IEEE Robotics and Automation Society
		     Central New England Chapter

		       Tuesday, March 14, 2006
		     Informal Discussion: 6:00 PM
			   Program: 6:30 PM

		  MOVING ROBOTS OUT INTO THE WORLD:
		       HOW ROBOTICS IS EVOLVING

			     Presented by

			  Prof. Nicholas Roy
       Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
	      Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
		    77 Massachusetts Ave., 33-315
			    Cambridge, MA
			      USA 02139


ABSTRACT

Mobile robots are flourishing in the real world.
Even just ten years ago, most robots were large,
heavy and dangerous, confined to laboratories and
factory floors. Nowadays, however, robots are
exploring Mars, providing health care assistance,
mapping mines, and operating in our homes daily.
This progress of robots as useful tools in the
real world is due to a number of factors,
including better hardware and sensors, and more
intelligent software and algorithms. The
presentation will describe some of the most
recent developments in mobile robotics, and
discuss the technical advances in probabilistic
state estimation, probabilistic decision-making
and control that have made these advances
possible.


SPEAKER'S BIOGRAPHY

Nicholas Roy is an Assistant Professor in the
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a
member of the Computer Science and Artificial
Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). He received his
B.Sc. in Physics and M.Sc. in Computer Science
from McGill University, and his Ph.D. in Robotics
from Carnegie Mellon University in 2003. Dr. Roy
has participated in and led the deployment of a
number of robot systems, including the winning
entry in the American Association for Artificial
Intelligence (AAAI) robot competition in 1997 and
the AAAI grand challenge competition in 2002. He
helped develop Minerva, one of the first museum
tour guide robots in 1998, and was the lead
developer of two of the first autonomous robots
for health-care assistance.


MEETING INFORMATION

The IEEE Robotics and Automation Society will
meet at Wellesley High School, 50 Rice Street,
Wellesley, MA 02481, on Tuesday, March 14, 2006,
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, 380 Washington Street, Wellesley, MA
02481, 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 the chapter chair,
Peter Meyer, at 781-334-0052 or
Chair@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 Yahoo web map showing the location of
Wellesley High School, go to the following URL:

		 http://tinyurl.com/exqwb

The GPS coordinates for Rice St in front of the
entrance to the high school building are
approximately as follows:

		 N 42=83 18.137'		 W 71=83 16.811'

The GPS coordinates for the parking lot in front
of the entrance to Bertucci's are approximately
as follows:

		 N 42=83 18.492'		 W 71=83 16.691'

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

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