The Boston Chapter of the IEEE's Robotics and Automation Society is pleased to announce the following talk: CONAC (Computerized Opto-electonic Navigation and Control) Navigating the Future by Edward N. MacLeod P.E. President, MTI Research Corp. 7 Littleton Road Westford, MA 01886 (978) 692-9898 ext 10 mailto:ed@mtir.com http://www.mtir.com The talk will be given: Tuesday, March 14, 2000 at 6:30 p.m. at Wellesley High School Informal discussion will start at 6:00 p.m. Further details can be found at http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/cleary/ieee or by contacting the chapter chair, Bruce Seiger by phone at 978.465.5713 or by email at ; or Jay Sage by phone at 781.981.4704 or by email at ABSTRACT CONAC is a laser-based measurement systems that measures positions in 2D or 3D. Systems are made up of various combinations of IR laser line scanners, IR pulse detectors, and omni-directional IR pulse transmitters. Typical position update rates: 40 Hz with 0.001% of range precision and 0.01% of range accuracy. Demonstrated maximum line-of-sight range is 300 meters. Most systems are PC-based using software written in Visual Basic. In addition to basic measurement, software capabilities include: path measurement, path recording, motion control, statistical analysis, auto-calibration, and real-time data communication. Past and present applications for the subject technology include: Mobile robot motion control Synthetic-aperture radar position feedback Virtual studio set feedback Camera position and orientation feedback for movie sets Ground-penetrating radar position feedback Ground truth data for robotic systems under development Automobile path measurement for tire research ABOUT ED BSME: U. Mass, Lowell, 1976. Ed acquired 12 years aerospace R&D background prior to founding MTI Research Corp in 1998. MTI is a small high-tech firm which focuses on laser-based navigation and mobile-robot motion control technologies. MTI was initially funded through multiple SBIR contracts. Business is now 100% commercial, providing 2D and 3D laser-based measurement systems for cutting-edge research applications. Current and past clients include Northrop Grumman, Michelin Tire, National Academy of Sciences, U.S. D.O.T., U.S. D.O.E., Lockheed Martin, Walt Disney's Imagineering Group, MIT Lincoln Lab, Fokker Space, U.S. Navy, U.K. Ministry of Defense, and numerous other domestic and international universities and firms. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION The IEEE Robotics and Automation Society will meet on Tuesday, March 14, 2000, in the Science Lecture Hall at Wellesley High School, 50 Rice Street, in Wellesley, MA, at 6:00 P.M. for informal discussions and for the formal presentation between 6:30 and 7:30 P.M. The group has dinner afterwards at Bertucci's Restaurant, where more conversations can take place with the guest speaker. The meetings are open to the general public, and all are welcome at the dinner afterwards. For more information contact: Bruce A. Seiger Jay Sage 978-465-5713 781-981-4704 bseiger@concord.org Jay.Sage@ieee.org DIRECTIONS From Route 128, take either Route 9 or Route 16 west. From the junction of Routes 9 and 16, follow Route 16 (Washington Street) west past the Wellesley Hills commuter rail station (within walking distance of the school), then turn left onto Rice Street. Wellesley High School is on the left. Parking is available in a lot just beyond the school. For a web map showing the location of Wellesley High School, go to the MapBlast map site at: http://www.mapblast.com/mblast/mAdr.mb and enter the following information in the indicated locations: Street Address 50 Rice St City, State ZIP Wellesley, MA and then click on the MapBlast icon. The resulting map can be zoomed in or out by clicking in the balloon area on the right. For more information about our section, visit our web site at http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/cleary/ieee/