Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.tech,americast.usa-today.tech From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: tech Wed, Oct 28 1992 Date: Wed, 28 Oct 92 04:40:26 EST Message-ID: 10-28 0000 DECISIONLINE: Technology USA TODAY Update Oct. 28, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network ROBOT CAN GET AROUND OBSTACLES: A group of Purdue University electrical engineers has developed a robot that can visualize its environment and navigate around an obstacle. The project eventually could prove useful for tasks such as security at military warehouses and hazardous waste clean-up. Researchers say the robot makes its own decisions about how to get from one place to another. (For more, see special Robot package below.) CRYSTAL EXPERIMENT IS SHUT DOWN: A computer glitch Tuesday was blamed for shutting down a crystal-growth experiment aboard the shuttle Colombia. Scientists said the crystal will be smaller, but still useful. Studying space-grown crystals could lead to improved processes for making crystals for faster computers capable of more memory. Columbia is to land 8:55 a.m. ET Sunday at Cape Canaveral. EXPERIMENTS ARE RUN REMOTELY: Experiments that might pave the way for NASA's space station operations are under way inside the shuttle Columbia's cargo bay, where science instruments are being remotely operated by scientists at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Also Tuesday, Columbia's astronauts celebrated pilot Mike Baker's 39th birthday and were interviewed by MTV's Tabatha Soren. ZENITH TO CUT 390 JOBS: Zenith Electronics Corp. said Tuesday it plans to reduce its current U.S. salaried work force by 390 jobs, or 15%, to reduce operating expenses. Based in Chicago suburb Glenview, Ill., the electronics firm employs 25,000 worldwide. The U.S. job cuts were announced as Zenith reported it lost $41.8 million, or $1.42 per share, in the third quarter. DIGITAL GAINS $150M DEAL: Digital Equipment Corp. has been awarded a five-year, $150 million contract to run computers at a Canadian utility, the company said Tuesday. The struggling computer maker will provide data center, desktop and consulting services to TransAlta Utilities of Calgary as part of the agreement, Digital spokesman Jeff Bartman said. SEMA, IBM TO JOIN FORCES: Sema Group and IBM will formally announce an agreement Wednesday to combine their two industrial software products and jointly market the result in Europe, Bloomberg Business News reports. The move is an attempt to compete more effectively with German software rival SAP AG, the officials said. In joining forces, IBM and Sema will have a European client base of approximately 1,000. ANDROS MAKES AGREEMENT: Andros Inc., a maker of gas-analyzing instruments for the automotive and medical industries, said it signed a $9 million exclusive purchase agreement with German electronics company Grundig AG to supply gas analyzers for automotive testing equipment. Andros will supply Grundig with its 3-Gas Non-Dispersive Infrared Digital Automotive Gas Analyzer. NETBLAZER FOR APPLETALK OUT: Telebit Corp. Tuesday introduced what it says is the first multiprotocol routing solution for AppleTalk and Novell NetWare networks. Telebit's NetBlazer allows network administrators to extend their corporate Ethernet and Token Ring networks to remote offices and telecommuters using the public switched telephone network. Prices start at $2,399. FAXENGINE IS INTRODUCED: Rockwell International Corp. Tuesday introduced the Personal Faxengine integrated facsimile device set. Targeting the personal facsimile market, the Faxengine, or R96PFE, integrates all the control functions for a personal fax machine into a two-chip solution, eliminating the need for additional external components. Samples are now available. Production will begin early next year. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON ROBOT: ROBOT CAN NAVIGATE: A group of Purdue University electrical engineers has developed a robot that makes its own decisions about how to get from one place to another. "Most industrial mobile robots are not free to navigate," said Bob Cromwell, a research scientist in Purdue's Robot Vision Laboratory. "They typically follow metal guides in the floor ... but they can't do anything outside the path." MAP IS PROGRAMMED IN: Once it's told where to go, the Purdue robot finds its own way from one point to another by comparing a three-dimensional map of the area to what it sees. The robot has two video cameras for eyes and three wheels for feet. Min Meng, a student in electrical engineering, said a computer serves as the robot's brain. It is programmed with a map of a hallway in the robot laboratory. ROBOT KNOWS ALL THE ANGLES: The map depicts basic landmarks, including door frames, corners, bulletin boards and power panels. The robot visualizes those landmarks using two cameras calibrated to see three-dimensionally. "It knows the geometry. It knows the distances. It knows the angles," said Matt Carroll, manager of Purdue's Robot Vision Laboratory, which built the sensory parts of the robot. COMPUTER COMPARES MAP TO VIDEO: The computer compares what the cameras "see" with the programmed map and creates a navigation plan. Because people and moveable objects are not part of the hallway map, the robot does not recognize them as landmarks. They are recognized as obstacles that must be avoided. The robot changes its course to avoid such an obstacle. (End of package.) Technology Editor: Ed Kelleher. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM