H.F. Davidson - Böcker

Dr. Lester A. Gerhardt Professor and Chairman Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, New York 12180 This book is a collection of papers on the subject of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. Most of the papers contained herein were presented as part of the program of the NATO Advanced Study Institute held in June 1983 at Castel vecchio Pascoli, Italy on the same subject. Attendance at this two week Institute was by invitation only, drawing people internationally representing industry, government and the academic community worldwide. Many of the people in attendance, as well as those presenting papers, are recognized leaders in the field. In addition to the formal paper presentations, there were several informal work­ shops. These included a workshop on sensing, a workshop on educational methodology in the subject area, as examples. This book is an outgrowth and direct result of that Institute and includes the papers presented as well as a few others which were stimulated by that meeting. A special note is the paper entitled "State-of-the-Art and Predictions for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics" by Dr. R. Nagel which appears in the Introduction and Overview chapter of this book. This paper was originally developed as part of a study for the United States Army performed by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Science and published as part of a report entitled "Applications of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence to Reduce Risk and Improve Effectiveness" by National Academy Press in 1983.

Several formerly independent trends including the in­ creasing rate of technological change, the demand for greater efficiency and productivity in R&D and innovation, and the need for applying technology to the solution of pressing social and economic problems have recently begun to reinforce each other resulting in renewed interest in technology trans­ fer activities and research. The proliferation of research efforts in the U. S. and Western Europe, increased corporate and governmental efforts to develop mechanisms and incentives for transfer and the growing closeness between transfer and innovation studies led to the decision to convene a meeting with representatives from both research and practice in trans­ fer and innovation in order to establish a "state-of-the-art" baseline and to promote discussion between the researchers and practioners from all sectors in the hope that new research will better reflect the realities of current practice and new mechanisms created by practioners might be improved through the use of knowledge generated from research. How close we came~to the second goal is a question which must be left to the fut~re. The proceedings which follow re­ flect the first goal. If the papers and conclusions occasional­ ly appear to be contradictory or repetitive, or naive, or over­ ly pessimistic or simply based upon too narrow a base or re­ search or experience, they are an accurate reflection of both the state-of-the-art and the lack of communications among in­ dividuals and organizations involved in similar activities.

An Advanced Study Institute on Ultrasonics in Medical Diagnosis was held in Milan, Italy, from 10 to 15 June 1974. This ASI was of a short five-day duration and limited to cardiac diagnosis by ultra­ sound only. Since that time, the field of diagnostic imaging in medicine has literally exploded with new and improved means of medical diagnosis such as computed tomography, microwaves, nuclear magnetic resonance and other sophisticated techniques. These developments have enabled medical practitioners to make diagnoses with a minimum of danger to the patient, and a maximum of accuracy never before possible, and represent a multi-quantum advance over the early state-of-the-art presented at the 1974 ASI. Since then, several meetings have taken place on these individual topics to bring together experts who presented their latest research results, but none have discussed the entire field of diagnostic imaging in medicine in one meeting nor have they had the teaching character of an Advanced Study Institute. The art and science of medicine have been altered repeatedly during the eight year interval since the last ASI. Today's clinician must be part technologist and must be enough of an investigator to understand and appreciate the scientific method. The current complex advances in instrumentation and pharmacology have had a marked effect on how medicine is practiced. There was, therefore, an urgent need to bring the entire field of imaging in medicine to one teaching podium where the many advances of the last six or seven years could be reviewed.

Technology transfer has a long history, but only recently has it become the subject of study and action. The rapid rate of scientific and technical advance in both Europe and the United States and the existence of large technology gaps among nations has brought the importance of the process into sharper focus, and has c~used technology transfer to have implications for countless aspects of both national and international develop­ ment. Technology transfer has been variously defined as: the process of information transfer between science, technology and actual utilization of scientific data and ideas, to wit: production of goods and services; the process by which science and technology are diffused throughout human activity; the transfer of research results into operations; the process by which technical information originating in one setting is adapted for use in another setting. Collectively, these and other definitions share a common theme which characterizes the process as one of bringing technology i'ilto widespread use in solving mankind's problems in the shortest practical time. The first NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) on Technology Transfer in July, 1973, brought together many of the individuals dealing with quantitative data, based on empirical research. This conference had both the advantages and disadvantages of a somewhat detached point of view. The ASI also had lectures contributed by representatives from government agencies and corporations (and a few university-based scholars) who had been active as practitioners or consultants in policy-making and organizational design for technology transfer.