Winter 2024 23 THIS PAGE: DAVIAN-LYNN HOPKINS; NEXT PAGE: SHIVANI JINGER R O B O T I C S would trade their positions on assembly lines for seats behind control panels, as they took on even better jobs as technicians, programmers and engineers. “That future is more or less already here, today,” said Andy Dong, head of the School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Mechanical Engineering in Oregon State’s College of Engineering. But there’s a twist: Robots aren’t just turning up in factories anymore; they’re also being pressed into service for tasks that require more of a “human” touch when workers are in short supply. As average life expectancies grow and birthrates diminish around the world, many countries, including the United States, are facing the reality of shrinking workforces supporting larger and larger populations of older adults. This “graying” trend has resulted in labor shortages, with increased needs in areas such as elder care. Bill Smart and Naomi Fitter are among several College of Engineering faculty members who specialize in human-robot interaction. This rapidly growing field seeks to answer fundamental questions about how an increasing number of robotic helpers can be successfully integrated into our daily lives — for example, delivering medications in hospitals or helping older adults in their homes. It’s hard to know how effective these robots are at interacting with people — or to conduct statistically significant user studies — when researchers are all testing different models. To that end, Fitter and Smart are collaborating on a $5 million effort by the National Science Foundation to accelerate robotics research by making standardized humanoid robots available to the scientific community. “A big hurdle in robotics research has been the lack of a common robot to work with,” Smart said. “It’s tough to compare results and replicate and build on each other’s work when everyone is using a different type of robot. Robots come in many shapes and sizes, with different types of sensors and varying capabilities.” Oregon State is partnering with researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s GRASP Laboratory and Semio, a Los Angeles–based software company specializing in robotics applications. The project involves building and distributing 50 robots using the Quori platform, developed through the NSF’s Computer and Information Science and Engineering cont inued AUTOMATING THE FUTURE A NEW ENGINEERING OPTION AND LAB PREPARE STUDENTS FOR WHAT’S AHEAD. By Keith Hautala Many companies now use robots alongside humans to make work faster, safer and less physically demanding — you might see robots moving pack‑ ages around a warehouse or picking parts from a conveyor belt for shipping, for example. Although many of the more “robotic” aspects of these tasks are well understood, the often subtle interactions between robots and humans are still an area of active research. ¶ To better pre‑ pare graduates to take the lead in this transformation, the College of Engineering has added a new indus‑ trial automation engineering option. And as of fall term, students pursuing this option have a dedicated space where they can learn and work. With generous support from Ali Piyarali, ’84, the School of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering remodeled an old lab on the third floor of Rogers Hall to create the school’s Industrial Automation Lab. The facility features new workstations, a shared soldering station and dedi‑ cated space for building and storing projects. ¶ New cameras, projec‑ tors, screens and a fleet of mobile robots will also make it possible for undergraduate and graduate stu‑ dents to get firsthand experience with these new technologies, and to see how more traditional engineering integrates with industrial automation and intelligent robots. This combi‑ nation of traditional and emerging tech‑ nologies is designed to ensure that Oregon State graduates remain sought after nationally and interna‑ tionally.
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