Carnegie-Mellon University Research Articles

The harmonious robot

PurposeTo describe the design methodology and human‐centre functionality of the whole arm manipulator (WAM) developed originally at MIT and brought to commercial fruition by Barrett Technology.Design/methodology/approachThe WAM arm is driven by cable‐and‐cylinder transmissions, which uniquely exhibits zero backlash with low friction and low inertia, endowing the WAM with good open‐loop “backdrivability”. Two key benefits of the high backdrivability are: motion control through joint torque control, which enables the intrinsic sensing of forces over the whole arm and makes it inherently safe to humans; operation directly in the Cartesian domain without the need for inverse kinematics calculations, providing very rapid responsiveness as demonstrated in the “baseball robot” of Tokyo University. Another benefit of the WAM is its kinematic redundancy through the 4‐dof (degrees‐of‐freedom) main axes (7‐dof with the wrist). Recent major advances in the WAM include the “puck”, the world's smallest fully‐featured servo‐controller that eliminates the need for an external controller cabinet, and a safety circuit that limits, by a set amount, the power flow from the WAM to a person or object while not inhibiting the reverse from human to arm. The WAM's intrinsic force control has allowed the development of software‐defined haptic walls, which are being exploited by partners such as the CMU (Carnegie Mellon University) Robotics Institute, in patient rehabilitation, and Mako Surgical, for use in joint surgery.FindingsThe Barrett WAM's good open‐loop backdrivability has initiated the development of novel human‐centred robot applications that will expand the use of robots outside the factory and into human‐inhabited areas.Originality/valuePresents the design methodology, features and applications of the Barrett WAM human‐centred robot.

Godel's interpretation of intuitionism

Godel regarded the Dialectica interpretation as giving constructive content to intuitionism, which otherwise failed to meet reasonable conditions of constructivity. He founded his theory of primitive recursive functions, in which the interpretation is given, on the concept of computable function of finite type. I will 1) criticize this foundation, 2) propose a quite different one, and 3) note that essentially the latter foundation also underlies the Curry-Howard type theory and hence Heyting’s intuitionistic conception of logic. Thus the Dialectica interpretation (in so far as its aim was to give constructive content to intuitionism) is superfluous. In the set of notes [1938a] for an informal lecture, Godel refers to a hierarchy of constructive or finitary systems, the lowest level of which he called finitary number theory and is, in fact, primitive recursive arithmetic (PRA). He mentions three constructive extensions of this system: the intuitionism of Brouwer and Heyting (the “modal-logical route”), concerning which he is quite critical, the use of transfinite induction, inspired by Gentzen’s consistency proof for PA, and the use of functions of finite or even transfinite type over the type N of natural numbers. The latter extension seems to be mentioned here for the first time in connection with constructive extensions of finitary number theory. He ranks it the most satisfactory of these extensions ∗Versions of this paper were presented at a joint workshop on Hilbert at CarnegieMellon University and the University of Pittsburgh in June 1998, at a workshop on foundations of mathematics at UCLA in May 2005 and at the IMLA ’05 workshop [Intuitionistic Modal Logic and Applications, of course] in Chicago. I received helpful comments on all of these occasions. As for the history of the idea of a hierarchy of types, I know only of these examples: The hierarchy of transfinite types in which the natural numbers constitute the lowest type

Sir John Anthony Pople. 31 October 1925 — 15 March 2004

John Pople was one of the founders of modern computational chemistry. During his career in Cambridge University, the National Physical Laboratory, Carnegie–Mellon University and Northwestern University he made many major contributions to chemistry. In 1998 the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel prize for chemistry ‘to Walter Kohn for his development of the density–functional theory and to John Pople for his development of computational methods in quantum chemistry’. The award was widely acclaimed.

