1999 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics
September 19 - 23, 1999 - Renaissance Atlanta Hotel, Atlanta, Georgia USA

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Plenary Lecture 1
Monday from 8:10 to 9:00
Atlanta A/B
The Mix of Computation, MEMS and Regular Materials
Peter Will, USC/Information Sciences Institute, California, USA

Plenary Lecture 2
Monday from 9:00 to 9:50
Atlanta A/B
Mechatronics - Past, Present and Future
Kazuo Tanie, Mechanical Engineering Laboratory, AIST-MITI, Tokyo, Japan

Plenary Lecture 3
Tuesday from 8:10 to 9:00
Atlanta A/B
Advances in Micromechatronics
Paolo Dario, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy

Luncheon Keynote
Tuesday from 11:30 to 13:20
Mechatronics in the Future
Toshio Fukuda, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan 

Michael Falvo
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC, USA

Metin Sitti
University of Tokyo
Tokyo, Japan

Abstract
Nanotechnology which aims at the ideal miniaturization of devices and machines down to atomic and molecular sizes has been a recent hot topic as a promising high-technology for the forthcoming century. By precise control of atoms, molecules or nano scale objects, new sensors and man-made materials, tera-byte capacity memories, micro scale robots/machines, DNA-computers, quantum devices, micro scale distributed intelligence system devices with integrated sensors, actuators and communication tools, etc. would be possible within the near future. However, for new nanotechnology products, still there are many challenges to be solved, and nano manipulation is one of the important challnges at the nano world. This kind of research is still immature since the physical and chemical phenomenon at this scale has not been completely understood, intelligent automatic precision manipulation strategies are not developed, and the specific tools for the specific applications have not been defined/designed clearly. Thus, the purpose of this tutorial is to discuss these problems especially within the perspective of manipulation at the micro/nano world, and proposing possible solutions. At this point, the target is to introduce a new robotics field by integrating the micro/nano-mechatronics technology, macro-robotics technology, and phsical and chemical phenomena at the micro/nano world in order to cope with these problems. Physical phenomena at the micro/nano scale, modeling of micro/nano forces, precision manipulation control, tele-operated nano scale object manipulation, real-time visual and force sensing at the micro/nano scale world, user interface issues for micro/nano manipulation, and etc. will be the main focusing points.

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Abstract
The field of mechatronics, although not old, has received new impetus from recent developments. These new developments have occurred in micro-machining, MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS), micro-rapid prototyping, new advances in VLSI leading to higher density chips and new results in designing for low power electronics and have enabled us to think in the field of mechatronics in new ways and to consider new applications. This is especially true for small systems. The traditional problems of design, such as reliability, low power consumption, the correct choice of materials etc still exist but with a new slant. The second major change has occurred due to the development of the World Wide Web and the fact that the world has embraced it in ways that were inconceivable only a few years ago.

The talk starts with a brief discussion of some new issues in Web based design and manufacturing and will continue with issues on mechatronics research and development with reference to work at ISI and elsewhere on

• miniature reconfigurable distributed robots,
• systems made with intelligent members,
• low power systems and
• rapid prototyping at the micro scale.

The talk will continue with discussion of the need for new thinking on small devices and on the need for better batteries and power generators and on the need for new thinking for chip design and chip packaging, ending with open challenges in actuators and sensors. Progress on these fronts will be essential for the new breed of miniature, even morphogenetic mechatronics devices that the new technology tantalizingly offers.

The talk will end with some speculations on the extension of terrestrial mechatronics to space and marine applications.

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Biosketch
Peter M. Will is the Director of the Enterprise Integration Systems Division at USC/ISI, and has over 35 years research experience. In 1990, he was awarded the International Engelberger Prize in robotics. He has a Ph.D. in non-linear control systems from the University of Aberdeen. At IBM, he was a researcher and manager, working in robotics, 3-D robot vision, tactile and force sensing, chip and wafer inspection, LANDSAT image rectification, and processing and compression of image and audio. His work resulted in the IBM RS/1 robot in 1982. He held research executive positions in Schlumberger and Hewlett-Packard before joining USC/ISI in 1992. Dr. Will has over 50 publications and 10 patents, and has been very active on various government committees.

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Abstract
Mechatronics was born in Japan about 25 years ago which is an interdisciplinary area relating to the mechanical engineering, electrical engineering/electronics and computer science. This technology has produced many new products and provided powerful ways of improving the efficiency of the products we use in our daily life. Currently, there is no doubt about the importance of the mechatronics as an area in science and technology. However, what is the unique technology of mechatronics seems to be unclear. Some people says that mechatronics is just the collection of the existing science and technology like mechanisms, actuators, electronics, computer technology, fuzzy control, artificial intelligence, miro-machine and so on, but has no original contents of technology. Currrently, several textbooks for mechatronics can be found in the world. Almost all these books seem to consist of several chapters, each of which summarizes the subject picked up from existing technologies. This structure makes people think that mechatronics has not a unique technology. Also, there is some confusion between mechatronics and some new areas closely relating to computer technology and electronics, robotics, micro-machines and so on. As long as we put the name of "mechatronics" on some area, mechatronics should have unique technology, or, in other words, it has the unique technology. In order to solve this problem, this talk will try to discuss what is the uniqueness of mechatronics which makes the difference from other relating technologies.

