Group Travel Assistance Fund for 2008 IEEE/RSJ IROS

该NSF项目提供旅行资金，帮助大约25名美国研究人员参加2008年IEEE/RSJ国际智能机器人和系统会议(IROS)，当时机票成本正在上升。这次会议为国际研究人员提供了一个论坛，就技术问题及其解决方案交换意见。IROS有别于其姊妹会议ICRA的一个显著特点是，来自亚洲的与会者越来越多。这次会议在法国尼斯举行，跨大西洋飞行将承担美国参会者全部参会费用的很大一部分。这项团体旅行补助金提案的目的有两个：-帮助美国参加这一关键的国际会议，以及-促进美国研究人员与他们的国际同行之间的合作。美国研究人员在IROS 2008上的大力参与和存在有望促进美国科学家接触世界各地的想法，促进他们自己的工作，并增加他们进行国际合作和访问的机会。这个NSF项目提供的资金支持促进了美国科学家与他们的海外同事之间的互动，并有助于前者的专业发展。

This NSF project provides travel funds to assist approximately 25 US researchers to participate in the 2008 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), in a time where airfare costs are increasing. This meeting has served as a forum gathering international researchers together for the exchange of ideas on technical problems and their solutions.One distinguishing aspect of IROS, setting it apart from its sister conference ICRA, is the increased presence of participants from Asia. The conference is held in Nice, France, and the transatlantic flight will incur a significant portion of the whole cost of attendance for US participants.The purpose of this Group Travel Grant Proposal is two-fold:- To assist US participation in this key international conference, and- To stimulate collaborations between US researchers and their international colleagues.A strong participation and presence of US researchers at IROS 2008 is expected to facilitate the exposure of US scientists to ideas from around the world, promote their own work, and increase their opportunities for international collaborations and visits. The financial support provided by this NSF project stimulates interaction between US scientists with their colleagues abroad, and contributes to the professional development of the former.