IEEE Robotics and Automation Society
                Central New England Chapter

                 Tuesday, January 13, 2004
                Informal Discussion: 6:00 PM
                      Program: 6:30 PM


      Understanding the Literal Meaning of a Sentence

                      Dr. Mike Brenner
                      mikeb@mitre.org
                     MITRE Corporation
                   Bedford, Massachusetts

                          ABSTRACT

Mike Brenner will discuss why semantics research has not yet
made artificial intelligence possible.

The presentation will include: Semantic Webs, Taxonomies,
Ontologies, Bayesian Decision Support Systems, Complex
Systems Analysis, Knowledge-Base Engines, and why they can't
successfully understand the literal meaning of a sentence in
a real-world context.

In addition, we will discuss research we need to solve this
problem, designate possible Ph.D. theses for the audience to
pursue writing, and review the state of semantics research
at current laboratories, universities, and corporations.

Demonstrations of some of these techniques will be shown on
a computer, and possible applications to robotics and
automation will be suggested.


                     SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Brenner has loved robot math since high school. He has
used algebra, geometry, calculus, and shape theory on a
robot whose arms are orbiting satellites, who got lost in
outer space. His equations have helped automate drinking-
water and waste-water treatment plants, grow dynamic bubble
diagrams on discrete space-times in Ada, and check the
performance of real-time distributed software like airplanes
and automatic pilots. He is interested in robot motion
planning (like the Jack Schwartz and John Canny Algorithms),
and group theory (like untwisting braid groups,
cryptography, computer music, language translation, etc.).
Mike is a member of the steering committee of the New
England Chapter of the IEEE Robotics Society. At the MITRE
Corporation in Bedford, Massachusetts, Mike works on various
projects, including large distributed systems and 3-D
visualization.


                    MEETING INFORMATION

The IEEE Robotics and Automation Society will meet on
Tuesday, January 13, 2004, at Wellesley High School at 6:00
PM for informal discussions and for the formal presentation
between 6:30 and 7:30 PM. The group will have a no-host
dinner afterwards at Bertucci's, 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 Rich Maynard at
chair@robotics-boston.org or write to the Chapter's general
email address: info@robotics-boston.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 Yahoo map site at http://maps.yahoo.com/ and enter
the following information in the indicated locations:

        Address:                50 Rice St
        City, State or ZIP:     Wellesley, MA

The star marker is misplaced slightly to the south. Imagine
it about 1 cm toward the top of the map at Rice St.

For more information about our Section and Chapter, visit
our web site at our registered domain URL

              http://www.robotics-boston.org/