The B.I.O.-Bugs will be demonstrated to the news media at 1 p.m. at the Broad Center Café, which is located on the Caltech campus in Pasadena near the intersection of Wilson and Del Mar avenues. The bugs are endowed with a set of simple behavioral instructions, and as a group show interesting collective behaviors mirroring colony-type species in nature such as ants and bees. Mark Tilden, head of research at WowWee, will deliver the keynote address at 4:30 p.m. in nearby Beckman Institute auditorium, and the B.I.O.-Bugs will again perform at the café at 5:30 p.m.
B.I.O.-Bugs, an acronym for Bio-mechanical Integrated Organisms, are about a foot long and weigh about a pound. They are based on biomorphic robotics of the sort developed at the Center for Neuromorphic Systems Engineering. They can actually learn and alter their behavior as they interact with each other and the environment. Future scientific applications of the technology could include the exploration of other worlds, military defense, and even nuclear site cleanup.
This year's Industry Day will focus on machine awareness and learning. Through a series of talks and posters, faculty and students will present work in the areas of awareness and cognition, and behavior and learning. An industry panel discussion focusing on applications of neuromorphic engineering will also take place.
Registration and continental breakfast begin at 8 a.m. in the Beckman Institute courtyard, followed by a 9 a.m. series of presentations on awareness and cognition to be held in the Beckman Institute Auditorium. Lunch and a poster presentation is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the courtyard, followed by a panel discussion on applications of neuromorphic engineering beginning at 1 p.m., and a session on behavior and learning from 2:30 to 4:10 p.m. A reception from 6 to 8 p.m. will conclude the event.
Caltech Media Relations will be on hand to assist reporters with setting up interviews and arranging for access to events of interest. To arrange for parking, please contact us at the one of the numbers below.
The Center for Neuromorphic Systems Engineering Industry Day is funded primarily by the Engineering Research Centers Program of the National Science Foundation under NSF award number EEC-9402726. Energizer Holdings, Inc,. has donated several hundred batteries for the demonstration.
Contact: Robert Tindol (626) 395-3631