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From: [e-mail] (Kevin Dowling)
Newsgroups: comp.robotics.misc,comp.robotics.research,comp.answers,news.answers
Subject: comp.robotics.* Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) part 3/5
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Summary: This posting contains a list of Frequently Asked Questions
         and their answers about robotics. It should be read by anyone
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Archive-name: robotics-faq/part3
Last Modified:  Mon Sep 16 01:00:38 EDT 1996
     _________________________________________________________________

   This FAQ was compiled and written by Kevin Dowling with numerous
   contributions by readers of comp.robotics. Acknowledgements are listed
   at the end of the FAQ.

   This post, as a collection of information, is Copyright 1995 Kevin
   Dowling. Distribution through any means other than regular Usenet
   channels must be by permission. The removal of this notice is
   forbidden.

   This FAQ may be posted to any USENET newsgroup, on-line service, or
   BBS as long as it or the section is posted in its entirety and
   includes this copyright statement. This FAQ may not be distributed for
   financial gain. This FAQ may not be included in commercial collections
   or compilations without express permission from the author.

   Please send changes, additions, suggestions and questions to:
Kevin Dowling                   tel:    [phone]
Robotics Institute              fax:    [phone]
Carnegie Mellon University      net:    [2][e-mail]
Pittsburgh, PA 15213            url:    [3]http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/~nivek

    This FAQ may be referenced as:

   Dowling, Kevin (1995) "Robotics: comp.robotics Frequently Asked
   Questions" Available as a hypertext document at
   http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/robotics-faq. 90+ pages.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Last-Modified: Thu Dec 7 16:40:11 1995


    [4]Kevin Dowling <[e-mail]>

References
     _________________________________________________________________

                    [6] What University Programs are there?


   [3][6.1] Graduate Programs in Robotics
   [4][6.2] Student Who's Who
     _________________________________________________________________

   Any good four-year school undoubtedly offers robotics courses within
   engineering programs. Departments of mechanical and electrical
   engineering and computer science are all good candidates for
   coursework in Robotics. However, a number of schools have established
   track records with a focus on robotics and those are listed here.

     _________________________________________________________________

[6.1] Graduate Programs in Robotics

   This list is grouped by countries including the United States,
   Australia, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom, Sweden and Switzerland. Many
   European and Asian universities are not represented and should be.
   Please drop me a line if you have information on those that should be
   included.

  [5]Australia

     [6]University of Western Australia

  [7]Canada

     [8]McGill University
     [9]University of Alberta

  [10]Finland

     [11]Helsinki University of Technology

  [12]France

     [13]University of Paris

  [14]Japan

     [15]Waseda University

  [16]Sweden

     [17]Lulea University of Technology

  [18]Switzerland

     [19]Swiss Federal Institute of Technology

  [20]United Kingdom

     [21]Bristol University
     [22]Edinburgh University (UK)
     [23]Hull University, UK
     [24]Reading University, UK
     [25]Salford University
     [26]University of Birmingham
     [27]University of Essex (UK)
     [28]University of Manchester
     [29]University of Oxford
     [30]University of Surrey
     [31]University of the West of England at Bristol, U.K.

  [32]United States

     [33]Boston University
     [34]Brandeis University
     [35]California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
     [36]Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)
     [37]Colorado School of Mines
     [38]Clemson University
     [39]Cornell
     [40]Georgia Institute of Technology
     [41]Harvard
     [42]Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
     [43]New York University (NYU)
     [44]North Carolina State University
     [45]Northeastern University
     [46]Purdue
     [47]Rennsalear Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
     [48]Stanford University
     [49]University of California at Berkeley
     [50]University of Iowa
     [51]University of Kansas
     [52]University of Kentucky
     [53]University of Massachusetts
     [54]University of Michigan
     [55]University of Pennsylvania.
     [56]University of Rochester
     [57]University of Southern California (USC)
     [58]University of Maryland
     [59]The University of Texas at Arlington
     [60]University of Wisconsin-Madison
     [61]University of Utah
     [62]Yale University
     [63]Wilkes University

     _________________________________________________________________

Australia

  University of Western Australia

   Some neat telerobotic work can be found at
   [64]http://telerobot.mech.uwa.edu.au
     _________________________________________________________________

Canada

  McGill University


    Center for Intelligent Machines
    McGill University
    McConnell Engineering Building, Room 420
    3480 University Street
    Montreal, Que, Canada H3A 2A7


    School of Computer Science
    McGill University
    McConnell Engineering Building, Room 420
    3480 University Street
    Montreal, Que, Canada H3A 2A7

   There is a web page and ftp archive at [65]http://www.cim.mcgill.ca

   The McGill Centre for Intelligent Machines, CIM, was founded in 1985
   to provide researchers in robotics, computer vision, speech
   recognition, and systems and control with a context in which to pursue
   their common goal: the understanding and creation of systems which
   exhibit intelligent behaviour. The three main research foci are
   perception, robotics and control theory. The Centre now includes
   faculty members and graduate students from five departments:
   Electrical, Mechanical, Biomedical, and Mining and Metallurgical
   Engineering, and the School of Computer Science.

   The center itself does not have a degree program, rather students
   enroll in one of the associated departments and gain access by being
   supervised a faculty member who is also a CIM member. There are
   research programs directly related to computer vision, robot
   mechanical systems, walking machines, mobile robotics, etc.

   CIM Members: J. Angeles, P.R. Belanger, M. Buehler, P.E. Caines, L.
   Daneshmend, R. De Mori, G. Dudek, F. Ferrie, J. Hollerbach, V.
   Hayward, D. Levanony, M.D. Levine, A. Malowany, H. Michalska, J. Owen,
   E. Papadopoulos, M. Verma, S. Whitesides, G. Zames, P.J.
   Zsombor-Murray, S.W. Zucker

     _________________________________________________________________

  University of Alberta


    Edmontom, Alberta
    Canada T6H 2H1

   _Center for Machine Intelligence and Robotics_
   Robotics Research Laboratory, Department of Computing Science _Faculty_
   Ron Kube
     _________________________________________________________________

Finland

     _________________________________________________________________

  Helsinki University of Technology

   Research includes outdoor walking machines, all-terrain autonomous
   vehicle and many other projects. See [66]Automation Home Page and
   [67]Research Home page

France

     _________________________________________________________________

  University of Paris

   INRIA (Nice) recently started a Phd program in Robotics.
     _________________________________________________________________

Japan

   [68]Waseda University Tokyo, Japan

   Humanoid Research Laboratory (HUREL), Advanced Research Center for
   Science and Engineering

   [69]Humanoid Project

Sweden

  Lulea University of Technology

   _Department of Robotics and Automation_


    S-971 87 LULEE

   WWW: [70]http://www.sm.luth.se/csee/er/sm-roa/
     _________________________________________________________________

Switzerland

  Swiss Federal Institute of Technology

   _The Institute of Robotics_
   ETH offers a Postgrad diploma in Mechatronics.

   The Institute of Robotics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
   (ETH) constitutes about 40 members of staff (including Ph.D.
   students). The main research theme is Intelligent Interactive
   Mechines. That is to say developing intelligent robots that in
   cooperation with man solves difficult tasks. The institute takes its
   students from the departments of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical
   Engineering and Computer Science. Robotics lectures and project work
   is offered to undergraduate students. In addition there is the
   "Nachdiplom" in mechatronics (somewhere near a M.Sc.) where robotics
   is a central theme. For further details on the "Nachdiplom" see below.
   Finally there are about 30 Ph.D. students curently registered working
   on a variety of themes and projects. Institute facilities include:
   several different robot arms including the in house developed modular
   robot arm (MODRO), mobile vehicles including the in house developed
   modular mobile robot, walking machines, supercomputing facilities,
   dedicated vision and signal processing hardware, etc.

   The head of the group is Professor G. Schweitzer.


    Institute of Robotics
    ETH-Center, LEO,
    8092 Zurich
    Switzerland
    tel: [phone] (secretary)
    fax: [phone].

   The "Nachdiplom" in mechatronics runs over two semesters plus three
   months project/thesis work. The lectures covers: robotics, mobile
   robotics, micro robots, computer based kinematics and dynamics of
   multibody systems, control theory, magnetic bearings, real time
   software techniques, information processing with neural networks,
   computer vision, and artificial intelligence. The fees are 2400,-
   Swiss Franks, founding is available.

   _Contact:_


    H.-K. Scherrer
    Mechatronics postgraduate course
    ETH-Centre, LEO B3
    8092 Zurich
    Switzerland
    net:

     _________________________________________________________________

United Kingdom

     _________________________________________________________________

  Edinburgh University


    Department of Artificial Intelligence,
    5, Forrest Hill,
    Edinburgh
    EH1 2QL
    Scotland

   The Department of Artificial Intelligence has robot and vision groups
   within it.

   Main interests of the robotics group include:
     * behaviour-based control of robots (both mobiles and arms)
     * hybrid control -- symbolic planning and behaviour-based actions
     * learning, both reinforcement and other types implementations of
       biological systems eg cricket ears; vertebrate learning models
     * active vision
     * real-time control
     * long survival times
     * direct-drive arm control

   As well as PhDs by research, the Department offers a one-year, taught,
   modular, Masters course in Information Technology for Knowledge-based
   Systems where one of the possible specialisations is in robotics and
   vision. This course is designed for people without specific AI
   background. One module involves the Masters students building and
   programming their own robot out of Lego and supplied electronics.
   Another module gives hands-on experience with a simple robot arm.

   Contact the Admissions Secretary Judith Gordon for information about
   courses.

   _Principal Researchers_
     * John Hallam
       autonomous mobiles and survival
     * Bob Fisher
       vision
     * Chris Malcolm
       assembly robotics and hybrid systems
     * Gillian Hayes
       active vision and biological control

     _________________________________________________________________

  University of Birmingham

   Birmingham, England

   See [71]School of Computer Science
     _________________________________________________________________

  University of Essex

   _Brooker Laboratory for Intelligent Embedded Systems_


    email: [e-mail]


   Main interests of the laboratory:
     * Behavior-Based Architectures (software and hardware)
     * Active Vision
     * Collaborative AI (ie multiple agents)
     * Fuzzy and Neural Systems
     * Virtual Systems (eg robot simulation and telepresence)
     * Planning & Learning
     * Reliable Robots (ie for inaccessible or hazardous environments)

   _Principal Researchers:_
     * Victor Callaghan
     * Paul Chernett
       behavior-based architectures, virtual systems and active vision
     * Libor Spacek
       active vision and face recognition
     * Jim Doran
       Collaborative AI
     * Chang Wang
       fuzzy and neural systems
     * Edward Tsang & Sam Steel
       planning & learning
     * John Standeven &
     * Martin Colley
       reliable robotic systems

   In addition to PhDs by research, there is a one-year, taught, Masters
   course in Computer Science where it is possible to undertake robotics,
   AI or vision.

   Contact [e-mail] for further details of courses or
   [e-mail] for information on research. In addition some
   useful information on the laboratory can be obtained at
   [72]ftp://ftp.essex.ac.uk/pub/robots/SXlab.ps.Z

     _________________________________________________________________

  University of the West of England at Bristol

   (used to be Bristol Polytechnic)
   Undergraduate Robotics is taught as part of undergraduate programs in
   engineering courses and as part of a real time computing course. The
   engineering department has in its teaching labs Puma, Adept, IBM,
   Cincinatti-Milacron and Funac robots.

   _Intelligent Autonomous Systems group_
     * Yichuang Jin, Will Wray
       Neural net control of manipulators, especially stability-based
       adaptive control. Comparative modelling of neurocontroller design
       for robotics.
     * Lawrence Bull, Owen Holland, Chris Melhuish
       Behaviour-based mobile robots, collective behaviour, reinforcement
       learning and genetic algorithms.

   _Intelligent Flexible Assembly Technology (InFACT/ALASCA Group):_
   Eureka/FAMOS Projects (EC colaborative project - academic and
   Industry) The group has a large gantry based robot designed and built
   by the group.
     * Farid Dialami, Alan Redford
       Advanced Large scale flexible assembly (Peugot cars etc), generic
       tooling.
     * David Eastlake (hardware), Mike Morgan(software)
       Transputer based robot control of co-operating manipulators.
       Email:

     _________________________________________________________________

  Bristol University

   _Faculty_
   Mr Khodlebandelhoo
     * Bi arm research
     * Path planning for redundant robots
     * Wall climbing robots

     _________________________________________________________________

  Hull University

   _Faculty_
   Prof Alan Pugh
     * Garment Manufacturing
     * Arm/controller design

     _________________________________________________________________

  University of Manchester

   _Department of Computer Science_
   The web page below describes research in mobile robotics in the areas
   of autonomous competence acquisition, learning by tuition and
   navigation. Papers are also available at this site.

   [73]http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/robotics

     _________________________________________________________________

  University of Oxford

   _Robotics Research Group_
   The Robotics Group currently comprises about seventy academics,
   postdoctoral research staff, overseas visitors, and graduate students.
   A broad range of topics in advanced robotics is studied in
   collaboration with industry and government establishments throughout
   Europe.

     * Robot Design and Control
       A number of projects are concerned with the design and control of
       compliant robot arms.
     * Parallel Architectures
       Real-time sensor-based control of systems such as robot vehicles
       is a topic of increasing interest. For low bandwidth sensors such
       sonar, the emphasis is on Transputer architectures. For high
       bandwidth sensors such as vision, hybrid SIMD/MIMD architectures
       are being developed. A rapidly growing effort is concerned with
       the design, implementation, and application of neural networks.
       Digital and hybrid digital/analog chips have been designed and are
       being fabricated. Algorithms and TTL circuits have been
       constructed for text-to-speech synthesis.
     * Vision and Active Vision
       The theory and applications of vision accounts for approximately
       one-third of the laboratory's effort. Current projects include
       edge detection and texture segmentation and the computation of
       visual motion by a parallel algorithm that estimates the optic
       flow field.
     * Sensors and Sensor Integration
       Includes laser rangefinder development in addition to analog and
       digital sonar sensors, as well as infrared rangers, have been
       developed for the AGV project (below).
     * Autonomous Guided Vehicles
       Work on a research prototype of a fielded industrial AGV cuts
       across many of the separate themes of the laboratory's work. The
       goal of the initial project is to equip the AGV with sonar,
       infrared, laser ranging, trinocular stereo, and model-based vision
       sensors to enable it to avoid unexpected obstacles and to locate
       pallets.

     _________________________________________________________________

  Reading University

   _Faculty_
     * Prof Kevin Warwick
       Using neural nets in robotics and novel control algorithms.

     _________________________________________________________________

  Salford University

   [74]http://WWW.salford.ac.uk/ or robotics work more directly at:
   [75]http://WWW.salford.ac.uk/docs/depts/eee/homepage.html _Faculty_
     * Dr D.P.Barnes, Dept. Of Electrical and Electronic Engineering,
       Mobile Robots Research Group.
       Autonomous mobile robot system with a behaviour-based architecture
       are designed and built with the intent to study the processes of
       cooperation with and without communication. Such an approach has
       led us up a number of paths with present work in behaviour
       synthesis and evolutionary robotics. Expertise in: Robotics,
       Sensors, Communication, Connectionist Systems, Genetic Algorithms
       and Genetic Programming. Possible studies in PhD and MSc work and
       courses at undergraduate level.
     * Ruth Aylett, Information Technology Institute
       Robot planning systems, multi-agent systems, robot architectures,
       hybrid behavioural/symbolic robots
     * Dr D.Caldwell, Dept Of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
       Multi-Functional Tactile Sensing and Feedback (Tele-taction)
       Tele-presence of an operator with a full mobile robot with two
       manipulator arms, stereo vision and sound. Tactile sensing
       datagloves are used to control the manipulators and video camera
       is used to move head. Expertise: Manipulators, Sensors,

   Tele-presence. Possible studies at PhD and MSc and courses at
   undergraduate level.

     Dr Francis Nagy
   Speech Control of a Puma-560, Control of an 'Inverted Pendulum',
   Miniature tactile sensors _Advanced Robotics Research Centre_
     * Ultrasonic wrist sensor for collision avoidance
     * Controller design
     * Stereo Vision

     _________________________________________________________________

  University of Surrey

   Mechatronic Systems and Robotics Research Group _Faculty_
     * Prof G A Parker ([e-mail])
     * John Pretlove ([e-mail])
       Primary Areas of Research activity:
     * 3D co-ordinate tracking system for robot metrology
     * Neural networks and expert systems for vision and inspection
     * Active stereo vision for real-time robot arm guidance
     * Design of controllable stereo vision systems.
     * Open architecture Puma controller
     * Mobile robots
     * We also offer MSc courses and undergraduate courses in automation,
     * control, mechanical engineering and CIM.

     _________________________________________________________________

United States

     _________________________________________________________________

  Boston University

   _Dept. of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering_
   _People_


          John Baillieul
          Control of Mechanical Systems and Mathematical System Theory

   Pierre Dupont
          Robot Kinematics and Dynamics, Friction Compensation in
          Robotics.

