Bulletin Spring‧Summer 1999

rendering of human intelligence into a neural network model. When coupled with real-time sensing information, this model can be used as a kind of system for control strategies. For example, installed in an autonomous driving system is a model of human intelligence involved in driving manoeuvers, which takes the place of the human brain. At the same time there is a robotic eye which observes road conditions and feeds information to an automatic driving mechanism. With all these features linked up and coordinated, the car can move safely along the road. F l y i ng W h e e l s The Advanced Robotics Laboratory also conducts research related to space technology. For example, the single-wheel robot which Prof. Xu has developed, also known as the gyroscopically stabilized robot, is the first robot in the world to use motion to maintain its balance. It can walk on earth, water, space, and any other surface without falling and hen c e ha s g r ea t potential for expeditions to the moon and Mars. The national defence units of many countries have expressed interest in this research because the robot can be used to detect mines by simply installing a sensor. ‘I grew up in China, a country with the most number of bicycles in the world. This concept of the "flying wheel" was inspired by the physics of the bicycle,' quipped Prof. Xu. I n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y R e s e a r c h The laboratory was recently awarded two grants by the Research Grants Council: HK$450,000 for the project on the ‘Modelling of Human Intelligence' and HKS2,700,000 for using intelligent robotic technology in servicing industries including in hospitals and hotels, as well as cleaning and construction. Prof. Xu emphasized that much of the lab's research is conducted in collaboration with staff from the Faculty of Engineering, for instance, with Prof. Y.H. Liu who is an expert in the control of the manipulator and gripper, and with Prof. Ronald Chung who specializes in 'robotic eyes'. The pooling of different expertise is crucial to modem scientific and technological research. The lab is also making its state-of- the-art technologies available to Hong Kong's different industries. Prof. Xu pointed out that a robot, an 'intelligent machine with real-time response capability', combines the technologies of electronics, mechanics, and the sensor. He predicts that it will have great application value in the coming two decades. Lilliputian Tsing Ma Bridge The Advanced Microsystems Laboratory, as its name suggests, studies very small things. Prof. L i Wen Jung, head of the laboratory ， took pains to explain how small precisely micro- machines are when asked to introduce his job. He said, ‘One micron is equal to one millionth of a metre. The diameter of the human hair is about 100 microns or one tenth of a millimetre.' Because the things studied by the laboratory are so small, they can be seen clearly only under the microscope. Prof. Li took out a magnified digital photo of an ant and a similarly-sized Tsing Ma Bridge. The three- dimensional miniature bridge was made by A student remotely controlling the single-wheel robot In the lab Prof. Xu (standing) introducing the autonomous driving simulation system Chinese University Bulletin Spring • Summer 1999