Memo7-Historicizing+a+Project+(timeline)

 A robot with a biological brain was the new discovery of a multidisciplinary group at the University of Reading. This robot which was formed from cultured neurons was the first step toward examining how memories manifest themselves in the brain and how a brain stores specific pieces of data. This robot aimed at understanding diseases and disorders which affect the brain. This robots help to understand how memories manifest themselves in the brain when the robot revisits familiar territory. Researchers at UC Davis designed a control system that allows a robot to pick up on cues that the leader is about to turn, to predict where it is going and follow it. That could help to predict what other people are going to do and act accordingly. To develop a decision on how to move, the follower robot was programmed to take into account the lead robot's behavioral cues and the follower's prediction of the lead robot's movement, based on the leader's current speed and direction. Professor Tsuyoshi Miyakawa of Fujita Health University, National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), and Kyoto University which was leading a research team in Japan, with support from the CREST program of Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) announced that the immaturity of the dentate gyrus -- located in the hippocampus of the brain -- is an underlying cause for schizophrenia. Researchers from the University of Newcastle in Australia initiated investigation on a new way to help schizophrenia patients develop their communication and social skills by studying the eye movements of people with schizophrenia to understand better how they view other people's faces. The study was being conducted in association with the University's Priority Research Centre for Brain and Mental Health research and the Hunter Medical Research Institute's (HMRI) Brain and Mental Health program. HMRI is a partnership between the University of Newcastle, Hunter New England Health and the community.  ARMAR was one of the humanoid robots made by the European Networks of Robotic Research (EURON) that was completed in 2008.ARMAR is a housekeeper which designed to work in the kitchen and do some tasks such as opening the dishwasher door, filling it with dirty dishes. The National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) announced 12 grants for fiscal year 2008, awarding a total of $23,779,056 over four years to 54 investigators representing 20 institutions. Four awards fell under the topic Cognitive Optimization and Prediction: From Neural Systems to Neurotechnology (COPN). ** Creating a learning algorithm of the brain ** The project “Deep learning in the mammalian visual cortex” (grant #0835878) determined to be led by Andrew Ng of Stanford, in collaboration with Ed Boyden of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Yann LeCun of New York University, and Yang Dan of the University of California, Berkeley. ** Studying neural networks with an innovative patch-clamp array ** The project “Dynamics of neural networks on a planar patch-clamp array: training, identification, and control” (0835947) determined to be led by Russell Tedrake of MIT, in collaboration with Alexandre Megretski and H. Sebastian Seung of MIT and Hongkun Park of Harvard University ** Determining how the brain controls the hand ** The project “Reverse-engineering the human brain’s ability to control the hand” (grant #0836042) determined to be led by Francisco Valero-Cuevas of the University of Southern California, in collaboration with Chang Liu of Northwestern University, Yoky Matsuoka of the University of Washington, and Emanuel Todorov of the University of California, San Diego. ** Modeling control of the electric power grid on the brain ** The project “Neuroscience and neural networks for engineering the future intelligent electric power grid” (grant #0836017) determined to be led by Ganesh Venayagamoorthy of the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T, formerly University of Missouri-Rolla), in collaboration with Donald Wunsch of Missouri S&T, and Ronald Harley and Steve Potter of Georgia Institute of Technology. ** Building resilient and sustainable interdependent infrastructures ** Eight awards fall under the topic of Resilient and Sustainable Infrastructure (RESIN). ** Considering air quality and water availability in electricity production ** The project “The interface of infrastructures, markets, and natural cycles—Innovative modeling and control mechanisms for managing electricity, water, and air quality in Texas” (grant #0835414) determined to be led by David Allen of the University of Texas at Austin (UT), in collaboration with Michael Webber and Roberton Williams of UT, and A. Denny Ellerman and Ronald Prinn of MIT. ** Managing the risk of cascading failures ** The project “Assessing and managing cascading failure vulnerabilities of complex interdependent, interactive, adaptive human-based infrastructure systems” (grant #0836047) determined to be led by Robert Bea of the University of California, Berkeley, in collaboration with Berkeley colleagues John