Wonderful, but Not Incomprehensible: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Herbert A. Simon and His Impact

When Nobel laureate Herbert A. Simon died on February 9, 2001, the fields of psychology, computer science, political science, public and business administration, economics, and sociology lost an intellectual giant recognized and honored as a leader, champion, scientific revolutionary, and builder. Beyond producing a prodigious body of seminal work in each of these areas, Simon was a founding father of cognitive psychology and artificial intelligence and the architect of multiple outstanding departments and programs at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), his home base from 1947 to his death. Over a career that spanned more than six decades, Simon steadily raised the scientific rigor applied to explaining the behavior of economic, cognitive, administrative, political, computer, and social systems.

SEMPER-II: an internet-based multi-domain building performance simulation environment for early design support

Many existing building performance analysis methods and tools do not effectively encourage and facilitate iterative, multi-criteria, and multi-agenda building design development. SEMPER, which was originally developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), is a building design and performance simulation environment that attempts to remedy these shortcomings. It is an active, multi-domain, space-based, object-oriented design support tool for integrated building performance computing. However, it has been developed as a “stand-alone” application. This paper discusses the key findings of a collaborative research project between National University of Singapore, Carnegie Mellon University and Temasek Polytechnic to modify and transform SEMPER prototype 1 into SEMPER-II (S2), as an internet-based computational design support environment in order to facilitate geographically distributed design collaboration. The working details of the multi-domain thermal simulation environment within S2 called the Thermal Suite were specifically discussed with illustrative case studies.

Development and application of the Model of Aerosol Dynamics, Reaction, Ionization, and Dissolution (MADRID)

A new aerosol model, the Model of Aerosol Dynamics, Reaction, Ionization, and Dissolution (MADRID) has been developed to simulate atmospheric particulate matter (PM). MADRID and the Carnegie‐Mellon University (CMU) bulk aqueous‐phase chemistry have been incorporated into the three‐dimensional Models‐3/Community Multiscale Air Quality model (CMAQ). The resulting model, CMAQ‐MADRID, is applied to simulate the August 1987 episode in the Los Angeles basin. Model performance for ozone and PM is consistent with current performance standards. However, organic aerosol was underpredicted at most sites owing to underestimation of primary organic PM emissions and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation. Nitrate concentrations were also sometimes underpredicted, mainly owing to overpredictions in vertical mixing, underpredictions in relative humidity, and uncertainties in the emissions of primary pollutants. Including heterogeneous reactions changed hourly O3 by up to 17% and 24‐hour average PM2.5, sulfate2.5, and nitrate2.5 concentrations by up to 3, 7, and 19%, respectively. A SOA module with a mechanistic representation provides results that are more consistent with observations than that with an empirical representation. The moving‐center scheme for particle growth predicts more accurate size distributions than a typical semi‐Lagrangian scheme, which causes an upstream numerical diffusion. A hybrid approach that simulates dynamic mass transfer for coarse PM but assumes equilibrium for fine PM can predict a realistic particle size distribution under most conditions, and the same applies under conditions with insignificant concentrations of reactive coarse particles to a bulk equilibrium approach that allocates transferred mass to different size sections based on condensational growth law. In contrast, a simple bulk equilibrium approach that allocates transferred mass based on a given distribution tends to cause a downstream numerical diffusion in the predicted particle size distribution.

Proceedings of the Barrels II Workshop: cortical circuits

The second session of the Barrels II Workshop focused on the function of cortical circuitry in the rodent vibrissa-to-barrel system. The session began with talks by Asaf Keller (University of Maryland), Christopher Moore (MIT), and David Pinto (Brown University). These presentations were followed by shorter talks by Mark Andermann (MIT), Alison Barth (Carnegie-Mellon University), Dirk Feldmeyer (Max Planck Institute), Cathy Garabedian (UCSF), Garrett Stanley (Harvard University), and Simona Temereanca (University of Pittsburgh). Presentations covered several central themes, including the functional organization of cortical circuitry, thalamocortical response transformations, temporal response properties, and the role of vibrissa resonance in high frequency representations. For simplicity, this review is organized by these central themes and does not follow the order of presentations at the meeting.

