbuing teams of heterogeneous robots and sensors with the intelligence to learn and adapt to different settings and perform new tasks along with humans. Key to this vision is building resilience to disruption.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETeams of robots and human first responders might eventually be used to survey a disaster site for victims, but unpredictable environments and ongoing hazards could damage or destroy some of the robots, or disrupt communications between them. If each robot were just preprogrammed and given specific instructions, that could lead to gaps in their search. But if the team were able to reconfigure itself in response to damage, the remaining robots could collaboratively decide how to reorganize and work with human partners to complete the mission.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We want to have teams of robots that know how to work together, but can figure out how to keep working even if some of their teammates crash or fail, if GPS signal is unavailable, or if cloud services are disrupted,\u0026rdquo; said Vijay Kumar, Penn Engineering\u0026rsquo;s Nemirovsky Family Dean and director for the DCIST program. \u0026ldquo;This means designing networks with loose, flexible connections that can change on the fly. That way, a single event can\u0026rsquo;t bring down the entire network. More importantly, we want them to learn to perform tasks they may have never performed and work alongside humans that they may never have worked with.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe three important research focus areas are distributed intelligence and learning; creating a cohesive team of autonomous robots, sensors, computational resources and human experts; and building resiliency in group behaviors.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Through this exciting project, Georgia Tech will help develop novel tools and techniques that enable human operators to work effectively and safely in teams together with autonomous robots,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff-directory\/magnus-egerstedt-0\u0022\u003EMagnus Egerstedt\u003C\/a\u003E, executive director of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.robotics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInstitute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines\u003C\/a\u003E and Julian T. Hightower Chair in Systems and Controls. \u0026ldquo;These types of questions connect well with our\u0026nbsp;expertise in the areas of human-robot interactions, distributed decision making and learning, and swarm robotics.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond Egerstedt, the Georgia Tech researchers affiliated with this multidisciplinary project are \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/people\/sonia-chernova\u0022\u003ESonia Chernova\u003C\/a\u003E, assistant professor in the School of Interactive Computing; \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.aerospace.gatech.edu\/people\/panagiotis-tsiotras\u0022\u003EPanagiotis Tsiotras\u003C\/a\u003E, Dean\u0026rsquo;s Professor in the School of Aerospace Engineering; and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff-directory\/justin-romberg\u0022\u003EJustin Romberg\u003C\/a\u003E, Associate Chair for Research and Schlumberger Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith multiple types of assets collectively assessing a complex, continuously changing scenario and determining how best to assign their individual skills to a broadly defined problem, such human-robot teams of the future would be ideal first-responders to dangerous situations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The technology we\u0026rsquo;re working will better allow humans to respond by projecting their intelligence without directly coming in harm\u0026rsquo;s way,\u0026rdquo; Kumar said.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Georgia Tech \u0026ndash; John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu); UPenn \u0026ndash; Evan Lerner (215-573-6604) (elerner@upenn.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EProvided by Army Research Laboratory\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe U.S. Army Research Laboratory has awarded an alliance headed by the University of Pennsylvania a five-year, $27 million grant to develop new methods of creating autonomous, intelligent and resilient teams of robots.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The U.S. Army Research Laboratory has awarded a $27 million grant to develop new methods of creating robot teams."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2017-10-16 18:49:24","changed_gmt":"2017-10-16 19:37:32","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-10-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-10-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"597469":{"id":"597469","type":"image","title":"Sonia Chernova \u0026 Army research grant","body":null,"created":"1508182097","gmt_created":"2017-10-16 19:28:17","changed":"1508182097","gmt_changed":"2017-10-16 19:28:17","alt":"Sonia Chernova, Georgia Tech","file":{"fid":"227749","name":"sonia-chernova.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sonia-chernova.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sonia-chernova.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1168133,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/sonia-chernova.jpg?itok=Nw0QFAS2"}},"597470":{"id":"597470","type":"image","title":"Magnus Egerstedt \u0026 Army research grant","body":null,"created":"1508182168","gmt_created":"2017-10-16 19:29:28","changed":"1508182168","gmt_changed":"2017-10-16 19:29:28","alt":"Magnus Egerstedt in Robotarium","file":{"fid":"227750","name":"robotarium-magnus-georgia-tech.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robotarium-magnus-georgia-tech.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robotarium-magnus-georgia-tech.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":177908,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/robotarium-magnus-georgia-tech.jpg?itok=dFYoJ-Pc"}}},"media_ids":["597469","597470"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2352","name":"robots"},{"id":"169029","name":"swarm robots"},{"id":"175928","name":"robot teams"},{"id":"11528","name":"Magnus Egerstedt"},{"id":"169047","name":"Sonia Chernova"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"596207":{"#nid":"596207","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Running Roaches, Flapping Moths Create a New Physics of Organisms","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESand-swimming lizards, slithering robotic snakes, dusk-flying moths and running roaches all have one thing in common: They\u0026#39;re increasingly being studied by physicists interested in understanding the shared strategies these creatures have developed to overcome the challenges of moving though their environments.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBy analyzing the rules governing the locomotion of these creatures, \u0026quot;physics of living systems\u0026quot; researchers are learning how animals successfully negotiate unstable surfaces like wet sand, maintain rapid motion on flat surfaces using the advantageous mechanics of their bodies, and fly in ways that would never work for modern aircraft. The knowledge these researchers develop could be useful to the designers of robots and flying vehicles of all kinds.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Locomotion is a very natural access point for understanding how biological systems interact with the world,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/simon-sponberg\u0022\u003ESimon Sponberg\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.biosciences.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u0026nbsp;\u0026ldquo;When they move, animals change the environment around them so they can push off from it and move through it in different ways. This capability is a defining feature of animals.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESponberg has spent his career bridging the gap between physics and organismal biology \u0026ndash; the study of complex creatures. His work includes studying how hawk moths slow their nervous systems to maintain vision during low-light conditions, and how muscle is a versatile material able to change function from a brake to a motor or spring.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe recently published a feature article, the cover story for the September issue of the American Institute of Physics magazine \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/physicstoday.scitation.org\/doi\/10.1063\/PT.3.3691\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPhysics Today\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, on the role of physics in animal locomotion. The article was not intended as a review of the entire field, but rather to show how organismal physics \u0026ndash; integrating complex physiological systems, the mechanics and the surrounding environment into a whole animal \u0026ndash; has inspired his career.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The intersection of physics and organismal biology is a very exciting one right now,\u0026rdquo; said Sponberg, who is also a researcher with the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/petitinstitute.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EPetit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech said. \u0026ldquo;The assembly and interaction of multiple natural components manifests new behaviors and dynamics. The collection of these natural components manifests different patterns than the individual parts, and that\u0026rsquo;s fascinating.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESupported by new initiatives at such organizations as the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.arl.army.mil\u0022\u003EArmy Research Office\/Army Research Laboratory\u003C\/a\u003E and the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nsf.gov\u0022\u003ENational Science Foundation\u003C\/a\u003E \u0026ndash; which are embracing these frontiers \u0026ndash; Georgia Tech scientists are learning the equations that dictate how snakes move, understanding how the hair spacing on the bodies of bees help them stay clean, and using X-ray equipment to see how an unusual African lizard \u0026ldquo;swims\u0026rdquo; through dry sand.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s a really exciting time to be working at the intersection of evolutionary organismal biology that is realized in these living systems that have come about through the process of evolution, composed of seemingly very complex systems,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;Biological systems are inescapably complex, but that doesn\u0026rsquo;t mean there aren\u0026rsquo;t simple patterns of behavior that we can understand. We now have the modern tools, approaches and theory that we need to be able to extract physical patterns from biological systems.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn his article, Sponberg makes predictions about the research that will be needed for the physics of living systems to advance as a field:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cul\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EHow feedback transforms physiological dynamics,\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EHow aggregations of living components, from humans to ants to molecular motors, arise at multiple scales, and\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EHow robo-physical models of these complex systems can lead to new discoveries and advance engineering.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEngineered systems use feedback about the effects of their actions to adjust their future activities, and animals do the same to control their movement. Scientists can manipulate this feedback to understand how complex systems are put together and use the feedback to design experiments rather than just analyzing what is there.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We use feedback all the time to move through our environment, and feedback is a really special thing that fundamentally affects how dynamics occur,\u0026rdquo; said Sponberg. \u0026ldquo;But using feedback to design experiments is really sort of new.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor example, in the study of how hawk moths track flowers during low-light conditions, he and his colleagues used feedback dynamics to isolate how the moth\u0026rsquo;s brain adjusts its processing in dim light. The moths can still accurately track flower movements that occur less than two times per second \u0026ndash; which matches the frequency at which the flowers sway in the wind.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnimals are composed of many systems operating at multiple time scales simultaneously \u0026ndash; brain neurons, nerves and the individual fibers of muscles with molecular motors. These muscle fibers are arranged in an active crystalline lattice such that X-rays fired through them create a regular diffraction pattern. Understanding these multiscale living assemblages provides new insights into how animals manage complex actions.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFinally, Sponberg notes in his article that robots are playing a larger and larger role in the physics laboratory as functional models that can examine principles of movement by interacting with the real world. In the laboratory of Georgia Tech Associate Professor Dan Goldman \u0026ndash; one of Sponberg\u0026rsquo;s colleagues \u0026ndash; robotic snakes, turtles, crabs and other creatures help scientists understand what they\u0026rsquo;re observing in the natural world.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Moving physical models \u0026ndash; robots \u0026ndash; can be very powerful tools for understanding these complex systems,\u0026rdquo; Sponberg said. \u0026ldquo;They can allow us to do experiments on robots that we couldn\u0026rsquo;t do on animals to see how they interact with complex environments. We can see what physics in these systems is essential to their behaviors.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESponberg was inspired to study the interaction of organismal biology and physics by the remarkable diversity of animal movement and by nonlinear dynamics, a field made popular when he was a young student by the 1987 best-selling book \u003Cem\u003EChaos: Making a New Science,\u003C\/em\u003E authored by former New York Times reporter James Gleick. Sponberg hopes today\u0026rsquo;s students \u0026ndash; readers of \u003Cem\u003EPhysics Today\u003C\/em\u003E \u0026ndash; will also be inspired.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I voted on this with my career choice, so I think this is a very exciting areas of science,\u0026rdquo; he added.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu) or Ben Brumfield (404-660-1408) (ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESand-swimming lizards, slithering robotic snakes, dusk-flying moths and running roaches all have one thing in common: They\u0026#39;re increasingly being studied by physicists interested in understanding the shared strategies these creatures have developed to overcome the challenges of moving though their environments.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers are interested in the strategies creatures have developed to overcome the challenges of moving though their environments."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2017-09-19 20:47:43","changed_gmt":"2017-09-27 20:52:05","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-09-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-09-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"596193":{"id":"596193","type":"image","title":"Hawk moth on robotic flower2","body":null,"created":"1505852306","gmt_created":"2017-09-19 20:18:26","changed":"1505852306","gmt_changed":"2017-09-19 20:18:26","alt":"Hawk moth landing on robotic flower","file":{"fid":"227209","name":"hawkmoth6.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth6_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth6_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":327015,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hawkmoth6_0.jpg?itok=Skh2wLnZ"}},"596194":{"id":"596194","type":"image","title":"Hawk moth on natural flower","body":null,"created":"1505853283","gmt_created":"2017-09-19 20:34:43","changed":"1505853283","gmt_changed":"2017-09-19 20:34:43","alt":"Hawk moth and natural flower","file":{"fid":"227211","name":"Manduca and flower.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Manduca%20and%20flower.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Manduca%20and%20flower.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":237321,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Manduca%20and%20flower.jpg?itok=GXf9DWHs"}},"596196":{"id":"596196","type":"image","title":"Simon Sponberg and hawk moth","body":null,"created":"1505853417","gmt_created":"2017-09-19 20:36:57","changed":"1505853417","gmt_changed":"2017-09-19 20:36:57","alt":"Simon Sponberg holds hawk moth","file":{"fid":"227212","name":"hawkmoth12.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth12.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth12.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":285420,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hawkmoth12.jpg?itok=NK0ULvGv"}}},"media_ids":["596193","596194","596196"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"175601","name":"haw moth"},{"id":"129701","name":"physics of living systems"},{"id":"175602","name":"living systems"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"377","name":"locomotion"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"594831":{"#nid":"594831","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Opens Robotics Lab to the World","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe nation\u0026rsquo;s first remote robotics lab, and the nearly 100 machines that call it home, is now open thanks to a little help from its friends.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Robotarium held its grand opening on Tuesday in the Van Leer Building. Appropriately, a scissor-wielding robot (named Snips) cut the ribbon. Later, a researcher from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign skyped into the room to run a live remote experiment.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s time to begin a new era in robotics,\u0026rdquo; said Magnus Egerstedt, the Julian T. Hightower Chair in Systems and Controls and a professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEgerstedt, who oversees the lab, was joined by President G.P. \u0026ldquo;Bud\u0026rdquo; Peterson, other cabinet members and more than a dozen congressional staffers who were on campus to learn more about Georgia Tech research and initiatives.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Robotarium is a $2.5 million facility funded by the National Science Foundation and Office of Naval Research. It allows researchers around the world to upload their own code, then have Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s rolling and flying swarm robots perform the experiment. Afterwards the researcher is sent data and video.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEgerstedt, executive director of Georgia Tech\u0026#39;s Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines, dreamed up the lab about two years ago. It\u0026rsquo;s expensive to build and maintain robots, let alone an entire robotics facility. He wanted more people to have access.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026ldquo;It irritated me, and it still does, that robotics research is largely a resource competition and not a \u0026lsquo;who has the best ideas\u0026rsquo; competition,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;The Robotarium is solving that. If you have a good idea, you should have a platform to try it.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHundreds of students visited the lab after the ribbon-cutting ceremony for an open house. The Robotarium team conducted several experiments, including flying quadcopters able to change formation without crashing into each other.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers can upload their programs and run experiments for free by visiting \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.robotarium.org\u0022\u003Ewww.robotarium.org\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/sh\/8zggs41l9vip95f\/AACVlYDyGJJBdwmcIEYxUkxqa?dl=0\u0022\u003ESee photos from the ribbon cutting. \u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Robot cuts a ribbon to unveil the Robotarium"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Robotarium held its grand opening on Tuesday in the Van Leer Building. Appropriately, a scissor-wielding robot (named Snips) cut the ribbon. Later, a researcher from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign skyped into the room to run a live remote experiment.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The nation\u2019s first remote robotics lab, the Robotarium, opens. "}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2017-08-23 13:21:05","changed_gmt":"2017-08-23 13:47:31","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-08-23T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-08-23T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"594829":{"id":"594829","type":"image","title":"Robotarium Ribbon Cutting VIPs","body":null,"created":"1503493994","gmt_created":"2017-08-23 13:13:14","changed":"1503493994","gmt_changed":"2017-08-23 13:13:14","alt":"Ribbon Cutting Ceremony","file":{"fid":"226694","name":"RIBBON CUTTING ROBOTARIUM DSC_6687.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/RIBBON%20CUTTING%20ROBOTARIUM%20DSC_6687.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/RIBBON%20CUTTING%20ROBOTARIUM%20DSC_6687.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":428832,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/RIBBON%20CUTTING%20ROBOTARIUM%20DSC_6687.jpg?itok=KlcyAs0f"}},"594835":{"id":"594835","type":"image","title":"Robotarium in Action","body":null,"created":"1503495418","gmt_created":"2017-08-23 13:36:58","changed":"1503495439","gmt_changed":"2017-08-23 13:37:19","alt":"Robotarium demo","file":{"fid":"226698","name":"watching robots.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/watching%20robots.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/watching%20robots.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":684563,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/watching%20robots.jpg?itok=xlS7b6z0"}},"594834":{"id":"594834","type":"image","title":"Robotarium Ribbon Cutting","body":null,"created":"1503494953","gmt_created":"2017-08-23 13:29:13","changed":"1503494953","gmt_changed":"2017-08-23 13:29:13","alt":"Ribbon Cutting Ceremony","file":{"fid":"226696","name":"Snips cuts ribbon.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Snips%20cuts%20ribbon.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Snips%20cuts%20ribbon.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1021778,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Snips%20cuts%20ribbon.jpg?itok=N7OsuHO_"}}},"media_ids":["594829","594835","594834"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/features\/robotarium-robotics-lab-accessible-all","title":"How the Robotarium was Created"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?time_continue=1\u0026v=W68BmRtUNlw","title":"Watch the Robots (Video)"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.robotics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines"},{"url":"https:\/\/t.co\/TQfGTD8B8f","title":"The Wall Street Journal\u0027s Front Page Story on the Lab"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"142761","name":"IRIM"},{"id":"1255","name":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"id":"1237","name":"College of Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"11528","name":"Magnus Egerstedt"},{"id":"78271","name":"IRIM"},{"id":"169814","name":"Robotarium"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nNational Media Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nmaderer@gatech.edu\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"592731":{"#nid":"592731","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Researcher Provides Expert Testimony to Congress","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGary McMurray testified before a Congressional committee Thursday, offering expert testimony on the importance of agricultural funding, research and innovation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMcMurray leads the Food Processing Technology Division at the Georgia Tech Research Institute. He also develops advanced robotic systems for the food, transportation and biomedical industries.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe spoke before the Senate Committee on Agricultural, Nutrition and Forestry during a hearing titled \u0026ldquo;Agricultural Research: Perspectives on Past and Future Success for the 2018 Farm Bill.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMcMurray stressed the critical role agricultural research plays in meeting future food production demands. While great strides have been made, he said more work must be done.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Transformative innovation is needed,\u0026rdquo; said McMurray, who is also associate director of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines. \u0026ldquo;Transformative innovation moves beyond just improving existing methods and processes to totally re-thinking systems development by creating entirely new systems.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe highlighted some of the work Georgia Tech is doing in conjunction with the University of Georgia to monitor crop health using autonomous systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor example, the institutions are developing ways for unmanned ground vehicles to work in conjunction with unmanned aerial vehicles to enable earlier detection of infected trees and plants and to identify the source of the problem so there can be more targeted intervention to prevent crop losses.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERead McMurray\u0026rsquo;s complete testimony \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.agriculture.senate.gov\/hearings\/agricultural-research-perspectives-on-past-and-future-successes-for-the-2018-farm-bill\u0022\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGary McMurray testified before\u0026nbsp;the Senate Committee on Agricultural, Nutrition and Forestry Thursday.\u0026nbsp; McMurray leads the Food Processing Technology Division at the Georgia Tech Research Institute.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"GTRI\u2019s Gary McMurray spoke about the 2018 Farm Bill, agricultural research before a Senate committee. "}],"uid":"27918","created_gmt":"2017-06-15 15:32:46","changed_gmt":"2017-06-15 20:34:58","author":"Laura Diamond","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-06-15T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-06-15T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"592730":{"id":"592730","type":"image","title":"Gary McMurray headshot","body":null,"created":"1497540557","gmt_created":"2017-06-15 15:29:17","changed":"1497540557","gmt_changed":"2017-06-15 15:29:17","alt":"","file":{"fid":"101100","name":"tbl35227.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tbl35227_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tbl35227_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":742051,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tbl35227_0.jpg?itok=CN_5FCs_"}},"592732":{"id":"592732","type":"image","title":"Gary McMurray Expert Testimony","body":null,"created":"1497541102","gmt_created":"2017-06-15 15:38:22","changed":"1497541102","gmt_changed":"2017-06-15 15:38:22","alt":"","file":{"fid":"225927","name":"Gary McMurray.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Gary%20McMurray.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Gary%20McMurray.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":261303,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Gary%20McMurray.jpg?itok=krN1NOjx"}}},"media_ids":["592730","592732"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"155","name":"Congressional Testimony"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"78271","name":"IRIM"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"669","name":"agriculture"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"106361","name":"Business and Economic Development"},{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nNational Media Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nmaderer@gatech.edu\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-660-2926\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["laura.diamond@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"592685":{"#nid":"592685","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Robot Uses Deep Learning and Big Data to Write and Play its Own Music","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA marimba-playing robot with four arms and eight sticks is writing and playing its own compositions in a lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The pieces are generated using artificial intelligence and deep learning.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers fed the robot nearly 5,000 complete songs \u0026mdash; from Beethoven to the Beatles to Lady Gaga to Miles Davis \u0026mdash; and more than 2 million motifs, riffs and licks of music. Aside from giving the machine a seed, or the first four measures to use as a starting point, no humans are involved in either the composition or the performance of the music.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe first two compositions are roughly 30 seconds in length. The robot, named Shimon, can be seen and heard playing them \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=j82nYLOnKtM\u0022\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=6MSk5PP9KUA\u0022\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPh.D. student Mason Bretan is the man behind the machine. He\u0026rsquo;s worked with Shimon for seven years, enabling it to \u0026ldquo;listen\u0026rdquo; to music played by humans and improvise over pre-composed chord progressions. Now Shimon is a solo composer for the first time, generating the melody and harmonic structure on its own.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Once Shimon learns the four measures we provide, it creates its own sequence of concepts and composes its own piece,\u0026rdquo; said Bretan, who will receive his doctorate in music technology this summer at Georgia Tech. \u0026ldquo;Shimon\u0026rsquo;s compositions represent how music sounds and looks when a robot uses deep neural networks to learn everything it knows about music from millions of human-made segments.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBretan says this is the first time a robot has used deep learning to create music. And unlike its days of improvising, when it played monophonically, Shimon is able to play harmonies and chords. It\u0026rsquo;s also thinking much more like a human musician, focusing less on the next note, as it did before, and more on the overall structure of the composition. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;When we play or listen to music, we don\u0026rsquo;t think about the next note and only that next note,\u0026rdquo; said Bretan. \u0026ldquo;An artist has a bigger idea of what he or she is trying to achieve within the next few measures or later in the piece. Shimon is now coming up with higher-level musical semantics. Rather than thinking note by note, it has a larger idea of what it wants to play as a whole.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShimon was created by Bretan\u0026rsquo;s advisor, Gil Weinberg, director of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Center for Music Technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This is a leap in Shimon\u0026rsquo;s musical quality because it\u0026rsquo;s using deep learning to create a more structured and coherent composition,\u0026rdquo; said Weinberg, a professor in the School of Music. \u0026ldquo;We want to explore whether robots could become musically creative and generate new music that we humans could find beautiful, inspiring and strange.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShimon will create more pieces in the future. As long as the researchers feed it a different seed, the robot will produce something different each time \u0026mdash; music that the researchers can\u0026rsquo;t predict. In the first piece, Bretan fed Shimon a melody comprised of eighth notes. It received a sixteenth note melody the second time, which influenced it to generate faster note sequences.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBretan acknowledges that he can\u0026rsquo;t pick out individual songs that Shimon is referencing. He is able to recognize classical chord progression and influences of artists, such as Mozart, for example.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026ldquo;They sound like a fusion of jazz and classical,\u0026rdquo; said Bretan, who plays the keyboards and guitar in his free time. \u0026ldquo;I definitely hear more classical, especially in the harmony. But then I hear chromatic moving steps in the first piece \u0026mdash; that\u0026rsquo;s definitely something you hear in jazz.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShimon\u0026rsquo;s debut as a solo composer was featured in a video clip in the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) keynote and will have its first live performance at the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.aspenideas.org\/\u0022\u003EAspen Ideas Festival\u003C\/a\u003E at the end of June. It\u0026rsquo;s the latest project within Weinberg\u0026rsquo;s lab. He and his students have also created a \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/2014\/03\/05\/robotic-prosthesis-turns-drummer-three-armed-cyborg\u0022\u003Erobotic prosthesis for a drummer\u003C\/a\u003E, a \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/2016\/02\/17\/wearable-robot-transforms-musicians-three-armed-drummers\u0022\u003Erobotic third arm for all drummers\u003C\/a\u003E, and an \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3ShaUMM0H-g\u0022\u003Einteractive robotic companion that plays music from a phone and dances to the beat\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Compositions created using database of well-known pop, classical and jazz artists"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers fed a robot nearly 5,000 complete songs \u0026mdash; from Beethoven to the Beatles to Lady Gaga to Miles Davis \u0026mdash; and more than 2 million motifs, riffs and licks of music. The four-armed, marimba-playing machine is using deep learning to write and play its own music.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A marimba-playing robot with four arms and eight sticks is writing and playing its own compositions in the School of Music."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2017-06-13 20:58:17","changed_gmt":"2017-06-13 20:58:17","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-06-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-06-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"592682":{"id":"592682","type":"image","title":"Shimon  ","body":null,"created":"1497386963","gmt_created":"2017-06-13 20:49:23","changed":"1497386963","gmt_changed":"2017-06-13 20:49:23","alt":"Shimon","file":{"fid":"225900","name":"10C2064-P1-005.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/10C2064-P1-005.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/10C2064-P1-005.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":317975,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/10C2064-P1-005.jpg?itok=6H-sS2iN"}},"592683":{"id":"592683","type":"image","title":"Shimon, Musical Robot","body":null,"created":"1497387116","gmt_created":"2017-06-13 20:51:56","changed":"1497387116","gmt_changed":"2017-06-13 20:51:56","alt":"Shimon ","file":{"fid":"225901","name":"10C2064-P1-039.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/10C2064-P1-039.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/10C2064-P1-039.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":240254,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/10C2064-P1-039.jpg?itok=JGnk--mS"}}},"media_ids":["592682","592683"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtcmt.gatech.edu\/","title":"Center for Music Technology"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/2014\/03\/05\/robotic-prosthesis-turns-drummer-three-armed-cyborg","title":"Robotic Prosthesis for Drummers"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/2016\/02\/17\/wearable-robot-transforms-musicians-three-armed-drummers","title":"Robotic Third Arm for All Drummers"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1221","name":"College of Design"},{"id":"60381","name":"CMT - Center for Music Technology"},{"id":"1227","name":"School of Music"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"169304","name":"Shimon"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"167096","name":"school of music"},{"id":"1939","name":"Gil Weinberg"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"},{"id":"71901","name":"Society and Culture"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nNational Media Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nmaderer@gatech.edu\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"590743":{"#nid":"590743","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Swarms of Autonomous Aerial Vehicles Test New Dogfighting Skills","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAerial dogfighting began more than a century ago in the skies over Europe with propeller-driven fighter aircraft carried aloft on wings of fabric and wood. An event held recently in southern California could mark the beginning of a new chapter in this form of aerial combat.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn what may have been the first aerial encounter of its kind, researchers from the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E and Naval Postgraduate School recently pitted two swarms of autonomous aircraft against one another over a military test facility. While the friendly encounter may not have qualified as an old-fashioned dogfight, it provided the first example of a live engagement between two swarms of unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), and allowed the two teams to demonstrate different combat tactics in flight.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The ability to engage a swarm of threat UAVs with another autonomous swarm is an area of critical research for defense applications,\u0026rdquo; said Don Davis, division chief of the Robotics and Autonomous Systems Branch of the Georgia Tech Research Institute. \u0026ldquo;This experiment demonstrated the advances made in collaborative autonomy and the ability of a team of unmanned vehicles to execute complex missions. This encounter will serve to advance and inform future efforts in developing autonomous vehicle capabilities.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEach team launched ten small propeller-driven Zephyr aircraft, though two of the aircraft experienced technical issues at launch and were unable to compete, resulting in a 10 versus 8 competition. Although the UAVs were physically identical, their computers used different autonomy logic, collaboration approaches, and communications software developed by the two institutions. GPS tracking allowed each aircraft to know the location of the others for this demonstration. In the future, this information will be provided by on-board cameras, radars, and other sensors and payloads.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEach aircraft used a single-board mission computer, and for this demonstration, an open-source autopilot maintained flight control. The aircraft also had Wi-Fi systems that allowed them to communicate with other aircraft and with a ground station.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Both teams were trying to solve the same problem of flying a large swarm in a meaningful mission, and we came up with solutions that were similar in some ways and different in others,\u0026rdquo; said Charles Pippin, a senior research scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute. \u0026ldquo;By comparing how well each approach worked in the air, we were able to compare strategies and tactics on platforms capable of the same flight dynamics.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe foam-wing aircraft couldn\u0026rsquo;t actually shoot at one another, so a ground computer determined when an aircraft would have been in a position to attack another aircraft. The swarm teams flew three different sorties to compare different algorithms. The event took place February 9, 2017 at Camp Roberts, a California National Guard facility in Monterey County, Calif.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe two institutions have been working together since 2015 on issues involving collaborative autonomy \u0026ndash; the ability of autonomous vehicles to work together to accomplish a given task. The Georgia Tech researchers have been using aircraft known as Skywalkers that are similar to the Zephyrs used by the Naval Postgraduate School.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This was a very successful test,\u0026rdquo; said Davis. \u0026ldquo;It gave us, as far as I know, the first actual experimentation of flying two autonomous swarms of UAVs against one another with no human control, other than sending high level commands or sending a message to engage. We were really trying to understand how different autonomy tactics work against other autonomy tactics.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor each UAV, the autonomy algorithms were fully in control of the aircraft, but a safety pilot stood by to take control of any aircraft if necessary. \u0026nbsp;The autopilots also had built in safety constraints, such as airspace boundaries and ranges.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESuch aerial demonstrations are the third step in the process that the Georgia Tech team uses to test its autonomy systems, Pippin said. As a first step, tactics are rapidly tested on a simulator that runs 30 times faster than real time. Next, promising approaches are tested on a full software stack that includes a high-resolution simulation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We run hardware-in-the-loop simulations where we have the actual algorithms running on the hardware we fly,\u0026rdquo; said Pippin. \u0026ldquo;The full software stack includes the autonomy logic, communications systems, collaboration algorithms and other software that is then inserted directly into the actual aircraft. In the third step, the tactics are flown on the aircraft on test ranges. In this case, we used the Zephrys and flew the swarms at Camp Roberts.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech researchers are using machine learning to help their autonomy system optimize performance and recognize under which circumstances a particular tactic may be advantageous.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Right now, we\u0026rsquo;re more interested in the research questions about autonomous coordination among the vehicles and the tactical behavior of the groups of vehicles,\u0026rdquo; Pippin explained. \u0026ldquo;We are focusing our efforts on how these vehicles cooperate and want to understand what it means for them to operate as a team.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDogfighting tactics have advanced dramatically since the World War I, but the advent of UAV swarms may bring a brand new set of challenges. Unmanned vehicles have freedom to dive, bank, and climb at rates human pilots cannot tolerate. But the real advantage may be in computing power that could track dozens of adversaries \u0026ndash; far more than any human pilot could do \u0026ndash; and develop new ways to address challenges.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Autonomous techniques using machine learning may identify new tactics that a human would never think of,\u0026rdquo; added Davis. \u0026ldquo;Humans tend to base their techniques on tactics that manned fighters have used in the past. These autonomous aircraft may invoke new strategies.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition those already named, the Georgia Tech Research Institute team that supported the swarm demonstration included Michael Day, Kevin DeMarco, David Jensen, Rick Presley, and Evan Hammac. Others supporting the project included Michael Matthews, Eric Squires, Rob Bever, Ethan\u0026nbsp;Trewhitt, and students Laura Strickland, Avery Leonard, Natalie Rakoski, and Jeremy Feltracco.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu) or Ben Brumfield (404-385-1933) (ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn what may have been the first aerial encounter of its kind, researchers recently pitted two swarms of autonomous aircraft against one another over a military test facility. While the friendly encounter may not have qualified as an old-fashioned dogfight, it provided the first example of a live engagement between two swarms of unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), and allowed the two teams to demonstrate different combat tactics in flight.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers recently pitted two swarms of autonomous aircraft against one another."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2017-04-21 13:38:04","changed_gmt":"2017-05-02 21:38:48","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-04-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-04-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"590739":{"id":"590739","type":"image","title":"Launching autonomous aircraft","body":null,"created":"1492780974","gmt_created":"2017-04-21 13:22:54","changed":"1492780974","gmt_changed":"2017-04-21 13:22:54","alt":"Launching autonomous aircraft for swarm demonstration","file":{"fid":"225065","name":"autonomous-dogfight7.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/autonomous-dogfight7.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/autonomous-dogfight7.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":531300,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/autonomous-dogfight7.jpg?itok=IjZZ31NS"}},"590740":{"id":"590740","type":"image","title":"Preparing autonomous aircraft for demonstration","body":null,"created":"1492781117","gmt_created":"2017-04-21 13:25:17","changed":"1492781294","gmt_changed":"2017-04-21 13:28:14","alt":"Preparing autonomous aircraft for flight ","file":{"fid":"225066","name":"autonomous-dogfight1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/autonomous-dogfight1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/autonomous-dogfight1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1123782,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/autonomous-dogfight1.jpg?itok=S6t3OxaJ"}},"590741":{"id":"590741","type":"image","title":"Autonomous aircraft group in flight","body":null,"created":"1492781245","gmt_created":"2017-04-21 13:27:25","changed":"1492781245","gmt_changed":"2017-04-21 13:27:25","alt":"Autonomous aircraft group in flight","file":{"fid":"225067","name":"autonomous-dogfight17.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/autonomous-dogfight17.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/autonomous-dogfight17.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":466889,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/autonomous-dogfight17.jpg?itok=G18-_E1r"}},"590742":{"id":"590742","type":"image","title":"GTRI researchers preparing for autonomous aircraft demonstration","body":null,"created":"1492781412","gmt_created":"2017-04-21 13:30:12","changed":"1492781412","gmt_changed":"2017-04-21 13:30:12","alt":"GTRI researchers preparing for autonomous aircraft demonstration","file":{"fid":"225068","name":"autonomous-dogfight99.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/autonomous-dogfight99.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/autonomous-dogfight99.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":550507,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/autonomous-dogfight99.jpg?itok=-DMDbnF1"}}},"media_ids":["590739","590740","590741","590742"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"415","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"1500","name":"UAV"},{"id":"174108","name":"autonomous aircraft"},{"id":"174109","name":"dogfighting"},{"id":"137281","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"590772":{"#nid":"590772","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Autism and Computing","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAcross Georgia Tech, researchers, faculty members, and students from every discipline are devoted to finding the causes of and effective treatments for autism.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEach week in April, we will publish more stories about\u0026nbsp;our autism-related work.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch5\u003EWEEK ONE: \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/features\/bringing-autism-spectrum-focus#computing\u0022\u003EAutism and Computing\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/h5\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Autism research in computing runs the gamut from helping clinicians diagnose and manage the disorder to informing research in artificial intelligence."}],"uid":"27948","created_gmt":"2017-04-21 18:36:25","changed_gmt":"2017-04-21 18:36:25","author":"Jennifer Tomasino","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-04-11T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-04-11T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"590771":{"id":"590771","type":"image","title":"Autism and Computing","body":null,"created":"1492799749","gmt_created":"2017-04-21 18:35:49","changed":"1492799749","gmt_changed":"2017-04-21 18:35:49","alt":"Autism and Computing","file":{"fid":"225079","name":"autism-computing-mercury-thumb.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/autism-computing-mercury-thumb.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/autism-computing-mercury-thumb.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":79125,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/autism-computing-mercury-thumb.jpg?itok=RuB1YWKF"}}},"media_ids":["590771"],"groups":[{"id":"1300","name":"Institute Communications"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"6053","name":"Autism"},{"id":"208","name":"computing"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMichael Terrazas\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector\u0026nbsp;of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Tech College of Computing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n(o) 404.385.7225\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n(c) 404.245.0707\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Ca href=\u0022applewebdata:\/\/A80EC028-FDBD-44C4-9FC4-15608E385584\/cc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ewww.cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["mterraza@cc.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"550391":{"#nid":"550391","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Robot Helps Study How First Land Animals Moved 360 Million Years Ago","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen early terrestrial animals began moving about on mud and sand 360 million years ago, the powerful tails they used as fish may have been more important than scientists previously realized. That\u2019s one conclusion from a new study of African mudskipper fish and a robot modeled on the animal.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnimals analogous to the mudskipper would have used modified fins to move around on flat surfaces, but for climbing sandy slopes, the animals could have benefitted from using their tails to propel themselves forward, the researchers found. Results of the study, reported July 8 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E, could help designers create amphibious robots able to move across granular surfaces more efficiently \u2013 and with less likelihood of getting stuck in the mud.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESponsored by the National Science Foundation, the Army Research Office and the Army Research Laboratory, the project involved a multidisciplinary team of physicists, biologists and roboticists from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Clemson University and Carnegie Mellon University. In addition to a detailed study of the mudskipper and development of a robot model that used the animal\u2019s locomotion techniques, the study also examined flow and drag conditions in representative granular materials, and applied a mathematical model incorporating new physics based on the drag research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMost robots have trouble moving on terrain that includes sandy slopes,\u201d said Dan Goldman, an associate professor in the Georgia Tech School of Physics. \u201cWe noted that not only did the mudskippers use their limbs to propel themselves in a kind of crutching motion on sand and sandy slopes, but that when the going got tough, they used their tails in concert with limb propulsion to ascend a slope. Our robot model was only able to climb sandy slopes when it similarly used its tail in coordination with its appendages.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBased on fossil records, scientists have long studied how early land animals may have gotten around, and the new study suggests their tails \u2013 which played a key role in swimming as fish \u2013 may have helped supplement the work of fins, especially on sloping granular surfaces such as beaches and mudflats.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe were interested in examining one of the most important evolutionary events in our history as animals: the transition from living in water to living on land,\u201d said Richard Blob, alumni distinguished professor of biological sciences at Clemson University. \u201cBecause of the focus on limbs, the role of the tail may not have been considered very strongly in the past. In some ways, it was hiding in plain sight. Some of the features that the animals used were new, such as limbs, but some of them were existing features that they simply co-opted to allow them to move into a new habitat.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith Ph.D. student Sandy Kawano, now a researcher at the National Institute for \u0026nbsp;Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, Blob\u2019s lab recorded how the mudskippers (\u003Cem\u003EPeriopthalmus barbaratus\u003C\/em\u003E) moved on a variety of loose surfaces, providing data and video to Goldman\u2019s laboratory. The small fish, which uses its front fins and tail to move on land, lives in tidal areas near shore, spending time in the water and on sandy and muddy surfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBenjamin McInroe was a Georgia Tech undergraduate when he analyzed the mudskipper data provided by the Clemson team. He applied the principles to a robot model known as MuddyBot that has two limbs and a powerful tail, with motion provided by electric motors. Information from both the mudskipper and robotic studies were also factored into a mathematical model provided by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe used three complementary approaches,\u201d said McInroe, who is a now a Ph.D. student at the University of California Berkeley. \u201cThe fish provided a morphological, functional model of these early walkers. With the robot, we are able to simplify the complexity of the mudskipper and by varying the parameters, understand the physical mechanisms of what was happening. With the mathematical model and its simulations, we were able to understand the physics behind what was going on.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBoth the mudskippers and the robot moved by lifting themselves up to reduce drag on their bodies, and both needed a kick from their tails to climb 20-degree sandy slopes. Using their \u201cfins\u201d alone, both struggled to climb slopes and often slid backward if they didn\u2019t use their tails, McInroe noted. Early land animals likely didn\u2019t have precise control over their limbs, and the tail may have compensated for that limitation, helping the animals ascend sandy slopes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Carnegie Mellon University researchers, who have worked with Goldman on relating the locomotion of other animals to robots, demonstrated that theoretical models developed to describe the complex motion of robots can also be used to understand locomotion in the natural world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur computer modeling tools allow us to visualize, and therefore better understand, how the mudskipper incorporates its tail and flipper motions to locomote,\u201d said Howie Choset, a professor in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. \u201cThis work also will advance robotics in those cases where a robot needs to surmount challenging terrains with various inclinations.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe model was based on a framework proposed to broadly understand locomotion by physicist Frank Wilczek \u2013 a Nobel Prize winner \u2013 and his then student Alfred Shapere in the 1980s. The so-called \u201cgeometric mechanics\u201d approach to locomotion of human-made devices (like satellites) was largely developed by engineers, including those in Choset\u2019s group. To provide force relationships as inputs to the mudskipper robot model, Georgia Tech postdoctoral fellow Jennifer Rieser and Georgia Tech graduate student Perrin Schiebel measured drag in inclined granular materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInformation from the study could help in the design of robots that may need to move on surfaces such as sand that flows around limbs, said Goldman. Such flow of the substrate can impede motion, depending on the shape of the appendage entering the sand and the type of motion.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut the study\u2019s most significant impact may be to provide new insights into how vertebrates made the transition from water to land.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe want to ultimately know how natural selection can act to modify structures already present in organisms to allow for locomotion in a fundamentally different environment,\u201d Goldman said. \u201cSwimming and walking on land are fundamentally different, yet these early animals had to make the transition.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project also represents a combination of physics, biology and engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cProfessor Goldman and his collaborators are combining physics and engineering prototyping approaches to understand the physical principles that allow animals to move in different environments,\u201d said Krastan Blagoev, program director in the National Science Foundation\u2019s Division of Physics. \u201cThis novel approach to living organisms promises to bring to biological sciences higher predictive power and at the same time uncover engineering principles that we have never imagined before.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, the project also included co-first author Henry Astley, a Georgia Tech postdoctoral researcher when the project was done, and Chaohui Gong, a postdoctoral researcher at Carnegie Mellon University.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the NSF Physics of Living Systems program through grants PHY-1205878, PHY-1150760, CMMI-1361778; the Army Research Office through grant W911NF-11-1-0514, and the Army Research Laboratory MAST CTA program. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation, the Army Research Office or the Army Research Laboratory. The Robotics Collaborative Technology Alliance also supported this work.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Benjamin McInroe, et al., \u201cTail use improves soft substrate performance in models of early vertebrate land locomotors,\u201d (Science, 2016).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Ben Brumfield (404-385-1933) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen early terrestrial animals began moving about on mud and sand 360 million years ago, the powerful tails they used as fish may have been more important than scientists previously realized. That\u2019s one conclusion from a new study of African mudskipper fish and a robot modeled on the animal.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study used a robot to help understand how the first land animals moved about."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2016-07-04 11:19:27","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:22:04","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-07-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-07-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"550231":{"id":"550231","type":"image","title":"Mudskipper","body":null,"created":"1467727200","gmt_created":"2016-07-05 14:00:00","changed":"1475895345","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:45","alt":"Mudskipper","file":{"fid":"218158","name":"mudskipper10.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mudskipper10.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mudskipper10.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1952755,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mudskipper10.jpg?itok=oqlg93iY"}},"550261":{"id":"550261","type":"image","title":"MuddyBot robot","body":null,"created":"1467727200","gmt_created":"2016-07-05 14:00:00","changed":"1475895345","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:45","alt":"MuddyBot robot","file":{"fid":"218161","name":"terrestrial-animals7.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terrestrial-animals7_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terrestrial-animals7_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1571007,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/terrestrial-animals7_0.jpg?itok=-bXh3wO6"}},"550271":{"id":"550271","type":"image","title":"Dan Goldman and MuddyBot","body":null,"created":"1467727200","gmt_created":"2016-07-05 14:00:00","changed":"1475895345","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:45","alt":"Dan Goldman and MuddyBot","file":{"fid":"218162","name":"muddybot-36.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/muddybot-36.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/muddybot-36.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2013666,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/muddybot-36.jpg?itok=4BpM8Sf6"}},"550331":{"id":"550331","type":"image","title":"MuddyBot in trackway","body":null,"created":"1467727200","gmt_created":"2016-07-05 14:00:00","changed":"1475895345","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:45","alt":"MuddyBot in trackway","file":{"fid":"218168","name":"terrestrial-animals8.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terrestrial-animals8.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terrestrial-animals8.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2190786,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/terrestrial-animals8.jpg?itok=MtiKWm0h"}},"550291":{"id":"550291","type":"image","title":"Researchers and MuddyBot","body":null,"created":"1467727200","gmt_created":"2016-07-05 14:00:00","changed":"1475895345","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:45","alt":"Researchers and MuddyBot","file":{"fid":"218164","name":"terrestrial-animals6.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terrestrial-animals6_2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terrestrial-animals6_2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1692602,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/terrestrial-animals6_2.jpg?itok=C1nHYLuv"}},"550311":{"id":"550311","type":"image","title":"Researchers and MuddyBot2","body":null,"created":"1467727200","gmt_created":"2016-07-05 14:00:00","changed":"1475895345","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:45","alt":"Researchers and MuddyBot2","file":{"fid":"218166","name":"terrestrial-animals5.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terrestrial-animals5.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terrestrial-animals5.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1698116,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/terrestrial-animals5.jpg?itok=AN_U33w3"}},"550351":{"id":"550351","type":"image","title":"Mudskipper2","body":null,"created":"1467727200","gmt_created":"2016-07-05 14:00:00","changed":"1475895345","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:45","alt":"Mudskipper2","file":{"fid":"218170","name":"mudskipper9.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mudskipper9.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mudskipper9.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1851738,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mudskipper9.jpg?itok=t8FWhsj8"}}},"media_ids":["550231","550261","550271","550331","550291","550311","550351"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"47881","name":"Dan Goldman"},{"id":"144361","name":"granular surface"},{"id":"170448","name":"MuddyBot"},{"id":"170449","name":"mudskipper"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"170451","name":"terrestrial animal"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"525971":{"#nid":"525971","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Work to Avoid Potholes and Pitfalls on the Road to Autonomous Vehicles","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAt a dirt test track near the Georgia Institute of Technology campus, researchers monitor a scale-model autonomous car as it drifts around corners at a blistering eight meters per second \u2013 equivalent to 90 miles per hour in a full-size vehicle. Pushing this car to its limits could help make full-size driverless vehicles more stable in risky road conditions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis unique one-fifth-scale device is just one of many research efforts aimed at helping the autonomous vehicle revolution happen successfully and safely.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESelf-driving cars are unquestionably coming, guided variously by radar, lidar, motion sensors, cameras, GPS, and plenty of onboard computation. Already, semi-autonomous prototypes are operating under controlled conditions in California, and speculation about future autonomy includes visions of commuters napping through drive-time, high-speed convoys of networked big-rigs, and a huge drop in accidents as robotic vehicles take over from impaired and distracted humans.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYet these are only visions, where generalizations rule and few facts are established. At Georgia Tech, research focuses on the elusive but critical details of this phenomenon, as investigators from disciplines as diverse as industrial systems, design, engineering, computing, and psychology are developing a roadmap to robotic vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at Georgia Tech generally agree that a long period of adjustment, including generations of semi-autonomous vehicles, will be needed to reach completely autonomous transport on a large scale. Estimates of the time required vary from a couple of decades to more than half a century.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFully autonomous transport will require absolutely reliable navigation systems, major changes in highway infrastructure, and traffic control that\u2019s synched to the vehicle, plus new fueling, insurance, financing, and manufacturing paradigms,\u201d said Vivek Ghosal, a professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Economics, who studies the automotive industry. \u201cYes, we have prototypes, but the operationalizing of autonomy is still far away.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA four-level model of the vehicular-automation process is now widely accepted. Level one denotes today\u2019s driver-dependent cars; level two involves intelligent cruise and lane control with some automatic braking; level three indicates semi-autonomous vehicles that drive themselves but cede control to a human when conditions demand; and level four means fully autonomous with no driver controls.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at Georgia Tech, focusing on the gritty details, have spotlighted a list of complications that include:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EHuman-machine interaction issues.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ECostly highway infrastructure changes.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EUnpredictable traffic effects.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EConflicts between self-driving and human-driven vehicles.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EGuidance system reliability concerns.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EVehicle ownership, liability, and business model shifts.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EPotential for major changes to the urban landscape.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis article takes a look at some of the research currently underway at Georgia Tech related to self-driving vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERead the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/rolling-robots\u0022\u003Ecomplete feature\u003C\/a\u003E on the Research Horizons website\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAt Georgia Tech, research focuses on the elusive but critical details of bringing autonomous vehicles to reality, as investigators from disciplines as diverse as industrial systems, design, engineering, computing, and psychology are developing a roadmap to robotic vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers are focusing on the details of bringing autonomous vehicles to reality."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2016-04-17 21:42:51","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:21:21","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-04-17T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-04-17T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"526121":{"id":"526121","type":"image","title":"Autonomous Racing Car","body":null,"created":"1461078000","gmt_created":"2016-04-19 15:00:00","changed":"1475895298","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:58","alt":"Autonomous Racing Car","file":{"fid":"205513","name":"autonomous_race.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/autonomous_race_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/autonomous_race_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1443753,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/autonomous_race_0.jpg?itok=gsNcUw49"}},"526111":{"id":"526111","type":"image","title":"Valerie Thomas at Substation","body":null,"created":"1461078000","gmt_created":"2016-04-19 15:00:00","changed":"1475895298","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:58","alt":"Valerie Thomas at Substation","file":{"fid":"205512","name":"valerie-thomas.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/valerie-thomas_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/valerie-thomas_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2661592,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/valerie-thomas_1.jpg?itok=nehFTiJJ"}}},"media_ids":["526121","526111"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"137","name":"Architecture"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"6503","name":"automation"},{"id":"97281","name":"autonomous vehicles"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"171930","name":"self-driving"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"145171","name":"Cybersecurity"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"507361":{"#nid":"507361","#data":{"type":"news","title":"In Emergencies, Should You Trust a Robot?","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn emergencies, people may trust robots too much for their own safety, a new study suggests. In a mock building fire, test subjects followed instructions from an \u201cEmergency Guide Robot\u201d even after the machine had proven itself unreliable \u2013 and after some participants were told that robot had broken down.