This grant provides funding for U.S. scientists and engineers to participate in the IARP Workshop on Micro Robotics and Systems to be held in Beijing, China, October 22-24, 1998. This workshop has been offered by China and is jointly sponsored by Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Japan, Russia and the U.S.A. The funds requested is for travel by U.S. participants and technical reporting.
The workshop will be hosted by the Expert Group of Robotics, National High-Technology R&D Program of the National Committee of Science and Technology of China. The main objective for attending the workshop will be to allow the invited U.S. participants and their foreign colleagues to identify specific topics of common interest for long-term research.
The benefits of the proposed international cooperative activities for the U.S. will be many. They include:
i) Finding the future directions of research in micro robotics and systems,
ii) Finding potential applications of micro robotics and systems in the underwater environment, manufacturing and medicine,
iii) Coordination and integration of research efforts in micro robotics and systems between the U.S. and China,
iv) Maintenance of the U.S. dominance as a research leader in the area of micro robotics and systems,
v) Developing the basis for future joint seminars, workshops, exchanges, etc., which enhance the international perspectives of U.S. scientists and engineers,
vi) Generating reports on workshop activities and coordination for distribution, and
vii) Discussing a potential U.S./China cooperative program.
Finally, it is proposed that participants attending the conference will be selected based on the quality of the paper that they wish to present. Professor Steve T.C. Hsia of the University of California at Davis will chair a committee to select the papers. Partial funding from the NSF is requested in this proposal to support travel and subsistence for U.S. participants. ***
