IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - March 2014 - 74

STUDENT'S CORNER

Dialogues on Robotics Horizons
By Laura Margheri

uman welfare and environmental changes are critical
challenges for global society where robotics can play
a significant role in helping humans
face these facts and improve their
quality of life.
However, despite remarkable
achievements, the current robotic systems still exhibit limitations and are unable to resolve
certain unexpected situaRobots intended
tions because of
to be companions
technological
limits and the
of humans require
need for new
the mobilization of
design concepts
with approprimultidisciplinary
ate infrastrucscientific excellences
tures. Major
scientific and
and technologies
engineering
breakthroughs
can help us overcome the current limitations of robots.
I investigated the future of robotic
technologies and systems by interviewing eight experts in the robotics
and automation field. They each have
a different background and expertise,
and they all come from different
countries. Jing Xiao is a professor of
computer science at the University of
North Carolina, Charlotte, and the
IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) vice-president of the Member Activities 2014-2015. Chris
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MRA.2014.2298365
Date of publication: 10 March 2014

IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE

Melhuish is a professor of robotics
and autonomous systems at the University of Bristol, United Kingdom
and a professor of intelligent autonomous systems at the University of the
West of England. Prof. Melhuish is
the director and founding member of
the Bristol Robotics Laboratory. Brad
Nelson is a professor of robotics and
intelligent systems at ETH-Zürich
(Switzerland) and is the founder of
the Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems, where he leads the
Multi-Scale Robotics Laboratory
(Switzerland). Ken Goldberg is the
Craigslist Distinguished Professor of
New Media at University of California Berkeley (California), where he
and his students investigate robotics,
art, and social media. Prof. Goldberg
also directs the Automation Sciences
Research Laboratory. Paolo Dario is a
professor of biomedical engineering
and director of the BioRobotics Institute of t he S c u ol a Sup e r i ore
Sant'Anna (Italy) and the past president of RAS (2002-2003). William
(Bill) R. Hamel is a professor and
head of the Mechanical, Aerospace,
and Biomedical Engineering Department at the University of Tennessee,
Knoxville. Robin Murphy is the Raytheon Professor of Computer Science
and Engineering at Texas A&M University and directs the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue.
Mark Cutkosky is a professor of mechanical engineering in the Design
Division of the Stanford Mechanical
Engineering Department. He is a
principal investigator of the design

MARCH 2014

interface for three-dimensional (3-D)
manufacturing and biomimetic robotics projects at the Center for Design Research, director of the
Dextrous Manipulation Lab, and codirector of the Stanford Alliance for
Innovative Manufacturing.
These eight scientists are great robotics experts and visionaries. I hope
that their answers will be helpful for
preparing to deal with the forthcoming
robotics grand challenges.
Q: Which application areas
of robotic systems will be
more relevant in the next
ten years with regard to
human welfare?
A: Xiao: "I think robotic technologies
for health care, especially elderly care,
will be one of the most important application areas relevant to human welfare."
Melhuish and Nelson agree with her,
and Nelson adds, "Medical robotics will
continue to grow. The impact will be
better patient outcomes at lower cost. I
can also imagine that as this technology
becomes more widely adopted therapies
will be developed that we have not yet
considered possible. I believe that microrobotics will begin to play an important role in this area within the next
decade."
Goldberg: "Due to advances in
health care and medicine, we're seeing a
surge in senior citizens, many of whom
want to live at home rather than at care
centers. Robots and automation systems
that can assist in caring for senior citizens in their homes is a crucial and
growing application."

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - March 2014