   Ann Stokes
          Theoretical Dynamics and Control

   Matt Berkemeier
          Legged Robots, Robot Control

     _________________________________________________________________

  Brandeis University>

   Waltham, MA

   Brandeis has a program in autonomous agents, focusing on multi--agent
   and multi--robot systems and machine learning, headed by Maja Mataric
   For details on research directions and a photo of the available robot
   herd see: http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/dept/faculty/mataric

   For graduate admission information see:
   http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/dept/grad-info/application.html

   To get more information about the Volen Center for Complex Systems,
   about the Computer Science Department, and about other faculty, see:
   http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/dept. For more information about the
   cognitive science and cognitive neuroscience programs at Brandeis see:
   http://fechner.ccs.brandeis.edu/cogsci.html
     _________________________________________________________________

  California Institute of Technology

   Pasadena, CA

   Joel Burdick
          serpentine manipulation, control

   Richard Murray
          control of nonholonomic systems, grasping

   Pietro Perona
          biological and machine vision

   For more detailed information on robotics research at Caltech see
   [76]http://robby.caltech.edu/
     _________________________________________________________________

  Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)

   Graduate program contact:


    Graduate Admissions Coordinator
    The Robotics Institute
    Carnegie Mellon University
    5000 Forbes Avenue
    Pittsburgh, PA 15213

   [77]The Robotics Institute is the world's largest academic
   organization devoted to robotics. The Robotics Institute (RI) has over
   45 full-time faculty, over 100 technical staff, 150 graduate students
   (90 in the RI program) and 25 visitors and post-docs. The Robotics
   Institute is part of CMU's [78]School of Computer Science

   The Robotics Institute also offers a [79]Robotics PhD and students
   from other programs (e.g. engineering and computer science) also do
   research in the Institute. Institute development spans the spectrum
   from fundamental and basic research to development and integration of
   complete systems for specific applications. Research includes many
   aspects of mobile robots, computer integrated manufacturing, rapid
   prototyping, sensors, vision, navigation, learning and architectures.
   The RI PhD program is comprised of a set of qualifiers and a program
   of research leading to a thesis and the degree.

   The many centers and laboratories include the [80]National Robotics
   Engineering Consortium (NREC), a facility and organization devoted to
   technology transfer between laboratory and companies.

   Facilities include about a dozen mobile systems with more under design
   and construction. Facilities include over 2000m^2 of offices and over
   15,000 m^2 of laboratory and highbay space. Facilities available
   include many mobile robots, manipulator systems and lots of computer
   cycles/person.

   _People_

   Takeo Kanade
          Vision and Autonomous Systems Center

   Pradeep Khosla
          Advanced Manipulator Laboartory

   Matt Mason
          Manipulation Laboratory

   Tom Mitchell
          Learning Robots Lab

   Hans Moravec
          Mobile Robots Lab

   Mel Seigel
          Sensors Laboratory (non vision)

   Red Whittaker
          Field Robotics Center

   and many others.....

     _________________________________________________________________

  Case Western Reserve University

   Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics


    Glennan Building
    10900 Euclid Avenue
    Cleveland, Ohio 44106
    Phone [phone]
    Fax [phone]

   See [81]file://alpha.ces.cwru.edu/pub/agents/home.html

   Electrical engineering at CWRU is a broad, dynamic field offering a
   great diversity of career opportunities in areas such as microwave and
   rf communications, microprocessor-based digital control systems,
   robotics, solid state microelectronics, signal processing, and
   intelligent systems. The Department of Electrical Engineering and
   Applied Physics offers Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Master of
   Science in Electrical Engineering, Master of Engineering, and Doctor
   of Philosophy degree programs which provide preparation for work in
   these areas. The department offers a minor in electrical engineering
   for bachelor's degree students in other engineering disciplines as
   well as a minor in electronics for bachelor's degree students enrolled
   in the College of Arts and Science.

     _________________________________________________________________

  Colorado School of Mines

   _Mobile Robotics/Machine Perception Laboratory_
   _Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences_
   The Colorado School of Mines is a state university, internationally
   renowned in the energy, materials, and resource fields, attracting
   outstanding students in a broad range of science and engineering
   disciplines. The School of Mines is strongly committed to quality
   teaching and research. CSM provides an attractive campus environment,
   a collegial atmosphere, relatively small size (3000 students, about
   30% in graduate programs), and an ideal location in the foothills of
   the Rocky Mountains 13 miles from downtown Denver and an hour from
   most ski areas.

   The Dept. of Mathematical and Computer Sciences offers BS, MS, and PhD
   degrees under the department title. With a faculty of 18 tenured and
   tenure track members, the department annually receives roughly a
   million dollars in grants; 116 undergraduate students and 70 graduate
   students are currently enrolled in ou r degree programs. The computer
   science group within the department has a strong focus in AI (symbolic
   and neural nets) and database and parallel processing syst ems. The
   Mobile Robotics/Machine Perception Laboratory is a facility devoted to
   basic and interdisciplinary research, technology transfer, and
   hands-on education in artificial intelligence through robotics.
   Research and technology transfer efforts concentrate on the reduction
   of human risk in hazardous situations, stewardship of the environment,
   and/or improvement of the quality of life throug h better
   manufacturing processes. Research in the MR/MP laboratory is supported
   by NSF, ARPA, NASA, and local industries.

   For more information, please send email to Dr. Robin R. Murphy,
   [e-mail]. Include a brief summary of your
   educational (with GPA) and work experience, what your research
   interests are, and GRE scores.

     _________________________________________________________________

  Clemson University (CU)

    Graduate program contact:


    Robotics and Mechatronics (RAM) Laboratory
    Center for Advanced Manufacturing
    Clemson University
    Clemson SC 29634
    Lab Phone: [phone]
    Fax: [phone]

   For more information browse our web site at
   [82]http://crb.eng.clemson.edu or contact:
   Dr. Darren Dawson (ECE) [83][e-mail]
   Tel: [phone]
   Fax: [phone]
   [84]http://crb.eng.clemson. edu/advisor/dawson.htm
   Dr. Chris Rahn (ME) [85][e-mail]
   Tel: [phone]
   Fax: [phone]
   [86]http://www.eng.clemson .edu/~cdrahn/resume.html

    Summary of Laboratory Activities

     * Research and Development
     * Education
     * Technology Transfer
     * Classroom/Laboratory Workshops
     * Faculty/Student Summer Interns

    Electrical and Computer Engineering RAM Personnel

     * Darren Dawson, Professor
     * John Luh, McQueen Quattlebaum Professor

    Mechanical Engineering RAM Personnel

     * Chris Rahn, Assistant Professor
     * Frank Paul, McQueen Quattlebaum Professor

   Approximately 25 Ph.D and Masters Thesis Students from both ECE and ME
   departments.

    RAM Research Facilities

     * Robotics Lab: Seven Robot Stations Including a Dual Robot Arm
       Workcell and two Direct Drive Robot Manipulators
     * Computational Lab: Cluster of Personal Computers and Workstations
     * Union Camp Lab: Motor Drive Equipment, a Magnetic Bearing, and
       Real Time Workstations
     * Environmental Restoration Lab: Virtual Reality Based Equipment and
       Software
     * Rapid Isothermal Processing Lab: Three Chemical Vapor Deposition
       Testbeds
     * Square D Lab: Three Vibration Control Testbeds

    RAM Research Thrust Areas

     * Advanced Computer-Based Software Interfaces and Position/force
       Control Systems for Robot Manipulator Systems
     * Dynamic Modeling Techniques and Tension Controllers for High Speed
       Transport of Fibers and Webs
     * High Precision Position Controllers for Electric Motors and
       Magnetic Bearings
     * Control Algorithms for Payload Swing Reduction for Overhead Cranes
     * Vibration Control Techniques for Flexible Beams and Cables
     * Closed-Loop Modeling, Control, Measurement, Techniques for
       Semiconductor Manufacturing (Chemical Vapor Deposition)

     _________________________________________________________________

  Cornell

   Ithaca, NY Mechanical Engineering Bruce Donald
     _________________________________________________________________

  Georgia Institute of Technology

   _Atlanta, GA_
   _Georgia Institute of Technology Robotics Activities_
   See also: [87]MRLHome.html Application study areas include:
     * Servo control and low level coordination
     * Machine intelligence and high level control
     * Design, sensors and actuators
     * Human/machine interface

   Robot applications are in areas such as manufacturing {K. Lee} poultry
   processing {W. Daley, G. McMurray, J.C. Thompson} and nuclear waste
   inspection and cleanup {R. Arkin, W. Book, S. Dickerson, T. Collins,
   A. Henshaw} are underway.

   Several robotics researchers are regularly involved in a student
   aerial robot design competition in which concurrent engineering
   concepts are being used to tailor the characteristics of the
   system.{D. Schrage} This competition, held at Georgia Tech and
   sponsored by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems, has been
   won by Georgia Tech entries for two of the three years it has been
   held.

   Current research topics and researchers:
     * Long arm control
       W. Book
     * Parallel actuation of manipulators
       K. Lee
     * 3DOF direct drive actuator
       K. Lee
     * Special purpose end-effectors
       R. Bohlander, H. Lipk
     * Parallel processing computer architectures for robot sensing and
       control.
       R. Bohlander, C. Alford, T. Collins, A. Henshaw
     * Laser generated ultrasound to sense structure of materials
       C. Ume
     * Gallium arsenide based rad-hard electronics.
       W. Hunt
     * Autonmous vehicles positioning
       S. Dickerson
     * Collision avoidance techniques
       R. Arkin, W. Book
     * Flexible arm control
       W. Book
     * Two arm coordinated motion.
       Alford, Vachtsevanos
     * Advanced feedback control, learning control, bounded uncertainty
       approach, applications to rigid and flexible manipulators, force
       control .
       N Sadegh, Y Chen, W. Book
     * Architectures, Framework for reactive control and hierarchical
       planning, vision feedback, fuzzy logic application
       Arkin, D. Lawton, G Vachtsevanos
     * Human Computer Interaction
       M Kelly, H. Lipkin

     _________________________________________________________________

  Harvard

   Roger Brockett
     _________________________________________________________________

  Iowa State University

   _Iowa Center for Emerging Manufacturing Technology_
   _Ames, Iowa 50011_
   See also: [88]http:// www.vislab.iastate.edu

   Iowa State University has one of the better visualization labs in the
   country. The lab consists of mainly mechanical engineers and computer
   scientists.

     _________________________________________________________________

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

   Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science both have strong robotics
   efforts. Asada, Slotine, Brooks, Raibert and others are known and
   respected for their work in direct-drive arm, control techniques,
   architectures, running machines etc.

     _________________________________________________________________

  New York University (NYU)

   NYU's Department of Computer Science home page is at:
   [89]http://cs.nyu.edu/ _Degrees:_
   We offer Ph.D. and MS in computer science. Ph.D. students may work
   thesis research in robotics. MS students may work on a thesis (as a
   substitute for one course). All graduate students are eligible to
   enroll in Advaned Laboratory and work on a project in robotics.
   Qualified undergraduates may take Independent Study.

   The Department of Computer Science offers graduate and undergraduate
   courses in robotics, computer vision, AI and neural computation. There
   is also a weekly robotics colloquim For admissions information,
   contact [e-mail]

   _Research (1994):_
     * Multimedia (Schwartz, Wallace, Perlin) See Below
     * 3-D target recognition (Hummel)
     * Grasp Metrics (Mishra, Yap)
     * Reactive Robotics (Mishra)
     * Wavelets and Compression (Mallat)
     * Human Body Animation (Perlin)

   _Faculty:_
     * Ken Perlin (Computer Graphics, Multimedia)
     * Jacob T. Schwartz (Robotics, Multimedia, Computational Logic)
     * Bud Mishra (Robotics, Theory of Computation)
     * Chee Yap (Robotics, Computational Geometry)
     * Stephane Mallat (Wavelets, Computer Vision)
     * Robert Hummel (Computer Vision)

   _What is Multimedia Robotics?_
   "Multimedia Robotics" is a new area of computer science concerning new
   markets for robotics technology, emphasizing the emerging areas of
   virtual reality and telepresence, animation and entertainment, and
   bioscience material processing.

   Wrench Displays
          Force and Torque input/output devices for user interfaces, also
          called "haptic displays".

   Bioscience Applications
          Microrobots in DNA micromanipulation,
          Wrench displays for surgical VR training applications,
          Microsurgical instruments

   Advanced actuators for VR and Multimedia
          Scaling theory and dynamics of piezeoelectrics, shape memory
          metals, electromagnetics and other new actuator technolgies.

   Telepresence
          Robotics and the WWW, Video Telephony, Telesensuality

   Research underway at NYU represents each of these four areas.

     _________________________________________________________________

  North Carolina State Univerisity

   Raleigh, NC Professor Ren Luo tel: [phone]
     _________________________________________________________________

   [90]Northeastern University> Boston, MA 02115 The Marine Systems
   Engineering Laboratory (MSEL) of Northeastern University is pleased to
   announce its presence on the World Wide Web at [91]MSEL Home Page MSEL
   is a small, internationally-known lab that focuses on research in
   ocean engineering, in particular autonomous underwater vehicles
   (AUVs). AUVs are unmanned, untethered submersibles that are capable of
   carrying out missions autonomously. MSEL developed one of the first
   AUVs, EAVE-EAST. Currently, the EAVE AUVs are in their third
   generation, the EAVE-III vehicles. The lab maintains two EAVE-III
   vehicles for both single-agent and multiagent research. The lab is
   also developing a long-range AUV (LRAUV) for extended full-ocean depth
   missions. We have active research programs focusing on intelligent AUV
   control, AUV control architectural issues, long-range AUV development
   for ocean science applications, and multiple AUV systems and
   cooperative distributed problem solving.

  [92]Purdue University

   West Lafayette, Indiana 47907

   Here's a pointer to Purdue's [93]Robot Vision Lab

   _Faculty_
     * [94]Avi Kak: Vision and mobile robots
     * Antti Koivo: Manipulation
     * Mirek Skibiniewski: Construction Robotics
     * Anthony Maciejewski: Kinematics of redundant robotic arms,
       computer graphic techniques for animation, visualization
     * George Lee: Robot Control, Fuzzy Logic, Neural Networks
     * Akio Kosaka Vision-based navigation for mobile robots

     _________________________________________________________________

  Rennsalear Polytechnic Institute (RPI)

   _Faculty_
     * George Saridis
     * Arthur Sanderson
     * Jon Wenn

   About 20 PhD and 30 MS students. Path planning and multi-arm control
   are current focus.

     _________________________________________________________________

  Stanford University


    Palo Alto, CA

   [95]http://www.stanford.edu/

   _Mechanical Engineering:_
     * Bernard Roth (kinematics of manipulators)
     * Mark Cutkosky: destrous manipulation and concurrent manufacturing
     * Larry Liefer (rehabilitation, user interfaces)

   _CS Department:_
     * Nils Nilsson
     * Mike Genesereth
     * Jean-Claude Latombe (path planning and geometric reasoning)
     * Leo Guibas (geometric reasoning)
     * Tom Binford (vision)
     * Yoav Shoham (agents)
     * Oussama Khatib

   _Aerospace Robotics Laboratory:_
     * Bob Cannon
       teleoperation, free flyers, space robotics, flexible manipulators

     _________________________________________________________________

  University of California at Berkeley

   _Faculty:_
   _Deparment of EE&CS_
     * Prof. J. Canny
       motion planning
     * Prof. R. Fearing
       tactile sensing, dextrous manipulation
     * Prof. J. Malik
       computer vision
     * Prof. S. Sastry
       multi-fingered hands, control

   _Dept. of Optometry/EE&CS_
     * Prof. L. Stark
       telerobotics

   _Dept. of Mechanical Engineering_
     * Prof. R. Horowitz
       control of robotic manipulators
     * Prof. H. Kazerooni
       man-robotic systems
     * Prof. M. Tomizuka
       control of robotic manipulators
     * Richard Muller
       micro mechanisms

     _________________________________________________________________

  University of Kansas

   Space Technology Center (Telerobotics)
     _________________________________________________________________

  University of Kentucky

   Center for Robotics and Manufacturing Systems (founded 1990)
     _________________________________________________________________

  University of Massachusetts

   _Laboratory for Perceptual Robotics_
   Computer Science Department
   www: [96]http://piglet.cs.umass.edu:4321/lpr.html

   _Faculty:_


          Rod Grupen
          Robin Popplestone

   The lab is equipped with two General Electric P-50 robots, two GE A4s,
   a Zebra Zero, and a Denning mobile platform. In addition, the P-50s
   are fitted with a 4-fingered Utah/MIT and a 3-fingered Stanford/JPL*
   dexterous hand, respectively. The lab includes VxWorks distributed VME
   controllers and an experimental real-time kernel (Spring kernel).
   Research conducted at the lab includes:

     * controller composition for coordinating multiple robots
     * grasp planning
     * geometric reasoning for robust assembly & fine motion control
     * learning for admittance control & path optimization
     * biological models of motor planning
     * proprioceptive, tactile, & visual model acquisition
     * trajectory planning, coarse reaching
     * state-space decomposition

   The laboratory also engages in collaborative research with the
   Computer Vision (A. Hanson, E. Riseman, directors) and Adaptive
   Networks (A. Barto, director) groups within the department.

     _________________________________________________________________

  University of Michigan


    Ann Arbor, MI

   Departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science are
   relevant to robotics research. Research includes includes machine
   vision, systems and control, multiple cooperating agents (arms and
   mobile), and application of SOAR to robots (arms and mobile) in
   conjunction with SOAR groups at CMU and elsewhere.

   Umich robotics work can be found at [97]Umich Robotics _Contacts_
     * Johann Borenstein [98][e-mail]
     * Yorem Koren [99][e-mail]

     _________________________________________________________________

  University of Pennsylvania.