Radke and Karlene Roberts ** Designing infrastructure for biofuels ** The project “Interdependence, resilience and sustainability of infrastructures for biofuel development” (grant #0835982) determined to be led by Ximing Cai of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in collaboration with four UIUC colleagues: Atul Jain, Madhu Khanna, Gregory McIsaac, and Uyang Yanfeng. ** Bringing energy and water to urban areas ** The project “Sustainable infrastructures for energy and water supply (SINEWS)” (grant #0836046) determined to be led by John C. Crittenden of Arizona State University (ASU), in collaboration with four ASU colleagues: Samuel Ariaratnam, George Karady, Ke Li, and Charles Perrings. ** Supplying water where it is scarce ** The project “Optimization of conjunctive water supply and reuse systems with distributed treatment for high-growth, water-scarce regions” (grant #0835930) determined to be led by Kevin Lansey of the University of Arizona (UA), in collaboration with four UA colleagues: Robert Arnold, Guzin Bayraksan, Christopher Choi, and Christopher Scott. ** Optimizing energy and transportation infrastructures ** The project “21st Century national energy and transportation infrastructures: Balancing sustainability, costs, and resiliency (NETSCORE-21)” (grant #0835989) determined to be led by James McCalley of Iowa State University (ISU) in collaboration with four colleagues from ISU: Dionysios Aliprantis, Konstantina Gkritza, Arun Somani, and Lizhi Wang. ** Ensuring electricity and communications in a catastrophe ** The project “Resilient and sustainable interdependent electric power and communications systems” (grant #0835879) determined to be led by Lamine Mili of Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (VT). He will collaborate with Sandeep Shukla and Michael von Spakovsky of VT, Benjamin Hobbs of Johns Hopkins University, and Arnold Urken of Stevens Institute of Technology. ** Integrating electric vehicles into the grid ** The project “A multi-scale design and control framework for dynamically coupled sustainable and resilient infrastructures, with application to vehicle-to-grid integration” (grant #0835995) determined to be led by Jeffrey Stein of the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (U-M). He will collaborate with Zoran Filipi, Greg Keoleian, and Huei Peng at U-M and with Mariesa Crow of Missouri University of Science and Technology.  The Departments of Software, Automatic Control, Strength of MaMechanical Engineering, Materials and Structural Engineering at the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) designed an intelligent walker (i-Walker) that goes a step beyond conventional walkers as it can communicate with the user, think for itself and react to the environment. It was designed to assist the elderly and people undergoing medical rehabilitation. The device was designed to understand a set of voice commands and could be activated by means of simple verbal instructions given by the user (e.g., "take me to the kitchen"). To do this, it included elements for independent movement and a personalized intelligent software agent. The i-Walker can be used for medical rehabilitation as it can help in the recovery and strengthening of motor skills by allowing the amount of aid provided to the user to be adjusted under medical supervision  Research scientists discovered that chronic stroke patients can be rehabilitated by a novel, hand –operated robotic device and functional MRI named FMRI. This discovery which was announced at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) was the first step in mapping the brain in order to track stroke rehabilitation. According to the centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stroke is the third leading cause of death among US citizens. The grand prize of 2008 international Capstone Design Fait was awarded to the Robotic ad Mechanism Laboratory of the College of Engineering at Virginia tech for their //HyDRAS// serpentine robot which was designed to undertake the burden responsibilities of construction workers tasked with dangerous jobs. Dennis Hong, the director of Virginia Tech’s Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory and the faculty advisor of this project announced that these robots are designed to climb scaffolding and buildings by wrapping around poll or beam and then rolling upward via an oscillating joint motion. Using built-in sensors and cameras, the robots would then inspect the structures or handle other dangerous tasks done by humans. Martin Brüne from the University of Bochum, Germany, who was leading a team of researchers who used interviews and psychological tests to gauge whether reduced nonverbal expressivity could be linked to patients' social-cognitive impairments and poor social competence announced that Non-verbal communication, in the form of facial expressions, may be impaired in people with schizophrenia as deficits in non-verbal expressivity in schizophrenia are linked to poor social skills and an unawareness of the thoughts and intentions of others.     
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