May 7,1997
Andy Berlin, Xerox PARC,
Distributed MEMS: Coupling Computation to the Physical World

Speaker: Andrew A. Berlin, Xerox Palo Alto Reserch

Title: Distributed MEMS: Coupling Computation to the Physical World

Abstract:

We are pursuing a novel synthesis of technologies that seeks to merge information systems with diverse technologies from the fields of MEMS, active structural control, smart materials, and distributed communication. Our goal is to create intelligent surfaces, particles, and materials that can sense, reason about, and interact with their environment. These systems couple computation to the physical world on a scale that has never before been possible, potentially enabling a new generation of products that rely on active control to achieve their goals.

Making this vision a reality will require development of new synergies between information technology and MEMS technology. In this lecture, I will describe some prototype systems that we have constructed at Xerox PARC to explore these synergies and to demonstrate the potential of this approach. I will also describe some of the underlying technical challenges that this new class of distributed systems places on computation.

Biography:

Andrew A. Berlin is a member of the research staff at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. He received SB, SM, and PhD degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research interests include applications of MEMS and smart materials, as well as parallel programming languages and architectures. From 1989-91, Berlin worked as a principal designer of the MIT/Hewlett-Packard Supercomputer Toolkit. In 1993, he joined Xerox PARC, where he initiated a project that explores (from both fabrication and computational perspectives) ways to use large arrays of MEMS devices to control the dynamic behavior of macroscale objects.

Contact:

Andrew Berlin
3333 Coyote Hill Road
Palo Alto, CA
berlin@parc.xerox.com

Submit a summary of this lecture to the EE380 mailbot.