   UPenn offers Masters and PhD programs in Robotics and Robotics related
   fields of study. These programs are offered through the Departments of
   Computer and Information Science, Systems Engineering, and Mechanical
   Engineering and Applied Mechanics. The bulk of the robotics research
   is conducted in the inter-disciplinary General Robotics and Active
   Sensory Perception (GRASP) laboratory. [100]GRASP Web SiteActive areas
   of research are Telerobotics, Multiple Arm Control, Robotic Vision,
   Learning Control, Multi-agent Robotics and Mechanical Design.

   _Faculty_
     * R. Bajcsy
     * R.P. Paul
     * Vijay Kumar
     * Max Mintz
     * Jim Ostrowski
     * Eero Simoncelli

     _________________________________________________________________

  University of Rochester

   _Computer Science Department_
   Well known Computer Vision group. See the following web pages:
   [101]http://www.cs.rochester.edu/u/jag/PercAct/dvfb.html
   [102]http://www.cs.rochester.edu/u/jag
     _________________________________________________________________

  University of Southern California (USC)

   USC has a new MS Program called: Master of Science in Computer Science
   with specialization in Robotics & Automation

   This Master of Science program prepares graduates for the future of
   manufacturing engineering. Emphasized areas include manufacturing as
   an international enterprise, and information engineering, with
   concentrations in specialties including multimedia, CAD for rapid
   prototyping, electronic packaging, magnetic recording, and
   manufacturing management. Classroom teaching is transferred into a
   practical format and weekly seminars. A nine month internship is a key
   part of the practical track for this Program. Students have been
   placed in internships with companies such as Sony, Hewlett-Packard,
   Qualcomm, Alcoa Electronic Packaging, Kyocera America, Maxtor
   Corporation, Spectragraphics, StorageTek, and Valor Electronics.

   Financial aid is available. Preferential assistance will be given to
   displaced defense industry professionals.

   For information on applying to the Program, or accessing an intern for
   your company, e-mail [103][e-mail] or contact Vivian Shinmoto
   at 619-534-7398. MS program seeks to prepare students for a career in
   the application of Computer Science to design, manufacturing, and
   robotics. It also serves as an introduction to this area for students
   who wish to pursue advanced studies and research leading to a Ph.D. A
   major goal is to produce a steady stream of graduates who are
   qualified to tackle challenging problems in the development of
   software for CAD/CAM (Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing) and
   robotics.

   There is a strong focus on designing and building within the program
   Exposure to the practical aspects (and difficulties) of robotics and
   automation is strongly encouraged through laboratory work, and an
   optional thesis, conducted in collaboration with industry and research
   laboratories.

   See also [104]http://cwis.usc.edu/dept/robotics/home.html

   For additional information, a complete set of degree requirements, and
   application materials, contact our Student Coordinator:


    Ms. Amy Yung
    Computer Science Department
    University of Southern California
    Los Angeles, CA 90089-0781
    tel: [phone]
    net:

   _Faculty_
     * George Bekey
       Assembly planning, design for assembly, neural nets for robot
       control, autonomous robots.
     * Ken Goldberg
       Motion planning, grasping, machine learning.
     * Sukhan Lee
       Assembly planning, sensor-based manipulation.
     * Gerard Medioni
       Computer vision.
     * Ramakant Nevatia
       Computer vision.
     * Keith Price
       Computer vision.
     * Aristides Requicha
       Geometric modeling, geometric uncertainty, planning for
       manufacture and inspection

   About twenty other faculty member associated with the Institute for
   Robotics and Intelligent Systems and many others associated with USC's
   Information Sciences Institute (ISI).

   A Brochure can be obtained from:


    Ken Goldberg, Asst Professor
    IRIS, Dept of Computer Science
    Powell Hall Room 204
    University of Southern California
    Los Angeles, CA 90089-0273
    Internet: [e-mail]

     _________________________________________________________________

  University of Maryland

   _Faculty_
     * Dave Akin
       Director, Space Systems Laboratory.

   Facilties include a large neutral bouyancy tank, and a number of
   free-flying teleoperators used underwater in the NBT. Much
   teleoperations research. Dave has flown shuttle experiments and his
   research is in the areas of teleoperation, control, man-machine
   interaction and is one of the very few in the robotics community to
   fly hardware in space.

     _________________________________________________________________

  University of Notre Dame


    South Bend, Indiana

   The Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the
   University of Notre Dame offers several courses which are directed
   toward an fundamental understanding of the mechanics, kinematics,
   estimation and control theory, and computer programming which are
   important considerations in the design of robotic systems. Of special
   interest is a novel approach for achieving robust and precise
   vision-based control of manipulators - "camera-space manipulation".
   Doctoral recipients >from this program are teaching and doing research
   in tenure-track positions at US universities. For more information,
   see, on the World-Wide Web: [105]Skaar Home.html [106]AME
   HomePage.html or contact Prof. Steven B. Skaar, Director of Graduate
   Studies, [107][e-mail] Research in Vision-Based
   Robotics Using Estimation

   The multimedia monograph discusses recent experimental and theoretical
   work conducted at the University of Notre Dame aimed at using methods
   of estimation to achieve accurate, robust and reliable vision-based
   guidance of various kinds of mechanisms, including typical holonomic
   robots, fork-lifts and other vehicles. The monograph is divided into
   two parts: Part 1 discusses the method of "camera-space manipulation"
   and is in the early stages of development. Part 2 discusses
   vision-based navigation of a vehicle. Both parts include several
   QuickTime movie illustrations of existing experiments, and part 2
   includes 3-D animations for illustration of principles.

     _________________________________________________________________

  The University of Texas at Arlington


    F.L. Lewis
    Automation and Robotics Research Institute
    University of Texas at Arlington
    7300 Jack Newell Blvd S
    Ft. Worth, TX 76118
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   UT Arlington is located in the heart of the Dallas / Ft. Worth
   metroplex. The EE department current has 33 faculty and the CSE
   department has 20 faculty. Participating students will also be able to
   conduct research at the Automation and Robotics Research Institute
   located in Ft. Worth.

     _________________________________________________________________

  University of Wisconsin-Madison

   _Mechanical Engineering & Electrical Engineering_
   _Faculty_
     * Roland Chin
       machine vision, pattern recognition
     * Neil Duffie
       teleoperation, autonomous systems, sensors
     * Robert Lorenz
       actuators and sensors, robot control algorithms
     * Vladimir Lumelsky
       motion planning, real-time sensing and navigation

   _Computer Science:_
     * Charles Dyer
       machine vision

   _Wisconsin Center for Space Robotics and Automation (WCSAR)_
   Interdepartmental NASA center: work is done on various applications of
   robotic systems for space.

     _________________________________________________________________

  University of Utah


    Salt Lake City, Utah 84112
    Steve Jacobsen
    Center for Engineering Design
    3176 MEB

   Hands, manipulators, biomedical applications, teleoperation. Micro
   electro-mechanical systems design.

     _________________________________________________________________

  Yale University

   There is a broad spectrum of research activities in vision and
   robotics at Yale. The members of this group include faculty from
   Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Psychology, Neuroscience,
   and the Yale Medical School. Active areas of research include machine
   vision, humanand computer object recognition, geometric reasoning,
   mobile robotics, sensor-based manipulation, control of highly dynamic
   nonlinear systems, planning, and learning. There is also a wide
   spectrum of interdisciplinary work integrating robotics and machine
   vision.

   _Faculty_
     * James S. Duncan
       Geometric/physical models for analysing biomedical images.
     * Gregory D. Hager
       Sensor-based/task-directed decision-making and planning.
     * David J. Kriegman
       Model-based object recognition, mobile robot navigation.
     * Drew McDermott
       Planning and scheduling reactive behavior, knowledge
       representation, cognitive mapping.
     * Eric Mjolsness
       Neural network approaches to vision and visual memory.
     * Pat Sharpe
       Computational models of hippocampal spatial learning.
     * Michael J. Tarr
       Behavioral and computational approaches to visual cognition.
     * Kenneth Yip Automated reasoning about complex dynamical systems.

     _________________________________________________________________

  Wilkes University


    Wilkes-Barre, PA

   [108]Wilkes University is a small, private university located in
   Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Despite its size, Wilkes is well equipped
   with robotics laboratories and has two faculty ( [109]Dr. C.R. Mirman
   Ph.D. in Robotics from the University of Illinois at Chicago and
   [110]Dr. M.R. Stein, Ph.D. in Robotics from the University of
   Pennsylvania) to sponsor graduate robotics research. Robotics is an
   integral part of the undergraduate Mechanical Engineering curriculum,
   and may be a topic for graduate study in Electrical Engineering.
   Wilkes offers a BS in Mechanical Engineering and an MS and Ph.D.
   degree in Electrical Engineering. See also their [111]Robotics and
   Automation page.
     _________________________________________________________________

     _________________________________________________________________

[6.2] Student Who's Who

   An useful additional source of information is the graduate student
   guide compiled by Ron Kube . It is a list of graduate students, their
   universities, and areas of research. The list is updated monthly and
   can be found at

   [112]ftp://ftp.cs.ualberta.ca/pub/kube/whosWho and is also available
   on the Web as:
   [113]http://www.sm.luth.se/csee/ra/sm-roa/Robotics/WhoSWho.html

   The list is a good starting point for those interested in graduate
   programs and for those looking for individuals with similar research
   interests.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Last-Modified: Fri Aug 30 02:19:04 1996


    [114]Kevin Dowling <[e-mail]>

References

   1. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/copyright.html
   2. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/TOC.html
   3. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#6.1
   4. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#6.2
   5. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Australia
   6. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#University of Western Australia
   7. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Canada
   8. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#McGill University
   9. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#University of Alberta
  10. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Finland
  11. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Helsinki
  12. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#France
  13. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#University of Paris
  14. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Japan
  15. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Waseda University
  16. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Sweden
  17. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Lulea University of Technology
  18. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Switzerland
  19. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
  20. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#United Kingdom
  21. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Bristol University
  22. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Edinburgh University (UK)
  23. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Hull University, UK
  24. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Reading University, UK
  25. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Salford University
  26. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#University of Birmingham
  27. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#University of Essex (UK)
  28. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#University of Manchester
  29. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#University of Oxford
  30. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#University of Surrey
  31. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#University of the West of England at Bristol, U.K.
  32. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#United
  33. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Boston University
  34. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Brandeis
  35. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
  36. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)
  37. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Colorado School of Mines
  38. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Clemson University
  39. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Cornell
  40. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Georgia Institute of Technology
  41. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Harvard
  42. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
  43. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#New York University (NYU)
  44. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#North Carolina State University
  45. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Northeastern
  46. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Purdue
  47. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Rennsalear Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
  48. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Stanford University
  49. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#University of California at Berkeley
  50. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#University of Iowa
  51. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#University of Kansas
  52. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#University of Kentucky
  53. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#University of Massachusetts
  54. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#University of Michigan
  55. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#University of Pennsylvania.
  56. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#University of Rochester
  57. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#University of Southern California (USC)
  58. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#University of Maryland
  59. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#The University of Texas at Arlington
  60. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#University of Wisconsin-Madison
  61. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#University of Utah
  62. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Yale University
  63. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/6.html#Wilkes University
  64. http://telerobot.mech.uwa.edu.au/
  65. http://www.cim.mcgill.ca/
  66. http://www.hut.fi/English/HUT/Units/Faculties/T/Automation/index.htm
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 108. http://www.wilkes.edu/
 109. http://wilkes1.wilkes.edu/~mme/fachp/CM.html
     _________________________________________________________________

                 [7] What is the State of the Robot Industry?

   In general, there was a significant slump in the mid to late 1980's in
   industrial robotics. However in the early 1990's sales and number have
   rebounded to surpass early 1980 numbers and dollars.

   From Motion Control Magazine April 1994: Robotics Industries
   Association said recently Robot orders jumped 40% through June, 1993
   as the industry posted its best opening half-year ever.... Net new
   orders received by U.S. based robotics companies totalled 3,640 robots
   valued at $306.2 million, the highest unit and dollar figures ever.

   From the New York Times, Wednesday September 7th pC1
   (paraphrased) In the late 1980's a steep decline in robot orders drove
   most US companies out of the business. In the first half of 1994 4,335
   robots with a total value of $383.5 million. Fanuc is the leader with
   about $360M in sales this year. Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) is second with
   sales estimated at $120M. The next several are Japanese: Motoman,
   Panasonic, Sony and Nachi.

   The only major US producer to have survived is Adept Technology with
   about $50M in sales in a $700M market. The following table is
   interpreted from a graph in the article.

   Net new orders in US:
        Year    # of robots     $US
        1984    5800            $480M
        1985    6200            $380M
        1986    5400            $320M
        1987    3800            $300M
        1988    4000            $325M
        1989    4500            $510M
        1990    5000            $510M
        1991    4000            $410M
        1992    5250            $500M
        1993    6800            $630M
        1994    4335 (6 mos)    $383M (6 mos)

     _________________________________________________________________

   From Industry Flash Vol1, No. 4, Dec 5, 1994:

   _DEMAND FOR U.S. INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS SURGING_
   ANN ARBOR, Mich. - U.S.-based robotics companies are enjoying the best
   of times. The Robotics Industries Association (RIA) says surging
   demand recently led American robotic companies to their best
   nine-month totals ever.

   Through September, new orders totaled 6,218 robots valued at $548
   million, a 12 percent increase in units and 13 percent increase in
   revenue over the previous nine-month period last year. The greatest
   demand, says the trade group, is coming from U.S. manufacturers which
   are finally learning what the Japanese have known for years: robots
   can play a significant role in improving productivity, quality,
   flexibility and time-to-market. But, even though demand is surging and
   the U.S. is the world's second largest robotics user with some 53,000
   systems, the Japanese have more than seven times as many robots in
   use, RIA says.

     _________________________________________________________________

   Last-Modified: Sun Aug 11 08:49:43 1996


    [3]Kevin Dowling <[e-mail]>

     _________________________________________________________________

                   [8] What companies sell or build robots?

   [3][8.1] Mobile robot companies
          [4][8.1.1] AGV Companies
          [5][8.1.2] Underwater robots

   [6][8.2] Manipulator companies

   [7][8.3] Other Organizations doing robotics

   [8][8.4] Small Inexpensive Robots

   [9][8.5] Entertainment Robots

     _________________________________________________________________

[8.1] Mobile robot companies

   There are a small number of companies targeting the research community
   for the mobile robot market. Helpmate, RWI, and Cybermotion have all
   sold and are selling mobile devices for research and real
   applications. There are a number of Automatic Guided Vehicle companies
   as well and their primary applications are factory operations.
   Companies manufacturing Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGV) are listed at
   the end of this section. Robot lawn mowers too!

     _________________________________________________________________

   _Action Machinery Co._ One Vulcan Drive



    Helena, AL 35080, USA
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   Severe-duty hydraulic robots and manipulators. Payloads from 65kg -
   7000kg. Primarily forge, foundry, and casting operations.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Applied AI Systems_



    Suite 500, Gateway Business Park
    340 March Rd, KANATA
    Ontario, Canada K2K 2E4
    net: [e-mail]

   Representing IS Robotics and Khepera (see below). MIT subsumption
   architecture style robots. Ghengis-II walker runs $8636.00 including a
   development system and downloading board, but without LISP.

     _________________________________________________________________

   _Arrick Robotics _



    2107 W. Euless Blvd.
    Euless, Texas 76040 USA
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    net: [e-mail]
    url: [10]www.http://robotics.com/

   R20 mobile robot platform for use by AI software developers. 3-wheel
   design, 14" wide, 14" long, 10" tall, 15lbs. 20lb payload. On-board
   controller connects to the user's laptop computer by cable or low-cost
   RF modem (RS232). Sensors include compass, tilt, wheel travel,
   temperature, light level, bumpers, battery status, etc. Price as of
   1/1/95 $2,900.00. Units in use at UTA Automation Robotics Research
   Institute. Send for detailed specifications.

     _________________________________________________________________

   _Bell and Howell_



    Bell & Howell Mailmobile Company
    411 E. Roosevelt Ave.
    Zeeland MI 49464
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    email: For now [11][e-mail]

   Mailmobiles were developed by Lear-Siegler in the mid-70's for the
   industrial cleaning market. They decided to leave this market and Bell
   and Howell, the audio-visual equipment company, was refocusing on
   office automation products and picked up this product from
   Lear-Siegler. There are three models of Mailmobile, the Packmobile,
   the Sprint and the Trailmobile. About 3000 systems sold and about 2000
   probably in operation. They use a chemical trail that floureseces
   under UV light. Payloads up to a couple of hundred kg. Some systems
   have been operating for over 15 years.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Branch & Associates Pty Ltd_



    1153 Tasman Highway
    Cambridge, Tasmania 7170
    Australia (operating in Europe, Asia and America)
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone] contact: Alex Vail, Division Manager

   Since 1979, specialist in autonomous navigation and guidance; products
   and technology for applications, research, and teaching. Conquerer
   series of fully autonomous AGV's, mapping system, non-accumulated
   error, accuracy 1cm, 1 degree, no environmental modifications, $12K -
   $25K.

   Fander: research and educational mobile robot. $5.5K includes
   everything: built-in software demonstrates in real situations numerous
   exmaples of roboti mobility technologies for teaching, research and
   teaching manual, stand-alone and remote PC modes, real time graphics.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Cybermotion_



    115 Sheraton Drive
    Salem VA 24153
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    url: [12]Cybermotion Mobile Robotic Systems

   John Holland's company. Mobile K2 bases making use of ingenious
   torque-tube synchronous drive system. Security markets and research
   platforms, manipulators for base as well. Map building software too.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Cyberworks_



    31 Ontario Street
    Orillia, Ontario
    L3V 6H1 Canada
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   Primary product are 'building blocks' for mobile robot development
   including controllers, sensors, softare and chassis'.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Denning Branch International Robotics_



    1401 Ridge Avenue
    Pittsburgh, PA 15233
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   email: Soon. Messages to [e-mail] will be forwarded.
   Denning-Branch is a merger of Denning Mobile Robotics, once located in
   the Boston area, and makers of human-size mobile robots since 1983,
   and Branch and Associates, of Hobart, Australia, designers and
   builders of smaller mobile robots since 1979.