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research was designed to determine whether or not building occupants would trust a robot designed to help them evacuate a high-rise in case of fire or other emergency. But the researchers were surprised to find that the test subjects followed the robot\u2019s instructions \u2013 even when the machine\u2019s behavior should not have inspired trust.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research, believed to be the first to study human-robot trust in an emergency situation, is scheduled to be presented March 9 at the 2016 ACM\/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI 2016) in Christchurch, New Zealand.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cPeople seem to believe that these robotic systems know more about the world than they really do, and that they would never make mistakes or have any kind of fault,\u201d said Alan Wagner, a senior research engineer in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E (GTRI). \u201cIn our studies, test subjects followed the robot\u2019s directions even to the point where it might have put them in danger had this been a real emergency.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the study, sponsored in part by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), the researchers recruited a group of 42 volunteers, most of them college students, and asked them to follow a brightly colored robot that had the words \u201cEmergency Guide Robot\u201d on its side. The robot led the study subjects to a conference room, where they were asked to complete a survey about robots and read an unrelated magazine article. The subjects were not told the true nature of the research project.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn some cases, the robot \u2013 which was controlled by a hidden researcher \u2013 led the volunteers into the wrong room and traveled around in a circle twice before entering the conference room. For several test subjects, the robot stopped moving, and an experimenter told the subjects that the robot had broken down. Once the subjects were in the conference room with the door closed, the hallway through which the participants had entered the building was filled with artificial smoke, which set off a smoke alarm.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen the test subjects opened the conference room door, they saw the smoke \u2013 and the robot, which was then brightly-lit with red LEDs and white \u201carms\u201d that served as pointers. The robot directed the subjects to an exit in the back of the building instead of toward the doorway \u2013 marked with exit signs \u2013 that had been used to enter the building.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe expected that if the robot had proven itself untrustworthy in guiding them to the conference room, that people wouldn\u2019t follow it during the simulated emergency,\u201d said Paul Robinette, a GTRI research engineer who conducted the study as part of his doctoral dissertation. \u201cInstead, all of the volunteers followed the robot\u2019s instructions, no matter how well it had performed previously. We absolutely didn\u2019t expect this.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers surmise that in the scenario they studied, the robot may have become an \u201cauthority figure\u201d that the test subjects were more likely to trust in the time pressure of an emergency. In simulation-based research done without a realistic emergency scenario, test subjects did not trust a robot that had previously made mistakes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese are just the type of human-robot experiments that we as roboticists should be investigating,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff-directory\/ayanna-maccalla-howard\u0022\u003EAyanna Howard\u003C\/a\u003E, professor and Linda J. and Mark C. Smith Chair in the Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cWe need to ensure that our robots, when placed in situations that evoke trust, are also designed to mitigate that trust when trust is detrimental to the human.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOnly when the robot made obvious errors during the emergency part of the experiment did the participants question its directions. In those cases, some subjects still followed the robot\u2019s instructions even when it directed them toward a darkened room that was blocked by furniture. \u003Cbr \/\u003EIn future research, the scientists hope to learn more about why the test subjects trusted the robot, whether that response differs by education level or demographics, and how the robots themselves might indicate the level of trust that should be given to them.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research is part of a long-term study of how humans trust robots, an important issue as robots play a greater role in society. The researchers envision using groups of robots stationed in high-rise buildings to point occupants toward exits and urge them to evacuate during emergencies. Research has shown that people often don\u2019t leave buildings when fire alarms sound, and that they sometimes ignore nearby emergency exits in favor of more familiar building entrances.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut in light of these findings, the researchers are reconsidering the questions they should ask.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe wanted to ask the question about whether people would be willing to trust these rescue robots,\u201d said Wagner. \u201cA more important question now might be to ask how to prevent them from trusting these robots too much.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond emergency situations, there are other issues of trust in human-robot relationships, said Robinette.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWould people trust a hamburger-making robot to provide them with food?\u201d he asked. \u201cIf a robot carried a sign saying it was a \u2018child-care robot,\u2019 would people leave their babies with it? Will people put their children into an autonomous vehicle and trust it to take them to grandma\u2019s house? We don\u2019t know why people trust or don\u2019t trust machines.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, the research included Wenchen Li and Robert Allen, graduate research assistants in Georgia Tech\u2019s College of Computing.The researchers would like to thank Larry Labbe and the Georgia Tech Fire Safety Office for their support during this research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ESupport for this research was provided by the Linda J. and Mark C. Smith Chair in Bioengineering, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) under contract FA9550-13-1-0169. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the AFOSR.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Paul Robinette, Wenchen Li, Robert Allen, Ayanna M. Howard and Alan R. Wagner, \u201cOvertrust of Robots in Emergency Evacuation Scenarios,\u201d (2016 ACM\/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction) (HRI 2016).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn emergencies, people may trust robots too much for their own safety, a new study suggests. In a mock building fire, test subjects followed instructions from an \u201cEmergency Guide Robot\u201d even after the machine had proven itself unreliable \u2013 and after some participants were told that robot had broken down.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"In emergencies, people may trust robots too much, a new study has found."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2016-02-29 11:20:13","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:20:53","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-02-29T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2016-02-29T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"507241":{"id":"507241","type":"image","title":"Trusting a Rescue Robot","body":null,"created":"1456765200","gmt_created":"2016-02-29 17:00:00","changed":"1475895268","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:28","alt":"Trusting a Rescue Robot","file":{"fid":"204883","name":"rescue-robot4.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rescue-robot4_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rescue-robot4_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1100016,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rescue-robot4_0.jpg?itok=P9fhoFX8"}},"507251":{"id":"507251","type":"image","title":"Trusting a Rescue Robot2","body":null,"created":"1456765200","gmt_created":"2016-02-29 17:00:00","changed":"1475895268","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:28","alt":"Trusting a Rescue Robot2","file":{"fid":"204884","name":"rescue-robot6.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rescue-robot6_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rescue-robot6_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1250951,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rescue-robot6_1.jpg?itok=gMAEJ2pC"}},"507271":{"id":"507271","type":"image","title":"Trusting a Rescue Robot3","body":null,"created":"1456765200","gmt_created":"2016-02-29 17:00:00","changed":"1475895268","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:28","alt":"Trusting a Rescue Robot3","file":{"fid":"204886","name":"rescue-robot2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rescue-robot2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rescue-robot2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1662919,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rescue-robot2_0.jpg?itok=EkWrrmWE"}},"507281":{"id":"507281","type":"image","title":"Rescue Robot pointing","body":null,"created":"1456765200","gmt_created":"2016-02-29 17:00:00","changed":"1475895263","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:23","alt":"Rescue Robot pointing","file":{"fid":"204783","name":"rescue-robot9.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rescue-robot9_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rescue-robot9_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1388166,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rescue-robot9_0.jpg?itok=SPki1w1-"}},"507291":{"id":"507291","type":"image","title":"Rescue Robot researchers","body":null,"created":"1456765200","gmt_created":"2016-02-29 17:00:00","changed":"1475895268","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:28","alt":"Rescue Robot researchers","file":{"fid":"204887","name":"rescue-robot1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rescue-robot1_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rescue-robot1_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1277832,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rescue-robot1_0.jpg?itok=dqDoWJZc"}},"507311":{"id":"507311","type":"image","title":"Trusting a Rescue Robot4","body":null,"created":"1456765200","gmt_created":"2016-02-29 17:00:00","changed":"1475895268","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:28","alt":"Trusting a Rescue Robot4","file":{"fid":"204889","name":"rescue-robot8.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rescue-robot8_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rescue-robot8_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1288761,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rescue-robot8_0.jpg?itok=Fn6c8hdd"}}},"media_ids":["507241","507251","507271","507281","507291","507311"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"825","name":"Ayanna Howard"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"78841","name":"human-robot interaction"},{"id":"110751","name":"rescue robot"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"503171":{"#nid":"503171","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Zyrobotics wins $750K National Science Foundation grant","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded Zyrobotics a $750,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant that continues the startup\u2019s work in developing an accessible educational platform for children with special needs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELaunched in September 2013 by Ayanna Howard, the\u0026nbsp;Linda J. and Mark C. Smith Chair professor in the Georgia Institute of Technology\u2019s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the company is commercializing assistive technology that enables children with limited mobility to operate tablet computers, smartphones, toys, gaming apps, and interactive robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are extremely excited about the opportunities that this NSF SBIR grant provides,\u201d said Howard, who is the company\u2019s chief technology officer. \u201cIt helps Zyrobotics to continue to evolve as a leader in inclusive smart mobile technologies by enhancing our ability to develop accessible learning systems that\u0026nbsp;engage and empower children with special needs and enhance their quality of life.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESpecifically, the Phase II project aims to focus on the development of an accessible educational platform that combines mobile interfaces and adaptive educational tablet applications (apps) to support the requirements of children with special needs. While tablet devices have given those children an interactive experience that has revolutionized their learning, in its proposal, Zyrobotics notes that while\u0026nbsp;some\u0026nbsp;tablet devices are intuitive in use and easy for lots of kids, those with disabilities are largely overlooked due to difficulties in effecting pinch-and-swipe gestures.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis project thus addresses a direct need in our society by providing an integrated educational experience, focused on math education that addresses the diverse needs of children, while providing a solution for variations found in their disabilities,\u201d the company wrote in its grant proposal. \u201cThis SBIR Phase II project addresses an unmet need by developing an innovative solution to enable children with motor disabilities access to mobile devices and apps that could engage them fully into the educational system.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn this next phase, Howard and her team plan to design accessible math apps geared to children with or without disabilities in kindergarten through 12th grade. The company also plans to\u0026nbsp;design another set of apps that adapt educational content and provide feedback to parents and teachers based on real-time analytics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe company says it sees ample market opportunity for its products both domestically and abroad. Here in the United States, children with disabilities are entitled to a free and appropriate public education, and Zyrobotics sees its products as addressing that need from both a commercial and societal standpoint. Worldwide, more than\u0026nbsp;93 million children live with a disability.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen founded, the company went through Georgia Tech\u2019s\u0026nbsp;VentureLab\u0026nbsp;startup incubator, ranked No. 2 in North America. VentureLab, a unit of Tech\u2019s Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI\u003Csup\u003E2\u003C\/sup\u003E), works with Georgia Tech faculty, students, and staff to help them validate and commercialize their research and ideas into viable companies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EZyrobotics is now part of Tech\u2019s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), a sister startup incubator program that serves all of Georgia. Zyrobotics, with the help of ATDC\u2019s SBIR program, was able to receive its Phase I award in 2015, laying the groundwork for the Phase II grant.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cZyrobotics is a wonderful Georgia Tech startup, based on the fine research in Dr. Howard\u2019s lab, and enhanced by a very successful journey through the NSF I-Corps program,\u201d said Keith McGreggor, VentureLab\u2019s director. \u201cThis is a great example of how the research done in the classroom and lab, followed by idea validation, can lead to real breakthroughs that are designed to have a lasting impact on the lives touched by the technologies that Dr. Howard has created.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2014 P\u00e9ralte C. Paul\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Focus is continued development of accessible education platforms for children with special needs."}],"uid":"28137","created_gmt":"2016-02-18 17:07:50","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:20:49","author":"P\u00e9ralte Paul","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-02-18T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2016-02-18T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"313961":{"id":"313961","type":"image","title":"Ayanna Howard","body":null,"created":"1449244929","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:02:09","changed":"1475895022","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:22","alt":"Ayanna Howard","file":{"fid":"199903","name":"ayannahoward131021br295_web.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ayannahoward131021br295_web_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ayannahoward131021br295_web_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2446492,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ayannahoward131021br295_web_0.jpg?itok=5AMpNX2H"}}},"media_ids":["313961"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"139","name":"Business"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4238","name":"atdc"},{"id":"825","name":"Ayanna Howard"},{"id":"363","name":"NSF"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"167833","name":"SBIR"},{"id":"4193","name":"venturelab"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"106361","name":"Business and Economic Development"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELaura Diamond\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["peralte.paul@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"497321":{"#nid":"497321","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Six Finalists Competing for InVenture Prize","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFinalists competing for the 2016 InVenture Prize have invented devices to protect firefighters, give children safe drinking water, and teach us how to play \u201cStairway to Heaven\u201d on guitar.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s InVenture Prize competition is designed to encourage and support undergraduate students\u2019 interest in innovation and entrepreneurship. Once again, more than 500 students signed up for the competition.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis year\u2019s six finalist teams have invented ways to make our lives safer, healthier, and a bit more fun. The teams are:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFireHUD\u003C\/strong\u003E: A display and data monitor that will track and display real-time information to firefighters in hazardous conditions. The goal is to decrease the level of uncertainty firefighters face.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInventors: Zachary Braun, computer engineering; and Tyler Sisk, electrical engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFretWizard\u003C\/strong\u003E: A virtual guitar teacher for students at varying levels. The inventors designed the site to give people a simpler and more intuitive way to learn how to play songs on the guitar.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInventors: Ali Abid, computer science; and Molly Ricks, international affairs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERoboGoalie\u003C\/strong\u003E: An automatic retrieval device that collects a soccer ball and launches it back to the player. Similar to a batting cage, this device gives soccer players the flexibility of practicing alone.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInventors (all mechanical engineering majors): Siu Lun Chan, Ming Him Ko, Zhifeng Su, and Timothy Woo.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETEQ\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003Cstrong\u003ECharging\u003C\/strong\u003E: A power management system for electric vehicle chargers. The technology and design lowers the cost of installing current charge stations and\u0026nbsp;increases efficiency\u0026nbsp;by sequentially charging vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInventors: Dorrier Coleman, computer engineering; Mitchell Kelman, computer science; Joshua Lieberman, mechanical engineering; and Isaac Wittenstein, mechanical engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETruePani\u003C\/strong\u003E: A household sanitation solution, consisting of a passive antimicrobial cup and storage water device that kills harmful microbes in drinking water. This invention was designed for children in rural India who are most affected by waterborne illnesses, but it also could be used in underserved communities worldwide.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInventors: Samantha Becker, civil engineering; Sarah Lynn Bowen, business administration; Naomi Ergun, business administration; and Shannon Evanchec, environmental engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWobble\u003C\/strong\u003E: A device to test a person\u2019s reactive balance. It works like a mechanical bull in that it spins and tilts. It can be programmed to different levels of difficulty, which makes it useful for determining return-to-play protocols for athletes who have suffered a concussion and also for evaluating the risk of falling for elderly patients.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInventors: Hailey Brown, mechanical engineering; Matthew Devlin, biomedical engineering; Ana Gomez del Campo, biomedical engineering; and Garrett Wallace, biomedical engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe winning team scores $20,000 and the second-place team receives $10,000.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBoth first- and second-place finishers will receive free U.S. patent filings by Georgia Tech\u2019s Office of Technology Licensing and a spot in Georgia Tech\u2019s startup accelerator program, Flashpoint.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA $5,000 People\u2019s Choice Award will go to the fans\u2019 favorite invention. Voting will be by text messaging during the finale.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe finale will take place March 16 at the Ferst Center for the Arts. Tickets are free and can be requested \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/inventureprize.gatech.edu\/inventure-prize-ticket-request-form\u0022\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe event will also be aired live on Georgia Public Broadcasting.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Winners of the annual Georgia Tech contest will be announced March 16"}],"uid":"27918","created_gmt":"2016-02-09 12:51:56","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:20:38","author":"Laura Diamond","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-02-10T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2016-02-10T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"47390":{"id":"47390","type":"image","title":"InVenture Prize Logo","body":null,"created":"1449175107","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:38:27","changed":"1475894442","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:42","alt":"InVenture Prize Logo","file":{"fid":"190117","name":"tne92353.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tne92353.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tne92353.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":19079,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tne92353.jpg?itok=WmZDFLr7"}},"497161":{"id":"497161","type":"image","title":"FireHUD","body":null,"created":"1455120000","gmt_created":"2016-02-10 16:00:00","changed":"1475895256","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:16","alt":"FireHUD","file":{"fid":"204619","name":"firehud.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/firehud_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/firehud_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":114199,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/firehud_0.png?itok=O9yUXLvh"}},"497171":{"id":"497171","type":"image","title":"FretWizard","body":null,"created":"1455120000","gmt_created":"2016-02-10 16:00:00","changed":"1475895256","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:16","alt":"FretWizard","file":{"fid":"204620","name":"fretwizard.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/fretwizard_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/fretwizard_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":52075,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/fretwizard_0.png?itok=IBgZzBj4"}},"497221":{"id":"497221","type":"image","title":"RoboGoalie","body":null,"created":"1455120000","gmt_created":"2016-02-10 16:00:00","changed":"1475895256","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:16","alt":"RoboGoalie","file":{"fid":"204624","name":"robogoalie.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robogoalie_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robogoalie_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2116299,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/robogoalie_0.jpg?itok=ro1eVegH"}},"497251":{"id":"497251","type":"image","title":"TEQ Charging - InVenture Prize finalist","body":null,"created":"1455120000","gmt_created":"2016-02-10 16:00:00","changed":"1475895256","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:16","alt":"TEQ Charging - InVenture Prize finalist","file":{"fid":"204627","name":"teq_charging_system_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/teq_charging_system_0_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/teq_charging_system_0_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":828134,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/teq_charging_system_0_0.jpg?itok=PxN_hKT7"}},"497201":{"id":"497201","type":"image","title":"TruePani","body":null,"created":"1455120000","gmt_created":"2016-02-10 16:00:00","changed":"1475895256","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:16","alt":"TruePani","file":{"fid":"204623","name":"purepahni_composite_1.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/purepahni_composite_1.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/purepahni_composite_1.png","mime":"image\/png","size":617928,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/purepahni_composite_1.png?itok=QzYmAS41"}},"497271":{"id":"497271","type":"image","title":"Wobble","body":null,"created":"1455120000","gmt_created":"2016-02-10 16:00:00","changed":"1475895256","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:16","alt":"Wobble","file":{"fid":"204628","name":"wolbull_tilt.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/wolbull_tilt.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/wolbull_tilt.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":144873,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/wolbull_tilt.jpg?itok=hmzhRQ0n"}}},"media_ids":["47390","497161","497171","497221","497251","497201","497271"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/inventureprize.gatech.edu\/","title":"The InVenture Prize web site"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"139","name":"Business"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"148","name":"Music and Music Technology"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"3472","name":"entrepreneurship"},{"id":"341","name":"innovation"},{"id":"453","name":"undergraduate research"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39491","name":"Renewable Bioproducts"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"106361","name":"Business and Economic Development"},{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"},{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"},{"id":"71901","name":"Society and Culture"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELaura Diamond\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["laura.diamond@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"468081":{"#nid":"468081","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Collaboration with CNN Investigates Use of UAVs for Newsgathering","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn June 2014, the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and CNN launched a joint research initiative to study the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for newsgathering. In January 2015, CNN signed an agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to share the results of the research. The project is now gaining momentum as researchers shift their focus from evaluating UAV equipment to developing potential protocols for safe operations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe issue: Hobbyists can fly drones without FAA oversight as long as the aircraft weighs 55 pounds or less, flies in unpopulated areas, and remains within line of sight of the operator. Yet flying drones for commercial purposes requires review and approval by the FAA. The only way to get a thumbs-up from the FAA is to pursue airworthiness certification (an expensive and complicated process that can take up to a year), or secure a \u201cSection 333 exemption.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA Section 333 exemption allows the FAA to waive the airworthiness requirement as long as the commercial UAV flights are conducted under a number of restrictions. Among these restrictions: Drone operators must notify local aviation authorities two or three days prior to flight \u2014 and operations over people or near airports are off-limits.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSecuring a 333 exemption is doable for the movie industry since obtaining aerial footage can be planned far in advance,\u201d observed Mike Heiges, a \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGTRI\u003C\/a\u003E principal research engineer who leads the CNN project. \u201cYet journalists can\u2019t operate under these rules for breaking news and chaotic situations where there may be emergency responders, police helicopters, or the National Guard.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGranted, drones aren\u2019t needed for every news story, but they provide a unique perspective in many situations, said Greg Agvent, senior director of news operations for CNN\/US.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBeing able to fly over an area after an earthquake or tornado hits would provide a deeper understanding of how widespread the devastation is,\u201d Agvent explained and pointed to the May 12 Amtrak train derailment in Philadelphia. \u201cPart of the issue with the accident was the speed going into the curve. The ability to get footage from 200 feet in the air would have presented a better sense of the curve \u2014 context that you simply couldn\u2019t get from the ground.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESafety of news personnel is another benefit of drone journalism, Agvent added. \u201cIn many cases, such as a flood, safety would trump context. We could capture footage of an event without putting our people in harm\u2019s way.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESome of the research that comes out of the project will be helpful beyond newsgathering, observed Dave Price, a GTRI senior research technologist working on the project. \u201cCommercial drones are of interest for crop monitoring and inspection of bridges and railroad tracks,\u201d he explained. \u201cRailroads and agriculture agencies will be able see the results of CNN\u2019s camera selection and stabilization systems and take advantage of this for their own applications.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Right Stuff\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring the past year, the researchers, including GTRI and CNN staff, have been investigating different UAVs that could carry the type of camera systems journalists need to shoot and transmit aerial footage.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat\u2019s easier said than done. For one thing, the commercial drone industry is in its infancy. Manufacturers come and go, and there aren\u2019t a great number with a long track record. Another challenge is finding the right equipment \u2014 airframes and payloads that match up. \u201cIt\u2019s a trade-off,\u201d Heiges explained. \u201cYou have to factor in size, weight, and power of what you want to put on the aircraft with what the aircraft can carry.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFlight times for many commercial drones aren\u2019t long enough for CNN\u2019s purposes, nor is video quality high enough. \u201cTo install a better camera, you need a bigger vehicle for endurance,\u201d Heiges said. \u201cAnd that means stepping up to UAVs that were developed for the military, which dramatically increases price.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTRI has been testing drones since 2006 through the FAA\u2019s certificate of authorization process, which enables public institutions to operate drones in national airspace for research purposes. Currently, GTRI holds 28 certificates of authorization for specific locations in five states. For the project with CNN, GTRI provides pilots to fly the drones in approved areas, plans the flight tests with CNN\u2019s participation, collects data, and prepares reports with recommendations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of CNN\u2019s takeaways from the flight tests: Drone journalism is no one-person show. \u201cIn most cases, especially for live video, you need three people,\u201d Agvent said. This includes a pilot to guide the actions of the UAV and an operator for the camera, which is usually suspended under the drone and sits on gimbals for stabilization.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe third person, a spotter, is particularly important in urban areas,\u201d Agvent continued. \u201cThe spotter focuses solely on situational awareness and communicates to the pilot about people and other aircraft that may be in the area. In some cases, you could get by with a two- person team \u2014 a pilot\/cameraman and a spotter \u2014 but a trio is best to ensure both high quality and safety.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAdvancing to Operational Protocols\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019ve hit a lot of milestones in the past year,\u201d Agvent said. \u201cNow, we begin to work on the finer points of flight operations and coordinating with air traffic control.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of the FAA\u2019s chief concerns with drones is getting the word out to manned aircraft about a UAV\u2019s presence in the area. The current practice is to file a \u201cnotice to airmen\u201d two or three days in advance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA new technology known as automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) could provide a just-in-time alternative to the notice to airmen. Developed by the FAA, this technology enables aircraft to broadcast their GPS coordinates to anyone in the local air space that has ADS-B, and vice-versa, so the drone operator would be able to see other aircraft.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s like having an air traffic radar map inside your cockpit,\u201d Heiges said. \u201cEven better, unlike conventional radar, ADS-B works all the way to the ground.\u201d That\u2019s important, because, in some situations, journalists may need to cooperate with police helicopters or medical aircraft flying at low altitudes to pick up patients.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeo-fencing technologies, which prevent UAVs from entering airport and other restricted areas, could add another layer of safety, Heiges added.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause FAA rules prohibit drones from flying over people, crowd-control issues must also be resolved. For example, are journalists responsible for blocking off the area where they wish to fly drones \u2014 or do they communicate with on-scene commanders to find out where they can operate?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOver the next few months, GTRI and CNN will meet with regional emergency responders and other stakeholders to address these questions and develop an operational framework. Then GTRI will work with law enforcement agencies to test the procedures at remote locations. \u201cWe\u2019ll hold mock trials and simulate circumstances that would happen in a breaking news situation,\u201d Heiges explained.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECreating appropriate regulations for various types of UAV flights is important, as the flight landscape has changed dramatically in recent years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen people built radio-controlled airplanes out of balsa wood, they learned the rules for flying and flew aircraft at sanctioned sites,\u201d Heiges said. \u201cYet in the past few years, we now have multi-rotors and quad-rotors with automatic stabilization that don\u2019t require the same skills. People are flying them out of the box without knowing the rules. That can be dangerous if flown beyond visual range. Any significant accident will set back the industry, punishing those who do follow the rules.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEven small drones could cause a helicopter or aircraft to go down if it gets caught in a propeller or pulled into an engine. Indeed, drones have been in the news this past summer for interfering with firefighting efforts in California, including a San Bernadino wildfire where drones operated by curious hobbyists caused fire pilots to pull out of the fray for 30 minutes, allowing the fire to spread.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe one thing that doesn\u2019t get talked about enough is the differentiation between hobbyists and commercial drone users \u2014 and that most of the problems are caused by laymen,\u201d said Agvent. \u201cOur goal is to create a framework that allows for safe integration of commercial drones for newsgathering. It\u2019s about having trusted vendors, trusted aircraft, and trusted procedures in place to act in a safe manner.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: T.J. Becker\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn June 2014, the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and CNN launched a joint research initiative to study the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for newsgathering. In January 2015, CNN signed an agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to share the results of the research. The project is now gaining momentum as researchers shift their focus from evaluating UAV equipment to developing potential protocols for safe operations.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers from the Georgia Tech Research Institute have been working with CNN to investigate the use of UAVs in newsgathering."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-11-10 10:15:19","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:58","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-11-10T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2015-11-10T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"468031":{"id":"468031","type":"image","title":"UAV in CNN World Headquarters","body":null,"created":"1449257147","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:25:47","changed":"1475895216","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:36","alt":"UAV in CNN World Headquarters","file":{"fid":"203811","name":"cnn-gtri-003.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cnn-gtri-003_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cnn-gtri-003_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1937943,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/cnn-gtri-003_0.jpg?itok=PwG6LWuv"}},"468041":{"id":"468041","type":"image","title":"UAV in CNN World Headquarters","body":null,"created":"1449257147","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:25:47","changed":"1475895216","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:36","alt":"UAV in CNN World Headquarters","file":{"fid":"203812","name":"cnn-gtri-002.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cnn-gtri-002_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cnn-gtri-002_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1919563,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/cnn-gtri-002_0.jpg?itok=p_GI70ZN"}}},"media_ids":["468031","468041"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"139","name":"Business"},{"id":"143","name":"Digital Media and Entertainment"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"496","name":"CNN"},{"id":"4341","name":"FAA"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"3245","name":"News"},{"id":"147341","name":"newsgathering"},{"id":"1500","name":"UAV"},{"id":"3249","name":"unmanned aerial vehicle"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71901","name":"Society and Culture"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"457941":{"#nid":"457941","#data":{"type":"news","title":"A Light Touch May Help Animals and Robots Move on Sand and Snow","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHaving a light touch can make a hefty difference in how well animals and robots move across challenging granular surfaces such as snow, sand and leaf litter. Research reported October 9 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EBioinspiration \u0026amp; Biomimetics\u003C\/em\u003E shows how the design of appendages \u2013 whether legs or wheels \u2013 affects the ability of both robots and animals to cross weak and flowing surfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing an air fluidized bed trackway filled with poppy seeds or glass spheres, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology systematically varied the stiffness of the ground to mimic everything from hard-packed sand to powdery snow. By studying how running lizards, geckos, crabs \u2013 and a robot \u2013 moved through these varying surfaces, they were able to correlate variables such as appendage design with performance across the range of surfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe key measure turned out to be how far legs or wheels penetrated into the surface. What the scientists learned from this systematic study might help future robots avoid getting stuck in loose soil on some distant planet.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYou need to know systematically how ground properties affect your performance with wheel shape or leg shape, so you can rationally predict how well your robot will be able to move on the surfaces where you have to travel,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDan Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cWhen the ground gets weak, certain animals seem to still be able to move around independently of the surface properties. We want to understand why.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research was supported by National Science Foundation, Army Research Laboratory and Burroughs Wellcome Fund.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor years, Goldman and colleagues have been using trackways filled with granular media to study the locomotion of animals and robots, but in the past, they had used fluidized bed only to set the initial compaction of the media. In this study, however, they used variations in continuous air flow \u2013 introduced through the bottom of the device \u2013 to vary the substrate\u2019s resistance to penetration by a leg or wheel.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGoldman compares the trackway to the wind tunnels used for aerodynamic studies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBy varying the air flow, we can create ground that is very, very weak \u2013 so that you sink into it quite easily, like powdery snow, and we can have ground that is very strong, like sand,\u201d he explained. \u201cThis gives us the ability to study the mechanism by which animals and robots either succeed or fail.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing a bio-inspired hexapedal robot known as Sandbot as a physical model, the researchers studied average forward speed as a factor of ground penetration resistance \u2013 the \u201cstiffness\u201d of the sand \u2013 and the frequency of leg movement. The average speed of the robot declined as the increased air flow through the trackway made the surface weaker. Increasing the leg frequency makes the speed decrease more rapidly with increasing air flow.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe five animals \u2013 with different body plans and appendage features \u2013 all did better than the robot, with the best performer being a lizard collected in a California desert. The speed of the \u003Cem\u003EC. draconoides\u003C\/em\u003E wasn\u2019t slowed at all as the surface became easier to penetrate, while other animals saw performance losses of between 20 and 50 percent on the loosening surfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe think that this particular lizard is well suited to the variety of terrain because it has these ridiculously long feet and toes,\u201d Goldman said. \u201cThese feet and toes really enable it to maintain high performance and reduce its penetration into the surface over a wide range of substrate conditions. On the other hand, we see animals like ghost crabs that experience a tremendous loss of performance as the substrate changes, something that was surprising to us.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe robot lost 70 percent of its speed even with wheels designed to lighten its pressure on the surface.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESkiers and beachcombers can certainly understand why. As the surface becomes easier for a ski or foot to penetrate, more energy is required to move and forward progress slows. Human and skiers haven\u2019t evolved solutions to that problem, but desert-dwelling creatures have. The research, Goldman says, will help us understand how they do it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe magic for us is how the animals are so good at this,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a clear practical application to this. If you can get the controls and morphology right, you could have a robot that could move anywhere, but you have to know what you are doing under different conditions.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs part of the research, Georgia Tech graduate students Feifei Qian and Tingnan Zhang used a terradynamics approach based on resistive force theory to perform numerical simulations of the robots and animals. They found that their model successfully predicted locomotor performance for low resistance granular states.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis work expands the general applicability of our resistive force theory of terradynamics,\u201d said Goldman. \u201cThe resistive force theory, which allows us to compute forces on limbs intruding into the ground, continues to work even in situations where we didn\u2019t think it would work. It expands the applicability of terradynamics to even weaker states of material.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, co-authors include Wyatt Korff from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Virginia, Paul Umbanhowar from Northwest University, and Robert Full from the University of California at Berkeley.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and by the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Collaborative Technology Alliance (CTA) under cooperative agreement number W911NF-08-2-0004, and by the National Science Foundation Physics of Living Systems CAREER and Student Research Network and ARO Grant No. W911NF-11-1-0514. Any conclusions or opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECITATION: Feifei Qian, et al., \u201cPrinciples of appendage design in robots and animals determining terradynamic performance on flowable ground,\u201d (Bioinspiration \u0026amp; Biomimetics, 2015). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1088\/1748-3190\/10\/5\/056014\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1088\/1748-3190\/10\/5\/056014\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-894-6986).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHaving a light touch can make a hefty difference in how well animals and robots move across challenging granular surfaces such as snow, sand and leaf litter. Research shows how the design of appendages \u2013 whether legs or wheels \u2013 affects the ability of both robots and animals to cross weak and flowing surfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A light touch can make a hefty difference in how well animals and robots move across challenging granular surfaces."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-10-10 20:11:53","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:43","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-10-10T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-10-10T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"457871":{"id":"457871","type":"image","title":"Sandbot robot","body":null,"created":"1449256347","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:27","changed":"1475895202","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:22","alt":"Sandbot robot","file":{"fid":"203523","name":"appendage-design2171.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/appendage-design2171_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/appendage-design2171_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1243339,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/appendage-design2171_1.jpg?itok=EcAuo7ge"}},"457891":{"id":"457891","type":"image","title":"Preparing Sandbot robot","body":null,"created":"1449256347","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:27","changed":"1475895202","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:22","alt":"Preparing Sandbot robot","file":{"fid":"203525","name":"appendage-design2185.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/appendage-design2185_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/appendage-design2185_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1355229,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/appendage-design2185_0.jpg?itok=PxtGKPzz"}},"457901":{"id":"457901","type":"image","title":"Preparing Sandbot robot2","body":null,"created":"1449256347","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:27","changed":"1475895202","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:22","alt":"Preparing Sandbot robot2","file":{"fid":"203526","name":"appendage-design2179.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/appendage-design2179_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/appendage-design2179_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1302450,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/appendage-design2179_0.jpg?itok=kuna70Qo"}},"457911":{"id":"457911","type":"image","title":"Sandbot in trackway","body":null,"created":"1449256347","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:27","changed":"1475895202","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:22","alt":"Sandbot in trackway","file":{"fid":"203527","name":"appendage-design2195.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/appendage-design2195_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/appendage-design2195_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1491585,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/appendage-design2195_1.jpg?itok=LjDUmdEw"}},"457931":{"id":"457931","type":"image","title":"Sandbot closeup","body":null,"created":"1449256347","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:27","changed":"1475895202","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:22","alt":"Sandbot closeup","file":{"fid":"203529","name":"appendage-design2224.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/appendage-design2224_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/appendage-design2224_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1192809,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/appendage-design2224_0.jpg?itok=XsJn8lwz"}}},"media_ids":["457871","457891","457901","457911","457931"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"47881","name":"Dan Goldman"},{"id":"144361","name":"granular surface"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"62221","name":"terradynamics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"453061":{"#nid":"453061","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Humans on Mars","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s researchers are working to make sure humans on Mars aren\u2019t something reserved only for Hollywood. Faculty members are creating the next technologies for future missions, landing locations, and instruments to find life. Their expertise and insight will help guide us all to the next frontier.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s researchers are working to make sure humans on Mars aren\u2019t something reserved only for Hollywood. Faculty members are creating the next technologies for future missions, landing locations, and instruments to find life.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Faculty members are creating the next technologies for future missions, landing locations, and instruments to find life."}],"uid":"27828","created_gmt":"2015-09-28 14:41:41","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:40","author":"Melanie Goux","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-09-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-09-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"453071":{"id":"453071","type":"image","title":"Humans on Mars","body":null,"created":"1449256297","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:11:37","changed":"1475895197","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:17","alt":"Humans on Mars","file":{"fid":"203402","name":"mars_icon.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mars_icon_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mars_icon_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":27013,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mars_icon_0.jpg?itok=fGeDEKWL"}}},"media_ids":["453071"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/features\/humans-mars","title":"Read the full story here:"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"143","name":"Digital Media and Entertainment"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"143001","name":"Amanda Stockton"},{"id":"30211","name":"Bobby Braun"},{"id":"142991","name":"Dave Spencer"},{"id":"52181","name":"James Wray"},{"id":"11021","name":"Lisa Yaszek"},{"id":"55511","name":"Mariel Borowitz"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"449681":{"#nid":"449681","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Multitasking Moths","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EIt\u2019s difficult enough to see things in the dark, but what if you also had to hover in midair while tracking a flower moving in the wind?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EThat\u0027s the challenge the hummingbird-sized hawkmoth\u0026nbsp;must overcome while feeding on the nectar of its favorite flowers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003EUsing high-speed infrared cameras and 3-D-printed robotic flowers, scientists have now learned how this insect juggles these complex sensing and control challenges \u2014 all while adjusting to changing light conditions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003EWhat the researchers have discovered could help the next generation of small flying robots operate efficiently under a broad range of lighting conditions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERead more about this fascinating study in the \u003Cem\u003EResearch Horizons\u003C\/em\u003E story, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/multitasking-moths\u0022\u003EMultitasking Moths\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"How the hawkmoth tracks flowers in the dark has surprising applications for airborne robots."}],"uid":"27948","created_gmt":"2015-09-18 14:20:40","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:33","author":"Jennifer Tomasino","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-09-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-09-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"449571":{"id":"449571","type":"image","title":"Hawkmoth","body":null,"created":"1449256264","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:11:04","changed":"1475895192","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:12","alt":"Hawkmoth","file":{"fid":"203296","name":"multitasking-moths.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/multitasking-moths_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/multitasking-moths_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":72567,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/multitasking-moths_0.jpg?itok=jXufbr45"}},"413151":{"id":"413151","type":"image","title":"Simon Sponberg with hawkmoth","body":null,"created":"1449254222","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:37:02","changed":"1475895145","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:25","alt":"Simon Sponberg with hawkmoth","file":{"fid":"202375","name":"hawkmoth12.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth12_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth12_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1159006,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hawkmoth12_0.jpg?itok=A0eGBf49"}}},"media_ids":["449571","413151"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"115461","name":"Applied Physiology"},{"id":"128551","name":"hawkmoth"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDirector of Research News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPhone:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;404.894.6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["john.toon@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"393131":{"#nid":"393131","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New robotic vehicle provides a never-before-seen look under Antarctica","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EEditor\u0027s note: Icefin\u0027s videos from the seafloor can also be downloaded at the Dropbox link at the bottom of the press release.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA first-of-its-kind robotic vehicle recently dove to depths never before visited under Antarctica\u2019s Ross Ice Shelf and brought back video of life on the seafloor.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA team of scientists and engineers from the Georgia Institute of Technology assembled the unmanned, underwater vehicle on Antarctica. They deployed (and retrieved) the vehicle through a 12-inch diameter hole through 20 meters of ice and another 500 meters of water to the sea floor.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe robotic vehicle, called Icefin, carried a scientific payload capable of measuring ocean conditions under the ice. Icefin\u2019s readings of the environment under Antarctica\u2019s ice shelves, and video of the life that thrives in these harsh conditions, will help understand how Antarctica\u2019s ice shelves are changing under warming conditions, and to understand how organisms thrive in cold and light-free environments. The technologies developed for Icefin will also help in the search for life on other planets, namely Europa, a moon of Jupiter. Antarctica\u2019s icy oceans are remarkably similar to Europa\u2019s ice-capped oceans.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe built a vehicle that\u2019s a hybrid between the really small probes and the ocean-going vessels, and we can deploy it through bore holes on Antarctica,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/schmidt.eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EBritney Schmidt\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Tech, and the principal investigator for the Icefin project. \u201cAt the same time, we\u2019re advancing hypotheses that we need for Europa and understanding ocean systems here better. We\u2019re also developing and getting comfortable with technologies that make polar science -- and eventually Europa science -- more realistic.\u0022\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIcefin was deployed as a part of the Sub Ice Marine and Planetary\u2013analog Ecosystem (SIMPLE) program, funded by NASA and supported by NSF, with Schmidt as the principal\u0026nbsp;investigator. The research team returned from Antarctica in December 2014\u003Cstrong\u003E. \u003C\/strong\u003EIcefin is planned to make its Arctic debut in summer 2016, with a return to Antarctica that fall, the team hopes (For more images from the mission, visit: \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/bit.ly\/1P2hBRx\u0022 title=\u0022http:\/\/bit.ly\/1P2hBRx\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/bit.ly\/1P2hBRx\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt McMurdo Station, Schmidt and a team including Georgia Tech scientists and engineers from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), led by principal research engineer \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.robotics.gatech.edu\/team\/faculty\/west\u0022\u003EMick West\u003C\/a\u003E, deployed Icefin to explore the underside of the ice shelves flowing off the continent.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhat truly separates Icefin from some of the other vehicles is that it\u2019s fairly slender, yet still has all of the sensors that the scientists like Britney need,\u201d West said. \u201cOur vehicle has instrumentation aboard both for navigation and ocean science that other vehicles do not.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Southern Ocean can be as deep as 5,000 meters. Icefin is capable of diving 1,500 meters and can perform three-kilometer-long surveys. Previous vehicles in Icefin\u2019s class were rated to a few hundred meters.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe saw evidence of a complex community on the sea floor that has never been observed before, and unprecedented detail on the ice-ocean interface that hasn\u2019t been achieved before,\u201d Schmidt said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EVideo captured by Icefin shows eerie footage of an active seafloor 500 meters under the Ross Ice Shelf.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBiologists at McMurdo were just amazed at the amount of biology at that location which included sea stars, sponges and anemones that were at the ocean bottom,\u201d West said. \u201cTo have our very first deep-ocean dive happen through a small hole in the ice and go all the way to the ocean bottom and get the video we did was pretty amazing.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo get to the bottom, Icefin first had to be built. A partnership between research-focused GTRI and academic-focused School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (EAS) enabled the team to design, build and deploy Icefin under the ice in less than a year.Traditional design cycles for these types of vehicles typically are two to three years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team had to design for a number of challenges associated with deploying Icefin in such an extreme environment. For example, standard electronics systems are not typically rated to the extreme temperatures found under the Ross Ice Shelf.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe had probably 100 contingencies for if something went wrong,\u201d West said. \u201cThrough lots of analysis and robust design, we were fortunate not to have to initiate any of them.\u201d\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOnce Icefin was assembled, the vehicle was deployed through a bore hole in the ice that was 12 inches in diameter and 20 meters deep. Bore holes are often drilled on Antarctica for ocean moorings and sediment sampling.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETraditional underwater vehicles deployed on Antarctica are either \u201croving eyes\u201d because they carry only a camera, or much larger vehicles that are deployed in the water on the edge of the ice shelf. Icefin fills the gap between these two kinds of vehicles: able to be deployed easily by small teams in any environment, yet still able to record oceanographic information traditionally done by much larger vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIcefin is the most capable small vehicle that\u2019s been down there,\u201d Schmidt said. \u201cWhat\u2019s really rewarding is that at the same time, we were able to involve some outstanding students in the design, build and deployment of the vehicle.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGraduate student Anthony Spears and undergraduate Matthew Meister, as well as Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/vip.gatech.edu\/new\/\u0022\u003EVertically Integrated Projects (VIP) program\u003C\/a\u003E participants, were involved in design of the vehicle. Spears and Meister also played key roles in the field integration and deployment of Icefin, along with EAS postdoctoral fellow Catherine Walker and graduate student Jacob Buffo from Icefin\u2019s science team.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIcefin carries forward and up\/down imaging and sonars and several different sensors. Icefin is also modular, similar to vehicles used on space missions. Scientists can swap sensors or point them in different directions as needed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETraditional GPS does not work under the ice, so Icefin uses a navigation system called SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) to triangulate its position based on measuring the range and bearing of features on the seafloor or under the ice.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cUsing algorithms such as SLAM allows us to construct a map of the unknown under-ice environment. When you can do that, you can begin to get a 3D picture of what\u2019s going on under the water,\u201d West said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe sensors on Icefin are helping scientists understand how the ocean affects properties of the ice, and how the ice affects properties of the ocean. The exchange between ocean and ice is a process that mediates biology, affects the climate system and controls the stability of glaciers.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThose are important processes that we can work out here in our backyard at the same time as we\u2019re answering how an ice shell would reflect the ocean chemistry on Europa,\u201d Schmidt said. \u201cThe ice shell is built out of the ocean, but how that process works is not well understood.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EVideos from the seafloor:\u0026nbsp;https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/sh\/qn2j1q9qf3rqdto\/AACn5xE17456hQK43XHj0RBRa?dl=0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPhotos from the mission:\u0026nbsp;https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/georgiatech\/sets\/72157650356164390\/with\/16626135435\/\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor more on explorers at Georgia Tech, see the feature story in the spring issue of Research Horizons magazine:\u0026nbsp;http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/explorers\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research is supported by Georgia Institute of Technology and the School of Earth and Atmospheric sciences through Schmidt\u2019s startup funds, and partnership with GTRI. Icefin deployed to Antarctica with SIMPLE funded by NASA through grant NNX12AL65G. Deployment was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under project B259. Any conclusions or opinions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E Georgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E 177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E Atlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/GTResearchNews\u0022\u003E@GTResearchNews\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Brett Israel (\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/btiatl\u0022\u003E@btiatl\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-385-1933) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Brett Israel\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A first-of-its-kind robotic vehicle recently dove to depths never before visited under Antarctica\u2019s Ross Ice Shelf and brought back video of life on the seafloor."}],"uid":"27902","created_gmt":"2015-04-02 09:15:47","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:58","author":"Brett Israel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-04-02T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-04-02T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"393641":{"id":"393641","type":"image","title":"Brittle star on the seafloor under the Ross Ice Shelf","body":null,"created":"1449246332","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:25:32","changed":"1475895110","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:50","alt":"Brittle star on the seafloor under the Ross Ice Shelf","file":{"fid":"75609","name":"icefin2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/icefin2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/icefin2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":131748,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/icefin2.jpg?itok=Zh7tzx2i"}},"393631":{"id":"393631","type":"image","title":"Icefin spots aquatic on the seafloor under the Ross Ice Shelf","body":null,"created":"1449246332","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:25:32","changed":"1475895110","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:50","alt":"Icefin spots aquatic on the seafloor under the Ross Ice Shelf","file":{"fid":"75608","name":"icefin1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/icefin1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/icefin1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":161307,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/icefin1.jpg?itok=VMrC1Xji"}},"393111":{"id":"393111","type":"image","title":"Icefin on the ice","body":null,"created":"1449246332","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:25:32","changed":"1475895110","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:50","alt":"Icefin on the ice","file":{"fid":"75595","name":"16502879721_35a4e1b446_k.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/16502879721_35a4e1b446_k.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/16502879721_35a4e1b446_k.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":992720,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/16502879721_35a4e1b446_k.jpg?itok=ETe1EKv3"}},"393121":{"id":"393121","type":"image","title":"The view under the Ross Ice Shelf","body":null,"created":"1449246332","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:25:32","changed":"1475895110","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:50","alt":"The view under the Ross Ice Shelf","file":{"fid":"75596","name":"16503546982_bd41c81a0d_o.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/16503546982_bd41c81a0d_o.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/16503546982_bd41c81a0d_o.png","mime":"image\/png","size":343073,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/16503546982_bd41c81a0d_o.png?itok=UEre_qLy"}}},"media_ids":["393641","393631","393111","393121"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2082","name":"aerospace engineering"},{"id":"82391","name":"Antarctica"},{"id":"81291","name":"Britney Schmidt"},{"id":"122051","name":"icefin"},{"id":"122041","name":"mick west"},{"id":"123231","name":"ross ice shelf"},{"id":"122061","name":"underwater vehicle"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBrett Israel\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"394231":{"#nid":"394231","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Seven Cool Things About Robots","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn honor of National Robotics Week 2015, we\u0027ve put together a list of seven cool things robots can do (or will be able to do in the near future).