Presidential Young Investigators Award

该研究将涉及高精度机械系统的分析和设计。这些系统包括在建筑工地执行完成任务的机器，例如：1)Wallbots，组装钢轨道和钉墙的机器人；2)脚手架机器人，在船舶和建筑物的垂直外表面执行维护和组装任务的机器人。还包括推进精密测量和导航技术的机器，例如：1)Acall，为国家标准局校准加速度计的机器，以达到百万分之一的精度。这种类型的精度需要允许缓慢移动的车辆使用惯性系统进行长时间的导航。2)分子测量机，是国家标准局研制的一种能够测量直径为厘米的样品上原子位置的机器。

The research will involve the analysis and design of high accuracy mechanical systems. Such systems include machines to perform finishing tasks on construction sites such as: 1) Wallbots, robots to assemble steel track and stud walls; and 2) Scaffbot, robot to perform maintenance and assembly tasks on vertical exterior surfaces of ships and building. Also included are machines to advance the state of the art of precision surveying and navigation, such as: 1) Acall, a machine to calibrate accelerometers, for the National Bureau of Standards, to achieve accuracies of one part per million. This type of accuracy is needed to allow slow moving vehicles to use inertial systems to navigate for extended periods of time. 2) Molecular Measuring Machine, a machine being designed with the National Bureau of Standards with the capability to measure the position of atoms on specimens centimeters in diameter.