   Among the first products available is an MRV retrofit kit, which
   substitutes a modern Intel 80486 system with more power and a simpler
   interface for the 1985 vintage MC 68000 based controller.

   Fander
          Small (~60x30x30 cm) 80486 based robot for educational
          purposes, with infrared and rotating sonar sensors,
          preprogrammed for several autonomous navigation tasks, and
          externally controllable via serial link. $5.5K

   MRV 1 &4
          Large (~90x90x120 cm) heavy payload capacity synchro drive
          robot, with optional sonar ring and laser nav sensors and
          software. $13.5K

   LaserNav
          Robot-mounted scanning infrared laser unit that uses wall
          mounted bar-coded retroreflectors or active transponders to
          navigate to centimeter precision in 10-meter-scale areas. $8K

   RotoSonar
          Small-scale revolving sonar head with 4 sonar units and
          software. $3K

   Sonar Ring
          MRV-scale belt of 24 sonar units and driving hardware and
          software.

     _________________________________________________________________

   _General Robotics_



    14618 W. 6th Avenue
    Suite 150
    Golden, CO 80401
    tel: [phone] (US and Canada)
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   RB5X mobile robot for educational use. Developed in the early 80's and
   has been sold for many years. Similar to design and market for
   Heathkit robots. RB5X is $2995. Also sell base unit without wheels and
   shell board mounted for experimentation or building your own robot:
   $1995. A variety of other options including sensors, cameras, radio
   link and software for for Mac, Apple II and PC's are available.
   Educational curriculum workbooks and manuals are also available
   separately.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _HelpMate Robotics (formerly TRC)_



    Shelter Rock Lane
    Danbury, CT 06810
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    [13]Helpmate Home Page

   Labmate research platform - $7500, plus additional optional sensors
   etc. Other products for hospital markets and floor cleaning machines.
   (Helpmate and RoboKent respectively)
     _________________________________________________________________

   _IS Robotics_



    Suite 6, 22McGrath Hwy
    Somerville, MA 02143
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    net:
    url: [14]http://isr.com/~isr

     * R-3, wheeled robot, $14K
     * Genghis II, 15" walking robot, $8.6K
     * Pebbles III, tracked robot, $12.5K
     * Hermes - high end walking robot

   Robots use the 16MHz 68332 (68020 core) microcontrollers (except
   Ghengis). Robots include IR and bump sensing for obstacle detection.
   Pyro sensors and color camera with pan-tilt are optional. ISR also
   performs contract engineering (custom robots). Check the [15]ISR home
   page for more details.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Kentree_



    Kilbritten,
    County Cork, Ireland
    tel: [phone], 49808
    fax: [phone]

   Teleoperated bomb disposal vehicles in a range of sizes.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _mecos Robotics AG_



    Technopark
    Pfingstweidstrasse
    CH-8005 Zurich
    Switzerland
    tel: + 41 1 445 11 35
    fax: + 41 1 445 11 34
    email: [e-mail]
    Contact: S. J. Vestli

   Company formed as a spin off of the Institute of Robotics, ETH wiss
   Federal Institute of Technology). "mecos Robotics" specialises in
   modular and adaptive robot manipulators and robot vehicles (mobile
   robots). All "mecos Robotics" systems uses the same type of
   controller, a VME based computer. This system comes with high level
   development tools, and for research institutions the systems have the
   advantage of being open. The overall goals of all "mecos Robotics"
   systems are flexibility and modularity.

   The mobile robot program from "mecos Robotics" follows this principle.
   The physical size and the mechanical configuration can be altered. The
   standard configuration has three wheels with air tyres and independant
   suspension. One wheel is used for steering and propulsion (imagine a
   kids tricycle). The overall size is 0.7 m (W) * 1.0 m (L) * 0.5 m (H).
   The price depends on configuration and starts around the 70.000,-
   Swiss Franks mark.

     _________________________________________________________________

   _Nomadic Technologies_



    1060-B Terra Bella Avenue
    Mountain View, CA 94043
    tel: [phone] ext. 203
    fax: [phone]
    net: [e-mail]

   Nomad 200 is an integrated mobile robot system with four sensing
   modules including tactile, infrared, ultrasonic, and 2D laser.
   Integrated software development package for the host computer includes
   a graphic interface, robot simulator and a library of motion planning,
   motion control and sensory data interpretation functions. Geared
   toward teaching and research in Robotics and AI. The Nomad utilizes a
   synchronous steering system (ala Cybermotion and RWI). Speeds up to .5
   meters/second and onboard battery power.

   Nomad 200 Mobile Base $10,000

   Nomad 200 Control System $ 6,000

   Sensus 100 Tactile Sensing System $ 1,500

   Sensus 200 Fixed Sonar System $ 2,500

   Sensus 500 Structured Light Vision System $ 7,000

   RF Modem Kit $ 2,000

   Digital Compass $ 450

     _________________________________________________________________

   _OTO MELARA_



    Via Valdilocchi 15
    19136 La Spezia ITALY
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    contact: Gian Carlo Caligiani, Robotic Systems Office

   OTO MELARA R.2.5.Robotized System
          The Robotized R.2.5 (R.2.5.R) Project aims at prototyping a
          mobile robot for intervention in hostile environments. The
          system is composed by three main units: the transportable
          control station, the radio communication set and the mobile
          robot based on an armoured, diesel propelled, wheeled platform
          called R.2.5. Gorgona, produced by OTO MELARA. Robot can be
          remotely controlled via full-duplex radio link. Can be
          teleoperated and provides supervised modes as well. Speeds from
          30cm/sec to 30km/h. As of May 1994 the locomotion system and
          teleoperated system are complete. Additional functionality in
          the form of supervised and autonomous operation are planned.

     _________________________________________________________________

   _Poulan/Weed Eater_



    c/o Robotic Solar Mower Dept.
    PO Box 91329
    Shreveport, LA 71149-1329
    tel: [phone] X3939

   [Boiled out of their press release - Gareth Branwyn] The Robotic Solar
   Mower is a 5.6kg (12.5lb). automated solar-powered "lawn groomer." It
   uses a wire boundary system to keep it inside the mowing area. It runs
   continuously when the sun shines. Its operation is "virtually noise
   free." It continues on its constant mowing course, taking between
   several hours and several days to complete a grooming cycle (depending
   on size of yard, obstacles, etc.). Instead of cutting 1/3 of the grass
   blades (as in a conventional mower), it only trims the tips. It can
   handle a yard up to 1250m^2 (13,500 ft^2) and has a slope tolerance of
   15-20 degress. A pilot program is currently offering the mower in the
   US for $2,000.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Real World Interface (RWI) _



    PO Box 375
    32 Fitzgerald Drive
    Jaffrey, NH 03452
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    net: [16][e-mail]
    [17]RWI homepage

   RWI manufactures the B14 (an evolved B12) and B21 Mobile Robot
   Systems, and in collaboration with ActivMedia, Inc. and Kurt Konolige
   of SRI, the newer, low-cost, Pioneer 1 Mobile Robot.
   Recently redesigned, the B14's 35.5 x 61cm (14" x 24") (d x h) Synchro
   Drive Base now has built-on, tool-less access Smart Panels(tm) with
   tactile sensors, a 192-watt hr, hot-swappable battery power system for
   continuous service, and carries up to a 9kg (20 lb) payload. New B14
   Enclosure mounts on top the Base and hosts Linux computer system,
   complete with RWI's RAI robotics servers and client development
   software libraries. Full range of IR, sonar, and tactile sensors
   included (seamless 360-degrees, top-to-bottom bump protection).

   RWI's flagship robot -- the B21 -- is for mobile autonomous research
   and commercial applications. The 53x30cm (21" x 12") (d x h) 4-wheel
   drive B21 Synchro Drive Base carries a payload of 190kg (200 lbs) and
   has 1500-watt hours of independent battery power, hot-swappable for
   continuous service. The B21 Enclosure mounts on top the Base and hosts
   two internal computers plus a console laptop, all integrated via an
   onboard Ethernet, Linux OS, and RWI's RAI robotics software. Smart
   Panels(tm) around give easy access to Base and Enclosure equipment and
   host a full range of IR, sonar, and tactile sensors. Optional
   four-axis arm has gripper and 360-degree wrist, and mounts inside
   Enclosure.
   Both the B14 and B21 Mobile Robots come with a variety of accessories,
   including a newly released stereo vision system and other video
   options, radio Ethernet, compass, text-to-speech interface, and more.
   Released Summer '95 at IJCAI, the Real World/ActivMedia/Konolige
   [18]Pioneer 1 Mobile Robot is targeted for research and training where
   affordability (under $2500!) and many platforms are required. Based on
   the popular and winning (AAAI '94) Flaky, Pioneer 1 has a
   position-accurate 2-wheel drive in a 46 x 35.5 x 23cm (18x14x9") (l x
   w x h) chassis, which also carries a 84 watt-hr powerpack and hosts
   seven sonars. The custom on-board 68HC11-based controller runs a suite
   of robotics servers accessible via onboard serial port by piggyback
   laptop or basestation computer client software running SRI's Saphira
   software for research in multiple-intelligence and interactive
   behaviors. Client libraries and a simulator are included to assist
   application development. Fast-Track Vision System, based on [19]Newton
   Labs' Cognachrome Vision System now available for Pioneer 1.
   Manipulation gripper, vision system, experimenter's modules, and
   supporting textbooks by Dr. Kurt Konolige to come.

(B14) B14 Base w/ tactile Smart Panels(tm)            $8,500
      B14 Enclosure w/ full sensor array              $6,000
      B14 Pentium (100/16/540MB)*                     $2,850+/-
      B14 Power Station                                 $400

(B21) B21 Base w/ tactile & IR Smart Panels(tm)  $19,500
      B21 Enclosure w/ full sensor array             $11,500
      B21 Four-Axis Arm                              $18,250
      B21 Pentium (133/32/1200)*                      $4,125+/-
      B21 Pentium Console (100/16/540/28cm screen)     $4,350+/-
      B21 Power Station                               $1,500

(Acc) Pan-Tilt Head                                   $1,950
      PCI-based Video Frame Grabber                     $950
      CCD Cameras (color  & B &W)           $931-$1,375
      Radio Links (RS-232  & Ethernet)           $595-$5,390
      Digital Navigation Compass                        $850

(New) Basic Robot                                     $2,495
      Fast-Track Vision System                        $2,995**
      Gripper                                           $750
      ComRad RS-232 Radio                               $595
      Experimenter's Module                             $200

   * All Bxx computers come with Linux and RWI RAI software installed and
   with Ethernet networking. ** Introductory price good through May,
   1996.

     _________________________________________________________________

   _Remotec_



    114 Union Valley Road
    Oak Ridge, TN 37830
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   The ANDROS line of teleoperated mobile robots. These were designed to
   be useful in the nuclear industry and in other hazardous applications,
   and are very rugged. You can hose them down. Available in a range of
   sizes, with a variety of optional attachments, such as video cameras,
   arms, etc.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _TAG Technology_



    5 Bowlands Mill, Dispensary Street
    Alnwick, Northumberland, NE661LN, UK
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    net: [20]http://www.tag.co.uk/robots/

   A variety of small modular mobile robots, sensors and controllers.
     * Frank - a tracked vehicle. Cost $UK 3198
     * Igor - a small quadraped walking machine. $UK 2238
     * Sensors - ultrasound and IR. $UK 144 - 318 depending on model.
     * Neural modeling system - single eurocard board for neural work.

     _________________________________________________________________

   _Visual Inspection Technologies_



    27-2 Ironia Road
    Flanders, NJ 07836-9124
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   VIT specializes in remote visual and ultrasonic testing but sells or
   rents a small tracked rover for inspection work. Products include
   ROVVER, SPOT, and PIPECAT vertical pipe crawler. VIT also makes
   miniature remote pan and tilt devices.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Yamazaki Construction Company_



    Intelligent Robot Lab
    Kaika Building
    2-7-1 Sotokanda
    Chiyoda-ku 101 Tokyo
    Japan
    tel: [phone]

   LR1 robot - small research robot, basically a VME cage on wheels with
   some ultrasonic sensors and a nice constant force suspension. Has
   shown up at IEEE R &A conferences $30K.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _RoboSoft SA_



    6, allee Paul Cezanne
    93360 Neuilly Plaisance
    FRANCE
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

     _________________________________________________________________

[8.1.1] AGV Companies

   AGV's are Automatic Guided Vehicles. They are common in factory
   automation and usually consist of mobile platforms for transporting
   goods and materials within factories. Most still use buried wires for
   guidance, but several vendors have or will have off-wire capabilities.
   AGV subsystems can also be useful in building mobile bases. Wheel
   modules can be purchased that already include hub, tire, motor,
   bearings, suspension and sometimes steering as well as drive.

   The first AGV was installed by the Cravens Company at Mercury Motor
   Express in Columbia, SC in 1954. The use of AGV's did not take off
   however and even by the early 80's the investment by US firms in AGV's
   was less than $70M. However, several European companies took hold of
   the idea and rapidly evolved it. The industry in the US peaked in 1985
   at about $175M and is slowly recovering. -- From Modern Materials
   Handling - 4/96
     _________________________________________________________________

   _AGV Products_



    9307-E Monroe Road
    Charlotte, NC 28270-1485
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   Controls and components for AGV's. Supplier of Schabmuller
   motor-in-wheel drives.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _BT Systems_



    7000 Nineteen Mile Road
    Sterling Heights, MI 48314
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   Automated Handling Systems (Formerly Volvo Automated Systems)
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Caterpillar Industrial (now FMC)_



    5960 Heisley Road
    Mentor, OH 44060
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   Manufacturer and distributor of fork lift trucks and guided vehicles.
   Cat's SGV's use rotating laser scanner and barcodes as opposed to
   traditional wire-guided systems.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Control Engineering Company_



    Jervis Webb Company
    34375 W. Twelve Mile Road
    Farmington Hills, MI 48331-5624
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

     _________________________________________________________________

   _Eaton-Kenway_



    515 East 100 South
    PO Box 45425
    Salt Lake City, UT 84145-0425
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   AGV's and integrated systems
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Elwell-Parker_



    4205 St. Clair Avenue
    Cleveland, OH
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   Designs/manufactures rider style, electric, fork and platform mobile
   material handling equipment. Line includes AGV's, high tonnage
   capacity. Mobile cranes, explosion proof forklifts.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Eskay Corporation_



    563 West 500 South
    Bountiful, UT 84010
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   Automated material handling systems including AGVS.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Fata Automation_



    37050 Industrial Road
    Livonia, MI 48150
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   Sales and service of AGVs.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _FMC Corporation_



    400 Highpont Drive
    Chalfont, PA 18914
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   AGVs, Automated Handling Systems, Consulting, Trolley and Power and
   Free Converyors, Tow lines, Integrated Systems and Controls, Roll
   Handling Equipment.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Frog Navigation Systems b.v._



    Cartesiusweg 120
    3435 BD Utrecht
    The Netherlands
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    net: [e-mail]
    contact: Leo Lans



    USA-office:
    1091 Centre Road, Ste 170
    Auburn Hills, MI 48326
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    contact: Charles Rouse - dir of marketing and sales
    net: [e-mail]

   FROG makes AGVs and AGV navigation systems that utilize infrastructure
   components to accurately determine AGV position. FROG, and the
   SuperFROG AGV supervisory software, are used in both 'traditional' and
   'non-traditional' AGV Markets. Traditional applications include
   manufacturing and warehousing. Non-traditional applications include
   container handling, personnel transport, mining and military use. FROG
   will fit any vehicle and can be used in any environment from
   clinically clean warehouses to weather beaten dockyards.

   Articles on Frog are in 'Automation' February 1991 or in 'Modern
   Materials Handling', December 1994 P.46.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _IDAB Incorporated_



    1 Enterprise Parkway, Suite 300
    PO Box 8157
    Hampton, VA 23666
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   Automatic handling systems and AGV's
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Mannesmann Demag Corporation_



    29201 Aurora Road
    Cleveland, OH 44139-1895
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   Overhead cranes, wire rope and chain hoists, AGV systems, automatic
   storage and retrieval systems, monorail, aircraft maintenance
   equipment.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Mentor AGVS Products_



    8500 Station Street
    PO Box 898
    Mentor, OH 44060
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   AGV systems and automated transfer cars.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Munck Automation Technology_



    161 Enterprise Drive
    Newport News, VA 23603
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    url: [21]http://www.munck.com

   Manufacturer and integrator of automated material handling systems.
   AGVS of many configurations (unitload, forklift, towing)
     _________________________________________________________________

   _The Raymond Corporation_



    South Canal Street
    PO Box 130
    Greene, NY 13778
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   Material handling equipment.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Roberts Sinto Corporation_



    3001 West Main Street
    PO Box 40760
    Lansing, MI 48901-7960
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   MGV's (Mechanically guided vehicles)
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Professional Materials Handling Co, Inc._



    4203 Landmark Drive
    Orlando, FL 32817
    tel: [phone]

   Steinbock fork trucks. Wire guided, use regenerative braking.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Saurer Automation Systems_



    Saurer Automation Systems
    11818 James Street
    Holland, MI 49424-9658
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    Holland, MI

   Saurer was formerly Litton Industrial Automation and is a full service
   material handling company.
     _________________________________________________________________

     _________________________________________________________________

[8.1.2] Underwater robots

   [new section, need more information]

   There are a number of companies building underwater remotely operated
   vehicles (ROV's).