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/features\/7-cool-things-about-robots\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESee the full list\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"In honor of National Robotics Week, we\u0027ve put together a list of seven cool things robots can do (or will be able to do in the near future)."}],"uid":"27948","created_gmt":"2015-04-07 09:30:14","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:58","author":"Jennifer Tomasino","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-04-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-04-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"394201":{"id":"394201","type":"image","title":"Seven Cool Things About Robots","body":null,"created":"1449246346","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:25:46","changed":"1475895110","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:50","alt":"Seven Cool Things About Robots","file":{"fid":"75995","name":"robots-mercury-thumb.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robots-mercury-thumb.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robots-mercury-thumb.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":51018,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/robots-mercury-thumb.jpg?itok=x9gsuqPX"}}},"media_ids":["394201"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"123391","name":"national robotics week 2015"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"2352","name":"robots"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"348981":{"#nid":"348981","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Co-robots Team Up with Humans","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022intro-text\u0022\u003ECharlie Kemp is giving robots common sense. And that\u2019s good news for Californian Henry Evans.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETen years ago, Evans suffered a stroke that left him with limited mobility. Over the past two years, he\u2019s been working with Kemp, an associate professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, to develop and test robots that help him shave, adjust a blanket when he\u2019s cold, and even scratch an annoying itch.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe did things with the robots that I never could have imagined,\u201d said Evans, who contacted Kemp after seeing him on a CNN broadcast about health care robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERobots working directly with people \u2013 even helping them shave \u2013 is both challenging and unusual. Most robots today work in manufacturing facilities where, for safety reasons, they stay far away from humans. But Georgia Tech robotics researchers believe people and robots can accomplish much more by working together \u2013 as long as the robots have common sense to know, for instance, how much force humans apply when shaving.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA major challenge for health care robots is that they lack so much of the knowledge and experience that people take for granted,\u201d said Kemp. \u201cTo us, it\u2019s just common sense that everybody has; for robots, it\u2019s a serious impediment.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGiving robots common sense is just one milestone on the path to the kinds of collaboration that will be required to meet the needs of a growing population of older persons. Beyond personal care, the benefits of co-robotics are many. To produce better products more efficiently, manufacturing robots will need to team up with humans, each contributing unique abilities. And in defense and homeland security, robots will increasingly have to take on the dangerous jobs, leveraging people\u2019s skills while protecting them from harm.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/hi-how-can-i-help-you\u0022\u003ERead more\u003C\/a\u003E of this article from Georgia Tech\u0027s \u003Cem\u003EResearch Horizons\u003C\/em\u003E magazine.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAt Georgia Tech, robots are teaming up with humans to perform tasks in manufacturing, health care, national defense and other areas.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Robots are teaming up with humans to perform tasks in manufacturing, health care, national defense and other areas."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2014-11-25 12:12:45","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:34","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-11-25T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2014-11-25T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"348951":{"id":"348951","type":"image","title":"Swarm robotics - Magnus Egerstedt","body":null,"created":"1449245682","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:14:42","changed":"1475895073","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:13","alt":"Swarm robotics - Magnus Egerstedt","file":{"fid":"201005","name":"swarm-robots-cover.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/swarm-robots-cover_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/swarm-robots-cover_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1494043,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/swarm-robots-cover_0.jpg?itok=4A1MjMho"}},"348961":{"id":"348961","type":"image","title":"Healthcare robotics - Charlie Kemp","body":null,"created":"1449245682","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:14:42","changed":"1475895073","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:13","alt":"Healthcare robotics - Charlie Kemp","file":{"fid":"201006","name":"healthcare-robotics.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/healthcare-robotics_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/healthcare-robotics_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1925398,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/healthcare-robotics_0.jpg?itok=qngQyhf0"}},"348971":{"id":"348971","type":"image","title":"Tutoring robots - Ayanna Howard","body":null,"created":"1449245682","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:14:42","changed":"1475895073","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:13","alt":"Tutoring robots - Ayanna Howard","file":{"fid":"201007","name":"tutoring-robots-ayanna-howard.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tutoring-robots-ayanna-howard_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tutoring-robots-ayanna-howard_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1963414,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tutoring-robots-ayanna-howard_0.jpg?itok=fL32_4ED"}}},"media_ids":["348951","348961","348971"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"14647","name":"healthcare robots"},{"id":"78271","name":"IRIM"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"2352","name":"robots"},{"id":"110851","name":"tutoring robots"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"307751":{"#nid":"307751","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Your next opponent in Angry Birds could be a robot","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWith the help of a smart tablet and Angry Birds, children can now do something typically reserved for engineers and computer scientists: program a robot to learn new skills. The Georgia Institute of Technology project is designed to serve as a rehabilitation tool and to help kids with disabilities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers have paired a small humanoid robot with an Android tablet. \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/youtu.be\/wNrHwSfA_lo\u0022\u003EKids teach it how to play Angry Birds\u003C\/a\u003E, dragging their finger on the tablet to whiz the bird across the screen. In the meantime, the robot watches what happens and records \u201csnapshots\u201d in its memory. The machine notices where fingers start and stop, and how the objects on the screen move according to each other, while constantly keeping an eye on the score to check for signs of success.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/youtu.be\/HAyvBK3-lNE\u0022\u003EWhen it\u2019s the robot\u2019s turn, it mimics the child\u2019s movements and plays the game\u003C\/a\u003E. If the bird is a dud and doesn\u2019t cause any damage, the robot shakes its head in disappointment. If the building topples and points increase, the eyes light up and the machine celebrates with a happy sound and dance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe robot is able to learn by watching because it knows how interaction with a tablet app is supposed to work,\u201d said Georgia Tech\u2019s Ayanna Howard, Motorola Foundation Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering who is leading the project. \u201cIt recognizes that a person touched here and ended there, then deciphers the information that is important and relevant to its progress.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe robot analyzes the new information and provides appropriate social responses while changing its play strategy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOne way to get robots more quickly into society is to design them to be flexible for end users,\u201d said Hae Won Park, Howard\u2019s postdoctoral fellow working closely on the project. \u201cIf a robot is only trained to perform a specific set of tasks and not able to learn and adapt to its owner or surroundings, its usefulness can become extremely limited.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat flexibility is one reason Howard and Park see their robot-smart tablet system as a future rehabilitation tool for children with cognitive and motor-skill disabilities. A clinician could program the robot to cater to a child\u2019s needs, such as turn taking or hand-eye coordination tasks, and then send the machine home.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother benefit for rehab: parents don\u2019t always have time or enough patience for repetitive rehabilitation sessions. But a robot never gets tired or bored. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cImagine that a child\u2019s rehab requires a hundred arm movements to improve precise hand-coordination movements,\u201d said Howard. \u201cHe or she must touch and swipe the tablet repeatedly, something that can be boring and monotonous after a while. But if a robotic friend needs help with the game, the child is more likely to take the time to teach it, even if it requires repeating the same instructions over and over again. The person\u2019s desire to help their \u2018friend\u2019 can turn a five-minute, bland exercise into a 30-minute session they enjoy.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a new study, Howard and Park asked grade-school children to play Angry Birds with an adult watching nearby. Afterwards, the kids were asked to teach a robot how to play the game. The children spent an average of nine minutes with the game as the adult watched. They played nearly three times as long (26.5 minutes) with the robot. They also interacted considerably more with the robot than the person. Only 7 percent of their session with the adult included eye contact, gestures and talking. It was nearly 40 percent with the robot.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe next steps for the Georgia Tech team will include more games for the robot, including Candy Crush and ZyroSky. They will also recruit more children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and children with motor impairments to interact with the system. Their most recent study included two kids with ASD. Their interaction times with the adult were significantly less than those in the typically developing group. They were about the same with the robot. The findings were presented in June at the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.resna.org\/conference\/\u0022\u003ERehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) 2014 Annual Conference\u003C\/a\u003E in Denver. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was partially supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under grant 1208287. Any conclusions expressed are those of the principal investigator and may not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech team pairs humanoid with popular game to help  kids with rehabilitation"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWith the help of a smart tablet and Angry Birds, children can now do something typically reserved for engineers and computer scientists: program a robot to learn new skills. The Georgia Institute of Technology project is designed to serve as a rehabilitation tool and to help kids with disabilities.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"With the help of a smart tablet and Angry Birds, end users can now program a robot to learn new tasks."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2014-07-10 10:06:15","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:45","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-07-10T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-07-10T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"307701":{"id":"307701","type":"image","title":"Robot Plays Angry Birds 2","body":null,"created":"1449244708","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:58:28","changed":"1475895017","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:17","alt":"Robot Plays Angry Birds 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3","file":{"fid":"199781","name":"screen_shot_2014-07-10_at_9.44.03_am.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/screen_shot_2014-07-10_at_9.44.03_am_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/screen_shot_2014-07-10_at_9.44.03_am_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1791162,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/screen_shot_2014-07-10_at_9.44.03_am_0.png?itok=w6iQSOzh"}},"307721":{"id":"307721","type":"image","title":"Robot Plays Angry Birds 4","body":null,"created":"1449244708","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:58:28","changed":"1475895017","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:17","alt":"Robot Plays Angry Birds 4","file":{"fid":"199782","name":"hae_with_robot065.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hae_with_robot065_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hae_with_robot065_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4117927,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hae_with_robot065_0.jpg?itok=jDk7X3KS"}}},"media_ids":["307701","307691","307711","307721"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=135","title":"Profile"},{"url":"http:\/\/robotics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Center for Robotics \u0026 Intelligent Machines"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"97601","name":"Angry Birds"},{"id":"825","name":"Ayanna Howard"},{"id":"2352","name":"robots"},{"id":"166855","name":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003ENational Media Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-2966\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"266451":{"#nid":"266451","#data":{"type":"news","title":"IRI Intros: 5 Questions with Henrik Christensen","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EYou\u2019ve probably heard that Georgia Tech has a number of\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/research\/institutes\u0022\u003EInterdisciplinary Research Institutes\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(IRIs) \u2013 but do you know much about them?\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis article is one in a series of Q\u0026amp;As to introduce the Tech community to the 10 IRIs and their leaders. In this installment, Executive Director of the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.robotics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EInstitute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines\u0026nbsp;(IRIM)\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;Henrik Christensen answers questions about IRIM and also talks about\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003Eits efforts to support Georgia Tech faculty and students.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EQ: What is the\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines (\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIRIM), and what are its core research areas?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA: \u003C\/strong\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/robotics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInstitute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines\u003C\/a\u003E is a new IRI that integrates robotics research, education and outreach, and industry engagement across the College of Engineering, the College of Computing, the College of Sciences, and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). Our work often involves labs and individual researchers in other Georgia Tech colleges and centers, as well.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe conduct research in mechanisms, control, perception, artificial intelligence (AI), and human\u2013robot interaction (HRI) with a particular emphasis on human-centered robotics. The question, \u201cHow can we build robots that empower people in their daily lives, whether for service in the workplace or in the home, or for enjoyment in a leisure setting?\u201d is central to our work.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing robots makes it possible to compete with low-wage manual labor in other countries. It also creates new positions that replace the dirty, dull, and dangerous jobs in U.S. factories. Additionally, robotics technologies have made it possible to improve the quality of life in an aging society by providing services that allow people to remain autonomous as they lose various functions such as mobility and memory. Finally, our research leads to new types of autonomous systems to assist first responders and soldiers during interventions by increasing the distance between responders and the immediate danger, including fires, earthquakes, and explosives.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIRIM has three objectives: 1) to be the world leader in human-centered robotics, 2) to educate the best people to serve in academia and industry for next-generation robotic systems, and 3) to create new opportunities in robotics for industry and society at large, in both Georgia and beyond.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EQ: A lot seems to be going on in robotics these days. Can you summarize the big trends and Georgia Tech\u2019s role with regard to those trends?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003ERobotics has seen tremendous growth in the past few years. Today, robots are used to re-shore jobs to the U.S. in industries such as automotive, aerospace, and electronics manufacturing. We have also seen the development of major new services for the home \u2013 from robot vacuum cleaners to autonomous transportation and personal assistance devices. And, of course, we have seen numerous robots used in Iraq and Afghanistan to make life a little safer for our soldiers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOverall, we are seeing major growth in manufacturing, e-commerce, health care, and service industries.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe U.S. recently initiated a number of big programs in robotics, such as the National Robotics Initiative (NRI), which is sponsored jointly by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and NASA. The NRI was launched on the basis of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/robotics.gatech.edu\/outreach\/roadmap\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003ERoadmap for U.S. Robotics\u003C\/em\u003E,\u003C\/a\u003E a report initially published in 2009 and revised in 2013. Georgia Tech served as the coordinator of the development of both editions of this report. To support the NRI, a national network, the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/robotics.gatech.edu\/outreach\/VO\u0022\u003ERobotics Virtual Organization\u003C\/a\u003E was founded and is managed by Tech. Consequently, Tech is seen, in many respects, as the leader for the push for new robotics initiatives in the U.S. across research, education, and the translation of results.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EQ:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EHow does IRIM support research?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA:\u003C\/strong\u003E IRIM supports the research of more than 60 faculty members and 140 graduate students across various colleges and GTRI in a number of ways.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFirst, we proactively identify major new funding areas and launch seed projects that allow Georgia Tech to be competitive when calls for proposals are issued. There are remarkably few opportunities for faculty to conduct exploratory research without funding constraints, so we try to identify these new opportunities early and build up results to ensure we can successfully compete for funds.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAdditionally, we are developing an infrastructure that matches researchers with similar interests so, together, they have a more competitive edge when applying for major funding awards. Although our researchers are very good at pursuing grants, it is challenging, as a single applicant, to generate adequate support to build a successful proposal for major funding awards such as NSF\u2019s Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) or Science and Technology Centers (STCs) grants. For example, it is difficult for one faculty member to build a complete manufacturing facility for new robotics research in the automotive industry. However, IRIM can provide a shared infrastructure that allows multiple researchers to pursue a larger research effort in a shared space.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIRIM is also committed to providing support to faculty pursuing major research opportunities through all phases of the process, from early research efforts and proposal writing to grant management and evaluation of broader impact and outreach. We would rather see our robotics faculty winning a smaller number of major grants rather than a larger number of smaller grants because comparatively, the smaller grants have too much overhead.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAdditionally, IRIM facilitates opportunities for engagement in interdisciplinary activities through events such as weekly seminars and topical workshops throughout the fall and spring semesters.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFinally, our One Georgia Tech approach allows external stakeholders, especially our industry partners, the chance to work with IRIM to identify the individual or lab on campus that best matches their research needs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EQ: How is IRIM furthering Georgia Tech\u2019s academic mission?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;Over the past few years, we have built a strong \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/phdrobotics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EPh.D. program in robotics\u003C\/a\u003E in which we currently have close to 50 graduate students enrolled. These students are required to have an interdisciplinary focus and must choose coursework that involves three of five core robotics areas: mechanics, controls, perception, HRI, and AI and autonomy. Our interdisciplinary approach has proven to be very popular with students, as well as with employers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAdditionally, IRIM is working on the development of a professional master\u2019s program in robotics. Georgia has a strong industry base related to robotics, and many of these companies would welcome the opportunity to have a continuing education program available locally for their employees. A professional master\u2019s program would not only allow us to attract more students to Georgia Tech, it would also build new links to industrial companies from across the state.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIRIM also actively engages with undergraduate students enrolled in participating units (Interactive Computing, Electrical \u0026amp; Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Aerospace Engineering) through coursework and undergraduate research opportunities. This summer, we are launching an NSF-sponsored Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering (SURE) Program for students to spend summer on campus to conduct research with robotics faculty and graduate students. We see this program as a strong recruiting mechanism to attract the best students to Georgia Tech for graduate studies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EQ:\u0026nbsp;How does IRIM support industry engagement and community outreach?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA: \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EIRIM has a proven track record of cultivating successful industry partnerships, including those with KUKA, Boeing, General Motors, BMW, PSA Peugeot Citro\u00ebn, Google, Microsoft, iRobot, and Lockheed Martin.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThrough a strong collaboration across academic units and GTRI, IRIM offers industry partners access to a broad research portfolio, as well as an abundance of beneficial services that span from basic research opportunities to full-product development solutions. Too often, innovations are lost in the abyss between basic research and applications. IRIM has the faculty, processes, and experience to ensure these innovative projects can be successful. Few other academic or research institutions in the U.S. have a comparable scope of expertise and options available to industry.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor broader community outreach, IRIM works closely with organizations across Georgia and the nation, such as high schools, to provide education on the impact of robotics with regard to everyday living. We do this through initiatives such as the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.robojackets.org\/first-kickoff\/\u0022\u003EFIRST Robotics Competition\u003C\/a\u003E. The undergraduate robotics club, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.robojackets.org\/\u0022\u003ERoboJackets\u003C\/a\u003E, with support from IRIM, organizes the annual kickoff for this competition. In 2013, more than 1,000 high school students attended the event at Ferst Center for the Arts, and quite a few Georgia Tech students and faculty members are mentors for the FIRST team.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAdditionally, in an effort to stimulate general interest in STEM subjects, as well as a specific interest in robotics, IRIM organizes regular school visits across Georgia during the year. Since the launch of \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/robotics.gatech.edu\/outreach\/NRW\u0022\u003ENational Robotics Week\u003C\/a\u003E in 2010, IRIM has participated annually by sponsoring an open house at Tech and conducting lab tours and demonstrations for middle and high school students. More than 400 students participated in Tech\u0027s 2013 event held on April 11, with one group traveling from Tennessee to attend. Tours offered participants a chance to learn more about 46 different research projects in 16 different robotics labs on campus. We anticipate the 2014 event will be even bigger and better than last year!\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIRI Intros Q\u0026amp;A: Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines (IRIM)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EYou\u2019ve probably heard that Georgia Tech has a number of \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/research\/institutes\u0022\u003EInterdisciplinary Research Institutes\u003C\/a\u003E (IRIs) \u2013 but do you know much about them? \u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis article is one in a series of Q\u0026amp;As to introduce the Tech community to the 10 IRIs and their leaders. In this installment, Executive Director of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.robotics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EInstitute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines\u0026nbsp;(IRIM)\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;Henrik Christensen answers questions about IRIM and also talks about\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003Eits efforts to support Georgia Tech faculty and students.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Executive Director of the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines (IRIM) Henrik Christensen answers questions about IRIM and also talks about its efforts to support Georgia Tech faculty and students."}],"uid":"27268","created_gmt":"2014-01-13 15:49:12","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:15:40","author":"Kirk Englehardt","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-01-13T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2013-01-13T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"266461":{"id":"266461","type":"image","title":"Henrik Christensen","body":null,"created":"1449244039","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:47:19","changed":"1475894953","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:13","alt":"Henrik Christensen","file":{"fid":"198530","name":"christensen-henrik_1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/christensen-henrik_1_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/christensen-henrik_1_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1154193,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/christensen-henrik_1_0.jpg?itok=BRm0AGBE"}}},"media_ids":["266461"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.robotics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Robotics at Georgia Tech"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.robotics.gatech.edu\/team\/faculty","title":"IRIM Faculty"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/research\/institutes","title":"Interdisciplinary Research Institutes"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"42941","name":"Art Research"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"11890","name":"henrik christensen"},{"id":"78811","name":"Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines"},{"id":"78271","name":"IRIM"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"2352","name":"robots"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirkeng@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EKirk Englehardt\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDirector, Research Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["kirkeng@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"246291":{"#nid":"246291","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Humanoid Conference Gives Campus a Look at Robotic Future","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESome of the most sophisticated and advanced robots in the world have arrived on campus for the IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots (\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.humanoids2013.com\/\u0022\u003EHumanoids 2013\u003C\/a\u003E) at the Historic Academy of Medicine at Georgia Tech. The international event is focused on trends and technology for humanoids in the real world. The three-day conference, from October 15-17, features demonstrations, lectures and tours of Georgia Tech robot labs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Assistant Professor Mike Stilman is the general chair for the conference.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is a very exciting event both for the history of robotics worldwide and for education in engineering for all kids excited about new technology,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe demonstrations include Rethink Robotics\u2019 Baxter robot, NAO from Aldebaran and South Korea\u2019s Robotis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s Ronald Arkin, a Regents Professor in the College of Computing, is hosting one of the conference\u2019s three plenary sessions. He will focus on the ethical questions surrounding the potential creation of robotic platforms with lethal autonomy during a presentation titled \u201cHow to Not Build a Terminator.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGiven the present pace, direction and funding of humanoid technological development, it seems that the science fiction vision of a Terminator robot is becoming more of a reality,\u201d Arkin said. \u201cMany researchers, perhaps unknowingly or unwittingly, are providing the capabilities to achieve such a platform.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOther plenary sessions will discuss how to transfer human skills to robots and structuring robotic thought and action through language in a new form of dialogue.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis is the first time in three years the annual event has been held in the United States, and the first-ever time in Atlanta. The week will conclude with DARPA\u2019s Robotics\u0026nbsp;Challenge (DRC) Trials Preview Meeting on Friday, October 18, which will provide further details on the DRC Trials in December.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is a very special year for humanoid robotics across the world,\u201d Stilman said. \u201cThe Robotics Challenge is leading robots that function as first responders to enter dangerous situations, such as Hurricane Katrina and Japan\u2019s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. 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Campus"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1270","name":"conference"},{"id":"77191","name":"Humanoids"},{"id":"2352","name":"robots"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003EMedia Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-2966\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"217981":{"#nid":"217981","#data":{"type":"news","title":"GTRI Agile Aperture Antenna Technology is Tested on an Autonomous Ocean Vehicle","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAntenna technology originally developed to quickly send and receive information through a software-defined military radio may soon be used to transmit ocean data from a wave-powered autonomous surface vehicle. The technology, the lowest-power method for maintaining a satellite uplink, automatically compensates for the movement of the antenna as the boat bobs around on the ocean surface.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Agile Aperture Antenna technology developed by the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is expected to provide a more reliable and faster method of transmitting video, audio and environmental data \u2013 such as salinity, temperature, fluorescence and dissolved oxygen \u2013 from an ocean vehicle to land via satellite.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn December 2012, the antenna was attached to a Wave Glider vehicle and placed into the ocean off the coast of Hawaii. The Wave Glider, an autonomous marine robot developed by California-based Liquid Robotics, Inc., uses only the ocean\u2019s endless supply of wave energy for propulsion. The Wave Glider can collect ocean data for a wide range of applications, including meteorology, oceanography, national security and offshore energy. Solar panels on the vehicle power the antenna, which requires only 0.25 watts of power and can switch up to 1,000 beams per second.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring the demonstration, the antenna maintained a satellite link with a sustained data upload rate of 200 kilobits per second (Kbps) for several hours, despite the Wave Glider rolling and yawing back and forth on the waves. The Agile Aperture Antenna required significantly less power and space to achieve these test results than a gimbaled antenna or a phased array solution.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBecause the antenna autonomously tracked its own position and orientation relative to the satellite and steered itself to stay connected, it maintained a highly directional antenna beam to the satellite as the craft moved around, which enabled data transfers near the maximum expected rate of 240 Kbps,\u201d said Gregory Kiesel, a GTRI senior research engineer. \u201cAntenna integration was also easy because the craft did not need to communicate with the antenna to maintain the connection.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Agile Aperture Antenna requires less power and takes up less space than traditional antenna solutions including mechanical systems and phased-array antennas. The technology also exhibits higher reliability than mechanical systems and is less expensive than phased-array antennas.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe combination of the Wave Glider\u2019s long duration and intelligent autonomy capabilities through GTRI\u2019s new Agile Aperture Antenna provides customers with increased communications precision through the roughest of seas,\u201d said Richard \u201cScoop\u201d Jackson, director of federal business development with Liquid Robotics. \u201cThe availability of the GTRI Agile Aperture Antenna on the Wave Glider SV Series comes at a perfect time when deployment of autonomous surface vehicles for maritime security is rapidly increasing due to the cost and capability advantages.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe antenna\u2019s performance can be optimized because it is reconfigurable, which means the electrical structure of the antenna can be easily changed \u2013 even while in operation in the field.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe antenna consists of a thin dielectric substrate that supports an array of square, metallic patches that can be switched on or off as needed to provide the proper configuration. The researchers measure the antenna patterns to determine which switches should be open and which should be closed to optimize the antenna performance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur biggest challenge with this project has been to quickly control the switches on the antenna in a low-power fashion without impacting antenna performance,\u201d said Kiesel.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile the antenna remained in a fixed position for the recent demonstration, for future tests the researchers may add a low-power mechanical system to slowly raise the antenna to an operational angle and then stow it to a position flush with the surface of the Wave Glider when the antenna isn\u2019t needed. This technology would make it harder to visually detect the Wave Glider.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe original antenna technology was developed by GTRI Advanced Concepts Laboratory director Lon Pringle, principal research engineer Jim Maloney and former principal research engineer Paul Friederich.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe anticipate that our agile aperture antenna technology will begin wide deployment on unmanned surface vehicles in the next year and on unmanned air vehicles within two years given its advantages of being low power and lightweight,\u201d noted Maloney. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, GTRI researchers Don Davis, Matthew Habib, Bill Hunter and Tim Richardson also contributed to this research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Lance Wallace (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:lance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)(404-407-7280) or John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-894-6986).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Abby Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAntenna technology originally developed to quickly send and receive information through a software-defined military radio may soon be used to transmit ocean data from a wave-powered autonomous surface vehicle. The technology, the lowest-power method for maintaining a satellite uplink, automatically compensates for the movement of the antenna as the boat bobs around on the ocean surface.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"An antenna designed at Georgia Tech has been being tested on an autonomous ocean vehicle."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-06-18 14:58:17","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:23","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-06-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-06-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"217921":{"id":"217921","type":"image","title":"Agile Aperture Antenna","body":null,"created":"1449180130","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:02:10","changed":"1475894885","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:05","alt":"Agile Aperture 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Glider2","file":{"fid":"197170","name":"agile-aperture705.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/agile-aperture705_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/agile-aperture705_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":696935,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/agile-aperture705_0.jpg?itok=A_dLvXqK"}}},"media_ids":["217921","217931","217941","217901","217911"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"68051","name":"Agile Aperture Antenna"},{"id":"7264","name":"autonomous"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"68041","name":"wave glider"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"216371":{"#nid":"216371","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Model Finds Common Muscle Control Patterns Governing the Motion of Swimming Animals","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhat do swimmers like trout, eels and sandfish lizards have in common? According to a new study, the similar timing patterns that these animals use to contract their muscles and produce undulatory swimming motions can be explained using a simple model. Scientists have now applied the new model to understand the connection between electrical signals and body movement in the sandfish.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMost swimming creatures rely on an undulating pattern of body movement to propel themselves through fluids. Though differences in body flexibility may lead to different swimming styles, scientists have found \u201cneuromechanical phase lags\u201d in nearly all swimmers. These lags are characterized by a wave of muscle activation that travels faster down the body than the wave of body curvature.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA study of the sandfish lizard \u2013 which \u201cswims\u201d through sand \u2013 led to development of the new model, which researchers believe could also be used to study other swimming animals. Beyond assisting the study of locomotion in a wide range of animals, the findings could also help researchers design efficient swimming robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA graduate student in our group, Yang Ding, who is now at the University of Southern California, was able to develop a theory that could explain the kinematics of how this animal swims as well as the timing of the nervous system control signals,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDaniel Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u201cFor animals swimming in fluids using an undulating movement, there are basic physical constraints on how they must activate their muscles. We think we have uncovered an important mechanism that governs this kind of swimming.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research was reported June 3 in the early edition of the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E. It was sponsored by the National Science Foundation\u2019s Physics of Living Systems program, the Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) program of the Army Research Office, and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUndulatory locomotion is a gait in which thrust is produced in the opposite direction from a traveling wave of body bending. Because it is so commonly used by animals, this mode of locomotion has been widely used for studying the neuromechanical principles of movement.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESarah Sharpe, the paper\u2019s second author and a graduate student in Georgia Tech\u2019s Interdisciplinary Bioengineering Program, led laboratory experiments studying undulatory swimming in sandfish lizards. She used X-ray imaging to visualize how the animals swam through sand that was composed of tiny glass spheres.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the same time their swimming movements were being tracked, a set of four hair-thin electrodes implanted in the lizards\u2019 bodies were providing information on when their muscles were activated. The two information sources allowed the researchers to compare the electrical muscle activity to the lizards\u2019 body motion.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe lizards propagate a wave of muscle activations, contracting the muscles close to their heads first, then the muscles at the midpoint of their body, then their tail,\u201d said Sharpe. \u201cThey send a wave of muscle of contraction down their bodies, which creates a wave of curvature that allows them to swim. This wave of activation travels faster than the wave of curvature down the body, resulting in different timing relationships, known as phase differences, between muscle contracts and bending along the body.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESand acts like a frictional fluid as the sandfish swims through it. However, a sandfish swimming through sand is simpler to model than a fish swimming through water because the sand lacks the vortices and other complex behavior of water \u2013 and the friction of the sand eliminates inertia.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTheoretically, it is difficult to calculate all of the forces acting on a fish or an eel swimming in a real fluid,\u201d said Goldman. \u201cBut for a sandfish, you can calculate pretty much everything.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe relative simplicity of the system allowed the research team \u2013 which also included Georgia Tech professor Kurt Wiesenfeld \u2013 to develop a simple model showing how the muscle activation relates to motion. The model showed that combining synchronized torques from distant points in the lizards\u2019 bodies with local traveling torques is what creates the neuromechanical phase lag.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is one of the simplest, if not the simplest, models of swimming that reproduces the neuromechanical phase lag phenomenon,\u201d Sharpe said. \u201cAll we really had to pay attention to was the external forces acting on an animal\u2019s body. We realized that this timing relationship would emerge for any undulatory animal with distributed forces along its body. Understanding this concept can be used as the foundation to begin understanding timing patterns in all other swimmers.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe sandfish swims using a simple single-period sinusoidal wave with constant amplitude. A key finding that facilitated the model\u2019s development was that the sandfish\u2019s body is extremely flexible, allowing internal forces \u2013 body stiffness \u2013 to be ignored.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis animal turns out to be like a little limp noodle,\u201d said Goldman. \u201cHaving that result in the theory makes everything else pop out.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe model shows that the waveform used by the sandfish should allow it to swim the farthest with the least expenditure of energy. Swimming robots adopting the same waveform should therefore be able to maximize their range.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGoldman and his colleagues have been studying the sandfish, a native of the northern African desert, for more than six years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSandfish are among the champions of all sand diggers, swimmers and burrowers,\u201d said Goldman. \u201cThis lizard has provided us with an interesting entry point into swimming because its environment is surprisingly simple and behavior is simple. It turns out that this little sand-dweller may be able to tell us things about swimming more generally.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research has been supported by the National Science Foundation Physics of Living Systems (PoLS) under grants PHY-0749991 and PHY-1150760, by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory\u2019s (ARL) Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Program under cooperative agreement W911NF-11-1-0514, and by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award. Any conclusions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF or ARL.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Yang Ding, Sarah Sharpe, Kurt Wiesenfeld and Daniel Goldman, \u201cEmergence of the advancing neuromechanical phase in resistive force dominated medium,\u201d (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhat do swimmers like trout, eels and sandfish lizards have in common? According to a new study, the similar timing patterns that these animals use to contract their muscles and produce undulatory swimming motions can be explained using a simple model. Scientists have now applied the new model to understand the connection between electrical signals and body movement in the sandfish.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study shows that swimming animals use similar timing patterns to contract their muscles"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-06-04 15:36:53","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:20","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-06-04T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-06-04T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"216341":{"id":"216341","type":"image","title":"X-ray of Sandfish Swimming","body":null,"created":"1449180114","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:01:54","changed":"1475894882","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:02","alt":"X-ray of Sandfish Swimming","file":{"fid":"197119","name":"sandfish5.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sandfish5_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sandfish5_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":253357,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/sandfish5_0.jpg?itok=HyTzMGzh"}},"216351":{"id":"216351","type":"image","title":"Sandfish Lizard","body":null,"created":"1449180114","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:01:54","changed":"1475894882","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:02","alt":"Sandfish Lizard","file":{"fid":"197120","name":"sandfish54.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sandfish54_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sandfish54_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":741621,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/sandfish54_1.jpg?itok=ifnOfwQl"}},"216361":{"id":"216361","type":"image","title":"Sandfish Lizard","body":null,"created":"1449180114","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:01:54","changed":"1475894882","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:02","alt":"Sandfish Lizard","file":{"fid":"197121","name":"sandfish77.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sandfish77_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sandfish77_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":792900,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/sandfish77_0.jpg?itok=qTYF-Xey"}}},"media_ids":["216341","216351","216361"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"12040","name":"Daniel Goldman"},{"id":"169581","name":"sandfish"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"167350","name":"swimming"},{"id":"67541","name":"undulatory swimming"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"213701":{"#nid":"213701","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Principles of Ant Locomotion Could Help Future Robot Teams Work Underground","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFuture teams of subterranean search and rescue robots may owe their success to the lowly fire ant, a much despised insect whose painful bites and extensive networks of underground tunnels are all-too-familiar to people living in the southern United States.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/youtu.be\/3TQzY_HRAgE\u0022\u003EWatch\u003C\/a\u003E a YouTube video of this project.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy studying fire ants in the laboratory using video tracking equipment and X-ray computed tomography, researchers have uncovered fundamental principles of locomotion that robot teams could one day use to travel quickly and easily through underground tunnels. Among the principles is building tunnel environments that assist in moving around by limiting slips and falls, and by reducing the need for complex neural processing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAmong the study\u2019s surprises was the first observation that ants in confined spaces use their antennae for locomotion as well as for sensing the environment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur hypothesis is that the ants are creating their environment in just the right way to allow them to move up and down rapidly with a minimal amount of neural control,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDaniel Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and one of the paper\u2019s co-authors. \u201cThe environment allows the ants to make missteps and not suffer for them. These ants can teach us some remarkably effective tricks for maneuvering in subterranean environments.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research was reported May 20 in the early edition of the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E. The work was sponsored by the National Science Foundation\u2019s Physics of Living Systems program.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a series of studies carried out by graduate research assistant Nick Gravish, groups of fire ants (\u003Cem\u003ESolenopsis invicta\u003C\/em\u003E) were placed into tubes of soil and allowed to dig tunnels for 20 hours. To simulate a range of environmental conditions, Gravish and postdoctoral fellow Daria Monaenkova varied the size of the soil particles from 50 microns on up to 600 microns, and also altered the moisture content from 1 to 20 percent.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile the variations in particle size and moisture content did produce changes in the volume of tunnels produced and the depth that the ants dug, the diameters of the tunnels remained constant \u2013 and comparable to the length of the creatures\u2019 own bodies: about 3.5 millimeters.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIndependent of whether the soil particles were as large as the animals\u2019 heads or whether they were fine powder, or whether the soil was damp or contained very little moisture, the tunnel size was always the same within a tight range,\u201d said Goldman. \u201cThe size of the tunnels appears to be a design principle used by the ants, something that they were controlling for.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGravish believes such a scaling effect allows the ants to make best use of their antennae, limbs and body to rapidly ascend and descend in the tunnels by interacting with the walls and limiting the range of possible missteps.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn these subterranean environments where their leg motions are certainly hindered, we see that the speeds at which these ants can run are the same,\u201d he said. \u201cThe tunnel size seems to have little, if any, effect on locomotion as defined by speed.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers used X-ray computed tomography to study tunnels the ants built in the test chambers, gathering 168 observations. They also used video tracking equipment to collect data on ants moving through tunnels made between two clear plates \u2013 much like \u201cant farms\u201d sold for children \u2013 and through a maze of glass tubes of differing diameters.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe maze was mounted on an air piston that was periodically fired, dropping the maze with a force of as much as 27 times that of gravity. The sudden movement caused about half of the ants in the tubes to lose their footing and begin to fall. That led to one of the study\u2019s most surprising findings: the creatures used their antennae to help grab onto the tube walls as they fell.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA lot of us who have studied social insects for a long time have never seen antennae used in that way,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.biology.gatech.edu\/people\/michael-goodisman\u0022\u003EMichael Goodisman\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.biology.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Biology\u003C\/a\u003E and one of the paper\u2019s other co-authors. \u201cIt\u2019s incredible that they catch themselves with their antennae. This is an adaptive behavior that we never would have expected.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy analyzing ants falling in the glass tubes, the researchers determined that the tube diameter played a key role in whether the animals could arrest their fall.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn future studies, the researchers plan to explore how the ants excavate their tunnel networks, which involves moving massive amounts of soil. That soil is the source of the large mounds for which fire ants are known.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile the research focused on understanding the principles behind how ants move in confined spaces, the results could have implications for future teams of small robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe problems that the ants face are the same kinds of problems that a digging robot working in a confined space would potentially face \u2013 the need for rapid movement, stability and safety \u2013 all with limited sensing and brain power,\u201d said Goodisman. \u201cIf we want to build machines that dig, we can build in controls like these ants have.\u201d \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhy use fire ants for studying underground locomotion?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese animals dig virtually non-stop, and they are good, repeatable study subjects,\u201d Goodisman explained. \u201cAnd they are very convenient for us to study. We can go outside the laboratory door and collect them virtually anywhere.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research described here has been sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under grant POLS 095765, and by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The findings and conclusions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Nick Gravish, et al., \u201cClimbing, falling and jamming during ant locomotion in confined environments,\u201d (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFuture teams of subterranean search and rescue robots may owe their success to the lowly fire ant, a much despised insect whose painful bites and extensive networks of underground tunnels are all-too-familiar to people living in the southern United States.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Future teams of subterranean robots could benefit from research into how ants move in confined spaces."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-05-19 20:52:53","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:16","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-05-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-05-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"213651":{"id":"213651","type":"image","title":"Confined Spaces Locomotion - Researchers","body":null,"created":"1449180076","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:01:16","changed":"1475894876","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:56","alt":"Confined Spaces Locomotion - Researchers","file":{"fid":"197000","name":"ant-locomotion142.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ant-locomotion142_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ant-locomotion142_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1184230,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ant-locomotion142_0.jpg?itok=BdO270px"}},"213671":{"id":"213671","type":"image","title":"Confined Spaces Locomotion - Tubes","body":null,"created":"1449180076","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:01:16","changed":"1475894876","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:56","alt":"Confined Spaces Locomotion - Tubes","file":{"fid":"197002","name":"ant-locomotion198.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ant-locomotion198_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ant-locomotion198_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":826647,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ant-locomotion198_0.jpg?itok=PfGa2JHS"}},"213681":{"id":"213681","type":"image","title":"Confined Spaces Locomotion - Ants","body":null,"created":"1449180096","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:01:36","changed":"1475894876","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:56","alt":"Confined Spaces Locomotion - Ants","file":{"fid":"197003","name":"tunneling-ants.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tunneling-ants_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tunneling-ants_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1883622,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tunneling-ants_0.jpg?itok=pw3rAPGO"}},"213661":{"id":"213661","type":"image","title":"Confined Spaces Locomotion - Nests","body":null,"created":"1449180076","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:01:16","changed":"1475894876","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:56","alt":"Confined Spaces Locomotion - Nests","file":{"fid":"197001","name":"ant-locomotion184.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ant-locomotion184_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ant-locomotion184_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1653643,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ant-locomotion184_0.jpg?itok=Z_sr08Ci"}},"213641":{"id":"213641","type":"image","title":"Confined Spaces Locomotion - Team2","body":null,"created":"1449180076","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:01:16","changed":"1475894876","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:56","alt":"Confined Spaces Locomotion - Team2","file":{"fid":"196999","name":"ant-locomotion104.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ant-locomotion104_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ant-locomotion104_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1424517,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ant-locomotion104_0.jpg?itok=NeX33iF6"}},"213631":{"id":"213631","type":"image","title":"Confined Spaces Locomotion - Team","body":null,"created":"1449180076","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:01:16","changed":"1475894876","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:56","alt":"Confined Spaces Locomotion - Team","file":{"fid":"196998","name":"ant-locomotion21.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ant-locomotion21_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ant-locomotion21_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1410973,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ant-locomotion21_0.jpg?itok=q3FbxPTk"}}},"media_ids":["213651","213671","213681","213661","213641","213631"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"66521","name":"ant"},{"id":"66511","name":"confined spaces"},{"id":"12040","name":"Daniel Goldman"},{"id":"377","name":"locomotion"},{"id":"11811","name":"Michael Goodisman"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"168894","name":"search and rescue"},{"id":"66531","name":"underground"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"208861":{"#nid":"208861","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Sea Turtles and FlipperBot Show How to Walk on Granular Surfaces like Sand","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor sea turtle hatchlings struggling to reach the ocean, success may depend on having flexible wrists that allow them to move without disturbing too much sand. A similar wrist also helps a robot known as \u201cFlipperBot\u201d move through a test bed, demonstrating how animals and bio-inspired robots can together provide new information on the principles governing locomotion on granular surfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBoth the baby turtles and FlipperBot run into trouble under the same conditions: traversing granular media disturbed by previous steps. Information from the robot research helped scientists understand why some of the hatchlings they studied experienced trouble, creating a unique feedback loop from animal to robot \u2013 and back to animal.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research could help robot designers better understand locomotion on complex surfaces and lead biologists to a clearer picture of how sea turtles and other animals like mudskippers use their flippers. The research could also help explain how animals evolved limbs \u2013 including flippers \u2013 for walking on land.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research was published April 24 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EBioinspiration \u0026amp; Biomimetics\u003C\/em\u003E. The work was supported by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory\u2019s Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Program, the U.S. Army Research Office, and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are looking at different ways that robots can move about on sand,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDaniel Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u201cWe wanted to make a systematic study of what makes flippers useful or effective. We\u2019ve learned that the flow of the materials plays a large role in the strategy that can be used by either animals or robots.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research began in 2010 with a six-week study of hatchling loggerhead sea turtles emerging at night from nests on Jekyll Island, one of Georgia\u2019s coastal islands. The research was done in collaboration with the Georgia Sea Turtle Center.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENicole Mazouchova, then a graduate student in the Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.biology.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Biology\u003C\/a\u003E, studied the baby turtles using a trackway filled with beach sand and housed in a truck parked near the beach. She recorded kinematic and biomechanical data as the turtles moved in darkness toward an LED light that simulated the moon.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMazouchova and Goldman studied data from the 25 hatchlings, and were surprised to learn that they managed to maintain their speed regardless of the surface on which they were running.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOn soft sand, the animals move their limbs in such a way that they don\u2019t create a yielding of the material on which they\u2019re walking,\u201d said Goldman. \u201cThat means the material doesn\u2019t flow around the limbs and they don\u2019t slip. The surprising thing to us was that the turtles had comparable performance when they were running on hard ground or soft sand.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe key to maintaining performance seemed to be the ability of the hatchlings to control their wrists, allowing them to change how they used their flippers under different sand conditions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOn hard ground, their wrists locked in place, and they pivoted about a fixed arm,\u201d Goldman explained. \u201cOn soft sand, they put their flippers into the sand and the wrist would bend as they moved forward. We decided to investigate this using a robot model.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat led to development of FlipperBot, with assistance from Paul Umbanhowar, a research associate professor at Northwestern University. The robot measures about 19 centimeters in length, weighs about 970 grams, and has two flippers driven by servo-motors. Like the turtles, the robot has flexible wrists that allow variations in its movement. To move through a track bed filled with poppy seeds that simulate sand, the robot lifts its flippers up, drops them into the seeds, then moves the flippers backward to propel itself.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMazouchova, now a Ph.D. student at Temple University, studied many variations of gait and wrist position and found that the free-moving mechanical wrist also provided an advantage to the robot.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn the robot, the free wrist does provide some advantage,\u201d said Goldman. \u201cFor the most part, the wrist confers advantage for moving forward without slipping. The wrist flexibility minimizes material yielding, which disturbs less ground. The flexible wrist also allows both the robot and turtles to maintain a high angle of attack for their bodies, which reduces performance-impeding drag from belly friction.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers also noted that the robot often failed when limbs encountered material that the same limbs had already disturbed. That led them to re-examine the data collected on the hatchling turtles, some of which had also experienced difficulty walking across the soft sand.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen we saw the turtles moving poorly, they appeared to be suffering from the same failure mode that we saw in the robot,\u201d Goldman explained. \u201cWhen they interacted with materials that had been previously disturbed, they tended to lose performance.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMazouchova and Goldman then worked with Umbanhowar to model the robot\u2019s performance in an effort to predict how the turtle hatchlings should respond to different conditions. The predictions closely matched what was actually observed, closing the loop between robot and animal.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe robot study allowed us to test how principles applied to the animals,\u201d Goldman said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile the results may not directly improve robot designs, what the researchers learned should contribute to a better understanding of the principles governing movement using flippers. That would be useful to the designers of robots that must swim through water and walk on land.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA multi-modal robot might need to use paddles for swimming in water, but it might also need to walk in an effective way on the beach,\u201d Goldman said. \u201cThis work can provide fundamental information on what makes flippers good or bad. This information could give robot designers clues to appendage designs and control techniques for robots moving in these environments.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research could ultimately provide clues to how turtles evolved to walk on land with appendages designed for swimming.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTo understand the mechanics of how the first terrestrial animals moved, you have to understand how their flipper-like limbs interacted with complex, yielding substrates like mud flats,\u201d said Goldman. \u201cWe don\u2019t have solid results on the evolutionary questions yet, but this certainly points to a way that we could address these issues.