RESNA SIG-13


A Report from the Chair


Introduction

SIG-13 is trundling along. The activity related to SIG-13 over the last few months has mainly related to increased information dissemination, including coming up to speed on the internet. More details are contained below on a new listserver and web pages for SIG-13, as well as information about the robotics research symposium being held at this year's RESNA conference. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any comments or suggestions related to the information in this column or SIG-13 in general. --Rich Mahoney


RESNA '96 was held in Salt Lake City this past June. Following is a summary of some of the SIG-13 related events.

SIG-13 Meeting

The SIG-13 meeting was held on Sunday, June 9, 1996. The following items were discussed.

Because of the new rules that were implemented at RESNA '95 with respect to the election of the SIG-13 chairperson and chair-elect, there was a need to discuss the way in which the next chair would be elected. It was decided that the co-chairperson, in effect, is the chair-elect. Therefore, at the RESNA '97 SIG-13 meeting, Geb Verburg will become the chairperson and a new chair-elect will be elected to a two year term as Geb's co-chair.

If you would like to run for co-chair, or would like to nominate someone for co-chair, please let me know by the SIG-13 meeting. It is not mandatory that someone running for co-chair be in attendance at the RESNA conference, but that person should reasonably expect to attend the RESNA conferences over the next three year period.

A draft of a SIG-13 WWW home page was presented by me and discussed by the group. The outcomes of the discussion are highlighted further below.

RESNA Conference, Pittsburgh

Next year's RESNA Conference will be held from June 19 to June 24 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Some of the SIG-13 activities currently being considered include:

The topic of this year's RESNA conference will be 'Robotics and People With Disabilities: When Will They Tango?' The purpose of the research symposium within the RESNA conference is to provide a forum for discussion of basic research. The focus for the robotics symposium is on advances in robotics technology. The objective of the symposium is to combine this discussion with further discussion on the use of robotics technology for people with disabilities.

An afternoon paper session will complement the symposium. More details about the symposium are available at http://www.asel.udel.edu/ resna97-symposium/. Pittsburgh hosts a wide-range of robotics activities and is, therefore, an excellent site for the robotics symposium. In conjunction with the symposium, tours of some of the robotics centers will be organized.

In addition to the paper session of the research symposium, SIG-13 will also host its traditional papers sessions. The paper deadline for RESNA'97 in Pittsburgh has recently been extended to January 15, 1997.

 

SIG-13 and the Internet

The Applied Science and Engineering Laboratories is now hosting a listserver called assistive-robots. The purpose of this listserver is to support communication about SIG-13 activities, as well as general interaction on assistive robots. The list will be open to anyone who has an interest in this application of robotics.

To subscribe to the list, send email to majordomo@asel.udel.edu with the message, subscribe assistive-robots. I urge you to make use of assistive-robots to further your interests in learning about robotic applications for people with disabilities, and in disseminating your experiences for the benefit of others.

The SIG-13 Web Page is now in place. The page may be accessed from RESNA's web pages at http://www.resna.org/ resna/sigs/frame.htm, or directly at http:// www.asel.udel.edu/resna-sig13. The page is pretty basic at the moment. Any suggestions on additional content should be sent to me at this time.

Richard Mahoney, RESNA SIG-13 Chair
Applied Science and Engineering Laboratories
duPont Hospital for Children
(302) 651-6833
mahoney@asel.udel.edu


[ASEL]

URL of this document: http://www.asel.udel.edu/ robotics/newsletter/fallwin96/rsig.html
Last updated: February 6, 1997
Copyright © Applied Science and Engineering Laboratories, 1997.