   _[22]R.O.V. Technologies, Inc_



    Franklin Road, Vernon, Vermont 05354
    tel: [phone]
    net: [23][e-mail]

   Nuclear Underwater Equipment, Sales and Service
     * Hydrovision Tel UK ? 224-740145
     * Benthos Tel US 1-800-446-1222
     * JW Fishers Tel US 1-800-822-4744
     * Sutec Tel Sweeden ? 46-13-15-80-60
     * Rovtech Tel Uk ? 229-813641
     * Deep Ocean Engineering Tel US 501-562-9300
     * UWI Tel UK ? 224-896913

     _________________________________________________________________

[8.2] Manipulator companies

   This is only a partial list of manipulator manufacturers. A wide
   variety of arms and arm components are made by these vendors and other
   vendors.

     _________________________________________________________________

   _Adept Technology_



    150 Rose Orchard Way
    San Jose, CA 95134
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    url: [24]http://www.adept.com/

   High speed direct-drive and harmonic-drive SCARA style arms. 0.001"
   (.025mm) repeatabiliy. Payloads from 4-25kg Can be used in clean room
   and food applications as well. Adept also sells vision systems and
   controllers.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _AEA Technology_


   AEA is the commercial division of the UK Atomic Energy Authority.
   markets the NEATER series telerobots for decommssioning in the nuclear
   industry. The system includes a bilateral input device and active
   (autonomous) force control.

   The system can deploy drills, reciprocating saws, nibblers, grippers
   for insertions etc. Larger range of robots including the AEA
   Technology 200 Kg arm, use filtering compliance to avoid damage to the
   robot when deploying heavy duty dismantling tools.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Antenen Research_



    PO Box 95
    Hamilton, OH 45012
    tel: [phone]
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   New and used robots for manufacturing, research and training. Used at
   savings of 40% - 70%. Also lots of parts and accessories.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Asea Brown Boveri (ABB), Vesteraas, Sweden_



    ABB Robotics
    2487 South Commerce Drive
    New Berlin, WI 53151
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   Now own Cinncinatti Milacron robotics group, Graco and Trallfa. ABB
   Robotics is part of a ABB, large swiss-based company, with Many types
   of larger industrial robots. Many are optimized for painting, welding
   and sealant applications.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Comau - Italy_



    Via Rivalta 30
    10095 Grugliasco
    Torino, Italy
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   A variety of industrial manipulators ranging in payloads from 6kg to
   125kg. All electric AC drives. One of the novel designs is a 6DOF,
   12kg payload robot The SMART-3 6.12 R. It uses a carbon fibre forearm,
   absolute resolver feedback and 0.15mm repeatability.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _CRS Plus,_



    5344 John Lucas Drive
    Burlington, Ontario
    Canada L7L 6A6
    tel: [phone]
    fax: 905.?

   Sells several manipulators. 5-DOF around $25K, 6DOF around $33K. Sell
   end-effectors as well (electric, vacuum and penumatic) Wrist can be
   bought separately. Controllers use RAPL, a VAL-like language. Fairly
   open architecture. 3Kg payloads +/- 0.05mm repeatability.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Eshed Robotics_



    Eshed Robotec
    Israel (HQ)
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   In the US



    Eshed Robotec Inc.
    445 Wall St.
    Princeton, NJ 08540-1504
    tel: [phone]
    tel: [phone]

    Eshed Robotec BV
    Oude Torenweg 29
    5388 RK Nistelrode
    The Netherlands
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    net: [25][e-mail]

    url: [26]http://www.pi.net/~eshedbv/ and [27]http://www.eshed.com
    Eshed makes a variety of robot manipulators for education, training
    and instructional use. This includes a half-dozen manipulator
    products, vision systems and a variety of machining and
    manufacturing systems. Eshed has sold over 8000 robots for training
    and education.
    Eshed has many dealers throughout Europe. Many dealers can be found
    at: [28]dealer list
      _______________________________________________________________

    _International Submarine Engineering Ltd, ISE_
    1734 Broadway Street
    Port Coquitlam, B.C.
    Canada V3C 2M8
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    url: [29]http://www.ise.bc.ca/ E-mail: [30][e-mail]
    Underwater manipulators and teleoperated underwater vehicles.
      _______________________________________________________________

    _Kawasaki Robotics (USA Inc.)_
    28059 Center Oaks Court
    Wixom MI 48393
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    [31]KR Home page Kawasaki was the first Japanese mfg to lead in the
    production of industrial robots. They licensed the former Unimation
    line of robots and now make about a dozen types of electric arms for
    welding, painting and assembly.
      _______________________________________________________________

    _Kinetic Sciences_
    3250 East Mall
    Vancouver, BC, CANADA V6T 1W5
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    net: [32][e-mail]
    url:
    [33]http://www.asi.bc.ca/asi/affiliates/kinetic/KSI_home_pg.html
    Kinetic Sciences Inc. (KSI) provides technology innovation, research
    services and product development in the field of advanced robotics
    for operation in hazardous or menial environments. Our areas of
    expertise include: innovative robotic mechanisms (such as our
    Tentacle robot arm), computer vision (6 DOF position measurement and
    automatic inspection), advanced sensors, and autonomous control. For
    further information check out our web pages at: [34]KSI
      _______________________________________________________________

    _Komatsu_
    Construction Robotics Department
    contact: Shigeo Ohno
    fax: [phone] (japan)
    email: [e-mail]
    url: [35]http://www.japan.hosting.ibm.com:80/komatsu/index-e.htm
    (English)
    The LM15-1 mini crane is a compact and portable electrically powered
    manipulation system. The device can be transported in a van and can
    be easily moved up and down stairs by rubber crawler tracks or
    winched vertically. The LM15-1 can work in relatively small spaces
    of 4x10m in area. It is powered by 100VAC, and has wireless remote
    control. Load specifications are 150kg at 3m. The telescoping boom
    can reach to 4m. It can be stored in a compact size of about 1m^2
    and can be split into two even smaller pieces to ease storage and
    transport further.
    See the URL listed above for more details and pictures. Price:
    Y3,200,000 (between US$25-32K depending on the exchange rate)
      _______________________________________________________________

    _Kraft Telerobotics_
    11667 W. 90th Street
    Overland Park, KS 66214
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone] Nice telerobotic arms for underwater work.
      _______________________________________________________________

    _Labman Automation Ltd_
    Stokesley, North Yorkshire. TS9 5JY. UK
    net: tel:INT 44 642 710580
    url: [36]www.quay.co.uk/labman/
    [soon to be www.zebra.co.uk/labman/] Contact: Andrew Whitwell
    Tailoring mainly gantry based systems for laboratory applications.
    Designs include storage systems, multiple manipulators, special
    probes, modification of instruments and laboratory equipment. PC
    driven stepper drives, linear drives, dc motors, pneumatics, all
    sensors, RS232 links, LIMS communication. Systems include powder
    feeding, wet chemistry analysis, microtitre plate handling and many
    more.
      _______________________________________________________________

    _mecos Robotics AG_
    Technopark Zurich
    Pfingstweidstrasse 30
    CH-8005 Zurich
    Switzerland
    tel: + 41 1 445 11 35
    fax: + 41 1 445 11 34
    net: [e-mail]
    Contact: E. Nielsen Spin-off of the Institute of Robotics, ETH
    (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology). Modular and adaptive robot
    manipulators and robot vehicles (mobile robots). All mecos Robotics
    systems use a VME based computer as controller. The system comes
    with high level development tools, and are open systems. The
    manipulator's mechanical configuration can be changed at will
    (number and type of joints, length of links, etc.) Manipulators use
    linear aluminum extrusions with integral motions for joints. The
    controller accounts for configuration changes. With this principle
    of modularity and flexibilty hybrid force / position controllers
    have been realised on "mecos Robotics" arms. Price depending on
    configuration (50.000,- Swiss Franks and upwards). NTSC or PAL
    videos available for Sfr. 40 per tape.
      _______________________________________________________________

    _Mitsubishi_ Mitsubishi PA-10 portable robot.

   7 DOF, with continuous path control

   Supposedly *open* control architecture, using PC

   30 Kg arm, 25 Kg controller, 10 Kg payload


    [I have no other information on this, anyone?]
      _______________________________________________________________

    _Motoman [Hobart/Yaskawa]_
    Corporate Office:
    805 Liberty Lane,
    West Carrollton, OH, 45449.
    tel: [phone]

    Sales Office
    Dublin, OH
    tel: [phone] Large industrial manipulators for welding,
    painting, palletizing, dispensing, etc. Can be floor, ceiling or
    wall mount units. Payloads for the 8 robots in the K-series range
    from 3kg to 100kg and repeatability of 0.1 to 0.5 mm over that same
    range. They are vertical jointed-arm type manipulators. (i.e. 4 bar
    linkage to reduce arm intertias). 3 S-series robots are SCARA-type
    manipulators with payloads of 50-60kg and varying workspace sizes
    Yaskawa also has bought the rights to RobotWorld, Vic Schienman's
    unique gantry design robot system. This system allow a number of
    mobile modules in the same workspace to zip around at speeds up
    80"/sec (3G accel). RAIL and C can be used in a multilevel
    programming environment. 0.002" Accuracy, 0.0005" repeatability.
    Neat stuff.
      _______________________________________________________________

    _Oxford Intelligent Machines (OxIM)_
    12 Kings Meadow,
    Osney Mead Industrial Estate
    Oxford, OX2 0DP, UK
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    contact: Dr. Peter Davey Incorporated in 1990, OxIM provides a
    complete design service in the related fields of industrial sensors
    and automation. OxIM is manufacturing and developing robots and
    advanced industrial equipment. The MAP-IT vehicle is an open
    architecture research vehicle for indoor environments. The top
    surface, complete with an array of mounting holes, is available to
    the user for moutning experimental sensors and payload. Two direct
    drive motor-gearbox units provide locomotion. An extended 3U rack
    contains a controller card and power converter drive card. A third
    spare slot is provided. 400mm diam with payload surface 200mm above
    ground. Remote base station including power supply, dual RS232
    ports, Full ANSI source code, 2 spare axes of servo control, bumper
    system, 10kg payload, 65W power supply. Several options are also
    available including PC interface.
      _______________________________________________________________

    _Salisbury Robotics, Inc._
    20 Pemberton St.
    Cambridge, MA 02140
    tel: [phone]
    net: [e-mail] Sells the three-fingered Salisbury hand and
    force sensing fingertips. Contact: Ken Salisbury,
      _______________________________________________________________

    _Sands Technology International_
    US
    Sands Technology International Inc.
    825 Highway 33, Trenton NJ 08619
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    email: [37][e-mail]
    contact: David Sands or Annis Monforte
    UK/Europe
    Sands Technology Ltd.
    Orwell House, Cowley Road, Cambridge, UK
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    email: [38][e-mail]
    contact: David Sands or Cathy George
    Sands has been making robots since 1989. Sands make 3 robots, a low
    cost 5 axis bench top articulated arm, a bench top cylindrical
    format arm and a modular Cartesian arm which can be quite small or
    quite large depending on customer needs.
    All the robots are low cost, driven by stepping motors with
    sophisticated controls. Fairly fast, fairly accurate, very reliable.
    The controller is open, and uses an extension of FORTH we called
    ROBOFORTH which has over 400 commands (not counting building blocks)
    See [39]Sands Home Page for more details including drawings
    dimensions, speeds, payloads etc.
      _______________________________________________________________

    _Sarcos Research Corporation_
    390 Wakara Way,
    Salt Lake City, Utah 84108
    tel: [phone] Spinoff of University of Utah's Center for
    Engineering Design (CED). Teleoperated systems, manipulators.
    Audio-animatronic work as well. Beautiful force reflecting work and
    systems. High performance and small hydraulic valves and actuators.
    IP address: sarcos.com
      _______________________________________________________________

    _Schilling_
    1632 Da Vinci Court
    Davis, CA 95616
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone] Electro-mechanical engineering and manufacturing
    company specializing in telerobotics. Various remote manipulator and
    telerobotic manipulator systems.
      _______________________________________________________________

    _Seiko Instruments_
    Torrance, CA
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    url: [40]Seiko Instruments
    Seiko Instruments offers a complete line of industrial robots
    including SCARA, Cylindrical and Cartesian robots which are some of
    the fastest in the world. They also offer a point and click
    Microsoft Windows based Vision System which works with all our
    robots or as a stand alone system.
      _______________________________________________________________

    _Sony Corporation of America_
    Factory Automation Division
    542 Route 303
    Orangeburg, NY 10962
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone] Several SCARA type manipulators including a double
    armed manipulator. This model is used for the assembly of 8mm
    camcorders!
      _______________________________________________________________

    _Robotics Research Corp._
    P.O. Box 206
    Amelia, OH 45102
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone] RRC offers a variety of dexterous manipulators
    which can be operated individually or in dual-arm mode. Their second
    generation, denoted the "i-Series", is lighter and provides great
    dexterity. They are currently building "spaceflight-qualified"
    manipulators for NASA (GSFC) using this new generation of their
    product. They have also been doing some work developing sensor-based
    automatic obstacle detection and avoidance technology which uses a
    patented algorithm with arm-mounted sensors. They have also built
    two massively-redundant 17-DOF Anthropomorphic systems for Grumman
    and JPL to serve as testbeds for researching "man-equivalent" robots
    for space applications.
      _______________________________________________________________

    _Robotic Systems International (RSI), Ltd._
    9865 W. Saanick Rd.
    Sydney, BC V8L 3S1
    Canada
    tel: [phone]
      _______________________________________________________________

    _UMI Microbot _[no longer in business in the US]
    In the UK:

    Oxford Intelligent Machines, UK
    tel: [phone] Originally known as the Microbot teachmover. A
    small cable driven manipulator for desktop robotics. Excellent
    teaching tool. Original design by John Hill (now at SRI) Microbot
    was bought out by the British company UMI two years ago. In May,
    1991 they moved from Silicon Valley to Detroit, MI. As of Early
    1994, only the UK company was still in business.
      _______________________________________________________________

    _USA Robot_
    PO Box 4018
    Portland, ME 04101
    tel: [phone] Maxym production robots for business. Simple
    accurate 3D linear motions coupled with power tooling such as
    routers, air drills and sanders. Workspaces up to 60cmx147cmx15cm.
    IBMPC software for designing parts and production path but takes DXF
    files as input. Not a machine like the giant production turning and
    routing machines used by large furniture makers but is a nice small
    machine for small production shops. Prices range from $14.5K to
    $19.9K.
      _______________________________________________________________

    _Western Space and Marine_
    111 Santa Barbara St.
    Santa Barbara, CA 93101
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone] Telerobotic manipulators for space and undersea
    applications.
      _______________________________________________________________

    _Yamaha Robotics_
    PO Box 956
    Broomall, PA 19008-0956
    tel: 800 92-YAMAHA
    fax: [phone] Yamaha makes HXYA series of light cartesian
    robots. AC brushless motors can move payloads up to 50kg at 1.4m/s.
    Aluminum extruded frames that are lightweight, rigid and easy to
    mount. Work envelope sizes from 250mm x250mm to 2050mm x 1050mm.
      _______________________________________________________________

    _Zymark Corp_
    Zymark Center
    Hopkinton, MA 01748-1668
    tel: [phone] Robots for laboratory automation. Zymate Robots.
      _______________________________________________________________

    Other companies: (no addresses, yet)

   Furukawa

   Sumitomo

   Chubu

   Beckman Biomark

   HP ORCA

   Tecan


      _______________________________________________________________

[8.3] What other Organizations are working with robotics?


    This list is a small fraction of companies and other organizations
    that are actively working in robotics. One way to obtain more
    companies is to search through proceedings of conferences or find
    member companies of many of the organizations listed in previous FAQ
    sections. Industrial robotics is used widely throughout a number of
    companies. Most large aerospace companies have groups working in or
    looking into robotics. Lockheed Martin (Denver), Rockwell
    International (Downey, CA), Boeing (Seattle) to name a few.


  Educational Organizations (Not Universities)


      _______________________________________________________________

    _KISS Insitute for Practical Robotics (KIPR)_
    10719 Midsummer Drive
    Reston, VA 22091
    contact: Dave Miller
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    net: [41][e-mail]
    url: [42]http://www.ai.mit.edu/people/dmiller/kipr/kipr.html



    KISS Institute for Practical Robotics is a private non-profit
    educational corporation. As an organization dedicated to promoting
    education and utilization of practical integrated robotics, KISS
    Institute provides an umbrella for conducting joint research
    projects, dispersing information, and teaching courses involving
    members from many different home institutions.


    _Computers, Robotics and Artists Society of Houston [CRASH]_ See
    [43]CRASH

  Research Centers


      _______________________________________________________________

    _Advanced Robotics Research Centre_

    Salford, UK. The Advanced Robotics Research Ltd (incorporating the
    National Advanced Robotics Research Centre, UK) is a joint UK
    Government and UK Industries funded research organisation involved
    in the research of enabling technologies for the advanced robotics
    systems.
      _______________________________________________________________

    _Automation and Robotics Research Institute (ARRI)_

    7300 Jack Newell Blvd. South
    Ft. Worth, Texas 76118
    tel: [phone]
      _______________________________________________________________

    _Mechanical Engineering Lab (MEL)_

    Tsukuba City, Japan Kazuo Tanie: Robotics and cybernetics
      _______________________________________________________________

    _Electrotechnical Laboratory (ETL), AIST, MITI._

    1-1-4 Umezono, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305 Japan.