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research has been supported by the National Science Foundation under grant CMMI-0825480 and the Physics of Living Systems PoLS program, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory\u2019s (ARL) Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Program under cooperative agreement W911NF-08-2-0004, the U.S. Army Research Office (ARO) and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award. Any conclusions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF, ARL or ARO.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Nicole Mazouchova, Paul B. Umbanhowar and Daniel I. Goldman, \u201cFlipper-driven terrestrial locomotion of a sea turtle-inspired robot, (Bioinspiration \u0026amp; Biomimetics, 2013).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBased on a study of both hatchling sea turtles and \u0022FlipperBot\u0022 -- a robot with flippers -- researchers have learned principles for how both robots and turtles move on granular surfaces such as sand.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have learned principles for how both robots and turtles move on granular surfaces."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-04-23 16:52:25","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:08","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-04-23T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-04-23T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"208811":{"id":"208811","type":"image","title":"FlipperBot testing4","body":null,"created":"1449180001","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:01","changed":"1475894869","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:49","alt":"FlipperBot testing4","file":{"fid":"196827","name":"flipper-bot136.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/flipper-bot136_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/flipper-bot136_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2321339,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/flipper-bot136_0.jpg?itok=C3D0D8sS"}},"208801":{"id":"208801","type":"image","title":"FlipperBot testing3","body":null,"created":"1449180001","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:01","changed":"1475894869","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:49","alt":"FlipperBot testing3","file":{"fid":"196826","name":"flipper-bot80.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/flipper-bot80_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/flipper-bot80_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1837999,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/flipper-bot80_0.jpg?itok=FCuWm8rg"}},"208791":{"id":"208791","type":"image","title":"FlipperBot testing2","body":null,"created":"1449180001","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:01","changed":"1475894866","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:46","alt":"FlipperBot testing2","file":{"fid":"196825","name":"flipper-bot66.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/flipper-bot66_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/flipper-bot66_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1829132,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/flipper-bot66_0.jpg?itok=RkYkvxl_"}},"208821":{"id":"208821","type":"image","title":"FlipperBot testing5","body":null,"created":"1449180001","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:01","changed":"1475894869","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:49","alt":"FlipperBot testing5","file":{"fid":"196828","name":"flipper-bot218.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/flipper-bot218_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/flipper-bot218_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3108178,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/flipper-bot218_0.jpg?itok=6QSARGl8"}},"208781":{"id":"208781","type":"image","title":"FlipperBot testing","body":null,"created":"1449180001","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:01","changed":"1475894866","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:46","alt":"FlipperBot testing","file":{"fid":"196824","name":"flipper-bot48.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/flipper-bot48_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/flipper-bot48_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1729881,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/flipper-bot48_0.jpg?itok=zWq2O5sC"}},"208831":{"id":"208831","type":"image","title":"Sea turtle","body":null,"created":"1449180001","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:01","changed":"1475894869","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:49","alt":"Sea turtle","file":{"fid":"196829","name":"sea-turtle3801.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sea-turtle3801_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sea-turtle3801_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2531103,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/sea-turtle3801_0.jpg?itok=mexqdsZ2"}}},"media_ids":["208811","208801","208791","208821","208781","208831"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"59331","name":"bio-inspired"},{"id":"47881","name":"Dan Goldman"},{"id":"64831","name":"flipper"},{"id":"64821","name":"FlipperBot"},{"id":"1357","name":"granular"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"169569","name":"sea turtle"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"209461":{"#nid":"209461","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Piezoelectric \u201cTaxels\u201d Convert Motion to Electronic Signals for Tactile Imaging","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing bundles of vertical zinc oxide nanowires, researchers have fabricated arrays of piezotronic transistors capable of converting mechanical motion directly into electronic controlling signals. The arrays could help give robots a more adaptive sense of touch, provide better security in handwritten signatures and offer new ways for humans to interact with electronic devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe arrays include more than 8,000 functioning piezotronic transistors, each of which can independently produce an electronic controlling signal when placed under mechanical strain. These touch-sensitive transistors \u2013 dubbed \u201ctaxels\u201d \u2013 could provide significant improvements in resolution, sensitivity and active\/adaptive operations compared to existing techniques for tactile sensing. Their sensitivity is comparable to that of a human fingertip.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe vertically-aligned taxels operate with two-terminal transistors. Instead of a third gate terminal used by conventional transistors to control the flow of current passing through them, taxels control the current with a technique called \u201cstrain-gating.\u201d Strain-gating based on the piezotronic effect uses the electrical charges generated at the Schottky contact interface by the piezoelectric effect when the nanowires are placed under strain by the application of mechanical force.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research was reported April 25 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E online, at the Science Express website, and will be published in a later version of the print journal. The research has been sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Air Force (USAF), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAny mechanical motion, such as the movement of arms or the fingers of a robot, could be translated to control signals,\u201d explained \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/faculty\/zhong-lin-wang\u0022\u003EZhong Lin Wang\u003C\/a\u003E, a Regents\u2019 professor and Hightower Chair in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Materials Science and Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u201cThis could make artificial skin smarter and more like the human skin. It would allow the skin to feel activity on the surface.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMimicking the sense of touch electronically has been challenging, and is now done by measuring changes in resistance prompted by mechanical touch. The devices developed by the Georgia Tech researchers rely on a different physical phenomenon \u2013 tiny polarization charges formed when piezoelectric materials such as zinc oxide are moved or placed under strain. In the piezotronic transistors, the piezoelectric charges control the flow of current through the wires just as gate voltages do in conventional three-terminal transistors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe technique only works in materials that have both piezoelectric and semiconducting properties. These properties are seen in nanowires and thin films created from the wurtzite and zinc blend families of materials, which includes zinc oxide, gallium nitride and cadmium sulfide.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn their laboratory, Wang and his co-authors \u2013 postdoctoral fellow Wenzhuo Wu and graduate research assistant Xiaonan Wen \u2013 fabricated arrays of 92 by 92 transistors. The researchers used a chemical growth technique at approximately 85 to 90 degrees Celsius, which allowed them to fabricate arrays of strain-gated vertical piezotronic transistors on substrates that are suitable for microelectronics applications. The transistors are made up of bundles of approximately 1,500 individual nanowires, each nanowire between 500 and 600 nanometers in diameter.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the array devices, the active strain-gated vertical piezotronic transistors are sandwiched between top and bottom electrodes made of indium tin oxide aligned in orthogonal cross-bar configurations. A thin layer of gold is deposited between the top and bottom surfaces of the zinc oxide nanowires and the top and bottom electrodes, forming Schottky contacts. A thin layer of the polymer Parylene is then coated onto the device as a moisture and corrosion barrier.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe array density is 234 pixels per inch, the resolution is better than 100 microns, and the sensors are capable of detecting pressure changes as low as 10 kilopascals \u2013 resolution comparable to that of the human skin, Wang said. The Georgia Tech researchers fabricated several hundred of the arrays during a research project that lasted nearly three years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe arrays are transparent, which could allow them to be used on touch-pads or other devices for fingerprinting. They are also flexible and foldable, expanding the range of potential uses.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAmong the potential applications:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EMultidimensional signature recording, in which not only the graphics of the signature would be included, but also the pressure exerted at each location during the creation of the signature, and the speed at which the signature is created.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EShape-adaptive sensing in which a change in the shape of the device is measured. This would be useful in applications such as artificial\/prosthetic skin, smart biomedical treatments and intelligent robotics in which the arrays would sense what was in contact with them.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EActive tactile sensing in which the physiological operations of mechanoreceptors of biological entities such as hair follicles or the hairs in the cochlea are emulated.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause the arrays would be used in real-world applications, the researchers evaluated their durability. The devices still operated after 24 hours immersed in both saline and distilled water.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFuture work will include producing the taxel arrays from single nanowires instead of bundles, and integrating the arrays onto CMOS silicon devices. Using single wires could improve the sensitivity of the arrays by at least three orders of magnitude, Wang said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is a fundamentally new technology that allows us to control electronic devices directly using mechanical agitation,\u201d Wang added. \u201cThis could be used in a broad range of areas, including robotics, MEMS, human-computer interfaces and other areas that involve mechanical deformation.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the National Science Foundation (NSF) under grant CMMI-0946418, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) under grant FA2386-10-1-4070, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Basic Energy Sciences under award DE-FG02-07ER46394 and the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences under grant KJCX2-YW-M13. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of DARPA, the NSF, the USAF or the DOE.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Wenzhuo Wu, Xiaonan Wen, Zhong Lin Wang, \u201cTaxel-addressable matrix of vertical-nanowire piezotronic transistors for active\/adaptive tactile imaging,\u201d (Science 2013).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing bundles of vertical zinc oxide nanowires, researchers have fabricated arrays of piezotronic transistors capable of converting mechanical motion directly into electronic controlling signals. The arrays could help give robots a more adaptive sense of touch, provide better security in handwritten signatures and offer new ways for humans to interact with electronic devices.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have fabricated arrays of piezotronic transistors capable of converting mechanical motion directly into electronic controlling signals."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-04-25 17:43:49","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:08","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-04-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-04-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"209431":{"id":"209431","type":"image","title":"Piezotronic transistor array","body":null,"created":"1449180001","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:01","changed":"1475894869","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:49","alt":"Piezotronic transistor array","file":{"fid":"196842","name":"piezotronic-arrays31.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/piezotronic-arrays31_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/piezotronic-arrays31_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1444417,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/piezotronic-arrays31_0.jpg?itok=K3C5uO0A"}},"209441":{"id":"209441","type":"image","title":"Piezotronic transistor array2","body":null,"created":"1449180001","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:01","changed":"1475894869","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:49","alt":"Piezotronic transistor array2","file":{"fid":"196843","name":"peizotronic-arrays148.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/peizotronic-arrays148_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/peizotronic-arrays148_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1829750,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/peizotronic-arrays148_0.jpg?itok=6g1FTHhu"}},"209451":{"id":"209451","type":"image","title":"Piezotronic transistor array","body":null,"created":"1449180001","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:01","changed":"1475894869","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:49","alt":"Piezotronic transistor array","file":{"fid":"196844","name":"figure2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/figure2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/figure2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":167686,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/figure2_0.jpg?itok=WbMsuW7V"}}},"media_ids":["209431","209441","209451"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7576","name":"Piezotronic"},{"id":"65011","name":"piezotronic array"},{"id":"167535","name":"School of Materials Science and Engineering"},{"id":"64991","name":"taxel"},{"id":"13751","name":"Zhong Lin Wang"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-8986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"210251":{"#nid":"210251","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Robots Able to Reach through Clutter with Whole-Arm Tactile Sensing","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhether reaching for a book out of a cluttered cabinet or pruning a bush in the backyard, a person\u2019s arm frequently makes contact with objects during everyday tasks. Animals do it too, when foraging for food, for example.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMuch in the same way, robots are now able to intelligently maneuver within clutter, gently making contact with objects while accomplishing a task. This new control method has wide applications, ranging from robots for search-and-rescue operations to assistive robotics for people with disabilities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cUp until now, the dominant strategies for robot manipulation have discouraged contact between the robot\u2019s arm and the world,\u201d said Charlie Kemp, lead researcher and associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECoulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cInstead of avoiding contact, our approach enables the arm to make contact with objects, people and the rest of the robot while keeping forces low.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKemp, director of Georgia Tech\u2019s Healthcare Robotics Lab, along with his graduate students and researchers at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/mekabot.com\/\u0022\u003EMeka Robotics\u003C\/a\u003E, has\u0026nbsp;developed a control method that works in tandem with compliant robotic joints and whole-arm tactile sensing. This technology keeps the robot\u2019s arm flexible and gives the robot a sense of touch across its entire arm.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith their control method, Kemp\u2019s robots have performed numerous tasks, such as reaching through dense artificial foliage and a cinder block representative of environments that search-and-rescue robots can encounter.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA publication describing the research, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/intl-ijr.sagepub.com\/content\/32\/4\/458\u0022\u003E\u201cReaching in Clutter with Whole-arm Tactile Sensing\u003C\/a\u003E,\u201d appears in this month\u2019s edition of the \u003Cem\u003EInternational Journal of Robotics Research\u003C\/em\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKemp\u0027s lab also has promising results that could impact the future of assistive robotics. They have developed tactile sensors made out of stretchable fabric that covers the entire arm of a robot. In a preliminary trial with the new control method and sensors, Henry Evans, a person with quadriplegia, used the robot to perform tasks for himself. He was able to pull a blanket over himself and grab a cloth to wipe his face, all while he was in bed at his home.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis trial was conducted as part of the Robots for Humanity project with Willow Garage. In order to ensure safety, researchers from Kemp\u2019s lab closely monitored the activities. This research has been accepted and will be presented at the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/uwconf\/icorr2013\/\u0022\u003EInternational Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics\u003C\/a\u003E in June.\u0026nbsp;\u2028\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI think it\u2019s a good safety feature because it hardly presses against me even when I tell it to,\u201d Evans said after the trial. \u201cIt really feels safe to be close to the robot.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEvans was also impressed by how the robot\u2019s arm \u201cjust wriggles around obstacles.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKemp\u2019s research team has also released the designs and code for the sensors and controller as \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.hsi.gatech.edu\/hrl\/project_open_source_whole_arm_tactile_sensing.shtml\u0022\u003Eopen source hardware and software\u003C\/a\u003E so that researchers and hobbyists can build on the work.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research is part of an ongoing effort to create a new foundation for robotics, where contact between the robot\u2019s arm and the world is encouraged.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur belief is that this approach is the way of the future for robots,\u201d said Kemp, who is also a member of Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/robotics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECenter for Robotics and Intelligent Machines\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cIt is going to allow robots to better operate in our homes, our workplaces and other complex environments.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research is funded by the DARPA Maximum Mobility and Manipulation (M3) Contract W911NF-11-1- 603. The assistive technology research is also funded in part by NSF CAREER award IIS-1150157, NSF grant CNS-0958545, an NSF GRFP and Willow Garage.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATIONS\u003C\/strong\u003E: Advait Jain, Marc D Killpack, Aaron Edsinger, and Charles C Kemp. Reaching in Clutter with Whole-arm Tactile Sensing. The International Journal of Robotics Research, April 2013, 32: 458-482, doi:10.1177\/0278364912471865\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPhillip M. Grice, Marc D. Killpack, Advait Jain, Sarvagya Vaish, Jeffrey Hawke, and Charles C. Kemp. Whole-arm Tactile Sensing for Beneficial and Acceptable Contact During Robotic Assistance. Accepted to the 13th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), June 2013.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERobots are now able to intelligently maneuver within clutter, gently making contact with objects while accomplishing a task, thanks to technology developed by Dr. Charlie Kemp and the Healthcare Robotics Lab.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Robots are now able to intelligently maneuver within clutter, gently making contact with objects while accomplishing a task, thanks to technology developed by Dr. Charlie Kemp and the Healthcare Robotics Lab."}],"uid":"27462","created_gmt":"2013-04-29 15:48:19","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:08","author":"Liz Klipp","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-04-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-04-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"210121":{"id":"210121","type":"image","title":"Robots Reaching Through Clutter","body":null,"created":"1449180018","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:18","changed":"1475894869","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:49","alt":"Robots Reaching Through Clutter","file":{"fid":"196870","name":"kemp_robot3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/kemp_robot3_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/kemp_robot3_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2737475,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/kemp_robot3_0.jpg?itok=1gdPDJT7"}},"210131":{"id":"210131","type":"image","title":"Robots Reaching Through Clutter - 1","body":null,"created":"1449180018","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:18","changed":"1475894869","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:49","alt":"Robots Reaching Through Clutter - 1","file":{"fid":"196871","name":"kemp_robot4.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/kemp_robot4_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/kemp_robot4_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2735600,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/kemp_robot4_0.jpg?itok=o0TKFkVi"}},"210141":{"id":"210141","type":"image","title":"Robots Reaching Through Clutter - 2","body":null,"created":"1449180018","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:18","changed":"1475894869","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:49","alt":"Robots Reaching Through Clutter - 2","file":{"fid":"196872","name":"kemp_robot2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/kemp_robot2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/kemp_robot2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4021428,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/kemp_robot2_0.jpg?itok=pNx_MOIl"}},"210151":{"id":"210151","type":"image","title":"Robots Reaching Through Clutter - 3","body":null,"created":"1449180018","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:18","changed":"1475894869","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:49","alt":"Robots Reaching Through Clutter - 3","file":{"fid":"196873","name":"kemp_robot1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/kemp_robot1_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/kemp_robot1_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":6015663,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/kemp_robot1_0.jpg?itok=pr3NSaIa"}}},"media_ids":["210121","210131","210141","210151"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/healthcare-robotics.com\/","title":"Healthcare Robotics Lab"},{"url":"http:\/\/charliekemp.com\/","title":"Website of Dr. Charlie Kemp"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/HealthcareRobotics","title":"Additional Videos on YouTube"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2157","name":"Charlie Kemp"},{"id":"594","name":"college of engineering"},{"id":"36141","name":"Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University"},{"id":"12319","name":"Healthcare Robotics Lab"},{"id":"65291","name":"Henry Evans"},{"id":"65331","name":"Meka Robotics"},{"id":"65321","name":"robots reaching in clutter"},{"id":"65251","name":"tactile sensing"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["klipp@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"203421":{"#nid":"203421","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Engineering Style of Dance for Robots and People","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA dancing robot is nothing new. A quick search on YouTube will yield videos of robots dancing to Michael Jackson\u2019s Thriller, Gangnam Style, the Macarena and more.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut at the Georgia Institute of Technology, researchers are taking robots and dance to a higher level.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInstead of programming a robot to copy an existing dance such as those in the online videos, Amy LaViers, a Ph.D. candidate in electrical and computer engineering, is defining the various styles of human movement and creating algorithms to reproduce them on a humanoid robot.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhat\u2019s more, LaViers has produced a robotic dance performance based on her research, called \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_6LqL3S4lDk\u0026amp;feature=youtu.be\u0022\u003E\u201cAutomaton\u003C\/a\u003E,\u201d in which a Nao robot and professional dancers explore the notion of \u201cautomatic style.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe show debuts at 8 p.m. on April 6 in the lower atrium of the G. Wayne Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons. A second showing will be held at 5 p.m. on April 13, also in Clough Commons\u2019 lower atrium, as part of the 2013 TechArts Festival.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are working with such a highly articulated robot that can do so many cool things, yet there are many ways he is limited too,\u201d \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.prism.gatech.edu\/~alaviers3\/\u0022\u003ELaViers\u003C\/a\u003E said. \u201cI do play with that idea of: What can the robot do, and what can the people do? Where are the differences and where are the similarities?\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELaViers\u0027 work exemplifies the intersection of engineering and dance, and could be applied to make robots more useful in everyday life, said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/users.ece.gatech.edu\/~magnus\/\u0022\u003EMagnus Egerstedt\u003C\/a\u003E, professor of electrical and computer engineering and LaViers\u0027 faculty advisor.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen robots are transitioning out of the manufacturing floor and into homes, becoming co-workers instead of tools, they need to understand to a certain degree what it means to be human,\u201d Egerstedt said. \u201cThey need to move in a style that makes sense to people, so that\u2019s why we started thinking about how you quantify style.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA dancer for most of her life, LaViers thought to combine dance with engineering during her undergraduate senior project at Princeton University. She saw a natural overlap between choreography, an arrangement of steps, and robotic algorithms, an engineering tool that plans robotic movement.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERobotic movements tend to be stiff and unnatural, but LaViers believes robots should have a range of quality of movement. To achieve this, she is developing quantitative tools that explain what differentiates movements using dance theorist Rudolf Laban\u2019s notion of quality.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELaViers also examines the basic poses and movements that define a style to quantify differences between genres of movement. What is the difference, for instance, between doing a disco dance and performing ballet? Using a computer program she developed for her thesis, she encodes that information so it can be reproduced on robots. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cUnderstanding how humans move is key to developing better techniques and applications to make robots move in a way that humans can relate to. \u2018Style\u2019 is part of this \u2013 particularly in the arts,\u201d LaViers said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELaViers\u2019 research fits into the overall objective of Egerstedt\u2019s lab, the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/gritslab.gatech.edu\/home\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Robotics and Intelligent Systems (GRITS) \u003C\/a\u003Elab.\u0026nbsp; The lab aims to produce robotic algorithms that endow robots of all kinds with desirable behavior.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHaving algorithms that mimic human movement in a high-level way could advance the use of robots in real-world settings.\u0026nbsp; For example, it may enable caregiving robots to have more comforting movement that is less intimidating to patients. Style-based measurements may also provide better feedback to patients recovering from physical disabilities or injuries.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the \u201cAutomaton\u201d piece, LaViers presents choreography generated from the framework in her thesis that is performed by human dancers and automated on the humanoid robot. After the performance, audience members will have a chance to give feedback on their impressions of the movement.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI hope the audience thinks of movement and programmed objects a little bit differently after seeing the show,\u201d LaViers said. \u201cI also hope it brings up ideas of technology in our lives today and in the future, when robots may be more commonplace.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EInstead of programming a robot to copy an existing dance such as those in the online videos, Amy LaViers, a Ph.D. candidate in electrical and computer engineering, is defining the various styles of human movement and creating algorithms to reproduce them on a humanoid robot.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Amy LaViers, a Ph.D. candidate in electrical and computer engineering, is defining the various styles of human movement and creating algorithms to reproduce them on a humanoid robot."}],"uid":"27462","created_gmt":"2013-04-01 13:54:42","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:59","author":"Liz Klipp","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-04-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-04-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"203441":{"id":"203441","type":"image","title":"Amy LaViers","body":null,"created":"1449179952","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:12","changed":"1475894859","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:39","alt":"Amy LaViers","file":{"fid":"196644","name":"automaton3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/automaton3_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/automaton3_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1418092,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/automaton3_0.jpg?itok=0sOLoQ4U"}},"203451":{"id":"203451","type":"image","title":"Automaton - rehearsal","body":null,"created":"1449179952","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:12","changed":"1475894859","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:39","alt":"Automaton - rehearsal","file":{"fid":"196645","name":"automaton4.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/automaton4_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/automaton4_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1378984,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/automaton4_0.jpg?itok=iy9AmuSW"}},"203481":{"id":"203481","type":"image","title":"Automaton - rehearsal 2","body":null,"created":"1449179952","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:12","changed":"1475894859","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:39","alt":"Automaton - rehearsal 2","file":{"fid":"196646","name":"automaton5.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/automaton5_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/automaton5_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1215692,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/automaton5_0.jpg?itok=m7zsMflZ"}},"203511":{"id":"203511","type":"image","title":"Automaton - rehearsal 3","body":null,"created":"1449179952","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:12","changed":"1475894859","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:39","alt":"Automaton - rehearsal 3","file":{"fid":"196649","name":"13c10317-p1-009.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/13c10317-p1-009_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/13c10317-p1-009_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1753281,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/13c10317-p1-009_0.jpg?itok=0qW85VHd"}},"203491":{"id":"203491","type":"image","title":"Aldebaran Robotics\u0027 Nao","body":null,"created":"1449179952","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:12","changed":"1475894859","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:39","alt":"Aldebaran Robotics\u0027 Nao","file":{"fid":"196647","name":"13c10317-p1-002.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/13c10317-p1-002_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/13c10317-p1-002_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":787418,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/13c10317-p1-002_0.jpg?itok=GSGFQ2xP"}}},"media_ids":["203441","203451","203481","203511","203491"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/georgiatech\/sets\/72157633139722835\/","title":"Automaton - flickr gallery"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.arts.gatech.edu\/connect\/news\/techarts-festival-2013-schedule","title":"TechArts Festival 2013"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/events\/437936852954665\/","title":"Automaton Facebook page"},{"url":"http:\/\/clough.gatech.edu\/","title":"Clough Commons"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.coe.gatech.edu\/","title":"College of Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=youtu.be\u0026v=_6LqL3S4lDk","title":"Automaton - Video"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"63011","name":"Amy LaViers"},{"id":"594","name":"college of engineering"},{"id":"4251","name":"dance"},{"id":"59441","name":"GRITS Lab"},{"id":"11528","name":"Magnus Egerstedt"},{"id":"63021","name":"Nao"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"166855","name":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"id":"167979","name":"Style"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["klipp@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"201371":{"#nid":"201371","#data":{"type":"news","title":"\u0022Terradynamics\u0022 Could Help Designers Predict How Legged Robots Will Move on Granular Media","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing a combination of theory and experiment, researchers have developed a new approach for understanding and predicting how small legged robots \u2013 and potentially also animals \u2013 move on and interact with complex granular materials such as sand.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research could help create and advance the field of \u201cterradynamics\u201d \u2013 a name the researchers have given to the science of legged animals and vehicles moving on granular and other complex surfaces. Providing equations to describe and predict this type of movement \u2013 comparable to what has been done to predict the motion of animals and vehicles through the air or water \u2013 could allow designers to optimize legged robots operating in complex environments for search-and-rescue missions, space exploration or other tasks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe now have the tools to understand the movement of legged vehicles over loose sand in the same way that scientists and engineers have had tools to understand aerodynamics and hydrodynamics,\u201d said Daniel Goldman, a professor in the School of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u201cWe are at the beginning of tools that will allow us to do the design and simulation of legged robots to not only predict their performance, but also to optimize designs and allow us to create new concepts.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research behind \u201cterradynamics\u201d was described in the March 22 issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation Physics of Living Systems program, the Army Research Office, the Army Research Laboratory, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and the Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science of the University of California, Berkeley.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERobots such as the Mars Rover have depended on wheels for moving in complex environments such as sand and rocky terrain. Robots envisioned for autonomous search-and-rescue missions also rely on wheels, but as the vehicles become smaller, designers may need to examine alternative means of locomotion, Goldman said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EExisting techniques for describing locomotion on surfaces are complex and can\u2019t take into account the intrusion of legs into a granular surface. To improve and simplify the understanding, Goldman and collaborators Chen Li and Tingnan Zhang examined the motion of a small legged robot as it moved on granular media. Using a 3-D printer, they created legs in a variety of shapes and used them to study how different configurations affected the robot\u2019s speed along a track bed. They then measured granular force laws from experiments to predict forces on legs, and created simulation to predict the robot\u2019s motion.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe key insight, according to Goldman, was that the forces applied to independent elements of the robot legs could be simply summed together to provide a reasonably accurate measure of the net force on a robot moving through granular media. That technique, known as linear superposition, worked surprisingly well for legs moving in diverse kinds of granular media.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe discovered that the force laws affecting this motion are generic in a diversity of granular media, including poppy seeds, glass beads and natural sand,\u201d said Li, who is now a Miller postdoctoral fellow at the University of California at Berkeley. \u201cBased on this generalization, we developed a practical procedure for non-specialists to easily apply terradynamics in their own studies using just a single force measurement made with simple equipment they can buy off the shelf, such as a penetrometer.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor more complicated granular materials, although the terradynamics approach still worked well, an additional factor \u2013 perhaps the degree to which particles resemble a sphere \u2013 may be required to describe the forces with equivalent accuracy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond understanding the basic physics principles involved, the researchers also learned that convex legs made in the shape of the letter \u201cC\u201d worked better than other variations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs long as the legs are convex, the robot generates large lift and small body drag, and thus can run fast,\u201d Goldman said. \u201cWhen the limb shape was changed to flat or concave, the performance dropped. This information is important for optimizing the energy efficiency of legged robots.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAerodynamic designers have long used a series of equations known as Navier-Stokes to describe the movement of vehicles through the air. Similarly, these equations also allow hydrodynamics designers to know how submarines and other vehicles move through water.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTerradynamics\u201d could provide designers with an efficient technique for understanding motion through media that flows around legs of terrestrial animals and robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cUsing terradynamics, our simulation is not only as accurate as the established discrete element method (DEM) simulation, but also much more computationally efficient,\u201d said Zhang, who is a graduate student in Goldman\u2019s laboratory. \u201cFor example, to simulate one second of robot locomotion on a granular bed of five million poppy seeds takes the DEM simulation a month using computers in our lab. Using terradynamics, the simulation takes only 10 seconds.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe six-legged experimental robot was just 13 centimeters long and weighed about 150 grams. Robots of that size could be used in the future for search-and-rescue missions, or to scout out unknown environments such as the surface of Mars. They could also provide biologists with a better understanding of how animals such as sand lizards run and kangaroo rats hop on granular media.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFrom a biological perspective, this opens up a new area,\u201d said Goldman, who has studied a variety of animals to learn how their locomotion may assist robot designers. \u201cThese are the kinds of tools that can help understand why lizards have feet and bodies of certain shapes. The problems associated with movement in sandy environments are as important to many animals as they are to robots.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond optimizing the design of future small robots, the work could also lead to a better understanding of the complex environment through which they will have to move.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe think that the kind of approach we are taking allows us to ask questions about the physics of granular materials that no one has asked before,\u201d Goldman added. \u201cThis may reveal new features of granular materials to help us create more comprehensive models and theories of motion. We are now beginning to get the rules of how vehicles move through these materials.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the Army Research Laboratory Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology Collaborative Technology Alliance (CTA W911NF-08-2-004), the Army Research Office (W911NF-11-1-0514), the National Science Foundation (NSF) Physics of Living Systems program (PHY-1150760) and the Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Any conclusions are those of the principal investigators, and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Army Research Laboratory, the Army Research Office or the NSF.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Chen Li, Tingnan Zhang, Daniel I. Goldman. \u201cA Terradynamics of Legged Locomotion on Granular Media,\u201d Science (2013): \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1126\/science.1229163\u0022 title=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1126\/science.1229163\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1126\/science.1229163\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing a combination of theory and experiment, researchers have developed a new approach for understanding and predicting how small legged robots \u2013 and potentially also animals \u2013 move on and interact with complex granular materials such as sand.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have developed a new technique for predicting how robots will move on granular media."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-03-21 13:20:17","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:55","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-03-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-03-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"201321":{"id":"201321","type":"image","title":"Terradynamics robots running","body":null,"created":"1449179943","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:03","changed":"1475894856","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:36","alt":"Terradynamics robots running","file":{"fid":"196583","name":"terradynamics111.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terradynamics111_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terradynamics111_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1270460,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/terradynamics111_0.jpg?itok=8C0SEUbU"}},"201311":{"id":"201311","type":"image","title":"Terradynamics experimental data","body":null,"created":"1449179943","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:03","changed":"1475894856","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:36","alt":"Terradynamics experimental data","file":{"fid":"196582","name":"terradynamics82.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terradynamics82_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terradynamics82_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1509551,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/terradynamics82_0.jpg?itok=hb2GQ5m1"}},"201331":{"id":"201331","type":"image","title":"terradynamics force testing","body":null,"created":"1449179943","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:03","changed":"1475894856","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:36","alt":"terradynamics force testing","file":{"fid":"196584","name":"terradynamics247.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terradynamics247_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terradynamics247_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1377268,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/terradynamics247_0.jpg?itok=0pDZi0xK"}},"201341":{"id":"201341","type":"image","title":"Terradyamics simulated robot","body":null,"created":"1449179943","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:03","changed":"1475894856","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:36","alt":"Terradyamics simulated robot","file":{"fid":"196585","name":"robotsimulation_mars03.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robotsimulation_mars03_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robotsimulation_mars03_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":705999,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/robotsimulation_mars03_0.jpg?itok=Lh45vQma"}}},"media_ids":["201321","201311","201331","201341"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"12040","name":"Daniel Goldman"},{"id":"62231","name":"granular media"},{"id":"62251","name":"legged robot"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"169242","name":"sand"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"62221","name":"terradynamics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"200741":{"#nid":"200741","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Robots to Spur Economy, Improve Quality of Life, Keep Responders Safe","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERobots are being used more widely than expected in a variety of sectors, and the trend is likely to continue with robotics becoming as ubiquitous as computer technology over the next 15 years.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat is the message Henrik Christensen, Georgia Tech\u2019s KUKA Chair of Robotics in the College of Computing, will bring to the Congressional Robotics Caucus on March 20 as he presents \u201c\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/robotics-vo.us\/sites\/default\/files\/2013%20Robotics%20Roadmap-rs.pdf\u0022\u003EA Roadmap for U.S. Robotics: From Internet to Robotics - 2013 Edition\u003C\/a\u003E.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe report, which outlines the progress of robots in multiple industries over the last five years and identifies goals for the coming decade, highlights robotics as a key economic enabler with the potential to transform U.S. society.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cRobots have the potential to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S., to improve our quality of life and to make sure our first responders and warfighters stay safe,\u201d said Christensen, who is also the coordinator of Robotics Virtual Organization (VO), sponsor of the report. \u201cWe need to address the technical and educational needs so we can continue to be leaders in developing and using robotic technology.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA group of more than 160 experts from universities, industry and government came together for five workshops over the last year to fully evaluate the use of robotics across various applications and create a roadmap to the future. Christensen is presenting that report to lawmakers as a guide on how to allocate resources to maximize progress.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMost notably, the group found using robots in manufacturing could help generate production systems that are economically competitive to outsourcing to countries with lower wages.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECompanies such as Apple, Lenovo, Samsung and Foxconn already have begun to \u201creshore\u201d manufacturing by using robotics in production systems. The sale of robotics in manufacturing grew by 44 percent in 2011 as robots have become cheaper and safer. The use of robots is shifting from big companies such as General Motors, Ford, Boeing and Lockheed Martin to small and medium-sized enterprises to enable burst manufacturing for one-off products, the report found.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EChristensen notes that automation in manufacturing will not lead to job losses for U.S. workers, but will create new high-value jobs. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSome jobs will be eliminated, but they are the \u2018dirty, dull and dangerous\u2019 jobs,\u201d Christensen said. \u201cThose jobs will be replaced with skilled labor positions. That\u2019s why one of the goals in the roadmap is to educate the workforce.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to manufacturing, robots are helping businesses such as Amazon improve logistics and reduce delivery costs, a savings that could be passed on to the consumer. In agriculture, robots are being used to precisely deliver pesticide onto crops, reducing unnecessary exposure of chemicals on produce. The report recommends continued progress in both areas.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith advances in human-like manipulation, robots are increasingly assisting individuals with disabilities with tasks such as getting out and preparing meals. They are also being used in 40 percent more medical procedures than a few years ago and in a greater number of surgical areas such as cardiothoracic, gynecology, urology, orthopedics and neurology. The use of robots for surgery can reduce complications by 80 percent, the report found.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERobots have proven their value in removing first-responders and soldiers from immediate danger. More than 25,000 robotic systems were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan for ground and aerial missions. More than 50 percent of pilots in the U.S. Air Force operate remotely piloted systems and never leave the ground.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlso robots are becoming an integral part of space exploration, such as the Opportunity and Curiosity on Mars rovers. A \u201crobonaut\u201d is on the International Space Station helping with menial but important research tasks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs impressive as the progress in robotics has been, the report outlines five-, 10- and 15-year goals to take robotics to the next level. Critical capabilities that should be developed for robotics include 3-D perception, intuitive human-robot interaction and safe robot behavior.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe report is an update of the initial robotics roadmap, which was published and presented to Congress in May 2009. That roadmap led to the creation of the National Robotics Initiative, an effort jointly sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Institutes of Health. It also established Robotics VO, a community networking platform that brings all robotics players together to focus on joint initiatives including research, STEM outreach and technology transfer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cRobotics is one of a few technologies capable of building new companies, creating new jobs and addressing a number of issues of national importance,\u201d said Christensen. \u201cWe hope this report will help foster the discussion on how we can build partnerships and allocate resources to move the robotics industry forward.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERobots are being used more widely than expected in a variety of sectors, and the trend is likely to continue with robotics becoming as ubiquitous as computer technology over the next 15 years, according to the new report.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Henrik Christensen, Georgia Tech\u2019s KUKA Chair of Robotics, presents \u201cA Roadmap for U.S. Robotics: From Internet to Robotics - 2013 Edition\u201d to Congress."}],"uid":"27462","created_gmt":"2013-03-20 08:31:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:51","author":"Liz Klipp","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-03-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-03-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"200761":{"id":"200761","type":"image","title":"Henrik Christensen, KUKA Chair of Robotics","body":null,"created":"1449179943","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:03","changed":"1475894853","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:33","alt":"Henrik Christensen, KUKA Chair of Robotics","file":{"fid":"196566","name":"10p1000-p71-032.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/10p1000-p71-032_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/10p1000-p71-032_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1658067,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/10p1000-p71-032_1.jpg?itok=thcn5Hdb"}}},"media_ids":["200761"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.robotics-vo.us\/node\/332","title":"Robotics VO"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.roboticscaucus.org\/members\/default.asp","title":"Congressional Robotics Caucus"},{"url":"http:\/\/robotics-vo.us\/sites\/default\/files\/2013%20Robotics%20Roadmap-rs.pdf","title":"A Roadmap for U.S. Robotics: From Internet to Robotics - 2013 Edition"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/people\/henrik-christensen","title":"Henrik Christensen, Georgia Tech\u0027s KUKA Chair of Robotics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/blog\/2013\/03\/20\/road-cutting-edge-robots","title":"White House Office of Science and Technology Policy blog post"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"155","name":"Congressional Testimony"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"654","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"346","name":"congress"},{"id":"11890","name":"henrik christensen"},{"id":"12239","name":"RIM"},{"id":"62031","name":"Robotics Roadmap"},{"id":"62041","name":"Robotics VO"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["klipp@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"172391":{"#nid":"172391","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Launches Manufacturing Institute","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETo support a new industry-friendly research strategy, the Georgia Institute of Technology announces the launch of an interdisciplinary research institute to promote a technologically advanced and globally competitive manufacturing base in the United States.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI) creates a campus-wide community of investigators and thought leaders capable of using innovation in manufacturing to create more high-value jobs in the U.S., ensure the nation\u2019s global competitiveness and advance economic and environmental sustainability.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cManufacturing is important to the development of a variety of products, from medical devices to alternative energy solutions to cars, on the large and nano scale,\u201d said Ben Wang, Georgia Tech\u2019s chief manufacturing officer and executive director of the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute. \u201cIt\u2019s critical to the economic viability and competitiveness of our nation to efficiently move leading-edge research from the lab to the real world.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince Georgia Tech was founded in 1888, manufacturing has been ingrained in the curriculum. Also for the last 20 years, the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Research Center has been focusing on developing next-generation technologies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnder this new initiative, the Manufacturing Research Center has been renamed the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute and has expanded to engage researchers from all of Georgia Tech\u2019s colleges, the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI\u00b2) and the Georgia Tech Research Institute. The researchers have joined forces with industry and government experts to help define and solve some of the greatest challenges facing the manufacturing industry today, such as the importance of translational research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe aspire to be known globally as the collaborative hub for manufacturing technologies and as the recognized leader in crossing the \u2018valley of death,\u2019\u201d Wang said. \u0026nbsp;\u201cBy that, we mean to transform the research results by faculty and students into competitive products and services to be made in the U.S. Our success is defined by how fast we can translate these discoveries and innovations into products for our stakeholders, accelerating our readiness and providing translational leadership.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTMI will focus on the complete innovation value chain \u2013 from raw and recycled resources to prototypes and finished products. It will develop materials, systems, processes, educational offerings and policies that impact manufacturers\u2019 performance in the marketplace.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGTMI is industry-focused and customer-centric, amplifying Georgia Tech\u2019s reputation globally as the world\u2019s leader in innovation-driven manufacturing,\u201d Wang said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith roughly 400,000 square feet of space and state-of-the art core facilities for manufacturing research, GTMI will target specific industry needs in manufacturing by forming \u201ccollaboratories\u201d \u2013 co-located pilot plants or prototype shops where Georgia Tech scientists and engineers work side-by-side with their counterparts from industry, government and other universities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBy implementing best practices to develop outward-facing, collaboration-based programs of the highest impact, we are focusing on understanding and achieving the value propositions of all stakeholders to better define and deliver offerings to companies, government, other universities and colleges, and non-profits,\u201d Wang said.\u0026nbsp; \u201cBy doing so, we will maximize U.S. global competitiveness through accelerated innovation and technology deployment.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEducation is also a priority of the new manufacturing research institute. With top-quality researchers, facilities and technological equipment, GTMI aims to educate and train the workforce of the future to investigate, collaborate and compete successfully through both its on-site programs and via collaborative, manufacturing-based instructional programs in technical colleges. In addition to providing real-world research opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students, GTMI offers a manufacturing certificate program, manufacturing scholarships and student assistantships, and it conducts Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) outreach activities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTMI brings together many of Georgia Tech\u2019s world-class innovation activities including:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ddm.me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAdditive Manufacturing\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E: Using innovative direct digital manufacturing to improve cost structure and delivery lead-time in creating mechanical parts and electronic devices.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.fis.marc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFactory Information Systems\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E: Developing, testing and launching innovative software and technology that boosts manufacturing efficiency.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.mbse.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EModel-based Systems Engineering\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E: Applying software and electronics innovations to create analytic models that predict system performance, optimize system parameters and create knowledge repositories for future systems development.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPolicy\u003C\/strong\u003E: Understanding industry needs and promoting supportive policy to ensure the strength and viability of U.S. manufacturing competitiveness in the global marketplace. Using a multi-scale, multi-disciplinary approach enables Georgia Tech experts to see beyond traditional boundaries and to better understand where policy interventions can develop, support and sustain a resilient manufacturing base.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/pmrc.marc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPrecision Machining\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E: Researching and applying technologies for enhanced productivity, part quality, difficult-to-machine features and machine tool utilization of precision finishing processes.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.scl.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESupply Chain and Logistics\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E: Applying scientific principles to optimize the design and integration of supply chain processes, infrastructure, technology and strategy including developing new analysis, design and management tools, and concepts and strategies.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.sdm.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESustainable Design\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E: Developing materials, processes and systems for implementing and operationalizing sustainability.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EUltra-lightweight, Energy Efficient Materials and Structures\u003C\/strong\u003E: Using rigorous experimental and modeling R\u0026amp;D to advance and mature technology in aerospace, biomedical, defense, energy and industrial equipment.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe launch of GTMI compliments Georgia Tech\u2019s presence in the national discussion on manufacturing. Georgia Tech President G. P. \u201cBud\u201d Peterson is a member of the White House\u2019s Advanced Manufacturing Partnership steering committee and is a member of the Secretary of Commerce\u2019s National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute is one of several interdisciplinary research institutes at Georgia Tech that bring together a mix of researchers \u2013 spanning colleges, departments and individual labs \u2013 around a single core research area.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETo support a new industry-friendly research strategy, the Georgia Institute of Technology announces the launch of an interdisciplinary research institute to promote a technologically advanced and globally competitive manufacturing base in the United States.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The interdisciplinary research institute will help promote a technologically advanced and globally competitive manufacturing base in the U.S."}],"uid":"27462","created_gmt":"2012-11-20 14:36:01","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:14","author":"Liz Klipp","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-11-20T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-11-20T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"172701":{"id":"172701","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute","body":null,"created":"1449178999","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:43:19","changed":"1475894814","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:54","alt":"Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute","file":{"fid":"195764","name":"13c3000-p1-126.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/13c3000-p1-126_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/13c3000-p1-126_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2571629,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/13c3000-p1-126_0.jpg?itok=rVgrCnLP"}},"70794":{"id":"70794","type":"image","title":"Ben Wang","body":null,"created":"1449177314","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:14","changed":"1475894623","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:43","alt":"Ben Wang","file":{"fid":"193458","name":"meyer_20110630_1750.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/meyer_20110630_1750_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/meyer_20110630_1750_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":6717749,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/meyer_20110630_1750_0.jpg?itok=GVCd5qjo"}}},"media_ids":["172701","70794"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.manufacturing.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/research\/","title":"Georgia Tech Office of Research \u0026 Graduate Studies"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"139","name":"Business"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"51021","name":"Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute; Ben Wang; Interdisciplinary research institute"},{"id":"51031","name":"research strategy"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["klipp@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"160721":{"#nid":"160721","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Robots Using Tools: With New Grant, Researchers Aim to Create \u2018MacGyver\u2019 Robot","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERobots are increasingly being used in place of humans to explore hazardous and difficult-to-access environments, but they aren\u2019t yet able to interact with their environments as well as humans. If today\u2019s most sophisticated robot was trapped in a burning room by a jammed door, it would probably not know how to locate and use objects in the room to climb over any debris, pry open the door, and escape the building.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA research team led by Professor Mike Stilman at the Georgia Institute of Technology hopes to change that by giving robots the ability to use objects in their environments to accomplish high-level tasks. The team recently received a three-year, $900,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research to work on this project.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur goal is to develop a robot that behaves like MacGyver, the television character from the 1980s who solved complex problems and escaped dangerous situations by using everyday objects and materials he found at hand,\u201d said Stilman, an assistant professor in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech. \u201cWe want to understand the basic cognitive processes that allow humans to take advantage of arbitrary objects in their environments as tools. We will achieve this by designing algorithms for robots that make tasks that are impossible for a robot alone possible for a robot with tools.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research will build on Stilman\u2019s previous work on navigation among movable obstacles that enabled robots to autonomously recognize and move obstacles that were in the way of their getting from point A to point B.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis project is challenging because there is a critical difference between moving objects out of the way and using objects to make a way,\u201d explained Stilman. \u201cResearchers in the robot motion planning field have traditionally used computerized vision systems to locate objects in a cluttered environment to plan collision-free paths, but these systems have not provided any information about the objects\u2019 functions.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo create a robot capable of using objects in its environment to accomplish a task, Stilman plans to develop an algorithm that will allow a robot to identify an arbitrary object in a room, determine the object\u2019s potential function, and turn that object into a simple machine that can be used to complete an action. Actions could include using a chair to reach something high, bracing a ladder against a bookshelf, stacking boxes to climb over something, and building levers or bridges from random debris.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy providing the robot with basic knowledge of rigid body mechanics and simple machines, the robot should be able to autonomously determine the mechanical force properties of an object and construct motion plans for using the object to perform high-level tasks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor example, exiting a burning room with a jammed door would require a robot to travel around any fire, use an object in the room to apply sufficient force to open the stuck door, and locate an object in the room that will support its weight while it moves to get out of the room.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESuch skills could be extremely valuable in the future as robots work side-by-side with military personnel to accomplish challenging missions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe Navy prides itself on recruiting, training and deploying our country\u2019s most resourceful and intelligent men and women,\u201d said Paul Bello, director of the cognitive science program in the Office of Naval Research (ONR). \u201cNow that robotic systems are becoming more pervasive as teammates for warfighters in military operations, we must ensure that they are both intelligent and resourceful. Professor Stilman\u2019s work on the \u2018MacGyver-bot\u2019 is the first of its kind, and is already beginning to deliver on the promise of mechanical teammates able to creatively perform in high-stakes situations.