Information technology giant Microsoft Corp. is joining forces in a robotics initiative with Carnegie Mellon University in Oakland, a company spokeswoman said Monday.
Microsoft General Manager Tandy Trower is expected to discuss the Carnegie Mellon collaboration at today's opening of the two-day RoboBusiness Conference and Exposition at the Sheraton Station Square Hotel on the South Side. More information about the initiative will be released today, said Doreen O'Skea, a spokeswoman for Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash.
Carnegie Mellon is well-known for its robotics research. William "Red" Whittaker, a research professor at the university's Robotics Institute, will be among those speaking at the conference.
Major Gen. Charles Cartwright, program manager for the Army's future-combat system, is scheduled to make a presentation at the conference, which is expected to attract about 750 people, including the world's leading robotics experts.
The conference, dedicated to the growth and development of the mobile robotics and intelligent systems industry, will look at developing new markets and product categories and enhancing existing lines for the consumer, commercial, civil and defense/security markets.
Among the events planned in conjunction with the conference will be the induction of several robots into CMU's Robot Hall of Fame, including Gort, from 1951 sci-fi thriller "The Day the Earth Stood Still."
