Event Location: Rashid Auditorium – 4401 Gates and Hillman Centers

Abstract: Speakers: Ivan Sutherland, Visiting Scientist, Portland State University and Marc Raibert, President, Boston Dynamics

MACHINES THAT WALK

Marc Raibert and Ivan Sutherland came to CMU in 1980 to build walking machines. Marc built a machine that balanced on one leg. Having less courage, Ivan built a machine that used six legs to avoid the balance problem. Marc demonstrated that balance is relatively easy and went on to build many more walking machines. Ivan’s shorter attention span led him to abandon legged machines in favor of work on digital computing systems.

Marc and Ivan will recount in words and pictures the fun they enjoyed with robots at CMU and elsewhere. They will end with a discussion about drawing inspiration from natural systems. The vast difference between the components found in natural systems and the components available for robots or computers limit our ability to draw inspiration from nature. Man-made systems must differ from natural systems. Those very differences provide central advantages and weaknesses.

Please register at ri.cmu.edu/rinrw

Box lunches will be available for those who register by April 12.

A School of Computer Science Distinguished Lecture