Hod Lipson
Encyclopedia
Hod Lipson is an American
robotics
engineer
. He is the director of Cornell University's
Creative Machines Lab (CCML), formerly known as Computational Synthesis Lab (CCSL), at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
. Lipson's work focuses on evolutionary robotics
, design automation, rapid prototyping
, artificial life
, and creating machine
s that can demonstrate some aspects of human creativity
.
PhD
in 1998 from Technion Israel Institute of Technology. Before joining the faculty of Cornell in 2001, he was a postdoctoral researcher at Brandeis University's
Computer Science Department and a Lecturer at MIT's Mechanical Engineering Department.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/hod_lipson_builds_self_aware_robots.html. On April 2, 2009, the New York Times profiled him because he and his Cornell University
graduate student Michael Schmidt developed an intelligent machine to "uncover the fundamental laws of nature".http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/science/07robot.html?em The machine was able to derive the laws of physics such as gravitation by processing the raw information. As Lipson puts it, "The system successfully found such physical laws within experimental data taken from complex, chaotic systems like a double pendulum — a pendulum with a pivot joint in the middle."http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/science/07robot.html?em
Lipson has been involved with teams that have created a number of machines including:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
robotics
Robotics
Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots...
engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
. He is the director of Cornell University's
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
Creative Machines Lab (CCML), formerly known as Computational Synthesis Lab (CCSL), at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Cornell University College of Engineering
The College of Engineering is a division of Cornell University that was founded in 1870 as the Sibley College of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanic Arts...
. Lipson's work focuses on evolutionary robotics
Evolutionary robotics
Evolutionary robotics is a methodology that uses evolutionary computation to develop controllers for autonomous robots. Algorithms in ER frequently operate on populations of candidate controllers, initially selected from some distribution. This population is then repeatedly modified according to...
, design automation, rapid prototyping
Rapid prototyping
Rapid prototyping is the automatic construction of physical objects using additive manufacturing technology. The first techniques for rapid prototyping became available in the late 1980s and were used to produce models and prototype parts. Today, they are used for a much wider range of applications...
, artificial life
Artificial life
Artificial life is a field of study and an associated art form which examine systems related to life, its processes, and its evolution through simulations using computer models, robotics, and biochemistry. The discipline was named by Christopher Langton, an American computer scientist, in 1986...
, and creating machine
Machine
A machine manages power to accomplish a task, examples include, a mechanical system, a computing system, an electronic system, and a molecular machine. In common usage, the meaning is that of a device having parts that perform or assist in performing any type of work...
s that can demonstrate some aspects of human creativity
Creativity
Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new that has some kind of value. What counts as "new" may be in reference to the individual creator, or to the society or domain within which the novelty occurs...
.
Biography
Lipson received his Mechanical EngineeringMechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in 1998 from Technion Israel Institute of Technology. Before joining the faculty of Cornell in 2001, he was a postdoctoral researcher at Brandeis University's
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
Computer Science Department and a Lecturer at MIT's Mechanical Engineering Department.
Research
Lipson has been involved with machine learning and presented his "self-aware" robot at the 2007 TED conferencehttp://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/hod_lipson_builds_self_aware_robots.html. On April 2, 2009, the New York Times profiled him because he and his Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
graduate student Michael Schmidt developed an intelligent machine to "uncover the fundamental laws of nature".http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/science/07robot.html?em The machine was able to derive the laws of physics such as gravitation by processing the raw information. As Lipson puts it, "The system successfully found such physical laws within experimental data taken from complex, chaotic systems like a double pendulum — a pendulum with a pivot joint in the middle."http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/science/07robot.html?em
Lipson has been involved with teams that have created a number of machines including:
- Fab@Home fabbers—low cost "3-d printers"
- Self replicating robots—simple structures capable of reproducing themselves given the appropriate parts.
- "self aware robots"—machines capable of compensating for damage that would otherwise impede movement.
External links
- Cornell Creative Machines Lab homepage
- TED Talks: Hod Lipson builds "self-aware" robots at TEDTED (conference)TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
in 2007 - Fab@Home
- Live broadcast of Hod Lipson on The Agenda with Steve Paikin discussion panel, "Robotics Revolution and the Future of Evolution" with Cory DoctorowCory DoctorowCory Efram Doctorow is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who serves as co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of the Creative Commons organization, using some of their licences for his books...
, Michael Belfiore, and Eliezer YudkowskyEliezer YudkowskyEliezer Shlomo Yudkowsky is an American artificial intelligence researcher concerned with the singularity and an advocate of friendly artificial intelligence, living in Redwood City, California.- Biography :...
at the Quantum to Cosmos festival.