GRISLEE: Gasmain Repair and Inspection System for Live Entry Environments

US gas companies spend over $300 million annually detecting and repairing gas leaks in urban and suburban settings. The current approach is one of above-ground leak detection and pinpointing, followed by excavation, repair and restoration. The major cost incurred is typically that of digging and restoring the excavation site. The Gas Research Institute and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration are funding a program at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Robotics Institute and Maurer Engineering to reduce the cost of repairing gas distribution mains using advanced remote and robotics technologies to provide up to 50% cost savings over conventional repair methods. Under this program, CMU has developed GRISLEE (Gasline Robotic Inspection System for Live Entry Environments), a coiled-tubing deployed, remotely controllable, modular leak-detection, inspection, surface-preparation and repair robot system for the real-time in situ spot repair of live 4 inch diameter distribution gas mains. The system is capable of repairing two or more leaks per day from a single excavation over a 2000 ft length under live conditions (i.e., without downtime of the gas main and thus no customer service interruption). The prototype system has undergone laboratory testing and proven the feasibility of its modular inspection, sensing, preparation, and repair technologies and systems. Field trials with multiple utilities will be carried out during late 2002.

Structural change tests for simulated method of moments

Simulation-based estimation methods have become more widely used in recent years. We propose a set of tests for structural change in models estimated via simulated method of moments (see Duffe and Singleton (Econometrica 61 (1993) 929). These tests extend the work of Andrews (Econometrica 61 (1993) 821), Ghysels et al. (J. Econom. 82 (1997) 209) and Sowell (Econometrica 64 (1996) 1085; Tests for Violation of Moment Conditions, Manuscript, Graduate School of Industrial Administration, Carnegie mellon University) which covered generalized method of moments estimators not involving simulation. We derive the asymptotic distributions of various tests. We show that the number of simulations does not affect the asymptotic distribution under the null but adversely influences local asymptotic power. A Monte-Carlo investigation of the finite sample size and power reveals that a relatively small number of simulations suffices to obtain tests with desirable small sample size and power properties.

Collaborative Learning in a Cross-Atlantic Design Course

Our activities in co-teaching an engineering design course across the Atlantic, i.e., at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), USA and at Delft University of Technology (DUT), the Netherlands, at the same time, required the use of information and communication tools for communication and collaboration purposes between students and between instructors and students. In this paper we analyze the overseas communication and collaboration processes among students and instructors, and their implications for learning. We have used a theoretical framework for collaborative learning and for stimulating active participation for analyzing our observations and for translating our results to a broader theoretical framework. In practice, it meant that we experimented among other variables with group compositions and with instructor role descriptions. We concluded that many of the techniques mentioned in literature did enhance collaboration and learning between students, but that intense communication with overseas instructors is still a major stumbling block.

View point: risk analysis and the terrorism problem in two parts.

Risk AnalysisVolume 22, Issue 3 p. 403-403 View Point: Risk Analysis and the Terrorism Problem in Two Parts Lester Lave, Corresponding Author Lester Lave* Address correspondence to Lester Lave, Ph.D., GSIA, Carnegie-Mellon University, Schenley Park, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890.Search for more papers by this author Lester Lave, Corresponding Author Lester Lave* Address correspondence to Lester Lave, Ph.D., GSIA, Carnegie-Mellon University, Schenley Park, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890.Search for more papers by this author First published: 22 July 2002 https://doi.org/10.1111/0272-4332.00049Citations: 2Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article.Citing Literature Volume22, Issue3June 2002Pages 403-403 This article also appears in:Lester Lave: Reflections and Papers Published RelatedInformation

Rapid prototyping of computing systems

Pervasive or ubiquitous computing requires the integration of multiple technologies, including software, hardware and human-computer interaction (HCI). To prepare students for this new paradigm in computing, we need multi-disciplinary academic programs and courses. Furthermore, real-world design projects, design processes and team experiences must play a primary role. The course Rapid Prototyping of Computing Systems at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) combines all these elements in a single innovative course offered in multiple departments at CMU. Students learn topics in multiple disciplines and complete an industry-driven, team-based project using a well-defined design process. Although the course prepares students for a wide range of computing applications, the topics and projects focus on pervasive computing.