This talk will point out that "mechatronics" is an application/need driven technology. The specific features of the mechatronic technology will be made by considering how to integrate the knowledge from several different areas like mechanics, electronics and computers in order to create new products satisfying social and/or consumer needs in the best way. The unique technology of mechatronics will be in the efforts of finding out the best solution to the required needs through efficiently combining several kinds of knowledge from different areas. It is not in each specific area which deals with mechanical-electrical systems, like robotics, fuzzy control and so on.

In this talk the history of mechatronics advancement will be first addressed and what kinds of mechatronic products have so far been developed and what caused to create such mechatronic products will be discussed. Based on this consideration, what is the uniqueness of the mechatronic technology will be mentioned. Also, with this discussion in mind, what our future society needs is will be mentioned for the future direction of mechatronic technology. As the future needs, the problems caused by the limited energy resources on the earth and the elderly people society in 21st century will be suggested. To solve the problems, the talk will point out that human friendly and environment conscious technology in mechatronics, as called human friendly/environment conscious mechatronics, will be important and activate the advancement of the next generation mechatronics. Also, several examples of future researches relating to this topics will be mentioned.

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Biosketch
Kazuo Tanie was born in Yokohama, Japan in 1946. He received the BE, MS and Dr. Eng. degrees in mechanical engineering from Waseda University, Japan, in 1969, 1971, and 1980, respectively. In 1971, he joined Mechanical Engineering Laboratory (MEL), AIST-MITI. He is currently Director of Robotics Department in MEL. Also, since 1992, he has been an Adjunct Professor at the Course of Engineering Mechanics in Cooperative Graduate School, University of Tsukuba, Japan and since 1996, a Visiting Professor at Advanced Research Center for Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Japan. From August in 1981 to August in 1982, he was a Visiting Scholar at University of California at Los Angeles, and on September in 1995, he was a Visiting Professor at Scuola Superiore S. Anna, Italy. His research interests include tactile sensor and its application to dexterous manipulation, force and compliance control for robotic arms and hands, virtual reality and its application to telerobotics, human skill understanding and its realization by non-linear control, macro-micro tele-manipulation, human-robot coexisting system, power assist system and humanoid. He has published more than 200 refereed papers in several domestic and international academic journals and the proceedings of international conferences in those areas. He has been Program Co-Chair of 1991 IEEE/RSJ International Workshop on Intelligent Robots and Systems, General Chair of 1996 IEEE International Workshop on Robot and Human Communication, Program Vice-Chair of 1998 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. He is Program Chair of 1999 International Conference on Advanced Robotics and 1999 IEEE International Conference on System, Man and Cybernetics, and General Chair of 2000 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Dr. Tanie has been Vice-President of Robotics Society of Japan (1997-1998), and is currently an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, Chair of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Technical Committee on Virtual Reality in Robotics, and Chair of the IEEE Tokyo Chapter in Robotics and Automation.

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Abstract
Micromechatronics encompasses the same concepts as mechatronics in the "macro" world (that is the synergetic integration of precision mechanisms, sensors, actuators, signal conditioning and embedded control), aiming at further reduction of size and integration of functions.

Micromechatronics is at the forefront of the general "trend toward miniaturization" that features the current evolution of most industrial sectors, such as consumer electronics, telecommunications, medical devices, biotechnology, automotive, industrial control and space. In all of these sectors, the availability of microelectronic components which are increasingly smaller, cheaper and faster makes it possible to develop products which are smaller and possess better functionalities. Designing these products requires one to match the performance of microelectronic components with better mechanisms and actuators. Providing rules for designing such new products is exactly the objective of micromechatronics. In this sense, micromechatronics is having, and will certainly have, a revolutionary impact on the design and fabrication of a wide range of new industrial products.

In this talk the speaker will discuss the aims and describe the state of the art in the field of micromechatronics, its perspectives, research needs and applications, with special attention to the biomedical field.

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Biosketch
Paolo Dario received the Dr. Eng. Degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pisa, in 1977. He is currently an Associate Professor of Biomedical Robotics at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy. He established and teaches the course on mechatronics at the School of Engineering, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy. He has been a Visiting Professor at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland, and at Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan. He is the Director of the ARTS (Advanced Robotics Technologies and Systems) Laboratory  and of the MiTech (Microengineering and Microfabrication Technologies) Laboratory of the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, where he supervises a team of about 70 researchers and Ph.D. students. His main research interests are in the fields of medical robotics, mechatronics and microengineering. He is the coordinator of many national and European projects, the editor of two books on the subject of robotics, and the author of more than 200 scientific papers. He is also an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation and the Co-Editor of the Journal of Micromechatronics, and serves in the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Robotic Systems, Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics,
Advanced Robotics, Autonomous Robots and Biomedical Microdevices. Prof. Dario serves as an Elected Member of the Administrative Committee of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, as Co-Chair of the Technical Committee on Medical Robotics of the same society, and has served as Program Chair of the 1998 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. He is also a member of the Board of the International Foundation of Robotics Research and a member of the Steering Committee of the IEEE/ASME Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems.

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Abstract
Mechatronics is growing steadily and expanding the scope of the definition, including the medical applications, micro/nano device and systems, virtual reality device and systems. Thus the market is also growing in the various aspects. This speech will cover the trend of the mechatronics from now on.