Robotics in the Auto Industry: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow
Steven W. Holland
Manager, Robotics
General Motors NAO Manufacturing Technology Center
12:00 pm Wed. March 22 in 159 Mechanical Engineering
Robotics technology has been extensively developed and refined over
the past 20 years for use in the U.S. auto industry and become an essential
element of modern, flexible manufacturing systems. While it has proven
indispensable for a number of current application, unprecendented
opportunities sitll remain before us. I will attempt to outline where the
potential for new applications exists and what some of the research
problems are.
Steve Holland holds degrees in electrical engineering (GMI) and computer
science (Stanford) and has been active in the area of robotics since 1975.
He coauthored numerous publications and holds patents in fields of vision
and artificial intelligence. He is a receipient of several prestiguous
awards, including the "Boss Kettering" Award (the top technical award in
GM).
In his current position, Steve Holland is the chair for GM's Robotics
Council and is responsible for GM robotics development and support
activities. He is currently a Director and Secretary of the Executive
Committee for Robotics Industries Association (RIA); he has been active
in IEEE, SME, and other professional societies.
The talk will be followed by a video:
"Robotics Matters to Manufacturing" (19 minutes)
Gary L. Cowger
President, GM de Mexico
This talk was originally presented to the RIA's Robotics Industry
Forum in November 1994 by Gary L. Cowger, a General Motors Vice-President.
It positions robotics as a technology in the broader context of
manufacturing. It is a particularly important message to the acedemic
community because it attempts to close the loop between health of our
economy as supported by manufacturing and our critical needs in education.