Robots help humans defeat robots

The web portal Yahoo had a problem: it was infested by cyber-bots. Easily passing themselves off as humans, these programs would log on to its chat rooms, sending out numerous ‘personal’ messages to convince users to go to their company's website – a form of illicit but free and very effective advertising. Other robots can skew the results of on-line polls or cheat on web contests, by participating thousands of times, much more often than could any human. In order to prevent computer programs from using systems designed for human use, a way of distinguishing between human and automaton web agents is needed – but, because of the high volume of traffic on some websites, this test would need to be administered and scored by computers! A group of researchers at the Aladdin Center at Carnegie-Mellon University has come up with such a test, which they call a CAPTCHA (‘Completely Automatic Public Turing Test to tell Computers and Humans Apart’; see http://www.captcha.net/). The test is based on the robust human ability to recognize visual shapes, in the presence of distortion or noise, an ability currently unequaled by any known computer program. Currently, anyone applying for an account at Yahoo has to prove that he or she is human by typing in a word presented with noise and distortion (see examples below). Real humans (generally) pass the test, while robots are kept out – but for how long…? MW

An assessment of Systems and Software Engineering scholars and institutions (1996–2000)

This paper presents the findings of a five-year study of the top scholars and institutions in the Systems and Software Engineering (SSE) field, as measured by the quantity of papers published in the journals of the field. The top scholar is Richard Lai of La Trobe University in Australia, and the top institution is Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and its Software Engineering Institute. The paper lists the top 15 scholars and institutions.

On page migration and other relaxed task systems

This paper is concerned with the page migration (or file migration) problem (Black and Sleator, Technical Report CMU-CS-89-201, Department of Computer Science, Carnegie-Mellon University, 1989) as part of a large class of on-line problems. The page migration problem deals with the management of pages residing in a network of processors. In the classical problem there is only one copy of each page which is accessed by different processors over time. The page is allowed to be migrated between processors. However a migration incurs higher communication cost than an access (proportionally to the page size). The problem is that of deciding when and where to migrate the page in order to lower access costs. A more general setting is the k- page migration problem where we wish to maintain k copies of the page. The page migration problems are concerned with a dilemma common to many on-line problems: determining when it is beneficial to make configuration changes. We deal with the relaxed task systems model which captures a large class of problems of this type, that can be described as the generalization of some original task system problem (Borodin et al., J. ACM 39(4) (1992) 745–763). Given a c-competitive algorithm for a task system we show how to obtain a deterministic O(c 2) and randomized O(c) competitive algorithms for the corresponding relaxed task system. The result implies deterministic algorithms for k- page migration by using k-server (Manasse et al., J. Algorithms 11(2) (1990) 208–230) algorithms, and for network leasing by using generalized Steiner tree algorithms (Awerbuch et al., Proc 7th Ann. ACM-SIAM Symp. on Discrete Algorithms, January 1996, pp. 68–74), as well as providing solutions for natural generalizations of other problems (e.g. storage rearrangement (Fiat et al., Proc. 36th Ann. IEEE Symp. on Foundations of Computer Science, October 1995, pp. 392–403). We further study some special cases of the k-page migration problem and get optimal deterministic algorithms. For the classical page migration problem we present a deterministic algorithm that achieves a competitive ratio of ∼4.086, improving upon the previously best competitive ratio of 7 (Awerbuch et al., Proc. 25th ACM Symp. on Theory of Computing, May 1993, pp. 164–173). (The current lower bound on the problem is ∼3.148 (Chrobak et al., J. Algorithms 24(1) (1997) 124–157).)

A Multiprotein Complex That Interacts with RNA Polymerase II Elongator

A three-subunit Hap complex that interacts with the RNA polymerase II Elongator was isolated from yeast. Deletions of genes for two Hap subunits, HAP1 and HAP3, confer pGKL killer-insensitive and weak Elongator phenotypes. Preferential interaction of the Hap complex with free rather than RNA polymerase II-associated Elongator suggests a role in the regulation of Elongator activity.

