This award provides partial support for a workshop in which university, industry, and Federal government researchers will identify and assess the research needs for automated mobile robotic platforms with material handling capabilities. DARPA is sharing in the funding of the workshop, which is expected to produce recommendations for a common set of specifications and features for such mobile platforms suitable for a variety of research in vehicle navigation, noncontact sensors such as vision systems, contact position and force sensing, processing of sensory information for guiding mobility and manipulation of multiple manipulators and multiple sensors, and multi-modal systems integration.
