[Pl-seminar] Robot talk at Wellesley 10/9/2003

[Mitchell Wand]

At Lyn Turbak's request, I am posting the following announcement:

Robots: Out of the Labs and Into the Field

Lecture Presented by

Colonel Bruce D. Jette, PhD

Thursday October 9, 2003
4:15-5:15pm
Wellesley College Science Center Room 377
Refreshments at 4pm

Sponsored by the Wellesley College
Computer Science and Physics Departments

Previously, mobile robots were used as laboratory tools and limited
applications in warehouses and other fairly benign
environments. Col. Bruce Jette, Director of the Rapid Equipping Force
for the U.S. Army, will discuss the application of small, lightweight
mobile robots used initially in search and rescue, and then deployed
in combat for the first time in Afghanistan and subsequently in
Iraq. The robots were used as scouts to maneuver over and around
obstacles and to examine caves and other areas at a safe distance to
protect soldiers or rescue teams. With names like "Hermes",
"Professor", "Thing", and "Fester", the robots are one foot tall,
three feet long and weigh approximately 40 pounds. They ride on tracks
like a small tank and can climb stairs, search caves, sense chemicals,
detect mines, and send back video to the human operating the
robot. The robots, small enough to be carried by backpack, are called
"packbots." They are battery powered and operated by computer via a
wireless local network with a portable console and joystick type
device. A Global Positioning System is on board in order for the
robots to be able to see themselves and others on a map in order to
produce efficient searching.

Col. Jette holds a PhD from MIT in the Department of Material Science
& Engineering. He will discuss his research and rapid mobilization of
robots out of the lab and into practical reconnaissance missions. Col
Jette will present video and images of the environs and the robots in
actual use. Issues raised by these early applications will be
considered such as the ability of even technologically immature
societies to adjust to technology insertions, maturity level and
design implications in currently available robots, and difficulties in
directing the robots without constant attention by the
operator. Methods of overcoming the cultural barrier to insertion of
new and unfamiliar technologies in a "work" environment will also be
discussed. The presenter will draw on personal experience and provide
an opportunity for discussion.

For directions and maps to the Wellesley College Science Center, visit
http://www.wellesley.edu/Welcome/welcome.html.

Questions? Contact Pattie Orr (porr at wellesley.edu, 781-283-3353) 

[See http://cs.wellesley.edu/~cs/talks/jette/ for nifty pictures --Mitch]