Animals as simple as cockroaches and slugs and as complex as humans all possess similar ways to control how they walk, crawl, swim or fly through earth's many complex environments. Engineers have turned to these natural systems for inspiration in developing robots, hoping to attain the same ease of movement and ability to adapt to any environment on earth (or off of it). The goals of animal motion studies and robotics are clearly complementary and benefit greatly from extended interaction. Although many meetings have limited sessions dedicated to such discussions, the International Symposium on Adaptive Motion in Animals and Machines (AMAM) is uniquely dedicated to intense week long interaction among engineers and biologists. The funds from this proposal will be used to bring young U.S. scientists and engineers (especially female and underrepresented minorities) to AMAM 2008 this June 1-6 at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Funds will also be used to support web-based distribution of the meeting to members of the international community and educators who cannot attend the meeting in person. The potential impacts of this meeting include: 1) use of robots as hardware models to promote a greater understanding of how animals (including humans) control their movement through their complex worlds, 2) creation of new walking, crawling, swimming and flying robots that more closely capture properties of animals, and 3) introduction of young developing scientists and engineers to an area of research that relies heavily on collaboration of people with many different skills from many different areas for success. The ultimate goal of this work is to provide highly functional robotic devices to serve human needs, such as search and rescue, environmental monitoring, surveying and many others, as well as greater understanding of animal movement.
