2002 Workshop on Fundamental Issues and Future Research Directions for Parallel Mechanisms and Manipulators

This workshop seeks to bring together experts in the area of parallel manipulators from around the globe for two days in order to disseminate recent research progress and to identify the most promising future research directions for parallel manipulators. This meeting is not a routine conference, wherein the primary responsibility of the participant is to present his or her paper. Instead, through a series of focused keynote presentations, round-tables, focused paper sessions, focused poster sessions and in-depth discussion sessions we seek convergence on key issues related to parallel manipulators.

By focusing on workshop activities, rather than standard conference activites, this workshop seeks to complement other conferences and meetings dealing with parallel manipulators.

1. Develop awareness of the current state-of-the-art of research in all areas of parallel manipulators and wire-driven manipulators, including kinematics, dynamics, controls, design and novel applications;
2. Identify roadblocks that must be resolved to increase the industrial use of parallel manipulators;
3. Identify open problems in the theoretical framework;
4. Identify promising approaches that may yield significant advances in the theoretical framework;
5. Establish and reinforce international collaboration and collaboration between academia and industry;
6. Discuss educational needs and methods;
7. Develop a strategy for the research community as a whole to accelerate the development and use of parallel manipulators.

CONFIRMED KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

JEAN-PIERRE MERLET
INRIA, Sophia-Antipolis, France
view abstract

JORGE ANGELES
McGill University, Montreal, Canada
view abstract

TORGNY BROGARDH
ABB Robotics, Sweden
view abstract

WORKSHOP ORGANIZERS:

CLEMENT GOSSELIN
Département de Génie Mécanique
Université Laval,
Québec, Québec, Canada, G1K 7P4
Phone: (418)-656-3474     Fax:  (418)-656-7415
email: gosselin@gmc.ulaval.ca
http://robot.gmc.ulaval.ca
 

IMME EBERT-UPHOFF
Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA 30332-0405, USA
Phone: (404) 385-0667     Fax:  (404) 894-8496
e-mail: ebert@me.gatech.edu
http://robot.me.gatech.edu

TECHNICAL PROGRAM COMMITTEE (in alphabetical order):

Sunil Agrawal -- Univ. of Delaware, US
Jian Dai -- King's College London, UK
Tian Huang -- Tianjin Univ., P.R. China
Just Herder -- Delft Univ. of Technology, The Netherlands
Venkat Krovi -- SUNY Buffalo, US
John McPhee -- Univ. of Waterloo, Canada
Vincenzo Parenti-Castelli -- Univ. of Bologna, Italy
Francois Pierrot -- LIRMM, France
Moshe Shoham -- Technion, Israel
Yukio Takeda -- Tokyo Inst. of Technology, Japan
Philippe Wenger -- IRCCynN, France
Gloria Wiens -- Univ. of Florida, US

INDUSTRY PANELISTS:

Torgny Brogardh -- ABB Robotics, Sweden
Ed Dougherty -- August Design Inc., US
Adam Jacoff -- NIST, US
Gerhard Serapins -- CAE, Montreal, Canada
Paul Sheldon-- SheldonWorks, US

EDUCATIONAL PANEL DISCUSSION LED BY:

J. Michael McCarthy-- University of California, Irvine, US
Just Herder-- Delft Univ. of Technology, The Netherlands

We invite ALL workshop participants to contribute to the Educational Panel.

QUÉBEC CITY:

Pictures:
  Location:

The well preserved historic area of Quebec City is quite unique in North America. UNESCO cites the City of Québec as one of the best examples of a fortified colonial city. It was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985.

Brief History (from UNESCO citation):

Québec was founded by the French explorer Champlain in the early 17th century. It is the only North American city to have preserved its ramparts, together with the numerous bastions, gates and defensive works which still surround Old Québec. The Upper Town, built on the cliff, has remained the religious and administrative centre, with its churches, convents and other monuments like the Dauphine Redoubt, the Citadel and Château Frontenac. Together with the Lower Town and its ancient quarters, it forms an urban ensemble which is one of the best examples of a fortified colonial city.

Basse Ville / Lower City: One of the oldest areas of the city of Québec. Some of the houses date back to the early 1600s.

(Photo by Imme Ebert-Uphoff, 1997.)