US-UK Cooperative Research: Integration of Robotics Software Modeling with Computer-Based Design and Management Information Systems for Architecture and Construction

该奖项将支持博伊德·保尔森博士、斯坦福大学和博伊德·保尔森博士在土木工程和计算机科学方面的合作研究。乔治·弗莱明和肯·麦卡勒姆，苏格兰斯特拉斯克莱德大学。该项目的目的是更好地将建筑行业的机器人技术与当前的计算机辅助设计管理信息和生产系统相结合。自20世纪80年代初以来，研究人员一直在寻求将机器人技术应用于建筑行业。然而，没有统一的理论和指导方针来定义和交流有关设计和现场操作的知识，这些知识可以被这些机器有效地利用。到目前为止，在实际现场应用中的大多数“机器人”要么是由人类远程控制的远程操作机器，要么是如此狭隘和高度专业化，以至于自动化只能通过程序程序来实现，这些程序程序旨在预测机器人的所有有限需求。在这个联合项目中，研究人员将致力于设计、组装和开发一个理论框架和实验软件，为各种类型的自主机器提供通用的“智能”核心。该研究将包括几个相互关联的项目，以模拟机器人代理的认知行为，并建立一个知识环境模拟器，以测试原型代理软件的发展。该项目将受益于美国和英国研究人员在计算机辅助设计方面的互补专业知识。这项研究的结果将提供基于计算机的概念，以帮助将建筑现场过程整合到项目生命周期的其他阶段，如规划、设计和运营。8922441 GOULD该奖项将支持米德尔伯里学院的Robert GOULD博士和加的夫威尔士大学的W. Terence Coakley博士在生物物理学方面的合作研究。该项目的目的是利用超声波来分离和分离具有生物学意义的大颗粒。当超声驻波场存在于充满液体的腔室中时，给定类型的悬浮粒子将倾向于在腔室中相距约半波长的位置聚集。与驻波场相关的辐射压力和声流的超声波现象对悬浮物体产生力和扭矩。作用在给定粒子上的力和扭矩的强度主要取决于粒子的大小和形状，以及相对于悬浮液体的相应性质的粒子的可压缩性和密度的声学性质。因此，声学特性不同的粒子将倾向于在腔室的不同位置聚集。大多数生物学家熟悉的悬浮颗粒收集方法，如离心、介电泳和应用磁场，往往会导致颗粒迁移到一个或两个位置。超声提供了一种独特的能力，可以在悬浮阶段的许多离散位置集中颗粒。这个项目的目的是利用不同类型的粒子在力和扭矩上的差异来区分它们，一种类型与另一种类型，这样它们就可以被单独收集和研究。这项研究的结果将为超声波在各种生物系统中的适用性提供重要信息。该项目将受益于两位研究人员的互补专业知识，以及他们过去富有成效的合作历史。

This award will support collaborative research in civil engineering and computer science between Dr. Boyd Paulson, Stanford University and Drs. George Fleming and Ken McCallum, University of Strathclyde, Scotland. The aim of the project is to better integrate robotics in the construction industry with current computer-aided design management information and production systems. Since the early 1980's, researchers have sought to apply robotics in the construction industry. However, no unifying theory and few guidelines exist for defining and communicating knowledge about designs and field operations in a way that can be effectively utilized by such machines. Thus far, most of the "robots" in actual field applications have either been tele- operated machines remotely controlled by humans, or have been so narrowly focused and highly specialized that automation could be implemented only via procedural programs designed to anticipate all of the robots' limited requirements. In this joint project, the investigators will aim to design, assemble and develop a theoretical framework and experimental software for a general core of "intelligence" common to diverse types of autonomous machines. The research will consist of several interrelated projects to simulate the cognitive behavior of robot agents and to build a knowledge environment simulator in which to test prototype agent software as it evolves. The project will benefit from the complementary expertise of the US and British investi- gators in computer-aided design. The results of this research will provide computer-based concepts to help integrate construc- tion field processes into the other phases of the project life- cycle, such as planning, design and operations. 8922441 GOULD This award will support collaborative research in biophysics between Dr. Robert Gould, Middlebury College and Dr. W. Terence Coakley, University of Wales, Cardiff. The objective of the project is to exploit the use of ultrasound to segregate and isolate large particles of biological interest. When an ultrasonic standing wave field exists in a liquid-filled chamber, suspended particles of a given type will tend to collect at positions in the chamber about a half wavelength apart. The ultrasonic phenomena of radiation pressure and acoustic streaming associated with a standing wave field produce forces and torques on objects in suspension. Strengths of the forces and torques on a given particle depend mainly on the size and shape of the particle and on the acoustical properties of compressibility and density of the particle, relative to the corresponding properties of the suspending liquid. Thus particles differing in acoustic properties will tend to collect in different positions in the chamber. Methods for collecting particles in suspension with which most biologists are familiar, such as centrifugation, dielectrophoresis and application of magnetic fields, tend to cause particles to migrate to one or two sites. Ultrasound offers a unique capability to concentrate particles at many discrete locations in the suspending phase. This project aims to utilize the differences in the forces and torques on different types of particles to diverge them, one type from another, so they may be harvested and studied separately. The results of this research will provide important information regarding the applicability of ultrasound to a variety of biological systems. The project will benefit from the complementary expertise of the two investigators, as well as their past history of fruitful collaboration.