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo address the complexity of the human-like reasoning required for this type of scenario, Stilman is collaborating with researchers Pat Langley and Dongkyu Choi. Langley is the director of the Institute for the Study of Learning and Expertise (ISLE), and is recognized as a co-founder of the field of machine learning, where he championed both experimental studies of learning algorithms and their application to real-world problems. Choi is an assistant professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Kansas.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELangley and Choi will expand the cognitive architecture they developed, called ICARUS, which provides an infrastructure for modeling various human capabilities like perception, inference, performance and learning in robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe believe a hybrid reasoning system that embeds our physics-based algorithms within a cognitive architecture will create a more general, efficient and structured control system for our robot that will accrue more benefits than if we used one approach alone,\u201d said Stilman.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter the researchers develop and optimize the hybrid reasoning system using computer simulations, they plan to test the software using Golem Krang, a humanoid robot designed and built in Stilman\u2019s laboratory to study whole-body robotic planning and control.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EThis research is sponsored by the Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research, through grant number N00014-12-1-0143. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of Naval Research.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA Georgia Tech research team has received a grant from the Office of Naval Research to work on a project that intends to teach robots how to use objects in their environment to accomplish high-level tasks.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New project is designed to teach robots how to use objects in the environment to accomplish high-level tasks"}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2012-10-09 08:22:20","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:12:58","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-10-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-10-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"160691":{"id":"160691","type":"image","title":"MacGyver Grant, Photo 1","body":null,"created":"1449178896","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:41:36","changed":"1475894796","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:36","alt":"MacGyver Grant, Photo 1","file":{"fid":"195405","name":"macgyver-1-cropped_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/macgyver-1-cropped_0_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/macgyver-1-cropped_0_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":74337,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/macgyver-1-cropped_0_0.jpg?itok=0YGXIhCi"}},"160701":{"id":"160701","type":"image","title":"MacGyver Grant, Photo 2","body":null,"created":"1449178896","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:41:36","changed":"1475894796","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:36","alt":"MacGyver Grant, Photo 2","file":{"fid":"195406","name":"macgyver-robot-9680.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/macgyver-robot-9680_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/macgyver-robot-9680_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1118956,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/macgyver-robot-9680_0.jpg?itok=nJjsjaEd"}},"160711":{"id":"160711","type":"image","title":"MacGyver Grant, Photo 3","body":null,"created":"1449178896","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:41:36","changed":"1475894796","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:36","alt":"MacGyver Grant, Photo 3","file":{"fid":"195407","name":"macgyver-robot-9651.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/macgyver-robot-9651_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/macgyver-robot-9651_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1044485,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/macgyver-robot-9651_0.jpg?itok=QH5uCk_E"}}},"media_ids":["160691","160701","160711"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/~mstilman\/","title":"Mike Stillman Website"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/","title":"College of Computing"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ic.gatech.edu\/about","title":"School of Interactive Computing"},{"url":"http:\/\/robotics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Center for Robotics \u0026 Intelligent Machines"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"654","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"45961","name":"Golem Krang"},{"id":"45951","name":"MacGyver"},{"id":"11527","name":"Mike Stillman"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E 404-894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"156851":{"#nid":"156851","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Easy Guider: Intuitive Visual Control Provides Faster Remote Operation of Robots","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing a novel method of integrating video technology and familiar control devices, a research team from the Georgia Institute of Technology is developing a technique to simplify remote control of robotic devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers\u0027 aim is to enhance a human operator\u0027s ability to perform precise tasks using a multi-jointed robotic device such as an articulated mechanical arm. The new approach has been shown to be easier and faster than older methods, especially when the robot is controlled by an operator who is watching it in a video monitor.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKnown as Uncalibrated Visual Servoing for Intuitive Human Guidance of Robots, the new method uses a special implementation of an existing vision-guided control method called visual servoing (VS). By applying visual-servoing technology in innovative ways, the researchers have constructed a robotic system that responds to human commands more directly and intuitively than older techniques.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our approach exploits 3-D video technology to let an operator guide a robotic device in ways that are more natural and time-saving, yet are still very precise,\u0022 said Ai-Ping Hu, a senior research engineer with the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). \u0022This capability could have numerous applications \u2013 especially in situations where directly observing the robot\u0027s operation is hazardous or not possible \u2013 including bomb disposal, handling of hazardous materials and search-and-rescue missions.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA paper on this technology was presented at the 2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation held in St. Paul, Minn.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor decades articulated robots have been used by industry to perform precision tasks such as welding vehicle seams or assembling electronics, Hu explained. The user develops a software program that enables the device to cycle through the required series of motions, using feedback from sensors built into the robot.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut such programming can be complex and time-consuming. The robot must typically be maneuvered joint by joint through the numerous actions required to complete a task. Moreover, such technology works only in a structured and unchanging environment, such as a factory assembly line, where spatial relationships are constant.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Human Operator\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn recent years, new techniques have enabled human operators to freely guide remote robots through unstructured and unfamiliar environments, to perform such challenging tasks as bomb disposal, Hu said. Operators have controlled the device in one of two ways: by \u0022line of sight\u0022 \u2013 direct user observation \u2013 or by means of conventional, two-dimensional camera that is mounted on the robot to send back an image of both the robot and its target.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut humans guiding robots via either method face some of the same complexities that challenge those who program industrial robots, he added. Manipulating a remote robot into place is generally slow and laborious.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat\u0027s especially true when the operator must depend on the imprecise images provided by 2-D video feedback. Manipulating separate controls for each of the robot\u0027s multiple joint axes, users have only limited visual information to help them and must maneuver to the target by trial and error.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Essentially, the user is trying to visualize and reconstruct a 3-D scenario from flat 2-D camera images,\u0022 Hu said. \u0022The process can become particularly confusing when operators are facing in a different direction from the robot and must mentally reorient themselves to try to distinguish right from left. It\u0027s somewhat similar to backing up a vehicle with an attached trailer \u2013 you have to turn the steering wheel to the left to get the trailer to move right, which is decidedly non-intuitive.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Visual Servoing Advantage\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo simplify user control, the Georgia Tech team turned to visual servoing (a term synonymous with visual activation).\u0026nbsp; Visual servoing has been studied for years as a way to use video cameras to help robots re-orient themselves within a structured environment such as an assembly line.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETraditional visual servoing is calibrated, meaning that position information generated by a video camera can be transformed into data meaningful to the robot. Using these data, the robot can adjust itself to stay in a correct spatial relationship with target objects.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Say a conveyor line is accidently moved a few millimeters,\u0022 Hu said. \u0022A robot with a calibrated visual servoing capability can automatically detect the movement using the video image and a fixed reference point, and then readjust to compensate.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut visual servoing offers additional possibilities. The research team \u2013 which includes Hu, associate professor Harvey Lipkin of the School of Mechanical Engineering, graduate student Matthew Marshall, GTRI research engineer Michael Matthews and GTRI principal research engineer Gary McMurray -- has adapted visual-servoing technology in ways that facilitate human control of remote robots.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe new technique takes advantage of both calibrated and uncalibrated techniques.\u0026nbsp; A calibrated 3-D \u0022time of flight\u0022 camera is mounted on the robot \u2013 typically at the end of a robotic arm, in a gripping device called an end-effector. This approach is sometimes called an eye-in-hand system, because of the camera\u0027s location in the robot\u0027s \u0022hand.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe camera utilizes an active sensor that detects depth data, allowing it to send back 3-D coordinates that pinpoint the end-effector\u0027s spatial location.\u0026nbsp; At the same time, the eye-in-hand camera also supplies a standard, uncalibrated 2-D grayscale video image to the operator\u0027s monitor.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe result is that the operator, without seeing the robot, now has a robot\u0027s-eye view of the target. Watching this image in a monitor, an operator can visually guide the robot using a gamepad, in a manner somewhat reminiscent of a first-person 3-D video game.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition, visual-servoing technology now automatically actuates all the joints needed to complete whatever action the user indicates on the gamepad \u2013 rather than the user having to manipulate those joints one by one. In the background, the Georgia Tech system performs the complex computation needed to coordinate the monitor image, the 3-D camera information, the robot\u0027s spatial position and the user\u0027s gamepad commands.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETesting System Usability\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The guidance process is now very intuitive \u2013 pressing \u0027left\u0027 on the gamepad will actuate all the requisite robot joints to effect a leftward displacement,\u0022 Hu said. \u0022What\u0027s more, the robot could be upside down and the controls will still respond in the same intuitive way \u2013 left is still left and right is still right.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo judge system usability, the Georgia Tech research team recently conducted trials to test whether the visual-servoing approach enabled faster task-completion times. Using a gamepad that controls an articulated-arm robot with six degrees of freedom, subjects performed four tests: they used visual-servoing guidance as well as conventional joint-based guidance, in both line-of-sight and camera-view modes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the line-of-sight test, volunteer participants using visual-servoing guidance averaged task-completion times that were 15 percent faster than when they used joint-based guidance. However, in camera-view mode, participants using visual-servoing guidance averaged 227 percent faster results than with the joint-based technique.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHu noted that the visual-servoing system used in this test scenario was only one of numerous possible applications of the technology.\u0026nbsp; The research team\u0027s plans include testing a mobile platform with a VS-guided robotic arm mounted on it. Also underway is a proof-of-concept effort that incorporates visual-servoing control into a low-cost, consumer-level robot.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our ultimate goal is to develop a generic, uncalibrated control framework that is able to use image data to guide many different kinds of robots,\u0022 he said.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 309\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30308\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing a novel method of integrating video technology and familiar control devices, a research team from the Georgia Institute of Technology is developing a technique to simplify remote control of robotic devices.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A technique known as uncalibrated visual servoing could make the remote control of robots more intuitive."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2012-09-25 13:13:30","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:12:50","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-09-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-09-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"156811":{"id":"156811","type":"image","title":"Uncalibrated Visual Servoing","body":null,"created":"1449178872","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:41:12","changed":"1475894792","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:32","alt":"Uncalibrated Visual Servoing","file":{"fid":"195305","name":"visual-servoing64.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/visual-servoing64_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/visual-servoing64_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1222654,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/visual-servoing64_0.jpg?itok=V1vmTawp"}},"156821":{"id":"156821","type":"image","title":"Uncalibrated Visual Servoing 2","body":null,"created":"1449178872","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:41:12","changed":"1475894792","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:32","alt":"Uncalibrated Visual Servoing 2","file":{"fid":"195306","name":"visual-servoing46.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/visual-servoing46_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/visual-servoing46_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1392359,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/visual-servoing46_0.jpg?itok=FGrla3b4"}},"156831":{"id":"156831","type":"image","title":"Uncalibrated Visual Servoing 3","body":null,"created":"1449178872","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:41:12","changed":"1475894792","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:32","alt":"Uncalibrated Visual Servoing 3","file":{"fid":"195307","name":"visual-servoing126.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/visual-servoing126_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/visual-servoing126_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1026900,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/visual-servoing126_1.jpg?itok=dr4WbmK6"}}},"media_ids":["156811","156821","156831"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"44451","name":"Ai-Ping Hu"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"44461","name":"robot arm"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"44441","name":"visual servoing"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"144381":{"#nid":"144381","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Micron-Scale Swimming Robots Could Deliver Drugs \u0026 Carry Cargo Using Simple Motion","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen you\u2019re just a few microns long, swimming can be difficult. At that size scale, the viscosity of water is more like that of honey, and momentum can\u2019t be relied upon to maintain forward motion.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMicroorganisms, of course, have evolved ways to swim in spite of these challenges, but tiny robots haven\u2019t quite caught up. Now a team of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology has used complex computational models to design swimming micro-robots that could overcome these challenges to carry cargo and navigate in response to stimuli such as light.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen they\u2019re actually built some day, these simple micro-swimmers could rely on volume changes in unique materials known as hydrogels to move tiny flaps that will propel the robots. The micro-devices could be used in drug delivery, lab-on-a-chip microfluidic systems \u2013 and even as micro-construction robots working in swarms.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe simple micro-swimmers were described July 23 in the online advance edition of the journal \u003Cem\u003ESoft Matter\u003C\/em\u003E, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry in the United Kingdom.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe believe that our simulations will give experimentalists a reason to pursue development of these micro-swimmers to go beyond what is available now,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/alexeev\u0022\u003EAlexander Alexeev\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech. \u201cWe wanted to demonstrate the principle of how robots this small could move by determining what is important and what would need to be used to build a real system.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe simple swimmer designed by Alexeev and collaborators Hassan Masoud and Benjamin Bingham consists of a responsive gel body about ten microns long with two propulsive flaps attached to opposite sides. A steering flap sensitive to specific stimuli would be located at the front of the swimmer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe responsive gel body would undergo periodic expansions and contractions triggered by oscillatory chemical reactions, oscillating magnetic or electric fields, or by cycles of temperature change. These expansions and contractions \u2013 the chemical swelling and de-swelling of the material \u2013 would create a beating motion in the rigid propulsive flaps attached to each side of the micro-swimmer. Combined with the movement of the gel body, the beating motion would move the micro-swimmer forward.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe trajectory of the micro-swimmer would be controlled by a flexible steering flap on its front. The flap would be made of a material that deforms based on changes in light intensity, temperature or magnetic field.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe combination of these flaps and the oscillating body creates a very nice motion that we believe can be used to propel the swimmer,\u201d said Alexeev. \u201cTo build a device that is autonomous and self-propelling at the micron-scale, we cannot build a tiny submarine. We have to keep it simple.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKey to the operation of the micro-swimmer would be the latest generation of hydrogels, materials whose volume changes in a cyclical way. The hydrogels would serve as \u201cchemical engines\u201d to provide the motion needed to move the device\u2019s propulsive flaps. Such materials currently exist and are being improved upon for other applications.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are using the state-of-the art in materials science, changing the properties of the material,\u201d explained Masoud, a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Mechanical Engineering. \u201cWe have combined the materials with the principles of hydrodynamics at the small scale to develop this new swimmer.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs part of their modeling, the researchers examined the effects of flaps of different sizes and properties. They also studied how flexible the micro-swimmer\u2019s body needed to be to produce the kind of movement needed for swimming.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYou can\u2019t swim at the small scale in the same way you swim at the large scale,\u201d Alexeev said. \u201cThere is no inertia, which is how you keep moving at the large scale. What happens at the small scale is counterintuitive to what you expect at the large scale.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe computational fluid modeling the researchers used allowed them to study a wide range of parameters in materials, oscillation rates and flexibility. What they learned, Alexeev said, will give experimentalists a starting point for actually building prototypes of the flexible gel robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe have captured the solid mechanics of the periodically-oscillating body, the fluid dynamics of moving through the viscous liquid, and the coupling between the two,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom a computational fluid dynamics standpoint, it\u2019s not an easy problem to model at this scale.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUltimately, the researchers hope to work with an experimental team to actually build the micro-swimmers. Combining their theoretical work with actual experiments could be a powerful approach to building robots on this size scale.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is a simulation that we hope to see in real life one day,\u201d Alexeev said. \u201cWe have learned how experimentalists can pursue fabrication of these devices without extensive trial-and-error. We can use the simulations to look inside what will happen by using the laws of physics to explain it.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers envision groups of micro-swimmers carrying cargo through microfluidic chips or other devices. Swarms of them could one day work together as tiny construction robots moving materials to desired locations for assembly.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut the micro-swimmers won\u2019t win any Olympic competitions. Alexeev estimates that their top speed could be on the order of a few micrometers per second \u2013 which should be enough to accomplish their mission.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf your body is micrometers in size, that kind of speed is really not too bad,\u201d he said. \u201cThe swimming speed will be rather slow, but at that size scale, you don\u2019t really need to go very fast since you only need to go short distances.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECitation\u003C\/strong\u003E: Hassan Masoud, Benjamin I. Bingham and Alexander Alexeev, Soft Matter, 2012, Advance Article. DOI: 10.1039\/C2SM25898F.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 309\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30308\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have used complex computational models to design micro-swimmers that could overcome the challenges of swimming at the micron scale. These autonomous micro-robots could carry cargo and navigate in response to stimuli such as light.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Computational modeling shows how micro-swimmers could overcome the challenges of swimming at the micron scale."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2012-08-05 22:17:18","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:12:36","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-08-05T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-08-05T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"144371":{"id":"144371","type":"image","title":"Image of Simulated Micro-Swimmer","body":null,"created":"1449178739","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:38:59","changed":"1475894777","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:17","alt":"Image of Simulated Micro-Swimmer","file":{"fid":"195034","name":"microswimmer.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/microswimmer_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/microswimmer_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":572475,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/microswimmer_0.jpg?itok=NuXeZORt"}}},"media_ids":["144371"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"39581","name":"Alexander Alexeev"},{"id":"39591","name":"computational modeling"},{"id":"3356","name":"hydrogel"},{"id":"39571","name":"micro-robot"},{"id":"39561","name":"micro-swimmer"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"167377","name":"School of Mechanical Engineering"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"138981":{"#nid":"138981","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Robot Vision: Muscle-Like Action Allows Camera to Mimic Human Eye Movement","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing piezoelectric materials, researchers have replicated the muscle motion of the human eye to control camera systems in a way designed to improve the operation of robots. This new muscle-like action could help make robotic tools safer and more effective for MRI-guided surgery and robotic rehabilitation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKey to the new control system is a piezoelectric cellular actuator that uses a novel biologically inspired technology that will allow a robot eye to move more like a real eye. This will be useful for research studies on human eye movement as well as making video feeds from robots more intuitive. The research is being conducted by Ph.D. candidate Joshua Schultz under the direction of assistant professor \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/ueda\u0022\u003EJun Ueda\u003C\/a\u003E, both from the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFor a robot to be truly bio-inspired, it should possess actuation, or motion generators, with properties in common with the musculature of biological organisms,\u201d said Schultz. \u201cThe actuators developed in our lab embody many properties in common with biological muscle, especially a cellular structure. Essentially, in the human eye muscles are controlled by neural impulses. Eventually, the actuators we are developing will be used to capture the kinematics and performance of the human eye.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDetails of the research were presented June 25, 2012, at the IEEE International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics in Rome, Italy. The research is funded by National Science Foundation. Schultz also receives partial support from the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUeda, who leads the Georgia Tech Bio-Robotics and Human Modeling Laboratory in the School of Mechanical Engineering, said this novel technology will lay the groundwork for investigating research questions in systems that possess a large number of active units operating together. The application ranges from industrial robots, medical and rehabilitation robots to intelligent assistive robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cRobustness against uncertainty of model and environment is crucial for robots physically interacting with humans and environments,\u201d said Ueda. \u201cSuccessful integration relies on the coordinated design of control, structure, actuators and sensors by considering the dynamic interaction among them.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPiezoelectric materials expand or contract when electricity is applied to them, providing a way to transform input signals into motion. This principle is the basis for piezoelectric actuators that have been used in numerous applications, but use in robotics applications has been limited due to piezoelectric ceramic\u0027s minuscule displacement. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe cellular actuator concept developed by the research team was inspired by biological muscle structure that connects many small actuator units in series or in parallel.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech team has developed a lightweight, high speed approach that includes a single-degree of freedom camera positioner that can be used to illustrate and understand the performance and control of biologically inspired actuator technology. This new technology uses less energy than traditional camera positioning mechanisms and is compliant for more flexibility.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEach muscle-like actuator has a piezoelectric material and a nested hierarchical set of strain amplifying mechanisms,\u201d said Ueda. \u201cWe are presenting a mathematical concept that can be used to predict the performance as well as select the required geometry of nested structures. We use the design of the camera positioning mechanism\u2019s actuators to demonstrate the concepts.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe scientists\u2019 research shows mechanisms that can scale up the displacement of piezoelectric stacks to the range of the ocular positioning system. In the past, the piezoelectric stacks available for this purpose have been too small.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur research shows a two-port network model that describes compliant strain amplification mechanisms that increase the stroke length of the stacks,\u201d said Schultz. \u201cOur findings make a contribution to the use of piezoelectric stack devices in robotics, modeling, design and simulation of compliant mechanisms. It also advances the control of systems using a large number of motor units for a given degree of freedom and control of robotic actuators.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the study, the scientists sought to resolve a previous conundrum. A cable-driven eye could produce the eye\u2019s kinematics, but rigid servomotors would not allow researchers to test the hypothesis for the neurological basis for eye motion.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESome measure of flexibility could be used in software with traditional actuators, but it depended largely on having a continuously variable control signal and it could not show how flexibility could be maintained with quantized actuation corresponding to neural recruitment phenomena.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEach muscle-like actuator consists of a piezoelectric material and a nested hierarchical set of strain amplifying mechanisms,\u201d said Ueda. \u201cUnlike traditional actuators, piezoelectric cellular actuators are governed by the working principles of muscles - namely, motion results by discretely activating, or recruiting, sets of active fibers, called motor units.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMotor units are linked by flexible tissue, which serves a two-fold function,\u201d said Ueda. \u201cIt combines the action potential of each motor unit, and presents a compliant interface with the world, which is critical in unstructured environments.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech team has presented a camera positioner driven by a novel cellular actuator technology, using a contractile ceramic to generate motion. The team used 16 amplified piezoelectric stacks per side.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe use of multiple stacks addressed the need for more layers of amplification. The units were placed inside a rhomboidal mechanism. The work offers an analysis of the force-displacement tradeoffs involved in the actuator design and shows how to find geometry that meets the requirement of the camera positioner, said Schultz.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe goal of scaling up piezoelectric ceramic stacks holds great potential to more accurately replicate human eye motion than previous actuators,\u201d noted Schultz. \u201cFuture work in this area will involve implantation of this technology on a multi-degree of freedom device, applying open and closed loop control algorithms for positioning and analysis of co-contraction phenomena.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFuture research by his team will continue to focus on the development of a design framework for highly integrated robotic systems. This ranges from industrial robots to medical and rehabilitation robots to intelligent assistive robots. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 309\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30308\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Sarah E. Goodwin\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing piezoelectric materials, researchers have replicated the muscle motion of the human eye to control camera systems in a way designed to improve the operation of robots. This new muscle-like action could help make robotic tools safer and more effective for MRI-guided surgery and robotic rehabilitation.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Stacks of piezoelectric actuators that simulate the action of real muscles could give robots more human-like eyes."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2012-07-05 13:38:42","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:12:29","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-07-05T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-07-05T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"138951":{"id":"138951","type":"image","title":"Piezoelectric-vision1","body":null,"created":"1449178698","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:38:18","changed":"1475894769","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:09","alt":"Piezoelectric-vision1","file":{"fid":"194885","name":"piezoelectric-vision1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/piezoelectric-vision1_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/piezoelectric-vision1_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":390966,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/piezoelectric-vision1_0.jpg?itok=zp1F5d87"}},"138961":{"id":"138961","type":"image","title":"Piezoelectric-vision2","body":null,"created":"1449178698","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:38:18","changed":"1475894769","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:09","alt":"Piezoelectric-vision2","file":{"fid":"194886","name":"piezoelectric-vision2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/piezoelectric-vision2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/piezoelectric-vision2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":404032,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/piezoelectric-vision2_0.jpg?itok=8sApV_qy"}},"138971":{"id":"138971","type":"image","title":"Piezoelectric-vision4","body":null,"created":"1449178698","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:38:18","changed":"1475894769","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:09","alt":"Piezoelectric-vision4","file":{"fid":"194887","name":"piezoelectric-vision4.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/piezoelectric-vision4_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/piezoelectric-vision4_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":760623,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/piezoelectric-vision4_0.jpg?itok=R4m1srhb"}}},"media_ids":["138951","138961","138971"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"13887","name":"Jun Ueda"},{"id":"7699","name":"piezoelectric"},{"id":"37861","name":"piezoelectric actuator"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"167377","name":"School of Mechanical Engineering"},{"id":"820","name":"vision"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"133161":{"#nid":"133161","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Robot Uses 3-D Imaging and Sensor-based Cutting Technology to Debone Poultry","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have developed a prototype system that uses advanced imaging technology and a robotic cutting arm to automatically debone chicken and other poultry products.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Intelligent Cutting and Deboning System employs a 3-D vision system that determines where to cut a particular bird. The device automatically performs precision cuts that optimize yield, while also greatly reducing the risk of bone fragments in the finished product.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEach bird is unique in its size and shape,\u0022 said Gary McMurray, chief of GTRI\u0027s Food Processing Technology Division. \u0022So we have developed the sensing and actuation needed to allow an automated deboning system to adapt to the individual bird, as opposed to forcing the bird to conform to the machine.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPoultry is Georgia\u0027s top agricultural product, with an estimated annual economic impact of nearly $20 billion statewide. Helping the poultry industry maximize its return on every flock can translate to important dividends. The research is funded by the state of Georgia through the Agricultural Technology Research Program at GTRI.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnder the Intelligent Cutting and Deboning System, a bird is positioned in front of the vision system prior to making a cut, explained GTRI research engineer Michael Matthews. The vision system works by making 3-D measurements of various location points on the outside of the bird. Then, using these points as inputs, custom algorithms define a proper cut by estimating the positions of internal structures such as bones and ligaments.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our statistics research shows that our external measurements correlate very well to the internal structure of the birds, and therefore will transition to ideal cutting paths,\u0022 Matthews said. \u0022In our prototype device, everything is registered to calibrated reference frames, allowing us to handle all cut geometries and to precisely align the bird and the cutting robot. Being able to test all possible cut geometries should enable us to design a smaller and more simplified final system.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe prototype uses a fixed two-degree-of-freedom cutting robot for making simple planar cuts. The bird is mounted on a six-degree-of-freedom robot arm that allows alignment of the bird and cutting robot to any desired position. The robot arm places the bird under the vision system, and then it moves the bird with respect to the cutting robot.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe system employs a force-feedback algorithm that can detect the transition from meat to bone, said research engineer Ai-Ping Hu. That detection capability allows the cutting knife to move along the surface of the bone while maintaining a constant force.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince ligaments are attached to bone, maintaining contact with the bone allows the knife to cut all the ligaments around the shoulder joint without cutting into the bone itself.\u0026nbsp; A similar approach can be used for other parts of the bird where meat must be separated from bone.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHu explained that the force-feedback algorithm uses a force sensor affixed to the knife handle. During a cutting operation, the sensor enables the robot to detect imminent contact with a bone. Then, instead of cutting straight through the bone, the system directs the cutting tool to take an appropriate detour around the bone.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Fine tuning is needed to adjust the force thresholds, to be able to tell the difference between meat, tendon, ligaments and bone, each of which have different material properties,\u201d Hu said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMcMurray said he expects the Intelligent Deboning System to match or exceed the efficiency of the manual process. Testing of the deboning prototype system, including cutting experiments, has confirmed the system\u2019s ability to recognize bone during a cut and to avoid bone chips \u2013 thus demonstrating the validity of GTRI\u2019s approach.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere are some very major factors in play in this project,\u201d McMurray said. \u201cOur automated deboning technology can promote food safety, since bone chips are a hazard in boneless breast fillets. But it can also increase yield, which is significant because every 1 percent loss of breast meat represents about $2.5 million to each of Georgia\u2019s 20 poultry processing plants.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30308\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Kirk Englehardt (404-894-6015)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"System could help boost agricultural production, improve safety"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have developed a prototype system that uses advanced imaging technology and a robotic cutting arm to automatically debone chicken and other poultry products.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have developed an automated system for deboning poultry."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2012-05-29 21:43:46","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:12:18","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-05-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-05-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"133131":{"id":"133131","type":"image","title":"Poultry Deboning System","body":null,"created":"1449178659","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:37:39","changed":"1475894759","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:59","alt":"Poultry Deboning System","file":{"fid":"194730","name":"poultry-deboning131.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/poultry-deboning131_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/poultry-deboning131_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1611011,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/poultry-deboning131_0.jpg?itok=PMZDfwBV"}},"133141":{"id":"133141","type":"image","title":"Poultry Deboning System2","body":null,"created":"1449178659","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:37:39","changed":"1475894759","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:59","alt":"Poultry Deboning System2","file":{"fid":"194731","name":"poultry-deboning121.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/poultry-deboning121_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/poultry-deboning121_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1590574,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/poultry-deboning121_0.jpg?itok=0pXzuOY3"}},"133151":{"id":"133151","type":"image","title":"Poultry Deboning System3","body":null,"created":"1449178659","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:37:39","changed":"1475894759","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:59","alt":"Poultry Deboning System3","file":{"fid":"194732","name":"poultry-deboning58.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/poultry-deboning58_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/poultry-deboning58_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1060250,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/poultry-deboning58_0.jpg?itok=Cd7XhGo9"}}},"media_ids":["133131","133141","133151"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"669","name":"agriculture"},{"id":"11470","name":"Gary McMurray"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"6057","name":"image"},{"id":"215","name":"manufacturing"},{"id":"668","name":"poultry"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"820","name":"vision"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"128531":{"#nid":"128531","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Robot Reveals the Inner Workings of Brain Cells","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGaining access to the inner workings of a neuron in the living brain offers a wealth of useful information: its patterns of electrical activity, its shape, even a profile of which genes are turned on at a given moment. However, achieving this entry is such a painstaking task that it is considered an art form; it is so difficult to learn that only a small number of labs in the world practice it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut that could soon change: Researchers at MIT and the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a way to automate the process of finding and recording information from neurons in the living brain. The researchers have shown that a robotic arm guided by a cell-detecting computer algorithm can identify and record from neurons in the living mouse brain with better accuracy and speed than a human experimenter.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe new automated process eliminates the need for months of training and provides long-sought information about living cells\u2019 activities. Using this technique, scientists could classify the thousands of different types of cells in the brain, map how they connect to each other, and figure out how diseased cells differ from normal cells.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project is a collaboration between the labs of Ed Boyden, associate professor of biological engineering and brain and cognitive sciences at MIT, and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/forest.shtml\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ECraig Forest\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur team has been interdisciplinary from the beginning, and this has enabled us to bring the principles of precision machine design to bear upon the study of the living brain,\u201d Forest says. His graduate student, Suhasa Kodandaramaiah, spent the past two years as a visiting student at MIT, and is the lead author of the study, which appears in the May 6 issue of \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/nmeth.1993\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003ENature Methods\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe method could be particularly useful in studying brain disorders such as schizophrenia, Parkinson\u2019s disease, autism and epilepsy, Boyden says. \u201cIn all these cases, a molecular description of a cell that is integrated with [its] electrical and circuit properties \u2026 has remained elusive,\u201d says Boyden, who is a member of MIT\u2019s Media Lab and McGovern Institute for Brain Research. \u201cIf we could really describe how diseases change molecules in specific cells within the living brain, it might enable better drug targets to be found.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAutomation\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKodandaramaiah, Boyden and Forest set out to automate a 30-year-old technique known as whole-cell patch clamping, which involves bringing a tiny hollow glass pipette in contact with the cell membrane of a neuron, then opening up a small pore in the membrane to record the electrical activity within the cell. This skill usually takes a graduate student or postdoc several months to learn.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKodandaramaiah spent about four months learning the manual patch-clamp technique, giving him an appreciation for its difficulty. \u201cWhen I got reasonably good at it, I could sense that even though it is an art form, it can be reduced to a set of stereotyped tasks and decisions that could be executed by a robot,\u201d he says.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo that end, Kodandaramaiah and his colleagues built a robotic arm that lowers a glass pipette into the brain of an anesthetized mouse with micrometer accuracy. As it moves, the pipette monitors a property called electrical impedance \u2014 a measure of how difficult it is for electricity to flow out of the pipette. If there are no cells around, electricity flows and impedance is low. When the tip hits a cell, electricity can\u2019t flow as well and impedance goes up.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe pipette takes two-micrometer steps, measuring impedance 10 times per second. Once it detects a cell, it can stop instantly, preventing it from poking through the membrane. \u201cThis is something a robot can do that a human can\u2019t,\u201d Boyden says.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOnce the pipette finds a cell, it applies suction to form a seal with the cell\u2019s membrane. Then, the electrode can break through the membrane to record the cell\u2019s internal electrical activity. The robotic system can detect cells with 90 percent accuracy, and establish a connection with the detected cells about 40 percent of the time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers also showed that their method can be used to determine the shape of the cell by injecting a dye; they are now working on extracting a cell\u2019s contents to read its genetic profile.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDevelopment of the new technology was funded primarily by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the MIT Media Lab.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENew era for robotics\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers recently created a startup company, Neuromatic Devices, to commercialize the device.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers are now working on scaling up the number of electrodes so they can record from multiple neurons at a time, potentially allowing them to determine how different parts of the brain are connected.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey are also working with collaborators to start classifying the thousands of types of neurons found in the brain. This \u201cparts list\u201d for the brain would identify neurons not only by their shape \u2014 which is the most common means of classification \u2014 but also by their electrical activity and genetic profile.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf you really want to know what a neuron is, you can look at the shape, and you can look at how it fires. Then, if you pull out the genetic information, you can really know what\u2019s going on,\u201d Forest says. \u201cNow you know everything. That\u2019s the whole picture.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBoyden says he believes this is just the beginning of using robotics in neuroscience to study living animals. A robot like this could potentially be used to infuse drugs at targeted points in the brain, or to deliver gene therapy vectors. He hopes it will also inspire neuroscientists to pursue other kinds of robotic automation \u2014 such as in optogenetics, the use of light to perturb targeted neural circuits and determine the causal role that neurons play in brain functions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENeuroscience is one of the few areas of biology in which robots have yet to make a big impact, Boyden says. \u201cThe genome project was done by humans and a giant set of robots that would do all the genome sequencing. In directed evolution or in synthetic biology, robots do a lot of the molecular biology,\u201d he says. \u201cIn other parts of biology, robots are essential.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOther co-authors include MIT grad student Giovanni Talei Franzesi and MIT postdoc Brian Y. Chow.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E Georgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E 75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Robinson (abby@innovate.gatech.edu; 404-385-3364) or Caroline McCall (cmccall5@mit.edu; 617-253-1682)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter: \u003C\/strong\u003EAnne Trafton, MIT News\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have automated the process of finding and recording information from neurons in the living brain. A robotic arm guided by a cell-detecting computer algorithm can identify and record from neurons in the living mouse brain with better accuracy and speed than a human experimenter.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have automated the process of finding and recording information from neurons in the living brain."}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2012-05-06 18:15:11","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:12:09","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-05-06T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-05-06T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"128501":{"id":"128501","type":"image","title":"Craig Forest robotic neural recordings","body":null,"created":"1449178622","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:37:02","changed":"1475894751","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:51","alt":"Craig Forest robotic neural recordings","file":{"fid":"194578","name":"forest_autopatching_hires.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/forest_autopatching_hires_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/forest_autopatching_hires_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":775735,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/forest_autopatching_hires_0.jpg?itok=vdfef1_u"}},"128521":{"id":"128521","type":"image","title":"Whole-cell patching robot schematic","body":null,"created":"1449178622","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:37:02","changed":"1475894751","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:51","alt":"Whole-cell patching robot schematic","file":{"fid":"194580","name":"autopatching_schematic_hires.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/autopatching_schematic_hires_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/autopatching_schematic_hires_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":151885,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/autopatching_schematic_hires_0.jpg?itok=1ge0_Nkx"}},"128511":{"id":"128511","type":"image","title":"Neuromatic Devices research team","body":null,"created":"1449178622","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:37:02","changed":"1475894751","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:51","alt":"Neuromatic Devices research team","file":{"fid":"194579","name":"autopatching_team_hires.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/autopatching_team_hires_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/autopatching_team_hires_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1108663,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/autopatching_team_hires_0.jpg?itok=hvVbN3LH"}}},"media_ids":["128501","128521","128511"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1912","name":"brain"},{"id":"32681","name":"brain cell"},{"id":"594","name":"college of engineering"},{"id":"12333","name":"Craig Forest"},{"id":"32711","name":"electrical activity"},{"id":"7276","name":"neuron"},{"id":"1304","name":"neuroscience"},{"id":"32691","name":"patch clamp"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"167377","name":"School of Mechanical Engineering"},{"id":"32701","name":"whole-cell patch clamping"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAbby Robinson\u003Cbr \/\u003E Research News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E 404-385-3364\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"120151":{"#nid":"120151","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Innovations Help Expand U.S. Industrial Capabilities and Enhance Competitiveness","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn a bustling laboratory at the Fuller E. Callaway Jr. Manufacturing Research Center, a researcher from the Georgia Tech School of Mechanical Engineering is using novel digital technology to cast complex metal parts directly from computer designs, dramatically reducing both development and manufacturing time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENearby, at the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, researchers are working with a large U.S. avionics maker to speed new product production using specialized software that automatically generates simulations of the manufacturing process. And across campus in the College of Architecture, a team is working with an international corporation on digital techniques that allow entire concrete walls to be custom-manufactured to architectural specifications.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology was founded in 1885 with a mandate to develop manufacturing capabilities in the state of Georgia. Today, researchers whose work directly supports manufacturers can be found throughout Georgia Tech\u2019s academic colleges; in the Georgia Tech Research Institute, which focuses on applied research; and in the Enterprise Innovation Institute, which assists business and industry.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s role in supporting industry was highlighted in June 2011 when President Barack Obama named Georgia Tech President G.P. \u201cBud\u201d Peterson to the steering committee of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP). Georgia Tech joined five other leading universities \u2013 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Stanford University, the University of California Berkeley and the University of Michigan \u2013 in the AMP\u2019s $500 million push to guide investment in emerging technologies, increase overall U.S. global competitiveness and boost the supply of high-quality manufacturing jobs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe applaud this initiative, and Georgia Tech is honored to collaborate to identify ways to strengthen the manufacturing sector to help create jobs in Georgia and across the United States,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cMany of our challenges can be solved through innovation and fostering an entrepreneurial environment, as well as collaboration between industry, education and government to create a healthy economic environment and an educated workforce.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAdvanced manufacturing involves not only new ways to manufacture existing products, but also the development of new products emerging from advanced technologies, observed Stephen E. Cross, Georgia Tech\u2019s executive vice president for research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGeorgia Tech\u2019s mandate has always been to support manufacturing and technology development in the state and in the nation \u2013 to conduct research with relevance \u2013 so supporting industry comes very naturally to us,\u201d Cross said. \u201cThe leading-edge research across the Institute combines thought leadership with a focus on real-world problems and opportunities. Through this we will help lead a renaissance in advanced manufacturing in the United States.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe university\u2019s research initiatives on behalf of manufacturers are many and varied. These efforts include multiple areas of manufacturing-related research and involve collaboration across a variety of disciplines.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDeveloping Novel Manufacturing Technologies\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAdvancing Digital Manufacturing\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Suman Das, a professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, has developed a technology that could transform how industry creates and produces complex metal parts through \u201clost wax\u201d investment casting. In an ambitious project sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), he has created an all-digital approach that automates how part designs are turned into the real thing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECurrently, such metal parts are devised on computers using computer-aided design (CAD) software. But the next step \u2013 creating the ceramic mold with which the part is cast \u2013 involves a complex 12-step process that uses hundreds of tooling pieces and extensive manual labor. The result is a lengthy, costly and low-yield process that typically produces many scrap parts along with a few usable ones, said Das, who directs the Direct Digital Manufacturing Laboratory in Georgia Tech\u2019s Manufacturing Research Center (MaRC).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy contrast, the approach used by Das involves building ceramic molds directly from a CAD design. Called large area maskless photopolymerization (LAMP), this high-resolution, direct digital manufacturing technology builds the molds, layer by layer, by projecting patterns of ultraviolet light onto a mixture of photosensitive resins and ceramic particles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter a mold is formed, it is thermally post-processed at high temperatures to burn away the polymer and sinter the ceramic particles. That process forms a structure into which molten metal can be poured for casting.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe LAMP process can reduce the time required to turn a CAD design into a test-worthy part from several months to about a week, and it can produce parts of a complexity that designers could only dream of before,\u201d Das said. \u201cIt also can reduce costs by 25 percent and the number of unusable waste parts by more than 90 percent, while eliminating 100 percent of the tooling.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDas is currently working with turbine-engine airfoils \u2013 complex parts used in aircraft jet engines \u2013 in collaboration with the University of Michigan, PCC Airfoils and Honeywell International Inc. He believes LAMP technology will become pervasive and will be effective in the production of many other types of metal parts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDas said that LAMP can create not only testable prototypes, but could also be used in the actual manufacturing process, facilitating the mass production of complex metal parts at lower costs in a variety of industries.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA prototype LAMP alpha machine is currently building six typical airfoil molds in six hours. Das predicts that a larger beta machine \u2013 currently being built at Georgia Tech and scheduled for installation at a PCC Airfoils facility in Ohio in 2012 \u2013 will produce 100 molds in about 24 hours.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen you can achieve those volumes, you have gone beyond rapid prototyping to true rapid manufacturing,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ECustomizing Building Components\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Researchers at the College of Architecture are also helping to automate the process of turning CAD designs into manufactured products. A team in the Digital Building Laboratory is collaborating with Lafarge North America to develop ways to manufacture customized wall structures directly from parametric digital models.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe new process involves custom-molding entire curtain walls from rubber negatives to produce a unitized system called the \u201cLiquid Wall,\u201d constructed with Ductal\u00ae, Lafarge\u2019s ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC), and stainless steel. The Liquid Wall, created by Peter Arbour of RFR Consulting Engineers and collaborator Coreslab Structures Inc., won the 2010 AIANY Open Call for Innovative Curtain-Wall Design.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe don\u2019t want to just pick standardized products out of catalogs anymore,\u201d said Tristan Al-Haddad, an assistant professor in the College of Architecture who is involved in the collaboration with Lafarge, along with assistant professor Minjung Maing and others. \u201cWe\u2019re developing the protocols and research to manufacture high-end customized architectural products economically, safely and with environmental responsibility.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Liquid Wall approach is challenging, explained professor Charles Eastman, who is director of the Digital Building Laboratory and has a joint appointment in the College of Computing. The process involves creating rubber negatives using wall-form designs created with parametric modeling software, then planning production procedures and mapping out ways to install the completed, full-size walls on actual buildings.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen you\u2019re creating a completely new process like the Liquid Wall, you\u2019re faced with developing a whole new manufacturing process for this kind of material,\u201d Eastman said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EIndividualizing Mass Production\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Industrial designer Kevin Shankwiler, an associate professor in the College of Architecture, creates objects that can be both customized and mass-produced. By utilizing advances in flexible manufacturing technology, Shankwiler and his students develop furniture designs that can be changed to meet individual needs \u2013 such as those of persons with disabilities \u2013 while being built cost-effectively using mass production methods.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EToday\u2019s designers can build responsiveness to individual needs into the computer models used in production, Shankwiler said. Current manufacturing methods \u2013 such as computer-numerically-controlled (CNC) and 3-D printing techniques \u2013 are capable of creating furniture and other goods that can meet users\u2019 specific requirements without resorting to an institutional look.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn one research effort, we took a dining room chair in the Craftsman style, and we designed and built a model that could accommodate both wheelchair users of differing abilities and fully ambulatory people,\u201d Shankwiler said. \u201cWe have to ask \u2013 how should the human need affect the manufactured output and what are the best methods for achieving that?\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPursuing Micro-scale Machining\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;J. Rhett Mayor, an associate professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering, is investigating techniques that allow effective machining of metal surfaces at 50 microns \u2013 one 2,000ths of an inch \u2013 or less. He is also developing unique applications based on advanced micro-machining, such as tiny channels in metal that enhance heat transfer between surfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt present, Mayor explained, the ability to cut micro-features into surfaces is limited to metal sections about 1 centimeter square, a size that offers little cooling capability. Research being conducted by Mayor and his group focuses on scaling up micro-machining capabilities so that micro features can be cut in larger metal sheets.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe can currently make hundreds of features on a square centimeter,\u201d Mayor said. \u201cWhat we need are millions of features on a square foot.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne type of micro-scale feature \u2013 micro-channel heat exchangers \u2013 could play an important role in cooling factory-floor devices, as well as in the development of closed-loop systems that could generate power using recycled heat. For example, today\u2019s factories typically use large electrical motors that vent their heat inside the plant, wasting energy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn related work, Mayor and his team are developing optimization routines and thermal models that could enhance electrical machine design through the application of micro-machining and other technologies. The aim is to create machines that are smaller, yet offer high energy outputs thanks to more efficient cooling and to energy recycling.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother application of large scale micro-machining could involve the development of lightweight electric actuators that would take the place of hydraulics in aircraft. Such electric actuators would need plenty of power to replicate the high torque provided by hydraulics; those power requirements would demand effective cooling strategies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETackling Issues on the Factory Floor\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPromoting Factory Robotics\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Henrik Christensen, a professor in the College of Computing, is working with the Boeing Company to advance robotic manufacturing in the aircraft maker\u2019s facilities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn one project, Christensen and his team are working on an initiative that makes fundamental changes to how pieces are handled on the factory floor. In this approach, robots reverse the standard procedure by moving processing machines to a given part, rather than moving the part through an assembly line.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThink of a large airplane structure,\u201d Christensen said. \u201cHaving a machine move along the body of the aircraft, rather than moving the body itself, could result in much more efficient use of the machine.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team is employing a movable platform in the MaRC building that supports a robotic processing machine. Tests have already been performed using mobile painting and drilling capabilities that could lead to similar implementations at Boeing facilities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EChristensen has also developed automation technology that helps Boeing inspect parts and sub-assemblies that arrive from suppliers. The mobile robotic system scans each arriving piece to confirm that it is the correct item and conforms to the stipulated dimensions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe technology allows Boeing to identify shipping errors almost immediately, before the mistake can delay production. It also saves on labor costs and allows workers to be assigned to less routine tasks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Boeing projects are part of the Aerospace Manufacturing Initiative (AMI), which was established in 2008 when Boeing identified Georgia Tech as a strategic university partner and agreed to collaborate on innovative manufacturing technologies for aerospace products. The AMI, which involves multiple research projects across Georgia Tech, is led by Steven Danyluk, who is the Morris M. Bryan Jr. Chair in Mechanical Engineering for Advanced Manufacturing Systems. Since 2008, Siemens USA and CAMotion Inc. have also become AMI participants.