Support for a Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics

描述（由申请人提供）：本R13申请的目的是请求支持为期2.5天的会议，该会议将为研究机器人应用于康复的研究人员之间提供信息交流的论坛。会议题为“人机界面的新前沿”，将于2005年6月28日至7月1日在芝加哥康复研究所附属的西北大学（NU）芝加哥校区举行。我们期望这次会议将提供一个机会来回顾当前的知识，确定现有知识中的关键差距，并制定一个可以解决这些问题的研究议程。在科学上，康复机器人领域正处于治疗机器人、脑机接口和专门设计用于与人类接触的机电设备等领域的新前沿的边缘。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of this R13 application is to request support for a 2.5-day meeting that will provide a forum for the exchange of information between investigators who study robotics applied to rehabilitation. The meeting, entitled "New Frontiers in the Human-Machine Interface", will be held at the Northwestern University (NU) Chicago campus, with which the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) is affiliated, on June 28-July 1, 2005. We expect that the meeting will provide an opportunity to review current knowledge, to identify critical gaps in existing knowledge, and to formulate a research agenda that can address these issues. Scientifically, the field of rehabilitation robotics is on the verge of new frontiers in the areas of therapeutic robotics, the brain-machine interface, and the advent of electromechanical devices specially designed for contact with humans. The meeting will involve about 275 participants, including three invited keynote speakers, 26 invited speakers (9 of whom are women), approximately 100 trainees (graduate students and post-doctoral fellows), and a number of investigators in the field. One invited keynote speaker has already agreed to participate in the meeting. The meeting format will consist of three 45-minute keynote addresses (one per day, 30 minute), 40 podium presentations (15 minutes each, 16 per day), 2 poster sessions, and time for discussion at the end of each session. The meeting will encourage the participation of young investigators, women, minorities, and the disabled by reserving space for 8 travel awards reserved for representatives of these groups (two each). Furthermore, the conference has traditionally placed a high value on practical demonstrations of real robotic systems. To encourage this activity, the conference will provide 4 additional travel awards for users of technology to attend the conference, along with provide $800 stipends for researchers to ship equipment to the conference. The IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, in conjunction with the Committee for Medical Robotics, will cosponsor the conference, thereby providing years of organizational experience as well as a conduit for publicity. Consequently, the 4-6-page submitted papers will eventually be placed on IEEE Explore, a highly publicized website.