Conference/Collaborative Research: Interdisciplinary Workshop on Mechanical Intelligence; Alexandria, Virginia; late 2023/early 2024

该奖项支持机械智能跨学科研讨会。机械智能是一个总称，用于指生物和工程系统中所有形式的物理智能和形态计算。研讨会将汇集40名参与者，涵盖机器人，生物力学，神经科学，应用数学，物理，机器学习，力学和材料方面的专业知识。演讲和讨论将探讨寻找共同语言、制定理论和开发可量化指标的途径，这些指标可用于跨学科的机械智能系统，并具有促进跨学科方法的潜在目标。研讨会结束后，将生成一份报告来总结研究结果，该报告将与一般研究界分享。尽管有充分的证据表明机械智能在生物和机器人系统中的应用，但在当前的认知和电子智能时代，这一主题受到的关注较少。研讨会的活动旨在将数学、物理、计算科学、材料科学、机器人和生物学等领域的研究人员聚集在一起，讨论开发以下计划：(1)共享词汇表，促进跨学科机械智能领域的富有成效的互动和观点和想法的交流；以及可量化的机械智能指标，以便在不同的机械智能实例之间进行比较。解决这两个差距有望促进机械智能领域的进步并推动它向前发展。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award supports an Interdisciplinary Workshop on Mechanical Intelligence. Mechanical intelligence is an umbrella term that is used to refer to all forms of physical intelligence and morphological computations in biological and engineered systems. The workshop will bring together 40 participants, covering expertise in robotics, biomechanics, neuroscience, applied math, physics, machine learning, mechanics, and materials. The presentations and discussions will address a path for finding a common language, formulating theory, and developing quantifiable metrics for mechanically intelligent systems that translate across disciplines, with an additional underlying goal of facilitating an interdisciplinary approach to mechanical intelligence. After the workshop, a report will be generated to summarize the findings, which will be shared with the general research community. Despite ample evidence of the application of mechanical intelligence in biological and robotic systems, this topic has received less attention in the current era of cognitive and electronic intelligence. The activities of the workshop are designed to bring together researchers with expertise in mathematics, physics, computational science, materials science, robotics and biology to discuss plans to develop (1) a shared vocabulary that facilitates fruitful interaction and exchange of perspectives and ideas on mechanical intelligence across disciplines, and (2) theory, methods, and quantifiable metrics of mechanical intelligence to enable comparison across diverse instantiations of mechanical intelligence. Addressing both of these gaps is expected to catalyze advancement in the field of mechanical intelligence and moving it forward.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.