   General description:
          ETL is a govermental institute with about 630 staffs and annual
          budget of over 10 billion yen including personnel expenses,
          covering a broad area related to electronics, physics, material
          sciences, device technology, energy technology, standards and
          measurements technology, bio-electronics, information science,
          computer science, computer systems, artificial intelligence,
          and robotics. Gopher host: [44]gopher://etlport.etl.go.jp

   Robotics group:
          Intelligent Systems Division covers robotics and related areas.
          It consists of following sections; Intelligent Machine
          Behavior, Autonomous Systems, Computer Vision, Interactive
          Interface Systems, and Communicating Intelligence.

          The robotics group in the division foucuses on intelligent
          robots and system integration. Its current research topics
          include, but not limited to, Dextrous manipulation, Motion
          planning, Active vision, Multi-sensor fusion, Multi-fingered
          hands, Hand-eye systems, Mobile robot navigation,
          Multiple-robot cooperation, Intelligent teleoperation,
          Learning, and Architecture.

          The robotics group at ETL has continuously been at the frontier
          of intelligent robotics research.

   PostDoc positions:
          ETL accepts postdoctoral research fellows from all over the
          world. Mainly two support programs are available: STA
          fellowship and AIST fellowship. They require a doctoral degree,
          age no greater than 35, fluency in Japanese or English, etc.
          Typical research period is one year (2 yrs max.). The
          fellowship includes a basic allowance (270,000yen/month) plus
          family allowance (50,000yen/month), housing cost, and a round
          trip air ticket (1 person). The fellowships are highly
          competetive and have different application procedures depending
          on an applicant's nationality. Those who are interested should
          contact their local governmental agency for international
          research cooperation (such as NSF in USA). A more convenient
          way might be to catch a member of ETL staff at some conference
          and inquire about the fellowships.

   Graduate Summer Institute Program:
          ETL is a member of the graduate summer institute program. The
          robotics group hosts a couple of guest student researchers
          every summer. The Graduate Summer Institute program is based on
          Japan-USA contract on research cooperation in science and
          technology. It is open for graduate students in the USA who are
          majoring in science and technology fields.

          The aim of the program is to provide opportunities for the
          students to get acquainted with Japanese culture, science and
          techonology, and to promote future collaboration in research in
          science and techonology. Here is some data from last year's
          example.

        Period: 2 months (Late June -- Late August).

        Program (subj. to change): Japanese classes. Research at host
                institutes. Lectures, Meetings, Going to Kabuki, Kyoto
                tour, Official Receptions.

        Support: Return air ticket, domestic transportation,
                accomodation, japanese classes, tours.

        Contact: Japan Programs, Division of International Programs, NSF.


      _______________________________________________________________

    _Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Groforschungseinrichtungen (AGF)_
    (Association of National Research Centers)
    Wissenschaftszentrum
    Ahrstrae 45
    Postfach 20 14 48
    53144 Bonn
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone] [45]http://www.gmd.de/AGF-Anschriften.html
    These are sixteen research centers in Germany. One of the research
    centers is GMD and they do robotics. GMD is at
    [46]http://borneo.gmd.de/AS/janus/pages/janus.htm
      _______________________________________________________________

  National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)


    _NASA Headquarters_
    NASA Headquarters, Washington DC. Contact: Dave Lavery email:
    [e-mail], URL: [47]Dave Lavery Home Page


    The ongoing NASA robotics research program develops autonomous,
    semi-autonomous and teleoperated systems and technologies for
    applications in Earth orbit and on planetary surfaces. Technology
    efforts are focussed on local autonomy, dexterous manipulation,
    task-level command and control, and contending with extremely harsh
    environments.


    [48]NASA HQ Telerobotics Home Page
      _______________________________________________________________

    _NASA Ames Research Center_
    Moffet Field, CA.


    I, TROV and Ranger projects. [49]http://maas-neotek.arc.nasa.gov/
      _______________________________________________________________

    _NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)_
    Greenbelt, MD 20771
    Contact: Stephen Leake Since the cancellation of the Flight
    Telerobotic Servicer (FTS), the Robotics Lab has been concentrating
    on work in the area of automated space craft servicing. The goal is
    to replace or supplement Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) with
    teleoperated or semiautonomous robotic systems for external vehicle
    maintenance. Current project includes a robot to assist in second
    Hubble servicing mission.
      _______________________________________________________________

    _NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory_

    4800 Oak Grove Drive
    Pasadena, CA
    Contact: Chuck Weisbin, The JPL robotics efforts concentrate on
    development, integration and demonstration of A&R technologies, with
    a focus on plantary surface systems and autonomous mobile rovers.


    [50]NASA JPL Robotics Home Page
      _______________________________________________________________

    _NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC)_

    Houston, TX
    Contact: Charles Price More of an operations house but lots of
    shuttle RMS work. A number of robot projects including testing of
    space station manipulator systems happens at JSC.
    [51]http://tommy.jsc.nasa.gov
      _______________________________________________________________

    _NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC)_

    Robotics Group
    Contact: Bill Jones [52]http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/ksc.html
    Like JSC, KSC is an operations house with responsibility to keep
    shuttles flying and integrate payloads. There is a small but growing
    robotics group that is emplacing ground support robotics
    applications. Recent work includes filter inspector for launch pad
    payload areas, shuttle radiator inspector and a mobile system for
    thermal protection system tasks.
      _______________________________________________________________

    _NASA Langley Research Center, (LaRC)_

    Hampton, VA Contact: Jack Pennington - vision, inspection, 3-D
    sensors [53]http://www.arc.nasa.gov/
      _______________________________________________________________

  National Laboratories


    The US National Laboratories are large complexes with a number of
    robotics efforts. One current focus is the enormous and costly
    cleanup of the weapons complexes throughout the country.
    Remediation, removal and cleanup of hazardous materials will require
    hundreds of billions of $$$ and many years. Robotics will be a key
    in much of this.


    _Sandia National Laboratories_
    Albuquerque, NM Sandia is a DOE National Laboratory with a
    substantial program in robotics at its Intelligent Systems and
    Robotics Center. The Center has interests in manufacturing,
    hazardous material handling, site remediation, and research to
    support these applications. Consequently areas of focus include
    assembly planning, robotic interfaces, control theory, motion
    planning, sensor fusion, sensor development, mobile vehicles,
    telemanagement, mobile vehicles, and so on.


    At the time of writing (2/15/93) the center has nearly 100 full-time
    staff with degrees in computer science, mechanical engineering,
    mathematics, electrical engineering, as well as a few in other
    fields. The mix is about 30% PhD, 40%MS, and 30% BS. Recent hires
    have come from Cornell, Stanford, Berkeley, CMU, Illinois, Penn, ...


    The center operates over 20 fully equipted labs including robots
    from Puma, Adept, GCA, Cincinnati Millacron, and Schilling. The
    virtual reality lab includes stereoscopic viewers from Fake Space,
    audio, speech recognition and synthesis, and big boxes from SGI to
    drive the graphics. In addition to the normal complement of
    departmental computing we have use of other compute resources at
    Sandia including a 1000 node N-cube, a 1000+node Intel Paragon,
    several crays, a CM-200 (16K procs).


    Contacts: Randy Brost, Pat Xavier, Sharon Stansfield, Pang Chen,
    David Strip, Jim Novak, Ray Harrigan, Pat Eicker, Bob Anderson.


    _Oak Ridge National Laboratory_

    Center for Engineering Systems Advanced Research
    P. O Box 2008, MS-6364
    Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6364
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone] Contact: Dr. Lynne E. Parker, email:
    [e-mail]


    Research in mobile and manipulator robotics, including redundant and
    multiple manipulators, cooperating mobile robots, parallel vision
    systems, sensor fusion, laser range finder research, real-time
    quantitative reasoning and behavior based control, and machine
    learning. Current applications include robots for nuclear power
    stations, environmental restoration and waste management, material
    handling, and automated manufacturing.


    Researchers: James Baker, Marty Beckerman, Chuck Glover, William
    Grimmell, Judd Jones, Reinhold Mann, Ed Oblow, Lynne Parker,
    Nageswara Rao, David Reister, Phil Spelt, Michael Unseren.
      _______________________________________________________________

  US Department of Defense


    _Air Force's Robotics and Automation Center of Excellence (RACE)_



    Robotics and Automation Center of Excellence
    SA-ALC/TIEST
    450 Quentin Roosevelt Rd
    Bldg 183
    Kelly AFB
    San Antonio, TX 78241-6416
    url: [54]http://www.kelly-afb.org/links/orgs/race/race.htm
    net: [55][e-mail]
    contact: Steve Knauber [56][e-mail]

   The mission of the Robotics and Automation Center of Excellence (RACE)
   is to insert appropriate robotics and automation technologies into Air
   Force industrial processes. RACE accomplishes this mission by keeping
   abreast of current technology and recommending any technologies that
   may resolve present or future Air Force requirements. RACE is the link
   between industry, universities, the Department of Energy, NASA,
   technical societies, contractors and the Air Force.

   RACE is also responsible for providing organic technical expertise to
   the Air Force during integration of new robotics and automation system
   developments. RACE acts as a consultant throughout the entire
   acquisition process, providing technical evaluations from initial
   problem specification to implementation of proposed solution. RACE
   employee expertise, in-house test and evaluation facilities, and
   process studies are all used to support hardware transfer to the user.

   _[57]NRaD_ NRAD is the Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation
   Division of the Naval Command Control and Ocean Surveillance Center
   (NCCOSC), located in San Diego, California. NRaD and its predecessor
   organizations (Naval Ocean Systems Center (NOSC), Naval Undersea
   Center (NUC), etc.) have been involved in various aspects of robotics
   since the early 1960's.

   Robotics research and development at NRaD are currently performed by
   two groups:

   [58]The Advanced Systems Division (Code 37): land and air robots
   [59]The Ocean Engineering Division (Code 74): underwater robots
     _________________________________________________________________

  Companies

   _Redzone Robotics_



    2425 Liberty Avenue
    Pittsburgh, PA 15222-4639
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   contact: Dave White

   A spin-off of CMU, Redzone has focused on hazwaste and nuke
   manipulator applications but is also developing mobile applications.
   Primarily protoypes and not multiple unit manufacturing at this time.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Southwest Research Institute_



    San Antonio, TX

   Robotics and Automation Department
   Some large systems for servicing aircraft (painting, spraying,
   deriveting etc)
     _________________________________________________________________

[8.4] Small Inexpensive Robots

   One of the most common discussions on the net are related to finding,
   building and working on small and low cost robots. There are several
   small robots on the market and a number of construction kits that
   robots can be built from such as Lego, FischerTechnik, Erector and
   Capsula. None of these require large investments. These systems are at
   most several hundred $US and can run on a desktop. There are also a
   number of kit robots that include printed-circuit boards and
   components.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Advanced Design, Inc._



    6080 N. Oracle Road, Suite B
    Tucson, Arizona 85704
    USA
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    net: [e-mail]

   url: [60]Robix WWW Site

   ADI makes the Robix(tm) RCS-6 Robotic Construction Set, priced at
   US$550, or US$565 for 220V/50Hz and PAL video. The RCS-6 is designed
   specifically for use by educators and industrial modelers, and is used
   to build and operate a wide variety of PC connected desktop robots.
   Included are many construction parts, 6 hobby-type servos, an
   electronics interface with an 8-channel 8 bit A/D, power supply,
   software, manual, video, carrying case, and more, even including a
   pair of safety goggles.

   The 40-minute video that comes with the set is also available
   separately for just the airmail postage cost: US$3 to US locations, $4
   to Canada, $5 to Mexico and $8 to all other countries. Shown in the
   video are 5 different arms built for (and performing) 5 different
   tasks, a pair of 3-servo-each opposable fingers twiddling a ball, 3
   animatronic figures, and a 3-legged (but 6-footed) walker with both a
   walking and galloping stride. In addition, an arm is built
   step-by-step in the video, and then programmed interactively. The
   software includes a scripting interface as well as complete C and
   QuickBasic 4.5 libraries with documentation and sample code.

   For complete technical information, a faq section, text of a cover
   story about the RCS-6 in Popular Electronics Magazine, plus over 50
   image files (.gif's), a DOS PC .gif viewer, a useful section on what
   the set does *not* do, and more, download from the anonymous ftp site:
   [61]ftp://ftp.robix.com/pub/robix. See the readme.txt file there
   first.

   To get the video, order by phone or fax, or by email from
   [e-mail]. Visa and Mastercard are accepted.

     _________________________________________________________________

   _Aleph Technology_



    Parc Heliopolis
    16 rue du Tour de l'eau
    BP 295-38407
    Saint Martin d'Heres cedex, France
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   Small, turtle robot for education. 17000FF
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Angelus Research_



    6344 Sugar Pine Circle #98
    Angelus Oaks, CA
    tel: [phone].
    contact: Don Golding
    net: [62]http://www.AngelusResearch.com

   Angelus' line of robot products includes:


          Whiskers the Robot-A 13 pound rugged robot which is very
          intelligent and is very simple to program ($895).
          Advanced Whiskers-Two networked processors allow real-time
          collision avoidance and navagation ($1895).
          ARC-100 controller-Build your own intelligent robot($895) like
          Whiskers. Networkable. ARC-110 controller-Like above but has
          our narrow beam sonar onboard. Networkable.
          HiPower Board-Drive two 10 amp DC motors($195).
          MR-1-Series robot for the serious researcher or roboticist.
          Available March 1996. ($1995-$10,000).
          Heathkit Hero intelligent upgrade kit ($795) includes:


                1 ARC-110 controller
                1 HiPower Board
                4 6 inch Light sensor arrays

     _________________________________________________________________

   _Capsula_



    Play-Jour International
    Room 914, New World Office Building
    (East Wing), 24 Salisbury Rd
    Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong

   Capsula is a robot construction set. Looks like a series of bubbles
   connected together. Some intriguing modules including IR control,
   voice commands, motorized clutches etc. Edmund Scientific sells this
   as do many toy stores.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Circuit Specialists Inc_



    PO Box 3047
    Scottsdale, AZ 85271-3047
    tel: [phone]
    tel: [phone]

   Quickshut robot arm sold by Circuit Specialists for $259. Appears to
   be a nice low cost 5 axis arm for education. IBM (or compatible)
   interface, kit including all components and board, power supply kit,
   software package, logic probe and experiments and instructions. If
   anyone has information as to who actually makes this please send me
   email. CSI has a FAX back service at 1(800)622-5426. At the voice
   prompt, enter 3060 for more information on the arm. The software
   package supplied includes test routines and Robot control proceedures.
   The software is written in BASIC and Assembly languages.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _The Electronic Gold Mine_



    PO Box 5408
    Scottsdale, AZ 85261
    tel: [phone]

   Roamer Robot Kit. A simple, hardwired robot kit with all parts
   necessary to complete the kit. It sells for $39.95.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _FischerTechnik_
   [Germany]



    Fischerwerke
    Arthur Fischer GmbH & Co. KG
    Weinhalde 14-18
    D-72178 Waldachtal
    tel: germany 07443/12-487
    fax: germany 07443/12-591

   [USA]



    Model Technologies
    2420 Van Layden Way
    Modesto, CA 95356
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    url: [63]Fischertechnik

   [UK] Economatics Ltd



    Epic house, Darnell Road
    Attercliffe, Sheffield
    United Kingdom
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    telex: 5 47 095 ECOMAT G

   Like Lego, Fischertechnik is a european-developed construction kit but
   much more comprehensive in scope. Electro-mechanical parts galore
   including a wide variety of switches, relays, slip rings, contacts,
   etc. Many types of building block units as well and computer
   interfaces available. More expensive than Lego. Model Technology,
   listed above, is one distributor. See also the Robot Explorer in the
   publications section.

   Here is a listing of some of the kits that they build: Interface for
   Macintosh: "Service II" from Boenig and Kallenbach, sold by



    Pandasoft Uhlandstrasse 195 D-1000
    Berlin 12
    fax: [phone]

   For DM 498.- for Mac Plus or better. 8 digital in and outputs, 2
   analoguous inputs. With Hypercard Stack Computing Experimental and
   driver software for all Pascal versions, 4th Dimension and Ragtime
   (comparable to MSWorks). Works also with the FischerTechnik Robot and
   Plotter assembly kit, 80 pages manual in german?, 3 Diskettes.

   There are also computing kits containing interfaces for C64, PC and
   Apple II.

   Profi Computing by Fischer Technik:
          "High-end" kit, 3 motors, 6 switches, 4 lights, 2 fotocells, 20
          plugs patch bay, construction base-support plate, 12 models
          explained as there are a robot with a controlled hand, a
          plotter, a slot-machine, a credit-card reader and a CD-player
          (certainly without audio out), 888 parts in total: DM 376,
          needs the Service II interface.

   Training robot by Fischertechnik:
          3 rotation axes which may be controlled simultaneously. Working
          radius between 12 and 37 cm, fetching height: 6 to 25 cm,
          driven by 3 Fischer Technik S-motors, positioning with infrared
          photocell, with cabling and manual, needs the Service II
          interface, for DM 547.

