From crabapple.srv.cs.cmu.edu!bb3.andrew.cmu.edu!news.sei.cmu.edu!magnesium.club.cc.cmu.edu!news.mic.ucla.edu!library.ucla.edu!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!noc.near.net!ceylon!bunny!sdw0 Wed Aug 4 13:00:17 EDT 1993 Article: 6470 of comp.robotics Xref: crabapple.srv.cs.cmu.edu comp.robotics:6470 Path: crabapple.srv.cs.cmu.edu!bb3.andrew.cmu.edu!news.sei.cmu.edu!magnesium.club.cc.cmu.edu!news.mic.ucla.edu!library.ucla.edu!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!noc.near.net!ceylon!bunny!sdw0 From: sdw0@gte.com (Steven Whitehead) Newsgroups: comp.robotics Subject: Preliminary CFP: 1994 AAAI Spring Symposium Message-ID: <19013@bunny.GTE.COM> Date: 28 Jul 93 20:31:17 GMT Reply-To: sdw0@bunny.GTE.COM (Steven Whitehead) Organization: GTE Laboratories, Waltham, MA Lines: 138 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------- ---------- ---------- PRELIMINARY ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- CALL FOR PARTICIPATION ---------- ---------- ---------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- "Toward Physical Interaction and Manipulation" ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- AAAI SPRING SYMPOSIUM SERIES ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- STANFORD CALIFORNIA ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- MARCH 21-23, 1994 ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We are delighted to invite contributions for the 1994 AAAI Spring symposium: "Toward physical interaction and manipulation" to be held on the campus of Stanford University on March 21-23, 1994. SYMPOSIUM DESCRIPTION: The range and scope of practical robotics applications depends critically on the ability of robots to physically interact with their environments. Current applications are highly specialized, and typically they involve carefully controlled, well understood workspaces with little or no sensory feedback. Construction costs and inflexibility limit the economic viability of these systems. The general manipulation skills of humans and other animals contrasts starkly with the current capabilities of robots. From threading a needle, to opening a door, to catching a ball, to moving a sofa, we engage our environments in myriad ways. Unlike most current robots, we rely upon rich sources of sensory feedback to cope with uncertainties in our varied world. The purpose of this workshop is to draw together researchers from a range of disciplines to study the principles of physical interaction and manipulation. The goal is to consider theories, paradigms, and ontologies for both natural and artificial systems, and to develop generally useful concepts, architectures, and algorithms for building and describing them. The approach is to select in advance a set of tasks that range in difficulty and span a number of research issues. Each prospective participant is to develop conceptual designs for one or more of these tasks prior to the workshop. It is acceptable for designs to be speculative, as we encourage creative solutions. However, the aim is to examine tasks in detail and sketch complete systems. At the workshop, selected designs will be presented, discussed, and compared in an attempt to reach a more general understanding. By analyzing a range of tasks, we aim to broaden our perspective, identifying common themes and useful design principles. The rationale for this format is that participants will be well prepared for the discussions by thinking in detail about some of these tasks in advance. The list of candidate tasks follows: - make a cup of coffee - fry and serve an egg - prepare buttered toast - play catch - insert and play a video tape - vacuum/mop the floor or mow the lawn - dig a hole/trench - (un)lock a door with a key - open, pass through, and close a door - feed someone using a fork, knife, spoon, cup, etc. - retrieve a screwdriver from the toolbox in the garage. - fold clothes - move large objects (boxes, chairs, furniture) These activities involve a range of skills and will most likely require a range of mechanisms. They can be characterized by their requirements for: - real-time dynamics - ballistic vs. servo control - timed control - position/orientation/velocity/force control - tool usage & action at a distance - multiple temporal phases - sensor modalities (e.g., visual, haptic) - compliance - constraints on the workspace/environment Participants should attempt to characterize their tasks and designs according to these (and other) features to facilitate comparison. SUBMISSION & PREPARATION: Potential participants should submit a short description of their background and research interests along with designs and analyses for individual tasks. To improve the depth and quality of the designs, participants are encouraged to work in teams, especially in collaborations that combine complementary expertise. Of course, demonstrations of working systems, including simulations and videos, are encouraged. Send submissions to either: Steven Whitehead GTE Laboratories Incorporated swhitehead@gte.com 40 Sylvan Rd. phone: (617) 466-2193 Waltham, MA 02254 FAX: (617) 890-9320 or David Coombs Natl Inst of Stds and Tech (NIST) coombs@cme.nist.gov Robot Systems Division Building 220, Room B-124 phone: (301) 975-2865 Gaithersburg, MD 20899 USA FAX: (301) 990-9688 ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: Emilio Bizzi, MIT; Jon Connell, IBM Watson; David Coombs, NIST, co-chair, (coombs@cme.nist.gov); Ken Goldberg, USC; Rod Grupen, UMass; Stan Rosenschein, Teleos Research; Steven Whitehead, GTE Labs, co-chair, (swhitehead@gte.com); IMPORTANT DATES: Submissions due: October 15, 1993 Notification of acceptance: November 15, 1993 Final registration deadline: March 1, 1994 Spring symposium: March 21-23, 1994 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------- ------------------------ -------- --