Daniel Koditschek

Richard D. (Dick) Klafter, one of the early leaders in the field of robotics and automation and the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, was born on 5 August 1936 and died 11 November 2019. He received an undergraduate degree at MIT, two graduate degrees from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the City University of New York (1969).

In this interview, Dickmanns discusses his interest and involvement with the field of robotics, especially in computer vision, control design, and autonomously driving vehicles. He outlines the theories and structures behind his research projects, the challenges he faced in developing them, and the final results and applications produced. Additionally, he reflects on his career influences, his contribution to the field, and the evolution of robotics over the past few decades and projected into the future.

In this interview, Brad Nelson discusses his career in robotics, focusing on control, manipulation, micro-positioning, and micro/nanorobotics. Describing his research at CMU, the University of Illinois, Minnesota, and ETH, he discusses the challenges of his work and the interactions between scientific disciplines. Commenting on the evolution of robotics and micro/nanorobotics, he goes on to discuss his various work environments, the state of Switzerland’s funding, and the future of the robotics.

In this oral history, Larry Matthies covers his professional life in the field of Computer Robotics, taking us through his collegiate education and his career in robotics research, specifically his work with computer vision. Matthies offers his personal insight on the various projects he has collaborated on as well, from working for DARPA to NASA and his experience with the NASA Mars Rover project, for which he dedicated most of his career to. Matthies also touches upon his move back to academia and his thoughts on the future of the field of computer robotics.