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C00002 00002 Any examination of the "Frontiers of Computer Science" must include
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Cā;
Any examination of the "Frontiers of Computer Science" must include
an identification of its socio-economic effects and planning to
insure that its impacts will be favorable to our society. This
should involve a study of its impact on consumers aad workers, on
levels of employment and unemployment, on changes and obsolencence of
manpower skills, and on both short and long term security for
affected work forces. In short, we must do those things necessary to
assure that computer science serves people, rather than people
becoming subservient to computer science.
EXPLORATORY RESEARCH IN INDUSTRIAL MODULAR ASSEMBLY - A STATUS REPORT
(By J.L. Nevins, Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.)
The applied research issues being explored for a new class of systems
for performing automatic mechanical assembly described. These
systems are organized about sensor arrays that measure the forces
present when two pieces interact during the process of assembly.
The research issues described include methods for classifying
mechanical assembly, assembler system configurations of interest to
assembly classes, associated motion regimes and control strategies,
task analysis, sensor and servo integration, sensor systems, and
experiments under way to verify the proposed strategies.
1975 NATIONAL COMPUTER CONFERENCE, PANEL ON FRONTIERS OF COMPUTER
SCIENCE, SUMMARY OF PROPOSED COMMENTS (By M. Eugene Merchant,
Director of Research Planning, Cincinnati Milacron Inc., Cincinnati,
Ohio)
A recent international Delphi-type forecast of the future of
manufacturing strongly indicates that the computer-integrated
automatic factory will be a reality well before the end of this
century. However, because of the potential major economic and social
benefits which this development can bring to a country, some nations
are pushing to accomplish this even earlier than forcast. Of these,
Japan has already made the most significant strides in this direction
and is now planning a national program to have a prototype unmanned
machine building factory in operation by about 1980. This wuld be a
factory of about 200,000 to 300,000 square feet floor space, which
instead of the normal work force of 700 to 800, would be manned by a
force of approximately ten workers. The development cost is expected
to be in excess of $100 million, with approximately one-third that
sum devoted to the development of the necessary software system.
Further details on these developments will be presented at the panel
session.
AFIPS 1975 - FRONTIERS OF COMPUTER SCIENCE, NATIONAL COMPUTER
CONFERENCE, ABSTRACT OF REMARKS - "PROGRAMMABLE AUTOMATION" (By
Charles Rosen, AI Center, SRI)
Material-handling, inspection and assembly processes are still
heavily labor-intensive in many manufacturing industries.
Furthermore, many of these industrial jobs are dull, repetitious,
noisy, dangerous, or otherwise undesirable. These factors lead to
high cost and poor quality of product, and to low productivity of
workers. Computer-controlled manipulators coupled with visual
tacticle, and other sensors are now beginning to be programmed in the
laboratory to perform many operations that in theepast have been
reserved for humans, because they were too costly or appeared too
difficult to do in any other way.
Computer programs are now being developed, which, together with
increasingly inexpensive digital hardware, will soon provide
cost-effective production tools which will enhance both the quality
of products and jobs.