New Technologies and

While the industrial applications of robots will continue to grow, technologies for new applications of rob&c systems are emerging. Robots have evolved from relatively simple programmable pick-and-place devices into a new generation of competent robot systems. Robotic sciences are becoming a discipline, and the investment in prior research has yielded a wide range of component technologies which are the foundation for the next generation of robotic systems. Naturally, the tield of robotics is vast-incorporating perception (sensors and transducers), cognition (computation, planning, and learning), and manipulation (mechanisms, kinematics, dynamics, and control). Robotics applications are pervasive, encompassing manufacturing, transport, and exploration, to name just a few. A comprehensive description of interesting robotics technologies and applications would thus till many volumes. Here, we focus on three new areas which are under investigation at Carnegie-Mellon: autonomous mobile systems for outdoor and hazardous environments, robot-assisted shape deposition manufacturing, and microelectromechanical systems for medical and other applications.