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn another project just getting launched with a major French manufacturing company, Christensen is pursuing novel technology that would allow a factory-floor robot to learn tasks via direct human demonstration. Rather than having each robotic operation mapped out laboriously on a control computer, a worker would demonstrate the optimal way to perform a job and the robot would then mimic the human.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis human-model approach to robotic learning could have applications across a number of industries, he added; both Boeing and General Motors have expressed interest in the technology. Other application areas for this technique include health care and biotechnology, where it could help automate both manufacturing procedures and laboratory testing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EImproving Online Production\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Jianjun (Jan) Shi, a professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISYE), conducts research that addresses system informatics and control. He uses his training in mechanical and electrical engineering to integrate system data \u2013 comprising design, manufacturing, automation and performance information \u2013 into models that seek to reduce process variability.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn one effort, Shi is working with nGimat Co., a Norcross, Ga.- based company that is currently evaluating ways to mass produce a type of nanopowder used in high-energy, high-density batteries for electric cars. With sponsorship from the Department of Energy (DOE), Shi is supporting nGimat as it works to increase nanopowder output by several orders of magnitude.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis product has very good characteristics, and the task here is to scale up production while maintaining the quality,\u201d said Shi, who holds the Carolyn J. Stewart Chair in ISyE. \u201cWe must identify the parameters \u2013 what to monitor, what to control \u2013 to reduce any variability, and do so in an environmentally friendly way.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn work focusing on the steel industry, Shi is pursuing multiple projects including the investigation of sensing technologies used to monitor very high temperature environments in steel manufacturing. With DOE support, he is working with OG Technologies Inc. to develop methods that use optical sensors to provide continuous high-speed images of very hot surfaces \u2013 between 1,000 and 1,450 degrees Celsius.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe want to catch defect formation in the very early stages of manufacturing,\u201d Shi said. \u201cBy using imaging data of the product effectively with other process data to eliminate defects, we can help optimize the casting process.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn another project, sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Shi is investigating ways to use process measurements and online adjustments to improve quality control in the manufacturing of the silicon wafers used in semiconductors. He is working with several manufacturers to examine the root causes of undesirable geometric defects in wafer surfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAnticipating System Failure\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Nagi Gebraeel, an associate professor in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, conducts research in detecting and preventing failure in engineering systems as they degrade over time. The goal is to avoid both expensive downtime and unnecessary maintenance costs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe could be talking about a fleet of aircraft, trucks, trains, ships \u2013 or a manufacturing system,\u201d Gebraeel said. \u201cIn any of these cases, it\u2019s extremely useful for numerous reasons to be able to accurately estimate the remaining useful lifetime of a system or its components.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith National Science Foundation (NSF) funding, Gebraeel has examined some of the key challenges in accurately predicting failures of complex engineering systems. Specific challenges include the ability to account for the uncertainty associated with degradation processes of these systems and their components, the effects of future environmental\/operational conditions, and the dependencies and interactions that exist in multi-component systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn one project, Gebraeel and his team worked with Rockwell Collins, a maker of avionics and electronics, to monitor and diagnose the performance of circuit boards that control vital aircraft communications systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith equipment funding provided by Georgia Tech, Gebraeel has developed an adaptive prognostics system (APS), a custom research tool that allows him to investigate how quickly components degrade under stresses, using sensor-detected signals such as vibration.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere\u2019s a real need for information about the remaining life of components, so that users can find the economical middle ground between the cost of scheduled replacements and the cost of failure,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EMaximizing Throughput with Software\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Three faculty members in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering \u2013 Shabbir Ahmed, George Nemhauser and Joel Sokol \u2013 recently completed a project supporting a major maker of float glass. The manufacturer was automating a process in which finished glass plates are packed for shipment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe company was concerned that new machines \u2013 which pick up and remove glass from the production line \u2013 might fall behind, allowing valuable plates to be damaged. They wanted the capability to carefully schedule production sequences so the machines could function at maximum capacity without wasting plates.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team tackled development of new software that could minimize production problems. They devised algorithms that allowed the machines to work at their maximum efficiency and enabled them to handle input data with more than 99 percent efficiency.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe algorithms we delivered can also be used strategically, to determine how many machines of each type should be installed on a production line,\u201d Sokol said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESokol, Nemhauser and Ahmed are also collaborating on a project with a large international corporation to support production throughput at a semiconductor manufacturing facility.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe challenge involves the physical movement of semiconductors from one processing station to another throughout the factory. Because the routing of semiconductors between processing machines can differ from item to item, there\u2019s no linear assembly line procedure; instead, hundreds of automated vehicles pick up items from one processing point and move them to the next step.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDue to the facility\u2019s layout, these automated vehicles often encounter congestion that can delay the production schedule, said Nemhauser, who is the A. Russell Chandler lll Chair and Institute professor. The team is developing methods to best route and schedule the vehicles to minimize congestion and to move items between machines in ways that don\u2019t delay production.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EIncreasing Manufacturing Precision\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Shreyes Melkote, who is the Morris M. Bryan Jr. professor in mechanical engineering, directs the Precision Machining Research Center, one of numerous centers based in MaRC. Melkote researches precision manufacturing issues in several areas, including the production of precision metal parts and photovoltaic substrates.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a project sponsored by The Timken Company, Melkote is investigating methods for faster and more efficient machining of hardened steel materials using a hybrid process called \u201cLaser Assisted Hard Machining.\u201d Results from successful machining trials have demonstrated that this hybrid process has the potential to reduce machining time as well as cutting tool cost by prolonging tool life.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a Boeing-sponsored project, Melkote is developing thin-film sensors capable of monitoring high-speed machining operations. The goal is to give operators in-depth feedback for more effective control of high-speed rotating machines used to produce aerospace parts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETraditional piezoelectric sensors are costly and unreliable, Melkote said, and installing them on a given machine can alter its dynamic characteristics. By contrast, sensors made from low-cost piezoelectric polymer film can be attached to a rotating device without affecting its operation. A patent application is being filed on this sensor technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThin-film sensors allow us to accurately measure what\u2019s happening between the tool and the work-piece, in terms of forces, vibrations, deflections and other process responses,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have demonstrated that the quality of information we are getting from a $200 sensor is as good as from one that costs $30,000.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EInnovations in Manufacturing Systems and Processes\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAutomating Manufacturing Simulations\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Professor Leon McGinnis of the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering focuses on model-based systems engineering, an approach that uses computational methods to enable capture and reuse of systems knowledge. McGinnis is pursuing several sponsored projects in this area.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn one effort, McGinnis and his team have been working with Rockwell Collins, a maker of avionics and electronics, to help speed the introduction of new products by automating a process that simulates the requirements of production.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo optimize the resources needed to make products at the required rate, McGinnis explained, Rockwell Collins creates a computerized simulation of the manufacturing processes. Development of these models has traditionally been the province of experts skilled in taking initial system designs and painstakingly translating them into simulations of actual production.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is not a trivial task \u2013 producing a simulation model requires some 100 to 200 hours per product,\u201d said McGinnis, who is associate director of MaRC. \u201cThe company was only able to generate a few production models at a time, which created something of a bottleneck.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo understand the process of developing simulation models, a team interviewed the Rockwell Collins experts on the methods they used to develop such models. Then the Georgia Tech researchers turned to SysML, a programming language that enables the computerized modeling of complex systems, including multiple related factors such as people, machinery and product flows.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy using SysML to describe the evolution of a given product, the researchers were able to automate its movement from design to simulation. Even more important, the team created a domain-specific version of SysML that was customized to the Rockwell Collins environment. That achievement allowed any of the company\u2019s new products and systems to be plugged into a SysML-based automation process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis new way of doing things appears to reduce the time required to build simulation models by an order of magnitude, said McGinnis, who leads the Model-Based Systems Engineering Center in MaRC.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn another project, McGinnis and his team are collaborating with the School of Mechanical Engineering and MaRC to develop semantics for manufacturing processes under a DARPA contract. In other work, McGinnis is collaborating with the Tennenbaum Institute \u2013 a Georgia Tech organization that supports research for enterprise transformation \u2013 to address the challenges of identifying and mitigating risks in global manufacturing enterprise networks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EDeveloping Future Factories\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;A research team from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is working with the General Motors Co. to develop novel sensor and computer technologies for manufacturing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project, known as the Factory of the Future, seeks to establish a manufacturing model based on approaches and technologies that are largely new to factory design and processes. Among other things, the researchers are investigating the use of biologically inspired software algorithms to help maximize plant floor efficiency.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe future factory is one with an extremely agile environment, allowing the manufacturing plant to be reconfigured in real time to meet the objectives for production,\u201d said Gisele Bennett, director of the Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory at GTRI.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the heart of this process improvement approach is a robust combination of sensor and intelligent algorithm technologies, said Bennett, who is leading the project. The resulting optimization algorithms would utilize asset visibility of supplies, machines and vehicle-assembly status to optimize the manufacturing process, based on current requirements that could include energy savings, throughput or cost.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe goal is a broad, centralized view of all aspects of the manufacturing process, available in real time. This big-picture capability could lead to greater efficiency and productivity due to improved routing, inventory control and visibility into the health of the manufacturing equipment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAmong other things, these techniques could support a capability for just-in-time car building,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cA consumer could go into a dealership, choose the car they wanted \u2013 and as soon as the car is specified, its assembly would begin remotely.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAdvancing the Adaptive Process\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;A multidisciplinary team of Georgia Tech researchers is taking part in the Adaptive Vehicle Make (AVM) program. The four-year DARPA program, announced in the first half of 2011, fosters novel approaches to the design, verification and manufacturing of complex defense systems and vehicles. Funding for Georgia Tech\u2019s share of the work is expected to exceed $10 million.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe AVM effort consists of three primary programs: META, Instant Foundry Adaptive through Bits (iFAB) and Fast Adaptable Next-Generation Ground Vehicle (FANG). FANG includes the vehicleforge.mil project and the Manufacturing Experimentation and Outreach (MENTOR) effort.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech is collaborating with Vanderbilt University on the META program and the related Component, Context, and Manufacturing Model Library (C2M2L) program. Led by professor Dimitri Mavris, director of the Aerospace Systems Design Lab, and research engineer Johanna Ceisel, Georgia Tech\u2019s META effort focuses on dramatically improving the existing systems engineering, integration and testing processes for defense systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERather than utilizing one particular alternative technique, metric or tool, META aims to develop model-based design methods for cyber-physical systems that are far more complex and heterogeneous than those in use today.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShreyes Melkote, a professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering, leads an iFAB team that is developing manufacturing-process capabilities and model libraries to enable automated planning for the design and manufacture of military ground vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA GTRI team led by Vince Camp is also supporting iFAB, providing process guidance for development of the libraries. In addition, researchers from four Georgia Tech units, along with companies InterCAX LLC and Third Wave Systems Inc., are supporting this iFAB effort.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe vehicleforge.mil project, led by GTRI researchers Jack Zentner and Nick Bollweg, is creating a secure central website and other web-based tools capable of supporting collaborative vehicle development. The core website \u2013 vehicleforge.mil \u2013 would allow individuals and teams to share data, models, tools and ideas to speed and improve the design process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe aim here is to fundamentally change the way in which complex systems are taken from concept to reality,\u201d said Zentner, a senior research engineer. \u201cBy enabling many designers in varied locations to work together in a distributed manner, we\u2019re confident that vehicles \u2013 and eventually other systems \u2013 can be developed with greater speed and better results.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe C2M2L model library is part of the overall effort. C2M2L seeks to develop domain-specific models to enable the design, verification and fabrication of the FANG infantry fighting vehicle using the META, iFAB and vehicleforge.mil infrastructure.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe MENTOR effort will engage high school-age students in a series of collaborative design and distributed manufacturing prize-challenge experiments, with the goal of inspiring America\u2019s manufacturing and technology workforce of tomorrow.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDARPA envisions that the prize challenges will include up to 1,000 high schools in teams distributed across the nation and around the world, using computer-numerically-controlled (CNC) additive manufacturing machines \u2013 also known as 3D printers. The goal is help students collaboratively design and build systems of moderate complexity, such as mobile ground and aerial robots and energy systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMENTOR is led by professor Daniel Schrage of the School of Aerospace Engineering and director of the Integrated Product Lifecycle Engineering Laboratory, and by professor David Rosen of the School of Mechanical Engineering, who is also director of the Rapid Prototyping \u0026amp; Manufacturing Institute in MaRC.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EStrengthening Supply Chains\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Vinod Singhal, who is the Brady Family Professor of Operations Management in the College of Management, investigates supply chain disruptions and their relation to corporate performance. In one project, he is evaluating recent disruptions at manufacturing companies and other businesses, where he documents the magnitude of drop in stock prices, loss of revenue and increase in costs due to supply chain disruptions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTraditional approaches to supply chain management have focused only on efficiency,\u201d Singhal said. \u201cNewer approaches involve avoiding value destruction by instituting a reliable, responsive and robust supply chain.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESinghal has developed a detailed framework that helps enterprises manage their supply chain risks. His research instructs companies on how to prioritize risks, making supply chain vulnerabilities more visible and ensuring that top management learns to recognize the issue as critical to corporate success.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EModeling Flexibility\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;In the College of Management, Regents\u2019 professor Cheryl Gaimon studies technology management in manufacturing and service enterprises. In one study, Gaimon and former Ph.D. student Alysse Morton analyzed the value of flexibility in high-volume manufacturing of products with short life cycles, such as computer components.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers developed a model showing how companies could link internal manufacturing capabilities with swiftly changing external market forces. They demonstrated how these businesses could exploit manufacturing efficiencies, early market entry and quick shifts between product generations, combined with optimal pricing policies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur results demonstrated that firms need to work closely with their equipment suppliers to achieve more flexible technology, and that even a less-efficient facility can realize a long-term competitive advantage through an earlier market-entry strategy,\u201d Gaimon said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ELowering Quality-Failure Impact\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Assistant Professor Manpreet Hora of the College of Management conducts research in several areas of business and manufacturing, including the recall of products such as automobiles. In a recent study, he looked at the risks that can sometimes be created by today\u2019s lean manufacturing methods.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn studying automotive recalls, Hora discovered that because companies often share components across multiple vehicle lines to maintain lean practices, a potential defect in such components can greatly increase the cost and the magnitude of a recall. He concluded that increased quality checks of shared and critical parts are essential in lowering the impact of quality failures from recalls.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHelping Manufacturers Improve Products\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EReducing Engine Noise\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;In a project sponsored by EADS North America, a large aerospace and defense company, GTRI researcher Jason Nadler tackled the problem of helping the manufacturer reduce noise produced by commercial and military jet aircraft.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENadler and his team used innovative materials that make possible a new approach to the physics of noise reduction. They found that honeycomb-like structures composed of many tiny tubes or channels can reduce sound more effectively than conventional methods.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis approach dissipates acoustic waves by essentially wearing them out,\u201d Nadler said. \u201cIt\u2019s a phenomenological shift, fundamentally different from traditional techniques that absorb sound using a more frequency-dependent resonance.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENadler\u2019s research involves broadband acoustic absorption, a method of reducing sound that doesn\u2019t depend on frequencies or resonance. Instead of resonating, sound waves plunge into the channels and dissipate through a process called viscous shear.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe has developed what could be the world\u2019s first superalloy micro honeycomb using a nickel-based superalloy. He estimates that this new approach could provide better sound attenuation than any acoustic liner currently available.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EImproving Poultry Production\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;The Food Processing Technology Division of GTRI performs a broad spectrum of research for the food industry, including numerous projects that support the state\u2019s nearly $20 billion poultry industry. Research areas include advanced imaging and sensor technologies; robotics and automation systems; environmental and biological systems; food and product safety research; and worker safety research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn one project, GTRI researchers are employing image processing, statistical modeling, modeling of biomaterials and high-speed force control to bring automated chicken deboning to poultry processors. The Intelligent Deboning System aims to match or exceed the efficiency of the manual process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInitial tests of the deboning prototype system, including cutting experiments, have shown the system\u2019s ability to recognize bone during a cut and thus avoid bone chips. The work has demonstrated the validity of GTRI\u2019s approach.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere are some very major factors in play in this project,\u201d said Gary McMurray, chief of the Food Processing Technology Division and project director. \u201cThese include food safety \u2013 because bone chips are a major hazard for boneless breast fillets \u2013 and yield, because every 1 percent loss of breast meat represents about $2.5 million to each of Georgia\u2019s 20 processing plants.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EControlling Baking Systems\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;GTRI has developed a production line system that automatically inspects the quality of sandwich buns exiting the oven and adjusts oven temperatures if it detects unacceptable products.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWorking with baking company Flowers Foods and AMF\/BakeTech, a baking equipment manufacturer, GTRI researchers Douglas Britton and Colin Usher have tested their industrial-quality prototype system. Made of stainless steel, the system is dust-and-water-resistant, and mounts on existing conveyor belts as wide as 50 inches.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers tested the system in a Flowers Foods bakery.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe have closed the loop between the quality inspection of buns and the oven controls to meet the specifications required by food service and fast-food customers,\u201d said Britton. \u201cBy creating a more accurate, uniform and faster assessment process, we are able to minimize waste and lost product.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ETesting Manufacturing Materials\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;The GTRI Materials Analysis Center (MAC), led by Lisa Detter-Hoskin, supports manufacturers and other groups using advanced analytical tools and methodologies that address materials characterization, failure analysis and corrosion issues for manufacturers and other companies. MAC annually manages research projects and evaluates samples for hundreds of corporations and agencies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor example, the center supports CE-Tech LLC of Alpharetta, Ga., in numerous areas, including conducting analyses of competitive products and resins. The objective is to lower raw-material costs for CE-Tech clients through the substitution of lower-cost resins.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn another instance, GTRI works with Fairfield, Conn.-based Acme United Corp., a maker of cutting, measuring and safety products, to evaluate the chemistry and structure of new surface coatings. In one project, GTRI personnel tested a proprietary Acme United physical vapor deposition technology used to impart a hard outer shell onto steel blades.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe frequently need to test,\u201d said Larry Buchtmann, vice president for technology for Acme United. \u201cGTRI has the specialized equipment and trained engineering staff to meet our ongoing needs for these services.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAssessing Advanced Electronics\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;GTRI\u2019s Electromagnetic Test and Evaluation Facilities (EMTEF) and Electromagnetic Phenomenology Laboratory test facilities provide ongoing research and support for manufacturers. Both commercial customers and the U.S. government use these assets to aid design and manufacture of antennas and antenna-related sensors for wireless systems, cell and base station antennas, aircraft antennas and related applications.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese multi-purpose ranges allow antenna manufacturers or design engineers to confirm modeling designs, diagnose performance problems, and to confirm performance against advertised specifications,\u201d said GTRI researcher Barry Mitchell.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn one past instance, Mitchell recalls, a maker of aircraft weather radar was encountering problems with false alarms coming from wind-shear detection systems in flight. A GTRI team tested a waveguide antenna array on a planar near-field range belonging to the research institute, and the resulting aperture holograms revealed leakage points from brazed joints on the array. Eventually the problem was traced to a defect in the dip-brazing process during manufacturing, enabling corrective measures.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMaking Manufacturing More Sustainable\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ESupporting Sustainable Manufacturing\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;School of Mechanical Engineering professor Bert Bras, who leads the Sustainable Design and Manufacturing (SDM) Program in the MaRC, focuses on reducing the environmental impact of materials, products and manufacturing processes, while increasing their competitiveness.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe SDM group gets a large share of its research funding from industry. Together with MaRC research engineer Tina Guldberg, Bras and his group are currently working with Ford, GM and Boeing on projects related to sustainable manufacturing. Much of their work centers on a better understanding of the overall effect of manufacturing operations, as well as potential unintended consequences of product, process and business decisions over their life cycle.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne technique developed by Bras and his students involves the inclusion of environmental impact measures such as energy and water consumption in activity-based cost models. In this way, a single assessment model can quantify financial and environmental consequences of manufacturing process choices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith Marc Weissburg, a professor in the School of Biology and co-director of the Center for Bio-Inspired Design, Bras and his team are working on an NSF-funded project focused on the role of biologically inspired design in industrial manufacturing networks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBras is also collaborating with professor Nancey Green Leigh of the School of City and Regional Planning and professor Steven French of the College of Architecture on an NSF-funded project that studies methods of boosting product and material recovery in urban areas for use in local manufacturing. Leigh and French are also focusing in this grant on quantifying the amount of carpet and electronic waste generated in a metropolitan area and the economic benefits of diverting it from landfills, thereby creating business and job opportunities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ERecovering and Reusing Waste\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Jane Ammons, who is the H. Milton and Carolyn J. Stewart School Chair in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, collaborates on reverse production systems with Matthew Realff, a professor in the School of Chemical \u0026amp; Biomolecular Engineering. For more than 10 years, the team has focused on two important areas: the recovery and reuse of carpet wastes and ways to reduce electronic waste.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAmmons, Realff and their teams have developed a mathematical framework to support the growth of used-carpet collection networks. Such networks could help to recycle much of the 3.4 billion pounds of carpet waste currently produced in the United States annually. Research indicates that successful reuse of that carpet has a potential value of at least $850 million, versus a disposal cost of at least $60 million for simply sending it to landfills.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn other work, the team is studying the problem of e-waste \u2013 unwanted electronic components such as televisions, monitors and computer boards and chips. The e-waste stream includes hazardous materials such as lead and other toxins, yet effective management and reuse of e-components can be profitable. Ammons and Realff have devised mathematical models that address the complexities of e-waste processing, with the goal of helping recycling companies stay economically viable.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPromoting Manufacturing Sustainability\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;In a recent project, associate professor Chen Zhou in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, working with professor Leon McGinnis, tackled sustainability issues for a major U.S. manufacturer. The issue involved shipping gearbox components from China to the United States in ways that would minimize not only cost but also greenhouse gas emissions and waste.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt turned out that packaging was at the heart of the issue. The researchers had to configure component packaging so that the maximum number of components could be placed in a cargo container, yet also allow for optimal recycling of the packing materials to avoid waste and unnecessary cost.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis was definitely a complex problem,\u201d Zhou said. \u201cYou must track every piece of packaging from its source to its final resting place, when it either goes into another product or into a landfill.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team created a model \u2013 a globally sourced auto parts packaging system \u2013 that optimized cargo container space. The model also enabled the use of packing materials that were fully reusable; some materials went back to China for use in future shipments, while the rest was recycled into plastics for new vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClearly, Georgia Tech\u2019s broad-based involvement in advanced manufacturing research reflects both the talents of its faculty and the determination of U.S. industry to reinvent itself with the help of university-based research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe United States generates more inventions than the rest of the world combined, and Georgia Tech will continue to work with business and government to help turn the nation\u2019s vast innovative capabilities into an American industrial renaissance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis article originally appeared in the Winter 2012 issue of Research Horizons magazine. Abby Robinson also contributed to this article.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EResearch projects mentioned in this article are supported by sponsors that include the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the principal investigators and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF or DARPA.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30308 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Advanced manufacturing is a top priority for research programs campuswide"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAdvanced manufacturing is a major area of research at Georgia Tech, involving faculty members from academic colleges, as well as the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2). Activities focus on a broad range of areas, including new manufacturing technologies, factory-floor issues, manufacturing systems, product improvements and sustainability.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Innovations being developed at Georgia Tech are improving U.S. manufacturing capabilities."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2012-03-28 13:21:29","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:11:56","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-03-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-03-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"120101":{"id":"120101","type":"image","title":"Custom Wall Structures","body":null,"created":"1449178268","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:31:08","changed":"1475894741","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:41","alt":"Custom Wall Structures","file":{"fid":"194349","name":"al-haddad141.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/al-haddad141_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/al-haddad141_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1066183,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/al-haddad141_1.jpg?itok=Ok-4EjiA"}},"120111":{"id":"120111","type":"image","title":"Testing Polymer Materials","body":null,"created":"1449178268","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:31:08","changed":"1475894741","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:41","alt":"Testing Polymer Materials","file":{"fid":"194350","name":"detter-hoskin50.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/detter-hoskin50_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/detter-hoskin50_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1386604,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/detter-hoskin50_0.jpg?itok=BJL96INM"}},"120121":{"id":"120121","type":"image","title":"Maskless Photopolymerization","body":null,"created":"1449178268","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:31:08","changed":"1475894741","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:41","alt":"Maskless Photopolymerization","file":{"fid":"194351","name":"suman-das152.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/suman-das152_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/suman-das152_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":905669,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/suman-das152_0.jpg?itok=7fzrvfN-"}},"120131":{"id":"120131","type":"image","title":"Movable Platform","body":null,"created":"1449178268","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:31:08","changed":"1475894741","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:41","alt":"Movable Platform","file":{"fid":"194352","name":"christensen-robotics147.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/christensen-robotics147_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/christensen-robotics147_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1564029,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/christensen-robotics147_0.jpg?itok=4lVLymRG"}},"120141":{"id":"120141","type":"image","title":"Model-based Systems Engineering","body":null,"created":"1449178268","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:31:08","changed":"1475894741","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:41","alt":"Model-based Systems Engineering","file":{"fid":"194353","name":"mcginnis2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mcginnis2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mcginnis2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":951682,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mcginnis2_0.jpg?itok=7tzIOnCs"}}},"media_ids":["120101","120111","120121","120131","120141"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"215","name":"manufacturing"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"70403":{"#nid":"70403","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Researchers Receive Three NSF Emerging Frontiers Awards","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $6 million to fund three projects involving researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Each four-year, $2 million grant was awarded through the NSF\u0027s Division of Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The EFRI research teams will probe some profound aspects of the interface of biology and engineering,\u0022 said Sohi Rastegar, director of EFRI. \u0022If they are successful, the principles and theories uncovered in their investigations could unlock many technological opportunities.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis year, 14 transformative, fundamental research projects were awarded EFRI grants in two emerging areas: technologies that build on understanding of biological signaling, and machines that can interact and cooperate with humans.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe three Georgia Tech projects include:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EDeveloping a \u0022therapeutic robot\u0022 to help rehabilitate and improve motor skills in people with mobility problems;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ECreating wearable sensors that allow blind people to \u0022see\u0022 with their hands, bodies or faces;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EGenerating and rigorously testing quantitative models that describe spatial and temporal regulation of cell differentiation in tissues.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe therapeutic robot could enhance, assist and improve motor skills in humans with varying motor capabilities and deficits. The goal of the project is to program a humanoid rehabilitation robot to perform a \u0022partnered box step,\u0022 which is a defined pattern of weight shifts and directional changes, solely based on interpreting movement cues from subtle changes in forces between the hands and arms of the robot and the person.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo do this, researchers at Georgia Tech and Emory University will study how humans use their muscles to walk, balance and generate force signals with the hands for guidance when moving in cooperation with another person. They will also study \u0022rehabilitative partnered dance,\u0022 which has been specifically adapted to help improve gait and balance in individuals with motor impairments.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our vision is to develop robots that will interact with humans as both assistants and movement therapists,\u0022 explained principal investigator Lena Ting, an associate professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. \u0022We expect our project to have a long-term impact on quality of life of individuals with movement difficulties, such as those caused by Parkinson\u0027s disease, stroke and injury by improving fitness, motor skills and social engagement.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWorking with Ting on the project are Emory University School of Medicine (geriatrics) assistant professor Madeleine Hackney, Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering assistant professor Charlie Kemp and Georgia Tech School of Interactive Computing assistant professor Karen Liu.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor the second project, researchers at Georgia Tech and The City College of New York will investigate devices for \u0022alternative perception\u0022 and the principles underlying the human-machine interaction. Alternative perception combines electronics and the other senses to emulate vision. In addition to aiding the visually impaired, the findings are expected to have other applications, such as the development of intelligent robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers plan to untangle how humans learn to coordinate input from their senses -- e.g. vision, touch -- with movements, like reaching for a glass or moving through a crowded room. They will then map out how machines, such as robots and computers, learn similar tasks, to model devices that can assist humans.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team envisions a multifunctional array of sensors on the body and has already developed prototypes for some of the devices. The full complement of wearable sensors would help a sightless person navigate by conveying information about his or her surroundings.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers hope their findings on perception, and the prototypes they develop, will spawn a raft of wearable electronic devices to help blind people \u0022see\u0022 their environment at a distance through touch, hearing and other senses. The technology would also benefit sighted individuals who must navigate in poor visibility, such as firefighters and pilots.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPrincipal investigator Zhigang Zhu, professor of computer science and computer engineering in City College\u0027s Grove School of Engineering, will collaborate with City College professor of psychology and director of the Program in Cognitive Neuroscience Tony Ro, City College professor of electrical engineering Ying Li Tian, Georgia Tech Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering professor Kok-Meng Lee, and Georgia Tech School of Applied Physiology associate professor Boris Prilutsky.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe third project will address a fundamental question of developmental biology: what controls the spatial and temporal patterns of cell differentiation? Answering this question will lead to a better understanding of the basic principles of embryogenesis, explain origins of developmental disorders, and provide guidelines for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research will be conducted by principal investigator and Princeton University Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering associate professor Stanislav Shvartsman, Georgia Tech School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering associate professor Hang Lu, New York University Department of Biology professor Christine Rushlow, and University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Department of Computer Science associate professor Saurabh Sinha.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScientists know that among an embryo\u0027s first major developments is the establishment of its dorsoventral axis, which runs from its back to its belly. The researchers plan to study how this axis development unfolds -- specifically the presence and location of proteins during the process, which give rise to muscle, nerve and skin tissues.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo enable large-scale quantitative analyses of protein positional information along the dorsoventral axis, Lu and Shvartsman will further develop a microfluidic device they previously designed to reliably and robustly orient several hundred embryos in just a few minutes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022By understanding this system at a deeper, quantitative level, we will elucidate general principles underlying the operation of genetic and multicellular networks that drive development,\u0022 said Lu.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E Georgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E 75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Robinson (abby@innovate.gatech.edu; 404-385-3364) or John Toon (jtoon@gatech.edu; 404-894-6986)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriters:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Robinson, Holly Korschun and Jessa Forte Netting\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe National Science Foundation has awarded $6 million through its Division of Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation to fund three projects involving researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Three $2 million awards from NSF involve Georgia Tech researchers."}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2011-09-29 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:10:14","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-09-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-09-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"70404":{"id":"70404","type":"image","title":"Ting-Kemp-Hackney-Liu","body":null,"created":"1449177314","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:14","changed":"1475894618","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:38"},"70405":{"id":"70405","type":"image","title":"microfluidic device","body":null,"created":"1449177314","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:14","changed":"1475894618","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:38"}},"media_ids":["70404","70405"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/facultystaff\/faculty_record.php?id=37","title":"Lena Ting"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/faculty\/lu.php","title":"Hang Lu"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/lee.shtml","title":"Kok-Meng Lee"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ap.gatech.edu\/Prilutsky\/","title":"Boris Prilutsky"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/facultystaff\/faculty_record.php?id=104","title":"Charlie Kemp"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ic.gatech.edu\/people\/karen-liu","title":"Karen Liu"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1102","name":"blind"},{"id":"14478","name":"Boris Prilutsky"},{"id":"14480","name":"cell differentiation"},{"id":"2157","name":"Charlie Kemp"},{"id":"654","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"594","name":"college of engineering"},{"id":"11533","name":"Department of Biomedical Engineering"},{"id":"898","name":"Hang Lu"},{"id":"2296","name":"Karen Liu"},{"id":"14477","name":"Kok-Meng Lee"},{"id":"2266","name":"Lena Ting"},{"id":"7341","name":"microfluidic"},{"id":"1482","name":"mobility"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"167863","name":"School of Applied Physiology"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"69751":{"#nid":"69751","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Mini Maker Faire Celebrates DIY on Campus","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESpinning off an idea from \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/makezine.com\/\u0022\u003EMAKE Magazine\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/oreilly.com\/\u0022\u003EO\u2019Reilly Media\u003C\/a\u003E,\na mechanical engineering student will bring the first Atlanta Mini Maker Faire\nto Georgia Tech\u2019s campus.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe event \u2014 which\ncalls itself \u201ca celebration of all things DIY\u201d \u2014 will feature the skills and creations\nof a variety of makers from the region, including blacksmithing, kinetic\nsculptures, robots and 3D printers. About 50 makers will be in attendance with\ntheir wares, including many from the Tech community. This smaller version of\nlarger Maker Faires that have been held in Detroit, New York and California gives\nthe event its \u201cmini\u201d moniker.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI thought Atlanta would be a great place for a Mini Maker\nFaire because there haven\u2019t really been any in the South before, and I know the\nSouth is filled with just as many makers and crafters as the rest of the\ncountry,\u201d said Eric Weinhoffer, the ME student organizing the event. \u201cGeorgia\nTech is an extremely good location to host an event like this, thanks to the\ntechnological advancements that come out of the Institute every year. The\nschool itself is an inspiration to makers.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe event is free to attend and will welcome students,\nfaculty, staff and guests in the Manufacturing Related Disciplines Complex (MRDC)\nparking lot, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/gatech.edu\/calendar\/event.html?nid=69229\u0022\u003ESaturday, Sept. 10\u003C\/a\u003E, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Most makers will be\nexhibiting their work, but some will have creations for sale as well. To learn\nmore about the makers who will be in attendance, visit the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.makerfaireatl.com\/Atlanta_Mini_Maker_Faire\/Home.html\u0022\u003EAtlanta Mini Maker\nFaire website\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe first Atlanta Mini Maker Faire will take place on Georgia Tech\u2019s campus.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The first Atlanta Mini Maker Faire will take place on Georgia Tech\u2019s campus."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2011-09-01 08:55:21","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:10:05","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-09-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-09-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"69230":{"id":"69230","type":"image","title":"Atlanta Mini Maker Faire Logo","body":null,"created":"1449177239","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:13:59","changed":"1475894606","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:26","alt":"Atlanta Mini Maker Faire Logo","file":{"fid":"192738","name":"atlanta_minimf.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/atlanta_minimf_0.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/atlanta_minimf_0.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":48446,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/atlanta_minimf_0.jpeg?itok=jRq6kXZd"}}},"media_ids":["69230"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.makerfaireatl.com\/Atlanta_Mini_Maker_Faire\/Home.html","title":"Atlanta Mini Maker Faire"},{"url":"internal:\/!\/AtlMakerFaire","title":"Atlanta Mini Maker Faire on Twitter"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"},{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"},{"id":"143","name":"Digital Media and Entertainment"},{"id":"148","name":"Music and Music Technology"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"14181","name":"ammf"},{"id":"13945","name":"atlanta mini maker faire"},{"id":"541","name":"Mechanical Engineering"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:eweinhoffer@gmail.com\u0022\u003EEric Weinhoffer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EAtlanta Mini Maker Faire\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kristen.shaw@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EKristen Shaw\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003ECommunications and Marketing\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"66196":{"#nid":"66196","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Team Robot: Autonomous Vehicles Collaborate to Explore, Map Buildings","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThere isn\u0027t a radio-control handset in sight as several small robots roll briskly up the hallways of an office building.  Working by themselves and communicating only with one another, the vehicles divide up a variety of exploration tasks -- and within minutes have transmitted a detailed floor map to humans nearby. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis isn\u0027t a future-tech scenario.  This advanced autonomous capability has been developed by a team from the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Pennsylvania and the California Institute of Technology\/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).  A paper describing this capability and its present level of performance was presented in April at the SPIE Defense, Security and Sensing Conference in Orlando, Fla. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When first responders -- whether it\u0027s a firefighter in downtown Atlanta or a soldier overseas -- confront an unfamiliar structure, it\u0027s very stressful and potentially dangerous because they have limited knowledge of what they\u0027re dealing with,\u0022 said Henrik Christensen, a team member who is a professor in the Georgia Tech College of Computing and director of the Robotics and Intelligent Machines Center there.  \u0022If those first responders could send in robots that would quickly search the structure and send back a map, they\u0027d have a much better sense of what to expect and they\u0027d feel more confident.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe ability to map and explore simultaneously represents a milestone in the Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Collaborative Technology Alliance Program, a major research initiative sponsored by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. The five-year program is led by BAE Systems and includes numerous principal and general members comprised largely of universities.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMAST\u0027s ultimate objective is to develop technologies that will enable palm-sized autonomous robots to help humans deal with civilian and military challenges in confined spaces.  The program vision is for collaborative teams of tiny devices that could roll, hop, crawl or fly just about anywhere, carrying sensors that detect and send back information critical to human operators.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe wheeled platforms used in this experiment measure about one foot square. But MAST researchers are working toward platforms small enough to be held in the palm of one hand. Fully autonomous and collaborative, these tiny robots could swarm by the scores into hazardous situations.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe MAST program involves four principal research teams: integration, microelectronics, microsystems mechanics, and processing for autonomous operation. Georgia Tech researchers are participating in every area except microelectronics. In addition to the College of Computing, researchers from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), the School of Aerospace Engineering and the School of Physics are involved in MAST work. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe experiment -- developed by the Georgia Tech MAST processing team -- combines navigation technology developed by Georgia Tech with vision-based techniques from JPL and network technology from the University of Pennsylvania.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to Christensen, members of the Georgia Tech processing team involved in the demonstration include Professor Frank Dellaert of the College of Computing and graduate students Alex Cunningham, Manohar Paluri and John G. Rogers III.   Regents professor Ronald C. Arkin of the College of Computing and Tom Collins of GTRI are also members of the Georgia Tech processing team.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the experiment, the robots perform their mapping work using two types of sensors \u2013 a video camera and a laser scanner.  Supported by onboard computing capability, the camera locates doorways and windows, while the scanner measures walls.  In addition, an inertial measurement unit helps stabilize the robot and provides information about its movement.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EData from the sensors are integrated into a local area map that is developed by each robot using a graph-based technique called simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). The SLAM approach allows an autonomous vehicle to develop a map of either known or unknown environments, while also monitoring and reporting on its own current location.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESLAM\u0027s flexibility is especially valuable in areas where global positioning system (GPS) service is blocked, such as inside buildings and in some combat zones, Christensen said.  When GPS is active, human handlers can use it to see where their robots are. But in the absence of global location information, SLAM enables the robots to keep track of their own locations as they move.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There is no lead robot, yet each unit is capable of recruiting other units to make sure the entire area is explored,\u0022 Christensen explained. \u0022When the first robot comes to an intersection, it says to a second robot, \u0027I\u0027m going to go to the left if you go to the right.\u0027\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EChristensen expects the robots\u0027 abilities to expand beyond mapping soon. One capability under development by a MAST team involves tiny radar units that could see through walls and detect objects -- or humans -- behind them.  Infrared sensors could also support the search mission by locating anything giving off heat.  In addition, a MAST team is developing a highly flexible \u0022whisker\u0022 to sense the proximity of walls, even in the dark. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe processing team is designing a more complex experiment for the coming year to include small autonomous aerial platforms for locating a particular building, finding likely entry points and then calling in robotic mapping teams. Demonstrating such a capability next year would culminate progress in small-scale autonomy during MAST\u0027s first five years, Christensen said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to the three universities, other MAST team participants are North Carolina A\u0026amp;T State University, the University of California Berkeley, the University of Maryland, the University of Michigan, the University of New Mexico, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and two companies: BAE Systems and Daedalus Flight Systems.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was sponsored by the Army Research Laboratory under Cooperative Agreement Number W911NF-08-2-0004. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the Army Research Laboratory or the U.S. Government.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn a project sponsored by the Army Research Laboratory, researchers are giving autonomous robots the ability to work together to explore and map the interiors of buildings. Beyond soldiers, the capability could also help civilian first responders.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Autonomous robots are collaborating to explore and map buildings."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2011-05-15 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:08:45","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-05-15T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-05-15T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"66198":{"id":"66198","type":"image","title":"Henrik Christensen with robot","body":null,"created":"1449176931","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:08:51","changed":"1475894587","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:07"},"66199":{"id":"66199","type":"image","title":"Henrik Christensen with robot","body":null,"created":"1449176931","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:08:51","changed":"1475894587","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:07"}},"media_ids":["66198","66199"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ic.gatech.edu\/people\/henrik-christensen","title":"Henrik Christensen"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.rim.gatech.edu\/","title":"Robotics and Intelligent Machine Center"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/","title":"College of Computing"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7264","name":"autonomous"},{"id":"3156","name":"Buildings"},{"id":"10939","name":"collaborate"},{"id":"7059","name":"explore"},{"id":"11890","name":"henrik christensen"},{"id":"7076","name":"map"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"60881":{"#nid":"60881","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Give Robots the Capability for Deceptive Behavior","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA robot deceives an enemy soldier by creating a false trail and hiding so that it will not be caught. While this sounds like a scene from one of the Terminator movies, it\u0027s actually the scenario of an experiment conducted by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology as part of what is believed to be the first detailed examination of robot deception.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We have developed algorithms that allow a robot to determine whether it should deceive a human or other intelligent machine and we have designed techniques that help the robot select the best deceptive strategy to reduce its chance of being discovered,\u0022 said Ronald Arkin, a Regents professor in the Georgia Tech School of Interactive Computing. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe results of robot experiments and theoretical and cognitive deception modeling were published online on Sept. 3 in the \u003Cem\u003EInternational Journal of Social Robotics\u003C\/em\u003E. Because the researchers explored the phenomena of robot deception from a general perspective, the study\u0027s results apply to robot-robot and human-robot interactions. This research was funded by the Office of Naval Research.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the future, robots capable of deception may be valuable for several different areas, including military and search and rescue operations. A search and rescue robot may need to deceive in order to calm or receive cooperation from a panicking victim. Robots on the battlefield with the power of deception will be able to successfully hide and mislead the enemy to keep themselves and valuable information safe. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Most social robots will probably rarely use deception, but it\u0027s still an important tool in the robot\u0027s interactive arsenal because robots that recognize the need for deception have advantages in terms of outcome compared to robots that do not recognize the need for deception,\u0022 said the study\u0027s co-author, Alan Wagner, a research engineer at the Georgia Tech Research Institute.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor this study, the researchers focused on the actions, beliefs and communications of a robot attempting to hide from another robot to develop programs that successfully produced deceptive behavior. Their first step was to teach the deceiving robot how to recognize a situation that warranted the use of deception. Wagner and Arkin used interdependence theory and game theory to develop algorithms that tested the value of deception in a specific situation. A situation had to satisfy two key conditions to warrant deception -- there must be conflict between the deceiving robot and the seeker, and the deceiver must benefit from the deception. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOnce a situation was deemed to warrant deception, the robot carried out a deceptive act by providing a false communication to benefit itself. The technique developed by the Georgia Tech researchers based a robot\u0027s deceptive action selection on its understanding of the individual robot it was attempting to deceive.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo test their algorithms, the researchers ran 20 hide-and-seek experiments with two autonomous robots. Colored markers were lined up along three potential pathways to locations where the robot could hide. The hider robot randomly selected a hiding location from the three location choices and moved toward that location, knocking down colored markers along the way. Once it reached a point past the markers, the robot changed course and hid in one of the other two locations. The presence or absence of standing markers indicated the hider\u0027s location to the seeker robot.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The hider\u0027s set of false communications was defined by selecting a pattern of knocked over markers that indicated a false hiding position in an attempt to say, for example, that it was going to the right and then actually go to the left,\u0022 explained Wagner.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe hider robots were able to deceive the seeker robots in 75 percent of the trials, with the failed experiments resulting from the hiding robot\u2019s inability to knock over the correct markers to produce the desired deceptive communication.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The experimental results weren\u0027t perfect, but they demonstrated the learning and use of deception signals by real robots in a noisy environment,\u0022 said Wagner. \u0022The results were also a preliminary indication that the techniques and algorithms described in the paper could be used to successfully produce deceptive behavior in a robot.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile there may be advantages to creating robots with the capacity for deception, there are also ethical implications that need to be considered to ensure that these creations are consistent with the overall expectations and well-being of society, according to the researchers.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We have been concerned from the very beginning with the ethical implications related to the creation of robots capable of deception and we understand that there are beneficial and deleterious aspects,\u0022 explained Arkin. \u0022We strongly encourage discussion about the appropriateness of deceptive robots to determine what, if any, regulations or guidelines should constrain the development of these systems.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis work was funded by Grant No. N00014-08-1-0696 from the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The content is solely the responsibility of the principal investigator and does not necessarily represent the official view of ONR.\u003C\/em\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel Robinson (abby@innovate.gatech.edu; 404-385-3364) or John Toon (jtoon@gatech.edu; 404-894-6986)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers have published the first detailed examination of robot deception. They developed algorithms that allow a robot to determine whether it should deceive, and help the robot select the best deceptive strategy to avoid getting caught.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers publish first detailed examination of robot deceptio"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2010-09-09 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:07:19","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-09-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2010-09-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"60882":{"id":"60882","type":"image","title":"Deceptive robots","body":null,"created":"1449176296","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:58:16","changed":"1475894528","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:08","alt":"Deceptive robots","file":{"fid":"191231","name":"tjs39795.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tjs39795_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tjs39795_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1307298,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tjs39795_0.jpg?itok=Z5w2Ptzo"}},"60883":{"id":"60883","type":"image","title":"Ronald Arkin and Alan Wagner","body":null,"created":"1449176296","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:58:16","changed":"1475894531","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:11","alt":"Ronald Arkin and Alan Wagner","file":{"fid":"191232","name":"ttm39795.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ttm39795_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ttm39795_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1189345,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ttm39795_0.jpg?itok=U7qtrUpm"}},"60884":{"id":"60884","type":"image","title":"Research on deceptive robots","body":null,"created":"1449176296","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:58:16","changed":"1475894531","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:11","alt":"Research on deceptive robots","file":{"fid":"191233","name":"tqs39795.