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RIM@GT acted as one of the organizing entities for the 15th International Symposium on Robotics Research (ISRR). The 15th ISRR brought together active leading robotics researchers from academia, government, and industry to assess and share their views and ideas about the state of the art of robotics, and to discuss promising new avenues for future research. The meeting was organized as a single track meeting, and contributions were solicited that covered all aspects of robotics research.

Over the last three years more than 160 people have collaborated on the formulation of a national technology roadmap for robotics. The roadmap considers key business drivers for the future of robotics, identifies some of the key missing competencies and outlines research issues to be addressed with expected milestones 5, 10 and 15 years from now. The roadmap is organized across the areas of manufacturing & logistics, medical & healthcare, and service applications.

UPI - August 11, 2011. Smart, mobile robots could safely guide people from a burning building or alert emergency personnel to injured or trapped people, U.S. researchers say. Georgia Institute of Technology electrical engineers Ayanna Howard and Paul Robinette say they envision "smart" roving exit signs that could lead people through blinding smoke to exits and even return inside to seek out stragglers, NewScientist.com reported Thursday. Static signs indicate exit locations but can't warn people when an exit is blocked or unsafe, the researchers said.

Georgia Tech researchers have created a glove that heightens one sense of touch. Preliminary results presented in May, at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, showed that the glove can improve the wearer’s motor skills and tactile sensitivity. Fundamentally, the glove works by applying high frequency vibrations to the finger tips of the wearer.

New Scientist - August 3, 2011. What should you do when alarms are ringing, the building is rapidly filling with smoke and the crackle of fire is just round the corner? Follow the robot, say Ayanna Howard and Paul Robinette, researchers at the Center for Robotics and Intelligent Machines at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, who want to create smart roving exit signs. . . .Howard and Robinette say the robots should be at least as tall as a human, so that they can be seen in a crowd, and styled after familiar exit signs with lights and arrows to guide the way.

The dates for the 2011 Fall RIM Seminar series have been scheduled for every other Wednesday, starting on August 24th and will be held in the Marcus Nanotech Building, Rooms 116-118. Please save the dates below on your calendar. Check the rim-seminar mailing list and seminar postings for up to date room info.

A recent article by Lora Weiss, a RIM@GT faculty member, highlights the growth of robotics in warfare roles. The article presents an overview of current goals and the roles that present systems are filling. Autonomous Robots in the Fog of War can be found in IEEE Spectrum linked to here.

ECN Magazine - July 27, 2011. Since his stroke 10 years ago, Henry Evans has been unable to scratch an itch or shave his own face. But now, even though he is mute and quadriplegic, he can scratch himself and shave his cheek with the aid of a Personal Robot 2 (PR2) in a laboratory setting. The successes come out of a new project called Robots for Humanity, a collaboration of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Willow Garage and Henry and Jane Evans of Palo Alto, Calif. The initial steps show great potential for the role of personal robots in assisting individuals with disabilities.

On June 24, 2011 President Obama announced the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership. The program aims to combine industry, universities, and federal departments in efforts to foster emerging and develop new technologies to further the nations global competitiveness. RIM's focus in the partnership will be bringing robotics into manufacturing roles that will create new high tech jobs and increase manufacturing efficiency.