Remembering Herbert A. Simon (1916–2001)

Public Administration ReviewVolume 61, Issue 4 p. 396-402 Remembering Herbert A. Simon (1916–2001) Mie Augier, Mie Augier Stanford UniversitySearch for more papers by this authorJames G. March, James G. March Stanford UniversitySearch for more papers by this author Mie Augier, Mie Augier Stanford UniversitySearch for more papers by this authorJames G. March, James G. March Stanford UniversitySearch for more papers by this author First published: 17 December 2002 https://doi.org/10.1111/0033-3352.00043Citations: 21Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume61, Issue4July/August 2001Pages 396-402 RelatedInformation

Towards zero-energy urban areas: Suburban growth and environmental injustice in USA

When the Earth Summit concluded at Rio in 1992, the world was challenged to lessen its impact on the Earth. Nine years later, we live in a riskier world with more people, more consumption, more waste and more poverty, but with less biodiversity, less forest area, less available fresh water, less soil, and less stratospheric ozone layer. We all know that we are further away from sustainability. But how far? Professor Thomas Spiegelhalter from the Department of Architecture at Carnegie-Mellon University, USA poses this question and what needs to be done now to start redressing the balance.

Introduction

After four symposiums in Voralberg (in co-operation with Fachhochschul Vorarlberg) and one in Pittsburgh (in cooperation with Carnegie-Mellon University), Vision Plus 6 took place in Vienna in July 1999. In October 1999 Vision Plus 7 'Design for communities/diversification of minds – conversation in process' had been staged at Tama Art University in Tokyo. Vision Plus 8' Turning information into corporate knowledge/innovative information management: a design challenge' got fixed for July 2000, again in Vienna under the patronage of UNESCO (in cooperation with 'Fachhochschul-Studiengaenge der Wiener Wirtschaft' and 'Werbe Akademie WIFI Wien'). The topic of Vision Plus 6, 'Drawing the process: visual planning and explaining' focused on the visualisation of processes and how visual means can transform complex data into comprehensible information. Three subthemes had been chosen: - Drawings with a purpose: seeing and understanding ; - Process visualisation and visual planning; - Information + Creation -> Sensation The Vision Plus symposiums are organised by IIID, the International Institute for Information Design. IIID is indebted to the editors of the Information Design Journal for their close co-operation in having decided to publish a selected number of papers and summaries. These papers and summaries in IDJ 10 (1) that are based on presentations at the Vision Plus 6 conference nicely complement the 'Proceedings, Abstracts, Bibliography' of Vision Plus 6, which can be obtained from the IIID web site. It is the long term aim of Vision Plus symposia to prepare the grounds for a semi-virtual Information Design University. Representatives of more than twenty renowned universities and research institutes from around the world have already declared themselves ready to contribute actively to its development. IDJ readers interested in IIID activities in general and Vision Plus symposia in particular are invited to write to www.info@iiid.net or to visit www.iiid.net for further information.

The TestSmart–HPV Program—Development of an Integrated Approach for Testing High Production Volume Chemicals

The TestSmart program was developed in response to the High Production Volume Chemical Challenge, a voluntary initiative under which chemical producers provide basic toxicity data on chemicals produced in greater than one million pounds annually. Specifically, under the Challenge, chemical producers will generate data as needed to complete the Screening Information Data Set (SIDS), as defined by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The TestSmart program is a collaborative effort of the Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing, the Environmental Defense Fund, Carnegie-Mellon University, and the University of Pittsburgh. The goal of the TestSmart program is to provide a humane and efficient approach to collecting SIDS data. The program has two objectives, one immediate and the other more long term. The immediate objective has been to make recommendations to reduce the number of animals used in collecting SIDS data under the Challenge. This was accomplished, through a group process, by examining the current status of alternative methods for SIDS endpoints and by providing an assessment of the “state of readiness” of current and potential future alternatives. The long-term objective is to provide a model for other programs to follow the TestSmart concept of a more efficient and humane approach to obtain toxicological data of interest to regulators and the public.