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tqs39795_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tqs39795_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1329267,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tqs39795_0.jpg?itok=jfD9_iCH"}}},"media_ids":["60882","60883","60884"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1007\/s12369-010-0073-8","title":"International Journal of Social Robotics paper"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ic.gatech.edu\/people\/ronald-arkin","title":"Ronald Arkin"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/~alanwags\/","title":"Alan Wagner"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/","title":"College of Computing"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"5660","name":"algorithms"},{"id":"10604","name":"Deception"},{"id":"10610","name":"deceptive communication"},{"id":"10609","name":"false communication"},{"id":"10605","name":"Hiding"},{"id":"525","name":"military"},{"id":"10606","name":"Military Operations"},{"id":"10607","name":"Reconnaissance"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"10608","name":"robot communication"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"168894","name":"search and rescue"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Vogel Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Vogel Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71617":{"#nid":"71617","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Urban Challenge Run Ends at Qualifying Event","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe blue Porsche Cayenne pulls up to a four-way intersection and stops. After it continues through the junction, it approaches a vehicle stopped in its lane. The Cayenne checks to make sure there are no cars approaching in the opposing lane, passes the stopped car and returns to its original lane. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis scene may sound normal, but this is no ordinary Porsche Cayenne-it thinks for itself and requires no driver. This autonomous vehicle was designed by the Georgia Institute of Technology in collaboration with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency\u0027s (DARPA) Urban Challenge.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s vehicle, named Sting 1, did not qualify for the final challenge during the National Qualifying Event (NQE) held from October 26-31 at the urban military training facility located on the former George Air Force Base in Victorville, California. Sting 1 finished as one of 35 teams that made it to the NQE.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022As a first-time entrant, the team has done an outstanding job making it to the semifinal round of the world\u0027s most challenging robotics competition,\u0022 said Tucker Balch, team lead and associate professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Interactive Computing in the College of Computing.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWith six cameras, eight computers, Doppler radar and infrared laser radar on board, Sting 1 was designed to operate without any human intervention and obey California traffic laws while performing maneuvers such as merging into moving traffic, navigating traffic circles and avoiding moving obstacles.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe road to California began in the summer of 2006, when Georgia Tech and 88 other teams signed up to participate in this year\u0027s Urban Challenge.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Georgia Tech didn\u0027t compete in the two previous Grand Challenges, but SAIC did,\u0022 added Balch. \u0022Their experience helped us develop software that could have enabled a robot to place well in the previous challenges and then we took it further with additional capabilities necessary for the Urban Challenge.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech team, consisting of researchers in Georgia Tech\u0027s College of Computing and College of Engineering and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), chose the Porsche Cayenne as their vehicle and in August 2006 began to install computers that would drive the car automatically. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEight computers networked together through two high speed networks were programmed to know the rules of the road. This included knowing how to stay in a lane, how to overtake another car, how to make turns in city traffic, how to maneuver the waiting patterns at an intersection, how to merge into traffic and how to behave in a parking lot. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAccording to the racing team, the car really had to think for itself. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When moving forward, the car usually ignored obstacles that were in its planned path,\u0022 said Tom Collins, electronics lead and GTRI principal research engineer. \u0022But when obstacles were detected, the car would plan and execute a different route.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESAIC engineers developed methods for visual lane detection and tracking. On unpaved dirt roads, the colors of the road and non-road areas were modeled to identify a path, adapting over time as lighting or surface colors changed. On marked paved roads, a camera kept the car in its lane by detecting the typical white and yellow lines that mark a driving lane. If the vision system was unable to find a lane, the car used lasers to follow the curb. Ten laser range finders sent out infrared laser beams that constantly scanned to provide Sting 1 with an accurate measurement of the distance to any objects, such as curbs and other cars.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAt intersections, the team used laser and radar sensors to see other waiting or approaching vehicles. Six off-the-shelf Doppler radar systems used to detect moving objects allowed the car to see as far as two football fields away in all directions. Cameras helped guide the car through the intersections and onto new roadways.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We had to guarantee that there was at least a 10 second window that would allow us to pull out onto a road, accelerate and get up to a reasonable speed without cutting someone off,\u0022 noted Henrik Christensen, principal investigator for the team and director of Georgia Tech\u0027s Robotics and Intelligent Machines Center.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers tested their car for months in the parking lot behind the Centergy One building in Technology Square on the Georgia Tech campus. They also utilized the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth, Ga. on weekends to test the ability of the car to maneuver in an urban environment. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Urban Challenge is the third in a series of DARPA-sponsored competitions to foster the development of robotic ground vehicle technology without a human operator, designed for use on the battlefield. Safe operation in traffic is essential to U.S. military plans to use autonomous ground vehicles to conduct important missions and keep American personnel out of harm\u0027s way.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers are already thinking about life after the Urban Challenge.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027ve already talked about expanding this work to other areas,\u0022 said Vince Camp, hardware lead and GTRI senior research engineer. \u0022We\u0027re looking forward to using the technologies in applications such as autonomous lane striping for the Department of Transportation.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EChallenges like this also aim to improve safety in vehicles consumers purchase. Some high-end vehicles sold today have backup sensors that alert the driver to obstacles and can parallel park without driver assistance. There are also systems that will alert a driver that is approaching a car in the same lane too quickly or if a driver is leaving the appropriate lane.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022These types of systems will help us become better drivers, but it\u0027s probably going to be a decade or so before we see fully autonomous vehicles,\u0022 said Christensen. \u0022At some point, though, drivers will realize that their cars are probably much more aware of what\u0027s going on around the car and are better equipped to deal with a situation than human drivers.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDARPA awarded a first-place prize of $2 million to Carnegie Mellon\u0027s Tartan Racing Team.  Second and third places went to teams from Stanford Univesity and Virginia Tech.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Stefany Wilson, College of Computing (404-894-7253); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:stefany@cc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Estefany@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel, Research News \u0026amp; Publications Office (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Kirk Englehardt, Georgia Tech Research Institute (404-407-7280); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Abby Vogel\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech\/SAIC Sting 1 vehicle reaches semifinals"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"The Sting Racing Team sponsored by Georgia Tech and SAIC reached the semifinals of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency\u0027s Urban Challenge, but did not quality for the final challenge.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Sting Racing Team reaches competition semifinals"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-11-06 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-11-06T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-11-06T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71618":{"id":"71618","type":"image","title":"Sting1 vehicle","body":null,"created":"1449177396","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:36","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"},"71619":{"id":"71619","type":"image","title":"Sting Racing Team","body":null,"created":"1449177396","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:36","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"},"71620":{"id":"71620","type":"image","title":"Sting 1 Vehicle","body":null,"created":"1449177396","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:36","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"}},"media_ids":["71618","71619","71620"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/","title":"College of Computing"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.sting-racing.org\/","title":"Sting Racing Web site"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"690","name":"darpa"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"170760","name":"Sting"},{"id":"1249","name":"vehicle"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EStefany Wilson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECollege of Computing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=sw187\u0022\u003EContact Stefany Wilson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-7253\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["stefany@cc.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"46384":{"#nid":"46384","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Learn Why Robots Get Stuck in the Sand","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EToday\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"New Study Could Help Future Space Robots"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"A new study takes what may be the first detailed look at the problem of robot locomotion on granular surfaces. Among the study","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study provides details of robot travel on granular surface"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2009-02-09 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:19","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-02-09T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2009-02-09T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46385":{"id":"46385","type":"image","title":"SandBot","body":null,"created":"1449174428","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:27:08","changed":"1475894419","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:19","alt":"SandBot","file":{"fid":"101141","name":"txc17406.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/txc17406_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/txc17406_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1655382,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/txc17406_0.jpg?itok=RtpvrkaR"}},"46386":{"id":"46386","type":"image","title":"SandBot","body":null,"created":"1449174428","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:27:08","changed":"1475894419","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:19","alt":"SandBot","file":{"fid":"101142","name":"tih17406.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tih17406_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tih17406_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1259577,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tih17406_0.jpg?itok=NczTdjdi"}}},"media_ids":["46385","46386"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/movies\/SandBot.wmv","title":"Video of SandBot (wmv format)"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Physics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/dgoldman.html","title":"Daniel Goldman"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1357","name":"granular"},{"id":"377","name":"locomotion"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"169242","name":"sand"},{"id":"1359","name":"terrain"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Vogel\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Vogel\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["avogel@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71098":{"#nid":"71098","#data":{"type":"news","title":"GTRI Wins Contract to Support Test \u0026 Evaluation of Unmanned Systems","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) has won a contract to support development of a roadmap designed to improve the testing and evaluation of unmanned and autonomous systems for the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The field of unmanned and autonomous systems is evolving rapidly, and new techniques are needed to effectively test and evaluate the capabilities that are being inserted into these systems. This is especially challenging for systems that are increasing in levels of autonomy,\u0022 said Lora Weiss, a GTRI principal research engineer.  \u0022Our task is to develop a roadmap that identifies new approaches to testing autonomous systems and details what needs to be tested, how the autonomous technologies can be tested, and when the testing needs to occur.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EKnown as the Roadmap Development and Technology Insertion Plan (RD-TIP), the one-year $430,000 award is funded through the U.S. Army at White Sands Missile Range.  The initiative is headed by Derrick Hinton, T\u0026amp;E\/S\u0026amp;T program manager with the Test Resources Management Center in the U.S. Department of Defense.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Many new technologies are being developed for unmanned and autonomous systems that must be tested and evaluated before they can be deployed.  New approaches are needed for testing and measuring the robustness of these systems, especially in non-deterministic and evolving environments,\u0022 Weiss noted.  \u0022The only way to know how to test them is to understand both the details of the technology and the system that it is going into. GTRI has extensive experience in both areas and can uniquely couple fundamental research with warfighter systems.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe effort will address all five major unmanned and autonomous systems domains, including systems that operate in the air, on the ground, underwater, on the sea surface and in space.  The roadmap will address both vehicles and the socio-technical environments in which they operate. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There is a strong desire from the warfighter to get these systems into the field,\u0022 Weiss added.  \u0022This, coupled with the rapid pace at which unmanned and autonomous systems are developing, creates a need to consider new options for more flexible testing of unmanned systems.  Through this roadmap, the government has asked us to help define these options.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETest and evaluation has traditionally been a focus area for GTRI, noted Rusty Roberts, a principal research engineer who oversees all of GTRI\u0027s test and evaluation programs. \u0022The current roadmap award builds on GTRI\u0027s long-term experience with test and evaluation for government customers and couples it with GTRI\u0027s strong knowledge of unmanned systems,\u0022 he said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe unmanned systems test and evaluation project is a new area within the Test and Evaluation Science and Technology Program, which is sponsored by the Test Resource Management Center (TRMC) within the Office of the Secretary of Defense. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI has ongoing projects in four areas of the T\u0026amp;E Science and Technology Program: unmanned and autonomous systems, directed energy, net-centric systems and non-intrusive instrumentation.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe applied research arm of the Georgia Institute of Technology, GTRI is also involved in other test and evaluation projects for the government, Roberts said.  Its test and evaluation capabilities cover a broad range of engineering and scientific disciplines, including tracking new technologies and their effect on test and evaluation, planning and executing programs for the government\u0027s operational test agencies and providing and\/or sponsoring test and evaluation professional education courses and workshops, as well as meetings such the annual ITEA Technology Conference.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUnmanned and autonomous systems are recognized as critical components to all aspects of modern warfare across the joint forces, and they are growing in mission effectiveness. They have proved effective in Afghanistan and Iraq by providing commanders at both the operational and tactical levels with improved intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and precision strike capabilities. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022They are being chosen over manned systems when the situation involves the dull (long mission times), the dirty (sampling for hazardous materials) and the dangerous (lethal exposure to hostile action) -- and when the unmanned systems can provide capabilities that are not achievable by manned systems,\u0022 Weiss noted. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) has won a contract to support development of a roadmap designed to improve the testing and evaluation of unmanned and autonomous systems for the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD).","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Research will provide a technology \u0027roadmap\u0027 for testing"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2008-07-31 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:19","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-07-31T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2008-07-31T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71099":{"id":"71099","type":"image","title":"UAV testing","body":null,"created":"1449177348","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:48","changed":"1475894628","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:48"},"71100":{"id":"71100","type":"image","title":"UAV testing","body":null,"created":"1449177348","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:48","changed":"1475894628","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:48"}},"media_ids":["71099","71100"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7264","name":"autonomous"},{"id":"1331","name":"evaluation"},{"id":"383","name":"test"},{"id":"1500","name":"UAV"},{"id":"7263","name":"unmanned"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71164":{"#nid":"71164","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tongue-controlled System Assists Individuals with Disabilities","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new assistive technology developed by engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology could help individuals with severe disabilities lead more independent lives.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe novel system allows individuals with disabilities to operate a computer, control a powered wheelchair and interact with their environments simply by moving their tongues.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This device could revolutionize the field of assistive technologies by helping individuals with severe disabilities, such as those with high-level spinal cord injuries, return to rich, active, independent and productive lives,\u0022 said Maysam Ghovanloo, an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Ghovanloo developed the system with graduate student Xueliang Huo.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe tongue-operated assistive technology, called the Tongue Drive system, was described on June 29 at the 2008 Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. An article about this system is also scheduled to appear in an upcoming issue of the \u003Cem\u003EJournal of Rehabilitation Research and Development\u003C\/em\u003E. This research was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E- Watch a video of Ghovanloo describing the Tongue Drive system and its applications \u003Ca href=\u0027http:\/\/gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/movies\/tongue-drive.mov\u0027\u003Ehere.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n- Watch a video of Huo operating a powered wheelchair with the Tongue Drive system \u003Ca href=\u0027http:\/\/www.gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/movies\/wheelchair.mov\u0027\u003Ehere.\u003C\/a\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo operate the Tongue Drive system, potential users only need to be able to move their tongues. Attaching a small magnet, the size of a grain of rice, to an individual\u0027s tongue by implantation, piercing or tissue adhesive allows tongue motion to direct the movement of a cursor across a computer screen or a powered wheelchair around a room.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We chose the tongue to operate the system because unlike hands and feet, which are controlled by the brain through the spinal cord, the tongue is directly connected to the brain by a cranial nerve that generally escapes damage in severe spinal cord injuries or neuromuscular diseases,\u0022 said Ghovanloo, who started working on this project about three years ago at North Carolina State University. \u0022Tongue movements are also fast, accurate and do not require much thinking, concentration or effort.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMovement of the magnetic tracer attached to the tongue is detected by an array of magnetic field sensors mounted on a headset outside the mouth or on an orthodontic brace inside the mouth. The sensor output signals are wirelessly transmitted to a portable computer, which can be carried on the user\u0027s clothing or wheelchair.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe sensor output signals are processed to determine the relative motion of the magnet with respect to the array of sensors in real-time. This information is then used to control the movements of a cursor on the computer screen or to substitute for the joystick function in a powered wheelchair.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe system can potentially capture a large number of tongue movements, each of which can represent a different user command. A unique set of specific tongue movements can be tailored for each individual based on the user\u0027s abilities, oral anatomy, personal preferences and lifestyle.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022An individual could potentially train our system to recognize touching each tooth as a different command,\u0022 explained Ghovanloo. \u0022The ability to train our system with as many commands as an individual can comfortably remember is a significant advantage over the common sip-n-puff device that acts as a simple switch controlled by sucking or blowing through a straw.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Tongue Drive system is also non-invasive and does not require brain surgery like some of the brain-computer interface technologies.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGhovanloo\u0027s group recently completed trials in which six able-bodied individuals tested the Tongue Drive system. Each participant defined six tongue commands that would substitute for computer mouse tasks - left, right, up and down pointer movements and single- and double-click. For each trial, the individual began by training the system. During the five-minute training session, the individual repeated each of the six designated tongue movements 10 times.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring the testing session, the user moved his or her tongue to one of the predefined command positions and the mouse pointer started moving in the selected direction. To move the cursor faster, users could hold their tongue in the position of the issued command to gradually accelerate the pointer until it reached a maximum velocity.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EResults of the computer access test by novice users with the current Tongue Drive prototype showed a response time of less than one second with almost 100 percent accuracy for the six individual commands. This is equivalent to an information transfer rate of approximately 150 bits per minute, which is much faster than the bandwidth of most brain-computer interfaces, according to Ghovanloo.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers have also tested the ability of twelve able-bodied individuals to operate an electric-powered wheelchair with the Tongue Drive system. The next step is to test and assess the usability and acceptability of the system by people with severe disabilities, said Ghovanloo. He is teaming with the Shepherd Center, an Atlanta-based catastrophic care hospital, and the Georgia Tech Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access, to conduct those trials.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research team has also begun to develop software to connect the Tongue Drive system to a wide variety of readily available communication tools such as text generators, speech synthesizers and readers. In addition, the researchers plan to add control commands, such as switching the system into standby mode to permit the user to eat, sleep or engage in a conversation while extending battery life.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We hope this technology will reduce the need of individuals with severe disabilities to receive continuous assistance from family members or caregivers, thus significantly reducing healthcare and assistance costs,\u0022 noted Ghovanloo. \u0022This system may also make it easier for them to work and communicate with others, such as friends and family.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E Maysam Ghovanloo (404-385-7048); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:mgh@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emgh@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"System allows them to operate powered wheelchairs and computers"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"A new assistive technology allows individuals with disabilities to operate a computer, control a powered wheelchair and interact with their environments simply by moving their tongues. The Tongue Drive system, developed by engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, could help individuals with severe disabilities lead more independent lives.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Tongue drive system assists persons with disabilities."}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2008-06-29 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:19","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-06-30T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2008-06-30T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71165":{"id":"71165","type":"image","title":"Tongue Drive computer monitor","body":null,"created":"1449177348","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:48","changed":"1475894630","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:50"},"71166":{"id":"71166","type":"image","title":"Tongue Drive wheelchair","body":null,"created":"1449177348","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:48","changed":"1475894630","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:50"},"71167":{"id":"71167","type":"image","title":"Tongue Drive","body":null,"created":"1449177348","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:48","changed":"1475894630","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:50"}},"media_ids":["71165","71166","71167"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/index.html","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=147","title":"Maysam Ghovanloo"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2652","name":"assistive"},{"id":"1912","name":"brain"},{"id":"3748","name":"communication"},{"id":"439","name":"computer"},{"id":"7134","name":"cord"},{"id":"242","name":"disabilities"},{"id":"359","name":"disability"},{"id":"5378","name":"Electric"},{"id":"521","name":"injury"},{"id":"2815","name":"interface"},{"id":"7132","name":"magnet"},{"id":"7324","name":"mouse"},{"id":"7325","name":"neuromuscular"},{"id":"3517","name":"power"},{"id":"554","name":"rehabilitation"},{"id":"167318","name":"sensor"},{"id":"170869","name":"sip-n-puff"},{"id":"170848","name":"spinal"},{"id":"623","name":"Technology"},{"id":"7130","name":"tongue"},{"id":"1652","name":"wheelchair"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"46266":{"#nid":"46266","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Study Reveals Sandfish Tucks Legs to Slither Like Snake Through Sand","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA study published in the July 17 issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E details how sandfish -- small lizards with smooth scales -- move rapidly underground through desert sand. In this first thorough examination of subsurface sandfish locomotion, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology found that the animals place their limbs against their sides and create a wave motion with their bodies to propel themselves through granular media.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When started above the surface, the animals dive into the sand within a half second. Once below the surface, they no longer use their limbs for propulsion -- instead, they move forward by propagating a traveling wave down their bodies like a snake,\u0022 said study leader Daniel Goldman, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Physics.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWith funding from the National Science Foundation and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the research team used high-speed X-ray imaging to visualize sandfish -- formally called \u003Cem\u003EScincus scincus \u003C\/em\u003E-- burrowing into and through sand. The team used that information to develop a physics model of the lizard\u0027s locomotion.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe sandfish used in this study inhabits the Sahara desert in Africa and is approximately four inches long. It uses its long, wedge-shaped snout and countersunk lower jaw to rapidly bury into and swim within sand. The sandfish\u0027s body has flattened sides and is covered with smooth shiny scales, its legs are short and sturdy with long and flattened fringed toes and its tail tapers to a fine point.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EWatch a video of a sandfish using its limbs to run on the surface and rapidly bury into the interior of granular media \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/movies\/1172490s1.mov\u0022\u003E here\u003C\/a\u003E. \u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EWatch a video of a sandfish slither like a snake through granular media \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/movies\/1172490s2.mov\u0022\u003E here\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EWatch a video of a sandfish swim through granular media with opaque markers on its body that clearly show that its limbs are held close to its body during swimming \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/movies\/1172490s3.mov\u0022\u003E here\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ETo conduct controlled experiments with the sandfish, Goldman and graduate students Ryan Maladen, Yang Ding and Chen Li built a seven-inch by eight-inch by four-inch-deep glass bead-filled container with tiny holes in the bottom through which air could be blown. The air pulses elevated the beads and caused them to settle into a loosely packed solid state. Repeated pulses of air compacted the material, allowing the researchers to closely control the density of the material. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESince a sandfish might encounter and need to move through different densities of sand in the desert, the researchers tested whether sandfish locomotion changed when burrowing through media with volume fractions of 58 and 62 percent -- typical values for desert sand. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Since loosely packed media is easier to push through and closely packed is harder to push through, we thought there should be some difference in the sandfish\u0027s locomotion,\u0022 said Goldman. \u0022But the results surprised us because the density of the granular media did not affect how the sandfish traveled through the sand; it was always the same undulatory wavelike pattern.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor a given wave frequency, the swimming speed depended only on the frequency of the wave and not on the density. Unexpectedly though, the animals could swim a bit faster in closely packed material by using a higher frequency range. The team also varied the diameter of the glass beads, but still observed similar wavelike motion. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBy tracking the sandfish in the X-ray images as it swam through the glass beads, Goldman was able to characterize the sandfish\u0027s motion -- called its kinematics -- as the form of a single-period sinusoidal wave that traveled from the head to the tail. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The large amplitude waves over the entire body are unlike the kinematics of other undulatory swimming organisms that are the same size as the sandfish, like eels, which propagate waves that start with a small amplitude that gets larger toward the tail,\u0022 explained Goldman. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter collecting the experimental data, Goldman\u0027s team developed a physics model to predict the speed at which sandfish swim through sand. The model was inspired by the resistive force theory, which allowed the researchers to partition the body of the sandfish into segments, each of which generated thrust and experienced drag when moving through the granular environment. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When you balance the thrust and drag, you get motion at some velocity, but we needed to determine the forces on the animal segments because we don\u0027t have the appropriate equations for drag force during movement through granular media,\u0022 explained Goldman.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo establish these equations, the researchers measured the granular thrust and drag forces on a small stainless steel cylindrical rod, thus allowing them to predict the wave efficiency and optimal kinematics. They found that the faster the sandfish propagate the wave, the faster they move forward through granular media -- up to speeds of six inches per second. This speed allows the animal to escape predators, the heat of the desert surface and quickly swim to ambush surface prey they detect from vibrations. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The results demonstrate that burrowing and swimming in complex media like sand can have intricacy similar to that of movement in air or water, and that organisms can exploit the solid and fluid-like properties of these media to move effectively within them,\u0022 noted Goldman.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to having a biological impact, this study\u0027s results also have ecological significance, according to Goldman. Understanding the mechanics of subsurface movement could reveal how the actions of small burrowing organisms like worms, scorpions, snakes and lizards can transform landscapes by their burrowing actions. This research may also help engineers build sandfish-like robots that can travel through complex environments.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If something nasty was buried in unconsolidated material, such as rubble, debris or sand, and you wanted to find it, you would need a device that could scamper on the surface, but also swim underneath the surface,\u0022 Goldman said. \u0022Since our work aims to fundamentally understand how the best animals in nature move in these complex unstructured environments, it could be very valuable information for this type of research.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Award No. PHY-0749991 and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the researcher and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.\u003C\/em\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E Daniel Goldman (404-894-0993); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:daniel.goldman@physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Edaniel.goldman@physics.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"In the first thorough examination of subsurface sandfish locomotion, researchers found that the small lizards place their limbs against their sides and create a wave motion like snakes to propel themselves through granular media.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Study shows how small lizards move rapidly underground through s"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2009-07-16 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:14","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-07-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2009-07-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46267":{"id":"46267","type":"image","title":"Sandfish lizard","body":null,"created":"1449174375","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:15","changed":"1475894414","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:14","alt":"Sandfish lizard","file":{"fid":"101056","name":"tjw66159.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tjw66159_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tjw66159_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":633936,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tjw66159_0.jpg?itok=98LitytK"}},"46268":{"id":"46268","type":"image","title":"Dan Goldman scincus scincus","body":null,"created":"1449174375","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:15","changed":"1475894414","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:14","alt":"Dan Goldman scincus scincus","file":{"fid":"101057","name":"tpd66160.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tpd66160_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tpd66160_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1373316,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tpd66160_0.jpg?itok=yHS8UAZS"}},"46269":{"id":"46269","type":"image","title":"Dan Goldman sandfish","body":null,"created":"1449174375","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:15","changed":"1475894414","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:14","alt":"Dan Goldman sandfish","file":{"fid":"101058","name":"tbc66160.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tbc66160_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tbc66160_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":682990,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tbc66160_0.jpg?itok=HNynnYb3"}}},"media_ids":["46267","46268","46269"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/research\/goldman\/","title":"Daniel Goldman"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Physics"},{"url":"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1126\/science.1172490","title":"Science article"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7118","name":"desert"},{"id":"7123","name":"drag"},{"id":"987","name":"imaging"},{"id":"7121","name":"kinematics"},{"id":"7116","name":"lizard"},{"id":"377","name":"locomotion"},{"id":"1383","name":"model"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"169242","name":"sand"},{"id":"169581","name":"sandfish"},{"id":"170845","name":"scincus"},{"id":"170846","name":"skink"},{"id":"170847","name":"slither"},{"id":"169001","name":"Snake"},{"id":"7122","name":"thrust"},{"id":"7119","name":"undulation"},{"id":"7120","name":"wave"},{"id":"1448","name":"x-ray"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Vogel\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Vogel\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["avogel@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"46280":{"#nid":"46280","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Clinical Trial Shows That Quadriplegics Can Use Tongue Drive System","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAn assistive technology that enables individuals to maneuver a powered wheelchair or control a mouse cursor using simple tongue movements can be operated by individuals with high-level spinal cord injuries, according to the results of a recently completed clinical trial.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This clinical trial has validated that the Tongue Drive system is intuitive and quite simple for individuals with high-level spinal cord injuries to use,\u0022 said Maysam Ghovanloo, an assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0022Trial participants were able to easily remember and correctly issue tongue commands to play computer games and drive a powered wheelchair around an obstacle course with very little prior training.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAt the annual conference of the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) on June 26, the researchers reported the results of the first five clinical trial subjects to use the Tongue Drive system. The trial was conducted at the Shepherd Center, an Atlanta-based catastrophic care hospital, and funded by the National Science Foundation and the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe clinical trial tested the ability of these individuals with tetraplegia, as a result of high-level spinal cord injuries (cervical vertebrae C3-C5), to perform tasks related to computer access and wheelchair navigation -- using only their tongue movements. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAt the beginning of each trial, Ghovanloo and graduate students Xueliang Huo and Chih-wen Cheng attached a small magnet -- the size of a grain of rice -- to the participant\u0027s tongue with tissue adhesive. Movement of this magnetic tracer was detected by an array of magnetic field sensors mounted on wireless headphones worn by the subject. The sensor output signals were wirelessly transmitted to a portable computer, which was carried on the wheelchair.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe signals were processed to determine the relative motion of the magnet with respect to the array of sensors in real-time. This information was then used to control the movements of the cursor on a computer screen or to substitute for the joystick function in a powered wheelchair. Details on use of the Tongue Drive for wheeled mobility were published in the June 2009 issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003EIEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGhovanloo chose the tongue to operate the system because unlike hands and feet, which are controlled by the brain through the spinal cord, the tongue is directly connected to the brain by a cranial nerve that generally escapes damage in severe spinal cord injuries or neuromuscular diseases.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBefore using the Tongue Drive system, the subjects trained the computer to understand how they would like to move their tongues to indicate different commands. A unique set of specific tongue movements was tailored for each individual based on the user\u0027s abilities, oral anatomy and personal preferences. For the first computer test, the user issued commands to move the computer mouse left and right. Using these commands, each subject played a computer game that required moving a paddle horizontally to prevent a ball from hitting the bottom of the screen. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter adding two more commands to their repertoire -- up and down -- the subjects were asked to move the mouse cursor through an on-screen maze as quickly and accurately as possible.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThen the researchers added two more commands -- single and double mouse clicks -- to provide the subject with complete mouse functionality. When a randomly selected symbol representing one of the six commands appeared on the computer screen, the subject was instructed to issue that command within a specified time period. Each subject completed 40 trials for each time period.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter the computer sessions, the subjects were ready for the wheelchair driving exercise. Using forward, backward, right, left and stop\/neutral tongue commands, the subjects maneuvered a powered wheelchair through an obstacle course. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe obstacle course contained 10 turns and was longer than a professional basketball court. Throughout the course, the users had to perform navigation tasks such as making a U-turn, backing up and fine-tuning the direction of the wheelchair in a limited space. Subjects were asked to navigate through the course as fast as they could, while avoiding collisions. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEach subject operated the powered wheelchair using two different control strategies: discrete mode, which was designed for novice users, and continuous mode for more experienced users. In discrete mode, if the user issued the command to move forward and then wanted to turn right, the user would have to stop the wheelchair before issuing the command to turn right. The stop command was selected automatically when the tongue returned to its resting position, bringing the wheelchair to a standstill.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Discrete mode is a safety feature particularly for novice users, but it reduces the agility of the wheelchair movement,\u0022 explained Ghovanloo. \u0022In continuous mode, however, the user is allowed to steer the powered wheelchair to the left or right as it is moving forward and backward, thus making it possible to follow a curve.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEach subject completed the course at least twice using each strategy while the researchers recorded the navigation time and number of collisions. Using discrete control, the average speed for the five subjects was 5.2 meters per minute and the average number of collisions was 1.8. Using continuous control, the average speed was 7.7 meters per minute and the average number of collisions was 2.5.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile this initial performance trial only required six tongue commands, the Tongue Drive system can potentially capture a large number of tongue movements, each of which can represent a different user command. The ability to train the system with as many commands as an individual can comfortably remember and having all of the commands available to the user at the same time are significant advantages over the common sip-n-puff device that acts as a simple switch controlled by sucking or blowing through a straw. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESome sip-n-puff users also consider the straw to be a symbol of their disability. Since Tongue Drive users simply wear headphones that are commonly worn to listen to music, the system is more acceptable to potential users.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJohn Anschutz, manager of the assistive technology program at the Shepherd Center, identified advantages the Tongue Drive system has over the tongue-touch keypad.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The Tongue Drive system seems to be much more supportable if there were a failure of some component within the system. With the old tongue-touch keypad, if the system went down then the user lost all of the functions of the wheelchair, phone, computer and environmental control,\u0022 explained Anschutz. \u0022Ghovanloo\u0027s approach should be much more repairable should a fault arise, which is critical for systems for which so much function is depended upon.\u0022  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA future system upgrade will be to move the sensors inside the user\u0027s mouth, according to Ghovanloo. This will be an important step for users who are very impaired and cannot reposition the system for best results, according to Anschutz. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022All of the subjects successfully completed the computer and powered wheelchair navigation tasks with their tongues without difficulty, which demonstrates that the Tongue Drive system can potentially provide individuals unable to move their arms and hands with effective control over a wide variety of devices they use in their daily lives,\u0022 said Ghovanloo.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E Maysam Ghovanloo (404-385-7048); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:mgh@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emgh@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Study Participants Used System to Operate Powered Wheelchair and Computer"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"An assistive technology that enables individuals to maneuver a powered wheelchair or control a mouse cursor using simple tongue movements can be operated by individuals with high-level spinal cord injuries, according to the results of a recently completed clinical trial.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Clinical trial shows tongue drive system assists disabled."}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2009-07-06 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:14","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-07-06T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2009-07-06T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46281":{"id":"46281","type":"image","title":"Cruise Bogle - wheelchair obstacle course","body":null,"created":"1449174375","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:15","changed":"1475894414","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:14","alt":"Cruise Bogle - wheelchair obstacle course","file":{"fid":"101066","name":"ttd83741.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ttd83741_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ttd83741_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1416823,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ttd83741_0.jpg?itok=YIgJK6zz"}},"46282":{"id":"46282","type":"image","title":"Cruise Bogle training session","body":null,"created":"1449174375","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:15","changed":"1475894414","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:14","alt":"Cruise Bogle training session","file":{"fid":"101067","name":"tze83742.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tze83742_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tze83742_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1097689,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tze83742_0.jpg?itok=fcISwkEW"}},"46283":{"id":"46283","type":"image","title":"Cruise Bogle and GT researchers","body":null,"created":"1449174375","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:15","changed":"1475894414","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:14","alt":"Cruise Bogle and GT researchers","file":{"fid":"101068","name":"txn83742.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/txn83742_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/txn83742_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1543373,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/txn83742_0.jpg?itok=txnxgddu"}}},"media_ids":["46281","46282","46283"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=147","title":"Maysam Ghovanloo"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1109\/TBME.2009.2018632","title":"IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering paper"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2652","name":"assistive"},{"id":"439","name":"computer"},{"id":"7134","name":"cord"},{"id":"2646","name":"disabled"},{"id":"521","name":"injury"},{"id":"7132","name":"magnet"},{"id":"7131","name":"quadriplegic"},{"id":"167318","name":"sensor"},{"id":"170848","name":"spinal"},{"id":"623","name":"Technology"},{"id":"7135","name":"tetraplegia"},{"id":"7130","name":"tongue"},{"id":"1652","name":"wheelchair"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Vogel\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Vogel\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["avogel@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"46327":{"#nid":"46327","#data":{"type":"news","title":"McMurray Tapped to Lead GTRI?s Food Processing Technology Division","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGary McMurray, a long-time research engineer with the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), has been appointed chief of GTRI\u0027s Food Processing Technology Division, succeeding Craig Wyvill, who retired in April.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMcMurray brings to his new position two decades of experience designing and building advanced robotic systems for the food, transportation and biomedical industries.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Gary has the vision to diversify our revenues and expand our critical Agricultural Technology Research Program (ATRP), which is one of the major activities within the Food Processing Technology Division,\u0022 said Rusty Roberts, director of the Aerospace, Transportation and Advanced Systems (ATAS) Laboratory, which oversees the division.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ERanked as one of the top programs of its kind in the country, ATRP works closely with Georgia agribusiness, especially the poultry industry, to develop new technologies and adapt existing ones for specialized industrial needs. Researchers focus efforts on both immediate and long-term industrial needs, ranging from advanced robotic systems to improved wastewater treatment technologies to machine-vision grading and rapid microbial detection. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMcMurray currently leads a project to develop a \u0022smart\u0022 deboning system. The system uses computer vision and other sensing technologies to recognize and react to size and shape differences of a carcass to perform precision cuts that optimize yield (the amount of meat removed from the bone) while reducing the risk of bone fragments in finished product.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Food Processing Technology Division also conducts significant industrial research under Georgia\u0027s Traditional Industries Program for Food Processing, which is managed through the Food Processing Advisory Council (FoodPAC). FoodPAC enhances the competitiveness of Georgia\u0027s food industry, and through the Traditional Industries Program, has helped GTRI to commercialize some of its developments while also adapting them to the needs of such industries as bakeries and fruit processors.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile food processing technologies remain the division\u0027s research priority, funding from the Georgia Department of Transportation has allowed researchers to develop technologies for the transportation industry. For one project, GTRI researchers developed a system capable of automatically placing reflective pavement markers along highway lane stripes from a moving truck.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESince division researchers have core expertise in automation, information technology, food safety, worker safety and environmental technology, McMurray plans to further expand the division\u0027s research focuses into areas including biomedical devices, unmanned and autonomous systems, and biofuels.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, software engineers, image processing experts and many of our core competencies transfer very nicely into areas outside of food processing,\u0022 said McMurray.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMcMurray has personally initiated collaborations with physicians at Emory University to develop new technology to support doctors performing minimally invasive procedures and add new functionality to these procedures. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHe is currently developing a new breed of endoscope -- the medical devices used to inspect spaces inside the body -- that will allow doctors to focus their attention on inspecting the space rather than manipulating the medical device. For colonoscopies, doctors must currently guide a specialized endoscope through the patient\u0027s colon by pushing the endoscope and controlling the orientation of the instrument\u0027s tip while simultaneously watching a video monitor that displays images captured by the endoscope\u0027s camera. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDivision researchers are also collaborating with other ATAS researchers to develop and test unmanned and autonomous systems. These systems are recognized as critical components to all aspects of modern warfare across the joint forces, and they are growing in mission effectiveness. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to leading the division\u0027s research efforts, McMurray will also lead a $3 million fundraising campaign to expand the 36,000-square-foot Food Processing Technology Building by an extra 10,000 square feet. Bettcher Industries, Inc., a world leader in designing and manufacturing food processing equipment and cutting tools, was the first company to support the construction with a donation of $125,000.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022While the building holds facilities to conduct research in automation technology, information technology and environmental systems, it\u0027s not large enough for our food safety, human factors and bioprocessing research,\u0022 explained McMurray.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMcMurray earned his bachelor\u0027s and master\u0027s degrees in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech in 1985 and 1987, respectively. He lives in Smyrna with his wife Stephanie -- also a Georgia Tech graduate -- and sons Ben, 7, and Alex, 5.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E); Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirkeng@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirkeng@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E); or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"McMurray Spent Two Decades Designing and Building Advanced Robotic Systems for the Food, Transportation and Biomedical Industries"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Gary McMurray, a long-time research engineer with the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), has been appointed chief of GTRI\u0027s Food Processing Technology Division, succeeding Craig Wyvill, who retired in April.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"McMurray lead GTRI\u0027s Food Processing Technology Division"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2009-05-12 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:14","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-05-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2009-05-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46328":{"id":"46328","type":"image","title":"Gary McMurray","body":null,"created":"1449174401","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:41","changed":"1475894416","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:16","alt":"Gary McMurray","file":{"fid":"101100","name":"tbl35227.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tbl35227_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tbl35227_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":742051,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tbl35227_0.jpg?itok=CN_5FCs_"}},"46329":{"id":"46329","type":"image","title":"Gary McMurray","body":null,"created":"1449174401","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:41","changed":"1475894416","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:16","alt":"Gary McMurray","file":{"fid":"101101","name":"tuh36582.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tuh36582_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tuh36582_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1107291,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tuh36582_0.jpg?itok=Vp8ni24b"}},"46330":{"id":"46330","type":"image","title":"Gary McMurray endoscope","body":null,"created":"1449174401","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:41","changed":"1475894416","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:16","alt":"Gary McMurray endoscope","file":{"fid":"101102","name":"tza36670.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tza36670_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tza36670_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":40852,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tza36670_0.jpg?itok=hh8xq6qy"}}},"media_ids":["46328","46329","46330"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/foodtech.gatech.edu\/","title":"GTRI Food Processing Technology Division"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"},{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"669","name":"agriculture"},{"id":"670","name":"atrp"},{"id":"116","name":"food"},{"id":"671","name":"foodpac"},{"id":"665","name":"gary"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"666","name":"mcmurray"},{"id":"668","name":"poultry"},{"id":"195","name":"processing"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"168","name":"Transportation"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Vogel\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Vogel\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["avogel@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"389951":{"#nid":"389951","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Snake robots learn to turn by following the lead of real sidewinders","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) who develop snake-like robots have picked up a few tricks from real sidewinder rattlesnakes on how to make rapid and even sharp turns with their undulating, modular device.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWorking with colleagues at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Zoo Atlanta, they have analyzed the motions of sidewinders and tested their observations on CMU\u2019s snake robots. They showed how the complex motion of a sidewinder can be described in terms of two wave motions \u2013 vertical and horizontal body waves \u2013 and how changing the phase and amplitude of the waves enables snakes to achieve exceptional maneuverability.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019ve been programming snake robots for years and have figured out how to get these robots to crawl amidst rubble and through or around pipes,\u201d said Howie Choset, professor at CMU\u2019s Robotics Institute. \u201cBy learning from real sidewinders, however, we can make these maneuvers much more efficient and simplify user control. This makes our modular robots much more valuable as tools for urban search-and-rescue tasks, power plant inspections and even archaeological exploration.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETheir findings are being published this week in the \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E Early Edition.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe work is a continuation of collaboration between Choset; Daniel Goldman, a Georgia Tech associate professor of physics, and Joseph Mendelson III, director of research at Zoo Atlanta. An earlier study, published on Oct. 10, 2014, in the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E, analyzed the ability of sidewinders to quickly climb sandy slopes. It showed that despite the snake\u2019s hundreds of body elements and thousands of muscles, the sidewinding motion could be simply modeled as a combination of a vertical and horizontal body wave.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith the model in hand and with a method to measure the movements of living snakes, the team, led by Henry Astley, a postdoctoral researcher in Goldman\u2019s group, was able to observe that sidewinders make gradual changes in direction by altering the horizontal wave while keeping the vertical wave constant. They also discovered that making a large phase shift in the vertical wave enabled the snake to make a sharp turn in the opposite direction.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EApplying these controls to the robot allowed the robot to replicate the turns of the snake, while also simplifying control.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBy looking for insights in nature, we were able to dramatically improve the control and maneuverability of the robot,\u201d Astley said, \u201cwhile at the same time using the robot as a tool to test the theorized control mechanisms of biological sidewinders.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe modular snake robot used in this study was specifically designed to pass horizontal and vertical waves through its body to move in three-dimensional spaces. The robot is two inches in diameter and 37 inches long; its body consists of 16 joints, each joint arranged perpendicular to the previous one. That allows it to assume a number of configurations and to move using a variety of gaits \u2013 some similar to those of a biological snake.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis research was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Army Research Office, the Georgia Tech School of Biology and the Elizabeth Smithgall Watts Endowment. In addition to those already named, the research team included Miguel Serrano, Patricio Vela and David L. Hu of Georgia Tech, and Chaohui Gong, Jin Dai and Matthew Travers of Carnegie Mellon.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon, Georgia Tech: (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Byron Spice, Carnegie Mellon (412-268-9068) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:bspice@cs.cmu.edu\u0022\u003Ebspice@cs.cmu.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Byron Spice, Carnegie Mellon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at Carnegie Mellon University who develop snake-like robots have picked up a few tricks from real sidewinder rattlesnakes on how to make rapid and even sharp turns with their undulating, modular device.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers who develop snake-like robots have picked up a few tricks from real sidewinder rattlesnakes on how to make rapid and even sharp turns with their undulating, modular device."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-03-24 09:21:48","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:00","author":"John 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16:25:12","changed":"1475894349","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:39:09","alt":"Sidewinder study2","file":{"fid":"75515","name":"sidewinder020.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sidewinder020.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sidewinder020.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1984469,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/sidewinder020.jpg?itok=-X1fMQpN"}},"389931":{"id":"389931","type":"image","title":"Snake robot","body":null,"created":"1449246312","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:25:12","changed":"1475894349","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:39:09","alt":"Snake robot","file":{"fid":"75516","name":"snake_robot.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/snake_robot.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/snake_robot.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":371436,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/snake_robot.jpg?itok=5ntgvUzi"}}},"media_ids":["389911","389921","389931"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"47881","name":"Dan Goldman"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"170833","name":"sidwinder"},{"id":"169244","name":"snake robot"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71363":{"#nid":"71363","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Robot Fetches Objects With Just a Point and a Click","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERobots are fluent in their native language of 1 and 0 absolutes but struggle to grasp the nuances and imprecise nature of human language. While scientists are making slow, incremental progress in their quest to create a robot that responds to speech, gestures and body language, a more straightforward method of communication may help robots find their way into homes sooner.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA team of researchers led by Charlie Kemp, director of the Center for Healthcare Robotics in the Health Systems Institute at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, have found a way to instruct a robot to find and deliver an item it may have never seen before using a more direct manner of communication - a laser pointer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEl-E (pronounced like the name Ellie), a robot designed to help users with limited mobility with everyday tasks, autonomously moves to an item selected with a green laser pointer, picks up the item and then delivers it to the user, another person or a selected location such as a table. El-E, named for her ability to elevate her arm and for the arm\u0027s resemblance to an elephant trunk, can grasp and deliver several types of household items including towels, pill bottles and telephones from floors or tables.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo ensure that El-E will someday be ready to roll out of the lab and into the homes of patients who need assistance, the Georgia Tech and Emory research team includes Prof. Julie Jacko, an expert on human-computer interaction and assistive technologies, and Dr. Jonathan Glass, director of the Emory ALS Center at the Emory University School of Medicine. El-E\u0027s creators are gathering input from ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig\u0027s disease) patients and doctors to prepare El-E to assist patients with severe mobility challenges.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research was presented at the ACM\/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction in Amsterdam on March 14 and an associated workshop on \u0027Robotic Helpers\u0027 on March 12.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe verbal instructions a person gives to help someone find a desired object are very difficult for a robot to use (the cup over near the couch or the brush next to the red toothbrush). These types of commands require the robot to understand everyday human language and the objects it describes at a level well beyond the state of the art in language recognition and object perception.