This is an award to provide support for the investigator's participation in an international conference on intelligent robots and systems. He is scheduled to present a paper on "A Goal Seeking and Obstacle Avoiding Algorithm for Autonomous Mobile Robots." This topic relates to his research interests in sensor based navigation, map building and control systems for these devices. The investigator plans to meet with professors at Osaka University and research institutions in Japan that have work underway on mobile robots. These contacts are expected to assist him in developing his own research program. His participation in the workshop and other contacts in Japan are also expected to assist the Environmental and Ocean Systems Program in developing a robotics component to its initiative on research relating to productive and environmentally acceptable ways of utilizing coastlines of the United States for waste management.