   Plotter/Scanner by Fischertechnik:
          Scanning head not included, "heavy duty" construction,
          precision less than 0.5 mm on a A4 surface, driven by 2 bipolar
          stepper motors, needs the Service II interface. For DM 487.-

   Computing by Fischertechnik:
          10 models possible, all explained: antenna rotor, Plotter,
          Graphic Tablet, 2-axis robot etc., needs Service II and power
          supply for DM 298.-

   One source for Fischertechnik that was claimed to be the best,
   cheapest and fastest source is Tim King. He stocks a full line of all
   the kits as well as the individual components, including repair parts
   or service.



    Tim King Electronics
    14595 Oceana
    Allen Park, MI, 48101
    tel: [phone]

     _________________________________________________________________

   _Graymark International_



    Box 2015
    Tustin, CA 92681
    tel: [phone]

   Graymark sells a variety of electronic kits, like Heathkit used to,
   and some small robot kits that resemble the OWI kits. (see below)
   Currently they sell a small sound-controlled robot "Scooter" (601A), a
   line finder "blinky" (602A) , and a small programmable robot "Copycat"
   (603A) and computer interfaces for the Copycat (parallel, serial and
   microprocessor interface. Robots are from $19 to $57 and interfaces
   are $18-$41.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Johuco, Ltd._



    Box 390
    Vernon, CT 06066

   Muramator and Photovore. These are simple robot control boards that
   are hardwired but can be adjusted using potentiometers. They sell bare
   PCBs and you can get the parts from Radio Shack or DigiKey. The PCBs
   sell for about $25.00.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Khepera Support Team_



    LAMI - DI - EPFL
    INF Ecublens
    1015 Lusanne
    Switzerland
    tel: ++41 21 693.52.65
    fax: ++42 21 693.52.63
    net:
    contact: Franscesco Mondada

   Web site is at [64]http://lamiwww.epfl.ch/Khepera

   A VERY small mobile robot. Motorola 68331 Processor with 256K RAM and
   256 or 512K ROM. Serial port. Six 10bit analog inputs. DC motor
   powered with incremental encoders. Eight IR proximity and light
   sensors. NiCd batteries. Additional capabilities can be added by using
   stackable K-extension bus. Software environments: Calm assembler (PC
   or MAC), Gnu C compiler (on all machines supported by GNU) and LabView
   (PC, Mac or Sun).

     * Size: 55mm diameter, 30mm high
     * Weight: 70grams
     * Cost: 3000 Swiss Francs [About $2K US]
     * Vision and Gripper modules under development.

   See also:
   Mondada et al. Mobile Robot Miniaturisation: A Tool for Investigation
   in Control Algorithms. Third International Symposium on Experimental
   Robotics, Kyoto, Japan, Oct 28-30, 1993
     _________________________________________________________________

   _LEGO_



    Lego Dacta
    555 Taylor Road
    PO Box 1600
    Enfield, CT 06083-1600
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   Canadian office for Lego/Dacta: tel: [phone].

   LEGO Dacta is the educational branch of the LEGO company. Dacta sells
   the LEGO Technic product line. These are the geared and motorized
   versions for the LEGO system.

   Use anonymous ftp to obtain a list of a variety of lego information
   and application programs from:
   [65]ftp://earthsea.stanford.edu/pub/lego/


          CAD/ contains several languages for specifying models
          faq/ contains latest faq sheet for alt.toys.lego
          games/ Rules for games using lego people and pieces
          images/ Pictures and drawings of sets and instructions
          sets/ Database listings of lego sets and catalog numbers
          upload/ Place your files here!

   Lego kits recommended for robotics work include:
   1038 Technical Universal Buggy - dual drive vehicle. $60
   1032 Technic II w/ motorized transmission - $76
   9605 Technic Resource Set - general parts kits - $200
   Lego-to-Mac software:
       Paradigm Software at tel:[phone]
       Bots at tel: [phone]
   MIT has papers on LEGO projects available via FTP from:
       [66]ftp://kame.media.mit.edu/pub/el-memos. The files are in
       memo8.* "LEGO/LOGO: Learning Through and About Design"

     _________________________________________________________________

   _M & T Systems_



    POB 7816
    Huntington Beach CA 92615
    Contact M &T Systems at:
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    net: [e-mail]

   [Tom Thorton] The HexWalker(tm) walking robot kit is based on the
   Insectoid built by Gary Malolepsy of The Robotics Society of Southern
   California (RSSC), and chronicled in the February, March and April
   1994 issues of Robot Builder (the newsletter of RSSC). The Insectoid
   robot was given passing mention by Scott Edwards in the June 1994
   issue of Nuts and Volts (How Far Can a Stamp Take You?).

   RSSC Club Officers had discussed kitting the walking robot up for
   members for several months, but had taken no action. Finally, I built
   one for myself. It generated so much attention at meetings that I
   decided to kit it out. The HexWalker(tm) robot kit is the result.

   As supplied in the kit the Hexwalker(tm) robot detects the world by
   means of two feelers. Normal movement for HexWalker(tm) is to walk
   forward using the opposing triangle gait. When the robot detects an
   obstacle (when a feeler switch closes) it pauses, backs up several
   steps, turns left or right, and resumes forward walking. HexWalker(tm)
   turns left when the right feeler switch closes, or right when the left
   feeler switch closes.

   HexWalker(tm) is large enough to work on easily. It measures 8 1/2
   inches (22cm) long (plus feelers), 6 1/2 inches (16cm) wide, and 2 1/2
   inches (6cm) tall. It is strong, able to support its own weight (12
   ounces) plus about an 8 ounce payload.

   Modifying the basic robot is encouraged. Ideas for
   modification/improvement include: Substitute LED photodetectors for
   the feeler/snapswitch sensors. Add a second Stamp to HexWalker(tm)
   that performs sensor monitoring functions. Add additional sensors to
   HexWalker(tm).

     * Backup sensor to prevent walking into objects when walking
       backwards.
     * Down sensor to detect "cliffs" and prevent walking off edges.
     * Sonar for long range sensing."


          HexWalker(tm) sells for US $125.00.
          California residents add 7.75% sales tax.
          Shipping throughout North America is US $3.00.
          Shipping to all others is US $15.00.
          The kit without Basic Stamp (if you have your own controller)
          is US $100.00 plus s &h.
          The construction manual alone is US $10.00 plus US $1.00 s &h.

     _________________________________________________________________

   _Meccano/Erector_



    Headquarters:
    363, avenue de Saint-Exupery
    62104 CALAIS CEDEX - FRANCE
    Tel. [phone]
    Fax. [phone]
    In the US:
    888 Seventh Avenue
    New York, NY 10106

   Erector sets have been around for over 80 years and many interesting
   things can be built with these construction sets. There are several
   mechanical construction systems available. The best source of info
   I've seen is a list put together by Colin Hinz at
   [67]ftp://psych.toronto.edu/pub/meccano

   The German model train company, Maerklin makes a Meccano compatible
   construction set. They also have a 1007 Robotic Arm kit and
   programmable controller as well. ~$300 You may be able to order it
   through a local train and hobby shop.

     _________________________________________________________________

   _Mondotronics_



    524 San Anselmo Ave.,
    #107
    San Anselmo, CA 94960
    tel: [phone]
    800.374.5764 (orders)
    fax: [phone]
    800.455.9333 (orders)
    net: [e-mail]

   A wide variety of Nickel-Titanium Alloy products. Mondo can supply an
   email brochure as well as a Muscle Wire FAQ. Products include:

   Muscle Wire Project Book- New 3rd Edition. Presenting everything you
   need to successfully design, build, and operate devices with Muscle
   Wire - nickel-titanium filaments that actually contract when
   electrically powered and lift thousands of times their own weight.

   Topics include: Basic lever action, ratchets and latches, model
   railroad crossing, AC power circuit, solar power circuit, paper
   airplane launcher, life-like butterfly, rubber tube "flexi",
   proportional control, radio control interface, programmable multiple
   wire controller & serial port interface, PC parallel port interface
   and much more. Boris the six-legged motorless miniature walking
   machine.

   BORIS - A miniature motorless six-legged walking machine
          SPECIFICATIONS
          Length: 13.5 cm
          Height: 4.5 cm
          Weight: 30 grams
          Power & Drive:
          - Eight 100 um dia. Muscle Wires (50 centimeters total).
          - 6 volts, 500 milliamp max.
          - Full software control via PC parallel printer port.

   -

   MUSCLE WIRES PROJECT BOOK 3-133 $17.95

   MUSCLE WIRES PROJECT BOOK & DELUXE KIT
   Includes meter each of Flexinol 050, 100 and 150, plus crimps and
   instructions. Enough to build all the projects in the Project Book
   including Boris the motorless walking machine. An ideal starter
   package for engineers, students and experimenters of all ages.

   Project Book & Deluxe Kit 3-168 $59.95

   MUSCLE WIRES RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT PACKAGE
   A complete package designed for corporate and laboratory Research and
   Development work with shape memory alloys. Includes the following:
     * Muscle Wires Project Book
     * Five meters each of Flexinol 050, 100 and 150
     * One meter of Flexinol 250
     * Crimps & instructions

   Muscle Wires R & D Package 3-102 $249.00 A wide variety of NiTiNol
   lengths and diameters are also available. Send email to
   [e-mail].
     _________________________________________________________________

   _OWI (Movit robots)_



    1160 Mahalo Place
    Compton, CA 90220-5443
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   Many educational toy store, hobby stores, and electronic parts stores
   carry these kits. Also available from:


          Jayso Electrnics 800.426.4422 or 212.798.1050
          Pitsco 800.835.0686
          Edmund Scientific 609.573.6260 (See Robot Parts Section)
          Hobbico 800.637.7660

   These are small toy-like robots that reflexively respond to obstacles,
   sounds or light depending on the model. They're cute and show what can
   be done with a relatively small amount of hardware. The top of the
   line model is the Wao II which has two 'feelers' for bump sensors and
   can be programmed with an on board key-pad or via a host computer. It
   sells for $89.95. Most of the other robot kits sell for between $35
   and $55. The kits usually only require mechanical hardware assembly
   (no soldering required.) Edmund also has a Robotic Technology
   Curriculum with lessons and tests featuring the Movit robots.
   Curriculum is $65 from Edmund Scientific.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Reality Robots_



    Marvin Green,
    821 SW 14th, Troutdale, OR 97060
    tel: [phone]
    net: [e-mail]

   Starter Kits

   The B-BOT Frame:
          This is a complete robot frame with a 360 degree bumper skirt
          and clear head dome. The frame is six inches in diameter and
          uses two modified RC servos (not included). The B-BOT can be
          controlled by a small microcontroller, such as the BOTBoard,
          Mini Board, PIC or BASIC STAMP. The B-BOT Frame is expandable,
          flexible, and makes it easy to get your robot projects off the
          ground quickly.
          The B-BOT Frame and assembly manual is $29.95. The B-BOT jr.
          (smaller, with single level base) is $19.95. Please add $4.00
          shipping for first kit, $1.00 for each additional kit. Please
          make check or money order to Marvin Green at the above address.

   The BOTBoard:
          The BOTBoard is a bare printed circuit board designed for
          robotic applications. The BOTBoard uses the popular 68HC11
          microcontroller in a minimum configuration, and is easily
          programmed >from your PC. Engineered to be flexible, the
          BOTBoard is also powerful and easy to use. Each board measures
          2" X 3" and contains 38 I/O pins, and a small prototyping area.

          The BOTBoard is $5.95 each, or three for $15.00. Add $1.25 plus
          $.25 for each board for shipping.

   The ARMBOT:
          The ARMBOT is a flexible three axis robotic arm. It is designed
          to use small unmodified RC servos and a microcontroller. The
          ARM-BOT provides clockwise and counter clockwise rotation of
          greater than 180 degree, shoulder lift of greater than 45
          degree a gripper range of about two inches. The ARMBOT is
          surprisingly strong. It's fun to use, and can easily be build
          within a couple of hours.
          The ARMBOT kit and instruction manual is $12.95. Please add
          $2.00 shipping and handling.

   NOTE: These kits are designed to spark your intuitive engineering
   skills. Each kit comes with a detailed manual, assembly instructions,
   diagrams, parts list, and all the custom parts needed to build the
   kit. Common parts, such as RC servos or ICs are not included because
   they can be purchased elsewhere. Keep in mind that you may need to
   drill some holes or use a soldering iron.

   real_bot.zip contains three gif images of the ARMBOT and B-BOT.
   [68]ftp://cherupakha.media.mit.edu/pub/incoming/real_bot.zip
   Seattle Robotics Society BBS: [phone]

   I designed these kits to help inspire people to build robots. The kits
   are high quality and inexpensive. Please contact me for more
   information. [e-mail]
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Rug Warrior_



    A K Peters
    289 Linden Street
    Wellesley, MA 02181
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    net: [e-mail]
    url: [69]http://www.tiac.net/users/akpeters

   A companion kit for the book, Mobile Robots: Inspiration to
   Implementation. See [70]Books section of this FAQ. The Rug Warrior
   circuit board is designed to support the construction of small, yet
   sophisticated mobile robots. The board provides all the processing,
   memory, and sensor circuitry needed for a custom designed robot.
   $289.00. Does not include chassis, skirt and motors.

   Rug Warrior offers the following features: Motorola MC68HC11
   microcontroller, LCD display (32 alphanumeric characters), 32K of
   battery backed RAM, RS-232 serial port, Collision detection from any
   of 6 directions, Photoresistor light sensors, Infrared obstacle
   detection, Microphone for sound detection, Piezoelectric buzzer
   generates tones of arbitrary frequency, Motor driver chip allows
   control of two DC motors, Dual shaft encoders allow velocity/position
   control, Four user controllable LEDs, Optional pyroelectric (heat)
   sensor, Expansion capabilities for more sensors and actuators.

   The kit consists of a circuit board with the logic and interface
   components already soldered on and tested, plus all the sensors and
   other circuitry needed to build the robot board as described in our
   book "Mobile Robots: Inspiration to Implimentation."

   The kit includes Interactive C (IC) on a disk for either Mac or PC.
   Self test routines are also provided for each of the standard sensors
   and actuators. In the near future A. K. Peters plans to offer a
   complete robot kit including chassis, skirt, and motors.

   The "Mobile Robot Kit", Rug Warrior from AK Peters is now available in
   the "IBUKI Trading Post" on the WWW. The URL for the Trading Post is:
   [71]IBUKI The "Rug Warrior" can be found under "Toys toys from IBUKI"
   on the "Robots" page. More robot kits will be coming soon. If you want
   one listed please contact IBUKI. Questions or comments can be sent to
   IBUKI from the pages of the Trading Post or by sending email to
   [72][e-mail]
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Stiquito_
   The Stiquito is a small muscle-wire actuated robot developed by Jon
   Mills and his students at Indiana University.

   Stiquito is a small six-legged robot that you customize by adding
   sensors, controllers, power sources, etc. The robot provides an
   inexpensive platform to study computational sensors, subsumption
   architectures, neural gait control, emergent cooperative behavior, and
   machine vision. It is currently being used for research at IU, and, at
   a ratio of one robot per student, in "VLSI for Robotics" and "Machine
   Learning" classes.

   Stiquito is small (3cm H x 7cm W x 6cm L) and simple (32 parts)
   because its legs are propelled by nitinol actuator wires. Each leg has
   one degree of freedom. The robot walks up to 10 centimeters per minute
   and can carry a 9-volt cell, a MOSIS "tiny chip" and power transistors
   to drive the nitinol actuator wires. Alternatively, power and control
   can be supplied through a tether.

   After being innundated with requests for the unit, sales of the kits
   are now being handled by Robotic Systems. Robotic Systems offers a kit
   to build the Stiquto II walking robot The kit is $45 and includes a
   PCB for a PC-based controller (Mac version coming soon).



    [73]Robotic Systems, Inc.
    1102 West Glen River Road
    Glendale, Wisconsin 53217
    url: [74]http://www.robotic.com
    contact: Clint Laskowski, President
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]

   For more information including comprehensive technical reports on
   Stiquito, please see
   [75]http://www.cs.indiana.edu/robotics/stiquito.html

   See [76]ftp://www.cs.indiana.edu/pub/stiquito/STIQUITO.INFO for an
   overview of Stiquito and the files at Indiana.

   Technical report TR 414 - _Stiquito II and Tensipede: Two
   Easy-to-build Nitinol-propelled Robots_ is available in FINAL DRAFT
   via anonymous ftp from [77]ftp://cs.indiana.edu/pub/stiquito

   The report is archived as four .hqx (binhex encoded) .sea (stuffit
   lite self-extracting archive) Microsoft Word 4, 5 & 6, available on
   PCs. Macs should be able to read and print word 4 documents.

     _________________________________________________________________

   _TSS Lynxmotion_



    Technical Service and Solutions
    104 Partridge Road
    Pekin, IL 61554-1403
    contact: Jim Frye
    tel: [phone]
    net: [78][e-mail]
    url: [79]www.lynxmotion.com

   TSS is Home of the Lynxmotion Robotic Arm. It uses Scott Edwards Mini
   SSC Controller.
     * 5 axis (base rotate, shoulder, elbow, wrist and gripper)
     * All axis' are closed loop.
     * Can be completely battery powered by a 9V and 6V battery.
     * Extremely easy to program and control with any serial port.
     * Can utilize a PC, single board computer, PIC or even BASIC Stamp.
     * Very fast, accurate and repeatable movement.
     * Available in three different configurations.