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We humans naturally point at things but we aren\u0027t very accurate, so we use the context of the situation or verbal cues to clarify which object is important,\u0022 said Kemp, an assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory. \u0022Robots have some ability to retrieve specific, predefined objects, such as a soda can, but retrieving generic everyday objects has been a challenge for robots.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe laser pointer interface and methods developed by Kemp\u0027s team overcome this challenge by providing a direct way for people to communicate the location of interest to El-E and complimentary methods that enable El-E to pick up an object found at this location. Through these innovations, El-E can retrieve objects without understanding what the object is or what it\u0027s called.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to the laser pointer interface, El-E uses another approach to simplify its task. Indoors, objects are usually found on smooth, flat surfaces with uniform appearance, such as floors, tables, and shelves. Kemp\u0027s team designed El-E to take advantage of this common structure.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERegardless of the height, El-E uses the same strategies to localize and pick up the object by elevating its arm and sensors to match the height of the object\u0027s location. The robot\u0027s ability to reach objects both from the floor and shelves is particularly important for patients with mobility impairments since these locations can be difficult to reach, Kemp said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEl-E uses a custom-built camera that is omni-directional to see most of the room. After the robot detects that a selection has been made with the laser pointer, the robot moves two cameras to look at the laser spot and triangulate its position in three-dimensional space.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENext, the robot estimates where the item is in relation to its body and travels to the location. If the location is above the floor, the robot finds the edge of the surface on which the object is sitting, such as the edge of a table.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPicking up the unknown object is a significant challenge El-E faces in completing its task. It uses a laser range finder that scans across the surface to initially locate the object. Then, after moving its hand above the object, it uses a camera in its hand to visually distinguish the object from the texture of the floor or table. After refining the hand\u0027s position and orientation, it descends upon the object while using sensors in its hand to decide when to stop moving down and start closing its gripper. Finally, it closes its gripper upon the object until it has a secure grip.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOnce the robot has picked up the item, the laser pointer can be used to guide the robot to another location to deposit the item or direct the robot to take the item to a person. El-E distinguishes between these two situations by looking for a face near the selected location.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf the robot detects a face, it carefully moves toward the person and presents the item to the user so it can be taken. It uses the location of the face and legs to determine where it will present the object.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf no face is detected near the location illuminated by the laser pointer, the robot decides whether the location is on a table or the floor. If it is on a table, El-E places the object on the table. If the location is on the floor El-E moves to the selected location on the floor.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter delivering the item, the robot returns to the user\u0027s side, ready to handle the next request.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEl-E\u0027s power and computation is all on board (no tethers or hidden computers in the next room) and runs Ubuntu Linux on a Mac mini.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEl-E\u0027s laser pointer interface and methods for autonomous mobile manipulation represent an important step toward robotic assistants in the home.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If you want a robot to cook a meal or brush your hair, you will probably want the robot to first fetch the items it will need, and for tasks such as cleaning up around the home, it is essential that the robot be able to pick up objects and move them to new locations. We see object fetching as a core capability for future robots in healthcare settings, such as the home,\u0022 Kemp said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech and Emory research team is now working to help El-E expand its capabilities to include switching lights on and off when the user selects a light switch and opening and closing doors when the user selects a door knob.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at Georgia Tech and Emory University have created a robot, designed to help users with limited mobility with everyday tasks, that moves autonomously to an item selected with a green laser pointer, picks up the item and then delivers it to the user, another person or a selected location such as a table. The new robotic communication method may help robots find their way into the home sooner.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Robot designed to aid patients with limited movement"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2008-03-19 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:18","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-03-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2008-03-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71364":{"id":"71364","type":"image","title":"El-E and Dr. Kemp","body":null,"created":"1449177367","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:07","changed":"1475894634","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:54"},"71365":{"id":"71365","type":"image","title":"El-E","body":null,"created":"1449177367","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:07","changed":"1475894634","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:54"}},"media_ids":["71364","71365"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.hsi.gatech.edu\/cckemp\/","title":"Dr. Charlie Kemp"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.neurology.emory.edu\/als","title":"Emory ALS Center"},{"url":"http:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/","title":"Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.hsi.gatech.edu\/hrl\/","title":"Healthcare Robotics Lab"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2156","name":"ALS"},{"id":"2158","name":"Center for Healthcare Robotics"},{"id":"2157","name":"Charlie Kemp"},{"id":"2154","name":"El-E"},{"id":"2155","name":"healthcare robotics"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72283":{"#nid":"72283","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech to Host Music Technology Symposium","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s College of Architecture Dean\u0027s Symposium on the Changing Nature of Practice will focus on the emerging developments in music technology that promise to revolutionize musical performance, composition, analysis, and education.  \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This symposium focuses on music technology, and the College of Architecture Music Department just introduced Tech\u0027s first degree program in music,\u0022 said Dean Thomas Galloway, College of Architecture.  \u0022The symposium helps us roll out our master\u0027s degree in music technology and demonstrates to the arts community throughout Georgia and beyond that music is alive and well at Georgia Tech.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe symposium, which will be held March 3, 2007, will highlight three areas of interest in each session. The morning will begin with a session entitled \u0027Technology Meets Tradition: The Impact of Technology on Music Education\u0027.  The second session discusses \u0027Cognition and Analysis: The \u0022Why\u0022 of Music\u0027. The third session,\u0027Making Music and Performance,\u0027 will follow lunch. The final session of the day will focus on the relationship between \u0027Music and Architecture\u0027.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The Dean\u0027s Symposium is a wonderful event with a number of substantive outcomes,\u0022 said Frank Clark, director of the Music Department. \u0022Each year the event brings hundreds of visitors to the Tech campus, produces meaningful scholarship, generates debate, adds to our visibility and credibility, and celebrates the diversity and richness of the Georgia Tech College of Architecture.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOrganizers are expecting a wide array of attendees, including several from other Georgia universities. Presenters include Georgia Tech professors Parag Chordia, Athanassios Economou, Jason Freeman, Ronald Lewcock, Jerry Ulrich, Bruce Walker, Gil Weinberg, and Music Department Director Frank Clark. Other presenters include David Huron, The Ohio State University; George Lewis, Columbia University; Henry Panion III, University of Alabama-Birmingham; Thomas Rudolph, director of music at School District of Haverford Township (PA); Pierre Ruhe, music critic for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution; and Jessica Peek Sherwood, Sonic Generator (flutist).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThese scholars and practitioners will discuss ideas and demonstrate developments in areas ranging from new interfaces for musical expression and algorithmic composition to music information retrieval, music networks, and machine musicianship.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe College of Architecture has a unique relationship with its Music Department, and together they are forging a new future for Georgia Tech and music. So what\u0027s the future of Tech\u0027s music program?\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022That\u0027s a question we ask every day and there are so many answers: new degree programs, new classes, new ensembles, groundbreaking research, innovative instruments, new modes of expression, and new partnerships combining music, architecture, computing, engineering, science and math,\u0022 said Clark. \u0022The future of music at Tech is ours to write, and I sincerely hope that it will be an Institute-wide composition.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe symposium is jointly sponsored by the Georgia Tech College of Architecture and the College of Architecture Alumni Committee and is organized by the College and its Music Department.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Annual College of Architecture symposium to discuss music technology"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech\u0027s College of Architecture Dean\u0027s Symposium on the Changing Nature of Practice will focus on the emerging developments in music technology that promise to revolutionize musical performance, composition, analysis, and education.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Dean\u0027s Symposium to discuss music technology"}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2007-03-02 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:37","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-03-02T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-03-02T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72284":{"id":"72284","type":"image","title":"Gil Weinberg, Director of Music Technology at Geor","body":null,"created":"1449177454","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:34","changed":"1475894653","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:13"}},"media_ids":["72284"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.coa.gatech.edu\/symposium\/","title":"College of Architecture Dean\\\u0027s Symposium"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.coa.gatech.edu\/music\/","title":"Georgia Tech Music Department"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.coa.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech College of Architecture"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"133","name":"Special Events and Guest Speakers"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"148","name":"Music and Music Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"926","name":"College of Architecture"},{"id":"2078","name":"dean"},{"id":"1934","name":"Frank Clark"},{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"1939","name":"Gil Weinberg"},{"id":"1346","name":"Jason Freeman"},{"id":"1180","name":"Music"},{"id":"167061","name":"symposium"},{"id":"623","name":"Technology"},{"id":"2468","name":"Tom Galloway"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72504":{"#nid":"72504","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Scores RoboCup 2007 for Atlanta","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology has been selected to host RoboCup 2007, the world\u0027s most renowned research competition among custom-built robots and their designers. \u003Cem\u003ERoboCup 2007 Atlanta\u003C\/em\u003E, scheduled for July 1-10, 2007, marks the first time that the event, featuring simulated soccer and search-and-rescue competitions, will be hosted entirely on a college campus and only the second time in the United States. Past host cities for the international tournament include Paris (1998), Seattle (2001), Lisbon (2004), Osaka, Japan (2005) and Bremen, Germany (2006).\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022As host of RoboCup 2007, Georgia Tech welcomes the international robotics community to Atlanta,\u0022 said Georgia Tech College of Computing Associate Professor and \u003Cem\u003ERoboCup 2007 Atlanta \u003C\/em\u003EGeneral Chair Tucker Balch. \u0022Over the past few years, Georgia Tech has emerged as a global leader in robotics research and innovation, based upon its partnerships with industry leaders and our strengths in interactive and intelligent computing. By hosting the 11th annual RoboCup competition, Georgia Tech will have a great opportunity to showcase the technology leadership of the Institute and the City of Atlanta to researchers and scientists worldwide.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ERoboCup 2007 Atlanta\u003C\/em\u003E will include approximately 218 senior robotic teams, and 140 junior teams from over 20 countries. These international teams will participate in soccer games and search-and-rescue missions, testing the limits in artificial intelligence and robotics research. The annual event, with sponsors including Microsoft, Lockheed Martin and CITIZEN, involves about 1500 students and faculty from leading universities around the world, as well as 500 middle school and high school students.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis year\u0027s RoboCup event will also feature the debut of the Nanogram League, a competition between microscopic robots. The MEMs (MicroElectroMechanical Systems) in competition can only be viewed via microscope, but attendees will be able to watch the contest via a magnified broadcast shown on large screens throughout the event. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe overall mission of the RoboCup research and education initiative is to foster artificial intelligence and robotics research by providing a standard problem where a wide range of technologies can be examined and integrated. The international project has a founding goal of developing a team of fully autonomous humanoid robots that can win against the human World Cup champion team by the year 2050. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ERoboCup 2007 Atlanta\u003C\/em\u003E invites the public to Georgia Tech to watch as teams put their robots to work competing in realistic search-and-rescue demonstrations, as well as four-legged and humanoid soccer games. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003ERoboCup 2007 Atlanta \u003C\/em\u003ESchedule:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nJuly 1: RoboCup Opening Ceremony\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nJuly 2-6: RoboCup Qualifying Competitions\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nJuly 7-8: RoboCup Finals\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nJuly 9-10: RoboCup Symposium\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s Campus Recreation Center (CRC) will serve as the main venue for most RoboCup events. In addition, Technology Square Research Building (TSRB) will be the site for simulation events and Georgia Tech\u0027s Student Center will be the main venue for the RoboCup Junior event. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to hosting \u003Cem\u003ERoboCup 2007 Atlanta \u003C\/em\u003Ethis summer, Georgia Tech will also play host to several other robotics industry events, including the Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS) Conference, a Robot Camp for Elementary and High School students and an International Aerial Robotics Competition. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor more information about \u003Cem\u003ERoboCup 2007 Atlanta\u003C\/em\u003E, please visit \u003Ca href=\u0027http:\/\/www.robocup-us.org\u0027\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.robocup-us.org\u003C\/a\u003E. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout the RoboCup\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nRoboCup is an international research and education initiative. Its goal is to foster artificial intelligence and robotics research by providing a standard problem where a wide range of technologies can be examined and integrated. The concept of soccer-playing robots was first introduced in 1993. Following a two-year feasibility study, in August 1995, an announcement was made on the introduction of the first international conferences and soccer games. In July 1997, the first official conference and games were held in Nagoya, Japan. Followed by Paris, Stockholm, Melbourne, Seattle, Fukuoka\/Busan, Padua, Lisbon, Osaka and Bremen, the annual events attracted many participants and spectators. This year, the 11th anniversary of RoboCup, the competition and symposium is being held in Atlanta, Georgia. For more details about this year\u0027s RoboCup including participants and updated schedule, visit \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.robocup-us.org\/\u0022 title=\u0022http:\/\/www.robocup-us.org\/\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.robocup-us.org\/\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"International Robot Superstars to Converge on Atlanta for World\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds Largest Robotics Research Competition"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech will host RoboCup 2007, the world\u0027s most renowned research competition for custom-built robots. RoboCup 2007 Atlanta, to be held July 1-10, 2007, marks the first time that the event will be hosted entirely on a college campus.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Tech to host world\u0027s largest robotics competition"}],"uid":"27301","created_gmt":"2006-12-12 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:37","author":"Elizabeth Campell","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2006-12-12T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2006-12-12T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72505":{"id":"72505","type":"image","title":"Four-legged robots play soccer","body":null,"created":"1449177934","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:25:34","changed":"1475894658","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:18"}},"media_ids":["72505"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.robocup-us.org\/index.html","title":"RoboCup 2007 Atlanta"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"133","name":"Special Events and Guest Speakers"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2556","name":"artificial intelligence"},{"id":"2355","name":"balch"},{"id":"2559","name":"CITIZEN"},{"id":"2029","name":"Competition"},{"id":"2558","name":"Lockheed Martin"},{"id":"2557","name":"mems"},{"id":"335","name":"Microsoft"},{"id":"2555","name":"nanogram"},{"id":"2554","name":"rescue"},{"id":"2353","name":"robocup"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"2552","name":"robotic"},{"id":"167751","name":"search"},{"id":"168894","name":"search and rescue"},{"id":"167723","name":"soccer"},{"id":"2354","name":"tucker"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"70863":{"#nid":"70863","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Robotic Technology Inspired by Service Dogs","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EService dogs, invaluable companions providing assistance to physically impaired individuals, are an elite and desired breed.  Their presence in a home can make everyday tasks that are difficult - if not impossible - achievable, enhancing the quality of life for the disabled.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EYet with a cost averaging $16,000 per dog - not to mention the two years of training required to hone these skills - the demand for these canines\u0027 exceeds their availability.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBut what if these duties could be accomplished with an electronic companion that provides the same efficiency at a fraction of the cost?\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have engineered a biologically inspired robot that mirrors the actions of sought-after service dogs. Users verbally command the robot to complete a task and the robot responds once a basic laser pointer illuminates the location of the desired action.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor instance, if a person needs an item fetched, that individual would normally command a service dog to do so and then gesture with their hands toward the location. The service robot mimics the process, with the hand gesture replaced by aiming the laser pointer at the desired item.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEmploying this technology, users can accomplish basic yet challenging missions such as opening doors, drawers and retrieving medication.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It\u0027s a road to get robots out there helping people sooner,\u0022 said Professor Charlie Kemp, Georgia Tech Department of Biomedical Engineering.  \u0022Service dogs have a great history of helping people, but there\u0027s a multi-year waiting list. It\u0027s a very expensive thing to have. We think robots will eventually help to meet those needs.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EKemp presented his findings this week at the second IEEE\/RAS-EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics - BioRob 2008 - in Scottsdale, Ariz. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis technology was achieved with four-legged authenticity.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EKemp and graduate student Hai Nguyen worked closely with the team of trainers at Georgia Canines for Independence (GCI) in Acworth, Ga. to research the command categories and interaction that is core to the relationship between individuals and service dogs.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBetty, a Golden Retriever, was studied to understand her movements and relationship with commands. Key to the success is Betty\u0027s ability to work with a towel attached to a drawer or door handle, which allows her to use her mouth for such actions as opening and closing. The robot was then successfully programmed to use the towel in a similar manner.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHer handlers were thrilled at the potential benefits of the technology.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The waiting list for dogs can be five to seven years,\u0022 said Ramona Nichols, executive director of Georgia Canines for Independence. \u0022It\u0027s neat to see science happening but with a bigger cause; applying the knowledge and experience we have and really making a difference. I\u0027m so impressed. It\u0027s going to revolutionize our industry in helping people with disabilities.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn total, the robot was able to replicate 10 tasks and commands taught to service dogs at GCI - including opening drawers and doors - with impressive efficiency. Other successes included opening a microwave oven, delivering an object and placing an item on a table.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022As robotic researchers we shouldn\u0027t just be looking at the human as an example,\u0022 Kemp said. \u0022Dogs are very capable at what they do. They have helped thousands of people throughout the years. I believe we\u0027re going to be able to achieve the capabilities of a service dog sooner than those of a human caregiver.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile the robot may not be able to mirror the personality and furry companionship of a canine, it does have other benefits.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E \u0022The robot won\u0027t require the same care and maintenance,\u0022 Kemp said. \u0022It also won\u0027t be distracted by a steak.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Mimicking the work of expensive canines could provide less-expensive alternative for the impaired"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have engineered a biologically inspired robot that mirrors the actions of sought-after service dogs. Users verbally command the robot to complete a task and the robot responds once a basic laser pointer illuminates the location of the desired action.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech obot mirrors the actions of service dogs."}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2008-10-22 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:15","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-10-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2008-10-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"70864":{"id":"70864","type":"image","title":"media:image:8f03927b-5fe3-4cc8-b816-a90dbc6a154c","body":null,"created":"1449177328","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:28","changed":"1475894623","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:43"}},"media_ids":["70864"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"249","name":"Biomedical Engineering"},{"id":"1968","name":"kemp"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"170770","name":"service dogs"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EDon Fernandez\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=dfernandez8\u0022\u003EContact Don Fernandez\u003C\/a\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["Don.fernandez@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71207":{"#nid":"71207","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Robots Go Where Scientists Fear to Tread","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EScientists are diligently working to understand how and why the world\u0027s ice shelves are melting. While most of the data they need (temperatures, wind speed, humidity, radiation) can be obtained by satellite, it isn\u0027t as accurate as good old-fashioned, on-site measurement and static ground-based weather stations don\u0027t allow scientists to collect info from as many locations as they\u0027d like.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUnfortunately, the locations in question are volatile ice sheets, possibly cracking, shifting and filling with water - not exactly a safe environment for scientists.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo help scientists collect the more detailed data they need without risking scientists\u0027 safety, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, working with Pennsylvania State University, have created specially designed robots called SnoMotes to traverse these potentially dangerous ice environments. The SnoMotes work as a team, autonomously collaborating among themselves to cover all the necessary ground to gather assigned scientific measurements. Data gathered by the Snomotes could give scientists a better understanding of the important dynamics that influence the stability of ice sheets.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In order to say with certainty how climate change affects the world\u0027s ice, scientists need accurate data points to validate their climate models,\u0022 said Ayanna Howard, lead on the project and an associate professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech. \u0022Our goal was to create rovers that could gather more accurate data to help scientists create better climate models. It\u0027s definitely science-driven robotics.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHoward unveiled the SnoMotes at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Pasadena on May 23. The SnoMotes will also be part of an exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry in June. The research was funded by a grant from NASA\u0027s Advanced Information Systems Technology (AIST) Program.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHoward, who previously worked with rovers at NASA\u0027s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is working with Magnus Egerstedt, an associate professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Derrick Lampkin, an assistant professor in the Department of Geography at Penn State who studies ice sheets and how changes in climate contribute to changes in these large ice masses. Lampkin currently takes ice sheet measurements with satellite data and ground-based weather stations, but would prefer to use the more accurate data possible with the simultaneous ground measurements that efficient rovers can provide.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The changing mass of Greenland and Antarctica represents the largest unknown in predictions of global sea-level rise over the coming decades. Given the substantial impact these structures can have on future sea levels, improved monitoring of the ice sheet mass balance is of vital concern,\u0022 Lampkin said. \u0022We\u0027re developing a scale-adaptable, autonomous, mobile climate monitoring network capable of capturing a range of vital meteorological measurements that will be employed to augment the existing network and capture multi-scale processes under-sampled by current, stationary systems.\u0027 \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe SnoMotes are autonomous robots and are not remote-controlled. They use cameras and sensors to navigate their environment. Though current prototype models don\u0027t include a full range of sensors, the robots will eventually be equipped with all the sensors and instruments needed to take measurements specified by the scientist.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile Howard\u0027s team works on versatile robots with the mobility and Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) skills to complete missions, Lampkin\u0027s team will be creating a sensor package for later versions of Howard\u0027s rovers.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHere\u0027s how the SnoMotes will work when they\u0027re ready for their glacial missions: The scientist will select a location for investigation and decide on a safe \u0027base camp\u0027 from which to release the SnoMotes. The SnoMotes will then be programmed with their assigned coverage area and requested measurements. The researcher will monitor the SnoMotes\u0027 progress and even reassign locations and data collection remotely from the camp as necessary.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen Howard\u0027s research team first set out to build a rover designed to capture environmental data from the field, it took a few tries to come up with an effectively hearty design. The group\u0027s first rover was delicate and ineffective. But after an initial failure, they decided to move on to something designed for consistent abuse - a toy. Instead of building yet another expensive prototype, Howard instead opted to start with a sturdy kit snowmobile, already primed for snow conditions and designed for heavy use by a child.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHoward\u0027s group then installed a camera and all necessary computing and sensor equipment inside the 2-foot-long, 1-foot-wide snowmobile. The result was a sturdy but inexpensive rover.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBy using existing kits and adding a few extras like sensors, circuits, A.I. and a camera, the team was able to create an expendable rover that wouldn\u0027t break a research team\u0027s bank if it were lost during an experiment, Howard said. Similar rovers under development at other universities are much more expensive, and the cost of sending several units to canvas an area would likely be cost-prohibitive for most researchers, she added.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe first phase of the project is focused primarily on testing the mobility and communications capabilities of the SnoMote rovers. Later versions of the rovers will include a more developed sensor package and larger rovers.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team has created three working SnoMote models so far, but as many SnoMotes as necessary can work together on a mission, Howard said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe SnoMote represents two key innovations in rovers: a new method of location and work allocation communication between robots and maneuvering in ice conditions.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOnce placed on site, the robots place themselves at strategic locations to make sure all the assigned ground is covered. Howard and her team are testing two different methods that allow the robots to decide amongst themselves which positions they will take to get all the necessary measurements.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe first is an \u0027auction\u0027 system that lets the robots \u0027bid\u0027 on a desired location, based on their proximity to the location (as they move) and how well their instruments are working or whether they have the necessary instrument (one may have a damaged wind sensor or another may have low battery power).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe second method is more mathematical, fixing the robots to certain positions in a net of sorts that is then stretched to fit the targeted location. Magnus Egerstedt is working with Howard on this work allocation method.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to location assignments, another key innovation of the SnoMote is its ability to find its way in snow conditions. While most rovers can use rocks or other landmarks to guide their movement, snow conditions present an added challenge by restricting topography and color (everything is white) from its guidance systems. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor snow conditions, one of Howard\u0027s students discovered that the lines formed by snow banks could serve as markers to help the SnoMote track distance traveled, speed and direction. The SnoMote could also navigate via GPS if snow bank visuals aren\u0027t available.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile the SnoMotes are expected to pass their first real field test in Alaska next month, a heartier, more cold-resistant version will be needed for the Antarctic and other well below zero climates, Howard said. These new rovers would include a heater to keep circuitry warm enough to function and sturdy plastic exterior that wouldn\u0027t become brittle in extreme cold.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have created specially designed robots called SnoMotes to traverse potentially dangerous ice environments. The SnoMotes work as a team, autonomously collaborating among themselves to gather data that could give scientists a better understanding of the important dynamics that influence the stability of ice sheets.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Rovers traverse dangerous ice environments"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2008-05-27 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:10","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-05-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2008-05-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71208":{"id":"71208","type":"image","title":"Ayanna Howard","body":null,"created":"1449177358","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:58","changed":"1475894630","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:50"},"71209":{"id":"71209","type":"image","title":"Ayanna and the SnoMote","body":null,"created":"1449177358","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:58","changed":"1475894632","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:52"},"71210":{"id":"71210","type":"image","title":"SnoMote","body":null,"created":"1449177358","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:58","changed":"1475894632","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:52"}},"media_ids":["71208","71209","71210"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=135","title":"Profile"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/humanslab.ece.gatech.edu\/","title":"Human-Automation Systems Lab (HumAnS)"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.geog.psu.edu\/people\/lampkin\/","title":"Dr. Derrick Lampkin"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"825","name":"Ayanna Howard"},{"id":"1925","name":"Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"id":"2090","name":"Lampkin"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"170766","name":"SnoMote"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71445":{"#nid":"71445","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Offers First Interdisciplinary Robotics Ph.D.","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Colleges of Computing and Engineering at Georgia Tech today announced the nation\u0027s first interdisciplinary doctoral degree in robotics to be offered at Georgia Tech. The program, which starts fall semester of 2008, was developed through Georgia Tech\u0027s Center for Robotics and Intelligent Machines (RIM@Georgia Tech), a collaborative research center that combines the educational strength and expertise of both units. Reaching across disciplines and drawing from curricula in computer science, electrical and computer engineering, aerospace, biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering, the doctoral degree is designed to educate a new breed of multidisciplinary researchers who will enter the market best prepared to chart a new course for robotics in the United States. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are pleased to offer the first truly interdisciplinary robotics Ph.D. program in the country,\u0022 said Dr. Henrik Christensen, KUKA Chair of Robotics for the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. \u0022Exposing our students to course work from multiple disciplines early on prepares them to think about robotics from a holistic approach once they enter the workforce. True to our mission in robotics at Georgia Tech, our program will recruit and educate outstanding students who will provide leadership in a world that is increasingly dependent on technology.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAccording to robotics industry associations in North America and Japan, the global robotics market is expected to significantly expand over the next five years, including gains in both the service and personal robotics fields. With a focus on personal and everyday robotics, as well as the future of automation, faculty involved with RIM@Georgia Tech developed the doctoral degree program to best enable students to understand and drive the future role of robotics in society and industry. Approximately 15 candidates per year are expected to be admitted, gradually building the program to 60 enrolled students. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Over the next five to ten years, robotics technologies will become more integrated throughout various industries that directly impact human activity and culture, such as healthcare, food processing, logistics and others,\u0022 said Dr. Christensen. \u0022At Georgia Tech, our doctorate students will be guided through their research by at least two faculty members from distinct participating schools, providing more insight and expertise into a specific industry sector or focus area.\u0022  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EStudents in the Robotics Ph.D. program must first be admitted to one of the participating academic units, subsequently designated as the student\u0027s home unit. Students will then progress through the course requirements consisting of 36 semester hours of core research and elective courses, the passing a comprehensive qualifying exam with written and oral components, and the successful completion, documentation and defense of a piece of original research culminating in a doctoral thesis. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOver 30 faculty members from the schools of Interactive Computing, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering are affiliated with this new Ph.D. program. Faculty involved in the development of the new doctoral program include Henrik Christensen (College of Computing), Frank Dellaert (College of Computing), Eric Johnson (School of Aerospace Engineering), Ayanna Howard (School of Electrical and Computer Engineering), Steve DeWeerth (Department of Biomedical Engineering), and Harvey Lipkin (School of Mechanical Engineering).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout the Robotics \u0026amp; Intelligent Machines at Georgia Tech (RIM@GT)\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe Center for Robotics and Intelligent Machines (RIM@Georgia Tech) leverages the strengths and resources of Georgia Tech in robotics education, research, and leadership by reaching across traditional boundaries to embrace a multidisciplinary approach. The College of Computing, College of Engineering and the Georgia Tech Research Institute play key, complementary roles through Tech\u0027s traditional expertise in interactive and intelligent computing, control, and mechanical engineering. Emphasizing personal and everyday robotics as well as the future of automation, faculty involved with RIM@Georgia Tech help students understand and define the future role of robotics in society. \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.robotics.gatech.edu\u0022 title=\u0022www.robotics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ewww.robotics.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe College of Engineering at Georgia Tech is the largest engineering program in the U.S. and ranked 4th among the country\u0027s best graduate programs by U.S. News and World Report. A respected leader in interdisciplinary research and education, the College of Engineering grants the highest number of engineering degrees in the nation across nine fields of study. For more information about the programs in the College of Engineering, please visit \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.coe.gatech.edu\u0022 title=\u0022www.coe.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ewww.coe.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout the College of Computing at Georgia Tech\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe College of Computing at Georgia Tech is a national leader in the creation of real-world computing breakthroughs that drive social and scientific progress. With its graduate program ranked 11th nationally by U.S. News and World Report, the College\u0027s unconventional approach to education is defining the new face of computing by expanding the horizons of traditional computer science students through interdisciplinary collaboration and a focus on human centered solutions. For more information about the College of Computing at Georgia Tech, its academic divisions and research centers, please visit \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\u0022 title=\u0022www.cc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ewww.cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"The Colleges of Computing and Engineering at Georgia Tech announced the nation\u0027s first interdisciplinary doctoral degree in robotics to be offered at Georgia Tech. The program starts fall semester of 2008 and was developed through Georgia Tech\u0027s Center for Robotics and Intelligent Machines (RIM@Georgia Tech).","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Program to start in Fall 2008"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2008-01-30 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:10","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-02-08T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2008-02-08T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71446":{"id":"71446","type":"image","title":"Rescue Robot","body":null,"created":"1449177376","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:16","changed":"1475894637","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:57"}},"media_ids":["71446"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/humanslab.ece.gatech.edu\/","title":"Human-Automation Systems Lab (HumAnS)"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.imdl.gatech.edu\/","title":"Intelligent Machine Dynamics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/news\/robot-ethics-proposal-funded-by-dod","title":"Robot Ethics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.roboteducation.org\/","title":"Institute for Personal Robots in Education"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.robotics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Robotics at Georgia Tech"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"208","name":"computing"},{"id":"2212","name":"Doctoral"},{"id":"1096","name":"Ph.D."},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ERebecca Biggs\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGCI Group\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:press@robocup-us.org\u0022\u003EContact Rebecca Biggs\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-260-3510\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["press@robocup-us.org"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71872":{"#nid":"71872","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Simulation Reveals How Body Repairs Balance","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EYour body goes to a lot of trouble to make sure you stay upright. But when the brain\u0027s neural pathways are impaired through injury, age or illness, muscles are deprived of the detailed sensory information they need to perform the constant yet delicate balancing act required for normal movement and standing.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWith an eye towards building robots that can balance like humans, researchers at Georgia Tech and Emory University have created a computer simulation that sheds new light on how the nervous system reinvents its communication with muscles after sensory loss. The findings could someday be used to better diagnose and rehabilitate patients with balance problems (through normal aging or diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis or Parkinson\u0027s) by retraining their muscles and improving overall balance. The research will be published in the October issue of Nature Neuroscience. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The ultimate goal of rehabilitation is for patients to find the best way to adapt to their particular deficit. This system may help predict what the optimum combination of muscle and nerve activity looks like for each patient, helping patients and doctors set realistic goals and speeding recovery,\u0022 said Lena Ting, lead researcher on the project and an assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a body without balance impairment, the nervous system collects sensory information from all over the body (skin, ears, feet, arms, eyes, etc.) and transmits this information to the muscles that control balance. When that information changes through the introduction of something like a strong wind, a raised crack in the pavement or an accidental bump from a nearby stranger, the nervous system sends the new information to the muscles and they adjust accordingly to maintain the body\u0027s balance.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EImpairments and injuries to the nervous system or the senses that report to the nervous system (experienced with a loss of vision or touch and problems in the inner ear) lead to balance problems. Experts traditionally have had little understanding of how the nervous system\u0027s communication with the muscles associated with balance changes when one or several pieces of necessary sensory information are missing.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech and Emory researchers set out to create an effective way to interpret how commands from the nervous system to muscles (measured through electrical signals in the muscles) are changed by sensory impairment - similar to the numbing of feet experienced by diabetes patients - and how these changes affect balance control. The team started with data sets from animals. They were able to determine that, after a period of rehabilitation, subjects with some sensory damage were able to regain their balance despite the loss of some sensory information. So how do the nervous system and muscles fill in the information gaps?\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech and Emory team hypothesized that the nervous system relies on the relationship between the body\u0027s center of gravity and its environment to control balance. They reasoned that the best predictor of how muscles would be activated when the subject experienced a balance threat was not the motion of the individual body parts, but the horizontal motion of the body\u0027s center of gravity.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo test their theory, the researchers created a computer simulation that could accurately simulate standing balance and muscle reactions to balance disturbances by focusing on the relation of the subject\u0027s center of gravity to the ground. Rather than predicting neural control patterns for the multitude of sensory information processed by the body to maintain balance, the team instead tracked a small set of signals related to the body\u0027s control of its center of gravity.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech and Emory team determined that subjects who had impaired sensory information were slowly using new sensory pathways to track the motion of the body\u0027s center of gravity, compensating for the loss of information from the damaged sensory pathways. In effect, the subjects\u0027 muscles were using different neural information to perform the same balance tasks, resulting in muscle activity patterns that looked \u0027abnormal,\u0027 but that were actually similar to the predicted optimum.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research team is now testing its center of gravity simulation with human subjects and a small robot with simulated muscles. They predict that the simulation could recognize impairment and pinpoint the optimum recovery points for each sensory-impaired subject - all based on the body\u0027s reliance on center of gravity information. When applied to a robot, these neural communication patterns allowed the robot to successfully move fluidly like an animal, in contrast to what its gears and motors might suggest. The robot demonstrates all of the different strategies that could be used by normal and sensory-loss patients.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This finding will change the way we approach rehabilitation,\u0022 Ting said. \u0022We can\u0027t expect patients to mimic normal balance performance when they\u0027re using a different set of sensory information. Instead, our work can help identify the best performance possible given a patient\u0027s level and type of sensory impairment.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Researchers design simulation that could be used to better rehabilitate patients with balance problems, build robots with better balance"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech and Emory researchers have created a computer simulation that sheds new light on how the nervous system reinvents its communication with muscles after sensory loss. The findings could someday be used to better diagnose and rehabilitate patients with balance problems by retraining their muscles and improving overall balance.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Could lead to better rehabilitation, robot balance"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-09-25 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71873":{"id":"71873","type":"image","title":"balance","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"},"71874":{"id":"71874","type":"image","title":"Ting and Chvatl","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71873","71874"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.neuro.gatech.edu\/groups\/ting\/index.html","title":"Lena Ting\\\u0027s Neuromechanics Lab"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/","title":"Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2265","name":"balance"},{"id":"2266","name":"Lena Ting"},{"id":"2267","name":"multiple sclerosis"},{"id":"2268","name":"nervous system"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71994":{"#nid":"71994","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Ga. Tech Sting Racing Team Selected as Finalist","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s College of Computing today announced that the Sting Racing team competing in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency\u0027s (DARPA) Urban Challenge has passed its site visit and is one of 36 teams judged technologically capable of competing in the final round. The team\u0027s autonomous vehicle, Sting 1, successfully completed all four tests during its capabilities evaluation on June 18, taking it into the next stage in this two-year competition among leading research and technology universities in the United States.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022As a first year competitor in the Urban Challenge, qualifying for the semi-final round is a major accomplishment and testament to the passion and dedication of our team,\u0022 said Dr. Henrik Christensen, KUKA Chair of Robotics for the College of Computing at Georgia Tech and Principal Investigator for Sting Racing. \u0022Our robotics program at Georgia Tech is relatively new, but the progress we have shown over a short period of time has positioned us among the best in the nation.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring the visit, DARPA personnel assessed the ability of the autonomous vehicle to perform tasks and operate safely. Sting was evaluated on its ability to navigate a test course that included a four-way intersection, and moving traffic. This evaluation cover a subset of the challenges that the robotic vehicles will face on the final Urban Challenge course, including merging into moving traffic, navigating traffic circles, negotiating busy intersections and avoiding obstacles.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESting Racing, a joint collaboration between Georgia Tech\u0027s College of Computing, College of Engineering, the Georgia Tech Research Institute and SAIC, selected a Porsche Cayenne, designated Sting 1, as the base vehicle for its entry in the Urban Design Challenge. For nearly a year the members of the Sting Racing team have been working to program the robot to drive autonomously by staying on course and recognizing obstacles in its way, such as other cars.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u0022We have put in a lot of long hours over the past year preparing Sting 1 for this site visit - the first major trial in the Urban Grand Challenge,\u0022 noted Matt Powers, a student at Georgia Tech and member of the Sting Racing team. \u0022So passing all four tests during the site visit was extremely rewarding. We look forward now to making it all the way to the finals.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDARPA uses the site visit evaluation to select the competition\u0027s semi-finalists - the top 36 teams that will participate in the National Qualification Event (NQE), an exercise to demonstrate the safety of the vehicles on October 21-31. Earlier this afternoon, DARPA announced the other semi-finalists as well as the location of the NQE and Urban Challenge - the former George Air Force Base in Victorville, California. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Urban Challenge is the third in a series of DARPA-sponsored competitions to foster the development of robotic ground vehicle technology without a human operator, designed for use on the battlefield. The Urban Challenge, set for November 3, 2007, will feature autonomous ground vehicles executing simulated military supply missions safely and effectively in a mock urban area. Safe operation in traffic is essential to U.S. military plans to use autonomous ground vehicles to conduct important missions and keep American personnel out of harm\u0027s way. DARPA will award $2 million, $1 million and $500,000 awards to the top three finishers that complete the course within the six-hour time limit.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Sting 1 Porsche Cayenne is available for media demonstrations. For more information, visit \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.sting-racing.org\u0022 title=\u0022www.sting-racing.org\u0022\u003Ewww.sting-racing.org\u003C\/a\u003E.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"The Sting Racing team will be one of 36 teams competing in the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency\u0027s (DARPA) Urban Challenge this fall.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Team Passes Site Visit and Heads to Finals in Fall"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-08-09 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-08-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-08-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.darpa.mil\/grandchallenge\/index.asp","title":"DARPA"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.coc.gatech.edu\/","title":"College of Computing"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"654","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"690","name":"darpa"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"170760","name":"Sting"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EBecky Biggs\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGCI Atlanta\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=0\u0022\u003EContact Becky Biggs\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-260-3510\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["rbiggs@gcigroup.com"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72050":{"#nid":"72050","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Robots from 37 Countries Clash at RoboCup 2007","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENearly 300 teams from 37 countries are gearing up to compete at RoboCup 2007 Atlanta, the world\u0027s most renowned competition for research robotics, at the Georgia Institute of Technology July 3-10.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022One of RoboCup\u0027s great strengths is its diverse international flavor,\u0022 said Tucker Balch,  Georgia Tech College of Computing associate professor and RoboCup 2007 Atlanta general chair. \u0022We are able to get people together from many countries and backgrounds to share our research and ideas for making robots more effective.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EChina, Japan, Iran, Israel, Germany and Brazil are just a few of the countries being represented at the robotics showcase. In all, approximately 1,700 students and faculty from leading universities, high schools, middle schools and elementary schools will compete in events ranging from four-legged and humanoid robotic soccer games to search-and-rescue competitions. This year\u0027s event features a demonstration of the Nanogram League, a competition between microscopic robots. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis year\u0027s contest also marks the first time since 2001 that RoboCup has been held on a university campus. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022RoboCup has an ambitious goal -- namely to field a robot soccer team that can defeat the human world champions by 2050.  This goal is meant to drive robotics research and education forward faster, and nearly all RoboCup participants come from research universities,\u0022 said Balch. \u0022So, it makes perfect sense that RoboCup should return to its roots on a university campus.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ERoboCup 2007 Atlanta invites interested media to register online to attend and receive updates at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.robocup-us.org\/press\/\u0022 title=\u0022www.robocup-us.org\/press\/\u0022\u003Ewww.robocup-us.org\/press\/\u003C\/a\u003E.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EKUKA Robotics Corporation, a leading global manufacturer of industrial robots, is the event\u0027s premier sponsor. Other major sponsors include Microsoft, CITIZEN, Lockheed Martin and the National Science Foundation. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis summer is Robot Summer at Georgia Tech. In addition to RoboCup 2007 Atlanta, Georgia Tech will also host several other robotics-related events, including the Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS) conference and an International Aerial Robotics Competition.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECountries represented at RoboCup 2007 Atlanta:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAustralia\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAustria\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nBrazil\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nBulgaria\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nCanada\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nChile\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nChina\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nColombia\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nCosta Rica\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nFinland\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGermany\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGreece\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nHungary\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIndia\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIran\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIreland\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIsrael\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nItaly\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nJapan\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nMexico\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nNetherlands\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nNew Zealand\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nNorway\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nPortugal\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nRomania\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nSaudi Arabia\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nSingapore\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nSlovakia\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nSpain\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nSweden\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nSwitzerland\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nTaiwan\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThailand\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nTurkey\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nUnited Arab Emirates\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nUnited Kingdom\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nUnited States\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Soccer-Playing, Search-and-Rescue Robots and Nanobots Featured in World\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds Largest Research Robotics Competition Next Month"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Nearly 300 teams from 33 countries are gearing up to compete at RoboCup 2007 Atlanta, the world\u0027s most renowned competition for research robotics, at the Georgia Institute of Technology July 3-10.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"July 3-10"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2007-06-13 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:00:50","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-06-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-06-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72051":{"id":"72051","type":"image","title":"Robot Dog","body":null,"created":"1449177434","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:14","changed":"1475894649","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:09"}},"media_ids":["72051"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.robocup-us.org\/press\/","title":"RoboCup Press Registration"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.kukarobotics.com\/","title":"KUKA Robotics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.robotics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Robotics at Georgia Tech"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.robocup.org\/","title":"RoboCup"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.robocup-us.org\/","title":"RoboCup 2007 Atlanta"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"133","name":"Special Events and Guest Speakers"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2355","name":"balch"},{"id":"2029","name":"Competition"},{"id":"2286","name":"nano"},{"id":"2353","name":"robocup"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"2352","name":"robots"},{"id":"2354","name":"tucker"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ERebecca Biggs\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGCI Group\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:press@robocup-us.org\u0022\u003EContact Rebecca Biggs\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-260-3510\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["press@robocup-us.org"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72174":{"#nid":"72174","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Counting Down to RoboCup 2007 Atlanta","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe countdown begins for RoboCup 2007 Atlanta. The world\u0027s most renowned competition for research robotics, RoboCup 2007 Atlanta will be held at Georgia Tech July 3-10. Approximately 2,000 students and faculty from leading universities, high schools and middle schools from more than 20 countries will descend on Tech\u0027s campus to participate in events ranging from four-legged and humanoid robotic soccer games to search-and-rescue competitions. This year features a demonstration of the Nanogram League, a competition between microscopic robots. KUKA Robotics Corporation, a leading global manufacturer of industrial robots, is the event\u0027s premier sponsor.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022As an emerging global leader in robotics research and innovation, Georgia Tech is pleased to host RoboCup 2007,\u0022 said Tucker Balch, Georgia Tech College of Computing associate professor and RoboCup 2007 Atlanta general chair. \u0022We welcome the international robotics community to our campus and look forward to the exciting competition.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ERoboCup 2007 Atlanta invites interested media to register online to attend and receive updates at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.robocup-us.org\/press\/\u0022 title=\u0022www.robocup-us.org\/press\/\u0022\u003Ewww.robocup-us.org\/press\/\u003C\/a\u003E .\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOther major sponsors include CITIZEN, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft and the National Science Foundation. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis summer is Robot Summer at Georgia Tech. In addition to RoboCup 2007 Atlanta, Georgia Tech will also host several other robotics-related events, including the Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS) conference and an International Aerial Robotics Competition. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERoboCup 2007 Atlanta Schedule:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nJuly 3: RoboCup Opening Ceremony\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nJuly 3-6: RoboCup Qualifying Competitions\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nJuly 7-8: RoboCup Finals\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nJuly 9-10: RoboCup Symposium \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout RoboCup:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nRoboCup is an international research and education initiative. Its goal is to foster artificial intelligence and robotics research by providing a standard problem where a wide range of technologies can be examined and integrated. The concept of soccer-playing robots was first introduced in 1993. In July 1997, the first official conference and games were held in Nagoya, Japan, followed by Paris, Stockholm, Melbourne, Seattle, Fukuoka\/Busan, Padua, Lisbon, Osaka and Bremen. This year, the 11th anniversary of RoboCup, the competition and symposium are being held in Atlanta, Georgia. For more details about RoboCup 2007 including participants and updated schedule, visit \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.robocup-us.org\/\u0022 title=\u0022http:\/\/www.robocup-us.org\/\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.robocup-us.org\/\u003C\/a\u003E.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Soccer-Playing and Search-and-Rescue Robots to Compete in World\u0027s Largest Robotics Competition in July"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"The countdown begins for RoboCup 2007 Atlanta. The world\u0027s most renowned competition for research robotics, RoboCup 2007 Atlanta will be held at Georgia Tech July 3-10.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Tech to host world\u0027s largest robotics competition"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2007-05-07 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:00:50","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-05-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-05-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72175":{"id":"72175","type":"image","title":"RoboCup","body":null,"created":"1449177434","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:14","changed":"1475894651","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:11"}},"media_ids":["72175"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.robocup-us.org\/press\/","title":"RoboCup Press Registration"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.kukarobotics.com\/","title":"KUKA Robotics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.robotics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Robotics at Georgia Tech"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.robocup.org\/","title":"RoboCup"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.robocup-us.org\/","title":"RoboCup 2007 Atlanta"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"133","name":"Special Events and Guest Speakers"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"439","name":"computer"},{"id":"208","name":"computing"},{"id":"2353","name":"robocup"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"167723","name":"soccer"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ERebecca Biggs\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGCI Group\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:press@robocup-us.org\u0022\u003EContact Rebecca Biggs\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-260-3510\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["press@robocup-us.org"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}