          _Basic kit_
          Includes all hardware, structural components, a 27 page
          detailed assembly manual with illustrations, and software. You
          will need to provide the servos and a Mini SSC servo
          controller.
          Basic kit $60, additional $10 for software.
          _Level 2 kit_
          Includes all hardware, structural components, assembly manual,
          software, 6 servos and a Mini SSC servo controller.
          Level 2 kit $180
          _Level 3 kit_
          Completely assembled and tested robot ready to move.
          $255 with software included

   Please note that there are additional shipping charges. See TSS' home
   page or contact TSS for more details.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Tomy Armatron_

   The Armatron was sold by Radio Shack in the US and was a popular small
   plastic manipulator. A mobile version, the Mobile Armatron was also
   sold. A number of articles appeared in the hobbyist press regarding
   linking the Armatrons to computers. The Armatron is a clever, maybe
   even brilliant, mechanical engineering feat that uses a single motor
   to control all 6 degrees of motion AND the timer. The mobile version
   is still being sold in Japan and is called the "GO ROBO ARM" You might
   be able to pick one up at a flea market or garage sale. They have
   shown up again in the Fall of 1994 in Radio Shack stores. Buy it -
   they are neat, very clever, inexpensive and fun.

   Articles:
     * Computer Controlled Robot Arm, Jimmy Banas, Radio Electronics, pp.
       49-53, and 117, May 1985. The control requires the addition of 6
       DC motors, and machining of 'bearing blocks' to hold gears and
       align shafts.
     * Armatron: A Study in Arm Engineering, Mark Robillard, Robotics
       Age, Nov/Dec 1982, Vol. 4 No. 6, pp.40-46 (cover photo too)
     * Super Armatron, John J. Shiavone, Mike Dawson, and James E.
       Brandeberry, Robotics Age, Jan 1984, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 20-28.

   Myron A. Calhoun provided the following information on the Mobile
   Armatron:

   The four batteries are wired in series; the center is reference, so
   there is +/- 2.5 volts to control the motor. Between the main body
   (which holds the battery) and the control head is a color-coded
   seven-wire flat cable. The BLACK wire is one side of reference; the
   BROWN wire is the other side of reference, and the reference wire
   color is WHITE. In the control head are two rheostats (ganged) to
   control motor speeds by controlling applied voltage.


Wire
color  |  Controls    |   Details
-------+--------------+----------------------------------------------------
 BLUE  | main    UP   | BROWN  (~250 ma.)
       | arm    DOWN  | BLACK  (~200 ma.)
       |              | This motor has a spring counterbalance to assist
       |              | "up" motion.  I did not disassemble the main arm,
       |              | but suspect there is quite a lot of gearing inside.
       |              |
ORANGE | wrist   UP   | BROWN  (~200 ma.)
       |        DOWN  | BLACK  (~200 ma.)
       |              | I did disassemble this arm, and there are SEVERAL
       |              | layers of geardown involved.
       |              |
 RED   | finger CYCLE | BLACK  (~200 ma. when open, ~235 ma. closed)
       |              | The open/close cycle is caused by a cam.
       |              |
       | wrist ROTATE | BROWN  (~225-255 ma.)
       |              | A ratchet mechanism permits finger-cycling versus
       |              | wrist-rotation using just one motor.  When the
       |              | motor turns one way a ratchet locks wrist turning
       |              | but allows finger cycling, and vice versa.
       |              |
YELLOW | left  FORWARD| BROWN (~350 ma. when driven by itself)
       | drive REVERSE| BLACK (~350 ma. when driven by itself)
       | wheel        |
       |              |
GREEN  | right FORWARD| BROWN (~350 ma. when driven by itself)
       | drive REVERSE| BLACK (~350 ma. when driven by itself)
       | wheel        | When both wheels are driven in the same direction,
       |              | the total current draw is ~475 ma.  Internally, both
       |              | drive motors are actually in one unit; I suspect
       |              | there is some clutch interlock between them.

   I disassembled most of the body/forearm/wrist (but NOT the main arm)
   just for fun. Inside the main turret is a pedestal upon which is
   mounted a small PC card which terminates all wiring. Coming up from
   below are all seven wires from the flat cable plus several (thinner)
   wires from the battery compartment and the motors. They connect to the
   PC card IN THIS ORDER from left to right when viewing from the rear:

   BLACK BROWN RED ORANGE YELLOW GREEN BLUE WHITE (common)

   Going up into the arm mechanisms are three wires, RED/WHITE, ORANGE/
   WHITE, and BLUE/WHITE, and associated with each is a white wire. In
   general, the wiring is color-consistent; the RED-with-WHITE-stripe
   wire connects to the RED terminal, the BLUE-with-WHITE-strip wire to
   the BLUE terminal, all of the WHITE wires to the WHITE (common)
   terminal, etc. But inside the base unit an ORANGE wire connected to
   one end of the battery (opposite the BLACK wire connected to the other
   end of the battery). I did NOT see a BROWN wire here as would be
   expected. Myron.
     _________________________________________________________________

   _Ublige Software and Robotics Corporation_



    P.O. Box 18034
    Huntsville, AL, 35804-8034
    net: [80][e-mail]
    url: [81]http://www.traveller.com/~insecta/
    tel: [phone]
    contact: Luis Lopez

   Kits and pre-assembled robot walkers (insects). USR produces
   Electro-Optic components and software tools for compound eye robotics.
   The catalog lists a low-cost walking system kit called Prometheus and
   Sparticus on the order of $1500 (US). A number of control and I/O
   modules are also available (eg. RS232 interface, data acquisition,
   motor control module, motor driver etc.) Leg units are also sold
   separately.

   For USR's catalog, which includes a Video for Windows demo of their
   robots in action and a selection of research articles, please send
   check or money orderfor $3US within the United States or $7US for
   outside the United States the address above.

     _________________________________________________________________

   _Zagros Robotics_



    PO Box 460342
    St. Louis, MO 63146-7342
    tel: [phone]
    net: [82][e-mail]
    contact: Atha Jamar Neal III

   Zagros sells two robot kits. All you need to add is a CPU, and you
   have a fully functional robot. Zagros offers their own HC11 based
   processor board with 'C' compiler. The Mini Max has a maximum speed of
   about 22.5 meters/minute. Each drive motor generates 1.1 Nm of torque.
   The platform is 30cmx30cm 6mm thick industrial plastic. Zagros accepts
   check, money order, COD, Discover, Visa and Mastercard.

   Mini Max Robot Kit $129.95 (plus $15.00 shipping) This kit includes
   the following:

     * (2) 12 volt DC drive motors
     * (2) 15cm drive wheels
     * (1) caster wheel
     * (1) base plane 30cm x 30cm
     * (1) battery power supply
     * (1) motor driver kit
     * (1) book of project notes
     * (1) solderless breadboard

   MAX '96 ROBOT KIT $189.95 (plus $15.00 shipping)
     * (2) 12 volt DC drive motors
     * (2) 15cm drive wheels
     * (2) caster wheels
     * (1) base plane 41cmx41cm
     * (1) battery power supply
     * (1) motor driver kit
     * (2) pulse encoders
     * (1) book of project notes
     * (1) solderless breadboard

     _________________________________________________________________

   *

[8.5] Entertainment Robots

   While not quite in the mainstream of robotics research, there are a
   number of companies catering to mainstream venues using animated
   figures that are remotely controlled. These are often used to
   entertain people in restaurants, at shows and conferences,promotional
   events and at a variety of other types of gatherings.

   _The Robot Factory_



    3740 Interpark Drive
    Colorado Springs, CO 80907
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    net: [83][e-mail]
    url: [84]http://www.robotfactory.com/

   Robots for advertising, education and entertainment since 1966. The
   major product categories available from The Robot Factory include
   Talking signs, mobile robots, animated Musicians and customized
   robots.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Last-Modified: Mon Sep 9 09:49:48 1996


    [85]Kevin Dowling <[e-mail]>

References

   1. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/copyright.html
   2. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/TOC.html
   3. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/8.html#8.1
   4. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/8.html#8.1.1
   5. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/8.html#8.1.2
   6. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/8.html#8.2
   7. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/8.html#8.3
   8. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/8.html#8.4
   9. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/8.html#8.5
  10. http://www.robotics.com/
  11. mailto:[e-mail]
  12. http://www.infi.net/~cyberdog/
  13. url: www.helpmaterobotics.com
  14. http://isr.com/~isr
  15. http://isr.com/~isr
  16. mailto:[e-mail]
  17. http://www.rwii.com/
  18. http://www.activmedia.com/RealWorld/RobotHome.html
  19. http://www.newtonlabs.com/"
  20. http://www.tag.co.uk/robots/
  21. http://www.munc.com/
  22. http://www.sover.net/~rovtech
  23. mailto:[e-mail]
  24. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/http;//www.adept.com/
  25. mailto:[e-mail]
  26. http://www.pi.net/~eshedbv/
  27. http://www.eshed.com/
  28. http://www.pi.net/~eshedbv/dealer.html
  29. http://www.ise.bc.ca/
  30. mailto:[e-mail]
  31. http://www.ar2.com/kawasak.htm
  32. mailto:[e-mail]
  33. http://www.asi.bc.ca/asi/affiliates/kinetic/KSI_home_pg.html
  34. http://www.asi.bc.ca/asi/affiliates/kinetic/KSI_home_pg.html
  35. http://www.japan.hosting.ibm.com/komatsu/index-e.htm
  36. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/www.quay.co.uk/labman/
  37. mailto:[e-mail]
  38. mailto:[e-mail]
  39. http://ds.dial.pipex.com/robotics1/
  40. http://www.seikorobots.com/
  41. mailto:[e-mail]
  42. http://www.ai.mit.edu/people/dmiller/kipr/kipr.html
  43. http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/~nivek/faq/3.html#3.3
  44. gopher://etlport.etl.go.jp/
  45. http://www.gmd.de/AGF-Anschriften.html
  46. http://borneo.gmd.de/AS/janus/pages/janus.htm
  47. http://ranier.oact.hq.nasa.gov/staff/Lavery.html
  48. http://ranier.oact.hq.nasa.gov/telerobotics_page/telerobotics.html
  49. http://maas-neotek.arc.nasa.gov/
  50. http://robotics.jpl.nasa.gov/../robotics.html
  51. http://tommy.jsc.nasa.gov/
  52. http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/ksc.html
  53. http://www.arc.nasa.gov/
  54. http://www.kelly-afb.org/links/orgs/race/race.htm
  55. mailto:[e-mail]
  56. mailto:[e-mail]
  57. http://www.nosc.mil/robots/
  58. http://www.nosc.mil/robots/people.html#Code37
  59. http://www.nosc.mil/robots/people.html#Code74
  60. http://www.robix.com/
  61. ftp://ftp.robix.com/pub/robix
  62. http://www.AngelusResearch.com/
  63. http://www.phoenix.org/fischer/index.shtml
  64.  http://lamiwww.epfl.ch/Khepera
  65.  ftp://earthsea.stanford.edu/pub/lego/
  66. ftp://kame.media.mit.edu/pub/el-memos
  67. ftp://psych.toronto.edu/pub/meccano
  68. ftp://cherupakha.media.mit.edu/pub/incoming/real_bot.zip
  69. http://www.tiac.net/users/akpeters
  70. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/4.html#4.2.1
  71. http://www.portal.com/~rww/trading_post.html
  72. mailto: [e-mail]
  73. http://www.robotic.com/
  74. http://www.robotic.com/
  75. http://www.cs.indiana.edu/robotics/stiquito.html
  76. ftp://www.cs.indiana.edu/pub/stiquito/STIQUITO.INFO
  77.  ftp://cs.indiana.edu/pub/stiquito
  78. mailto:[e-mail]
  79. http://www.lynxmotion.com/
  80. mailto:[e-mail]
     _________________________________________________________________

                       [9] What is a Robot Architecture?

   A robot 'architecture' primarily refers to the software and hardware
   framework for controlling the robot. A VME board running C code to
   turn motors doesn't really constitute an architecture by itself. The
   development of code modules and the communication between them begins
   to define the architecture.

   Robotic systems are complex and tend to be difficult to develop. They
   integrate multiple sensors with effectors, have many degrees of
   freedom and must reconcile hard real-time systems with systems which
   cannot meet real-time deadlines [Jones93]. System developers have
   typically relied upon robotic architectures to guide the construction
   of robotic devices and for providing computational services (e.g.,
   communications, processing, etc.) to subsystems and components. These
   architectures, however, have tended thus far to be task and domain
   specific and have lacked suitability to a broad range of applications.
   For example, an architecture well suited for direct teleoperation
   tends not to be amenable for supervisory control or for autonomous
   use.

   One recent trend in robotic architectures has been a focus on
   behavior-based or reactive systems. Behavior based refers to the fact
   that these systems exhibit various behaviors, some of which are
   emergent [Man92]. These systems are characterized by tight coupling
   between sensors and actuators, minimal computation, and a
   task-achieving "behavior" problem decomposition.

   The other leading architectural trend is typified by a mixture of
   asynchronous and synchronous control and data flow. Asychronous
   processes are characterized as loosely coupled and event-driven
   without strict execution deadlines. Synchronous processes, in
   contrast, are tightly coupled, utilize a common clock and demand hard
   real-time execution.

     _________________________________________________________________

  Subsumption/reactive references

   Arkin, R.C., _Integrating Behavioral, Perceptual, and World Knowledge
   in Reactive Navigation_, Robotics & Autonomous Systems, 1990

   Brooks, R.A., _A Robust Layered Control System for a Mobile Robot_,
   IEEE Journal of Robotics and Automation, March 1986.

   Brooks, R.A., _A Robot that Walks; Emergent Behaviors from a Carefully
   Evolved Network_, Neural Comutation 1(2) (Summer 1989)

   Brooks, Rod, _AI Memo 864: A Robust Layered Control System For a
   Mobile Robot_. Look in [3]ftp://publications.ai.mit.edu/

   Brooks, Rod, _AI Memo 1227: The Behavior Language: User's Guide_. look
   in [4]ftp://publications.ai.mit.edu/

   Connell, J.H., _A Colony Architecture for an Artificial Creature_, MIT
   Ph. D. Thesis in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1989.

   Erann Gat, et al, _Behavior Control for Robotic Exploration of
   Planetary Surfaces_ To be published in IEEE R &A. FTPable.
   [5]ftp://robotics.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/gat/bc4pe.rtf
     _________________________________________________________________

  Insect-based control schemes

   Randall D. Beer, Roy E. Ritzmann, and Thomas McKenna, editors,
   _Biological Neural Networks in Invertebrate Neuroethology and
   Robotics_, Academic Press, 1993.

   Hillel J. Chiel, et al, _Robustness of a Distributed Neural Network
   Controller for Locomotion in a Hexapod Robot,_ IEEE Transactions on
   Robotics and Automation, 8(3):293-303, June, 1992.

   Joseph Ayers and Jill Crisman, _Biologically-Based Control of
   Omnidirectional Leg Coordination,_ Proceedings of the 1992 IEEE/RSJ
   International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, pp.
   574-581.

     _________________________________________________________________

  Asynchronous/synchronous

   (i.e., "traditional", "top-down", etc.)

   Amidi, O., _Integrated Mobile Robot Control_, CMU-RI-TR-90-17,
   Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, 1990.

   Albus, J.S., McCain, H.G., and Lumia, R., _NASA/NBS Standard Reference
   Model for Telerobot Control System Architecture (NASREM)_ NIST
   Technical Note 1235, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, July 1987.

   Butler, P.L., and Jones, J.P., _A Modular Control Architecture for
   Real-Time Synchronous and Asynchronous Systems_, Proceedings of SPIE

   Fong, T.W., _A Computational Architecture for Semi-autonomous Robotic
   Vehicles_, AIAA Computing in Aerospace conference, AIAA 93-4508, 1993.

   Lin, L., Simmons, R., and Fedor, C., _Experience with a Task Control
   Architecture for Mobile Robots_, CMU-RI-TR 89-29, Robotics Institute,
   Carnegie Mellon University, December 1989.

   Schneider, S.A., Ullman, M.A., and Chen, V.W., _ControlShell: A
   Real-time Software Framework_, Real-Time Innovations, Inc., Sunnyvale,
   CA 1992.

   Stewart, D.B., _Real-Time Software Design and Analysis of
   Reconfigurable Multi-Sensor Based Systems_, Ph.D. Dissertation, 1994
   Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon
   University, Pittsburgh. Available online at [6]STEWART_PHD_1994.ps.Z
   It's 180+ pages.

   Stewart, D.B., M. W. Gertz, and P. K. Khosla, _Software Assembly for
   Real-Time Applications Based on a Distributed Shared Memory Model_, in
   Proc. of the 1994 Complex Systems Engineering Synthesis and Assessment
   Technology Workshop (CSESAW '94), Silver Spring, MD, pp. 217-224, July
   1994.

     _________________________________________________________________

   Last-Modified: Sun Aug 11 08:50:22 1996


    [7]Kevin Dowling <[e-mail]>

References

   1. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/copyright.html
   2. file://localhost/usr/nivek/faq/HTML/TOC.html
--
aka: Kevin Dowling, <[e-mail]>     address:  Carnegie Mellon University
tel: [phone]                                The Robotics Institute
fax: [phone]                                5000 Forbes Avenue
url: http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/~nivek              Pittsburgh, PA 15213 USA
--
aka: Kevin Dowling, <[e-mail]>     address:  Carnegie Mellon University
tel: [phone]                                The Robotics Institute
fax: [phone]                                5000 Forbes Avenue
url: http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/~nivek              Pittsburgh, PA 15213 USA