New Laboratories to Study Robotics and Microsystems


At the opening of the Xiangshan Scientific Symposium: (front row from right) Prof. Kenneth Young, CUHK Pro-Vice-Chancellor; Prof. Zhang Kan, Director of International Cooperation, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Prof. Arthur K.C. Li, CUHK Vice-Chancellor; Mr. Wang Feng Chao, Deputy Director of Xinhua News Agency ¡X Hong Kong Branch; Prof. Zhang Tao, Director of Xiangshan Scientific Symposium; Prof. P.C. Ching, CUHK Dean of Engineering; Prof. Xu Yangsheng.

Automation and robotics are new research areas that are rapidly developing at the University. Last year two related laboratories ¡X Advanced Robotics Laboratory and Advanced Microsystems Laboratory ¡X were established under the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering. In November the Xiangshan Scientific Symposium on Telescience and Robotics was convened on CUHK campus, drawing together some 40 top scientists and researchers from Hong Kong, mainland China, Japan, USA, Russia, and Germany to discuss frontier research in robotics, automation, information and space technology, and to promote international collaboration in these areas.

Robots Can Do Almost Anything We Can Do

Automation of Driving

One day if you see a driverless car on the highway, stay calm. This is no longer a scene from a sci-fi film. Prof. Xu Yangsheng, chairman of the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, said he had participated in research on autonomous vehicles back in the early 1990s at Carnegie Mellon University. In 1996 the car they produced drove itself for the first time all the way from Washington D.C. on the East coast to San Diego in California.
Prof. Xu (standing) introducing the autonomous driving simulation system

One of the research focuses of the Advanced Robotics Laboratory which Prof. Xu heads is how to model human intelligence and use this model to replace human intelligence in control strategies, such as driving.

What exactly is 'modelling human intelligence'? Prof. Xu explained that it is the 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.

A student remotely controlling the single-wheel robot in the lab

Flying Wheels

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 hence has great 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.

Interdisciplinary Research

The laboratory was recently awarded two grants by the Research Grants Council: HK$450,000 for the project on the 'Modeling of Human Intelligence' and HK$2,700,000 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 modern 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

Prof. Li Wen Jung

Tinier than an ant - the miniature bridge has a height of less than one millimetre and a width of around two millimetres.

The Advanced Microsystems Laboratory, as its name suggests, studies very small things. Prof. Li 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 Prof. Li's students, who explained that micro-machines are made in much the same way as integrated circuits are made in traditional electronic engineering ¡X with diminutive parts. The miniature bridge has a height of less than one millimetre and a width of around two millimetres.

Many objects, even whole systems, produced in this lab measure less than one tenth of a millimetre in height. There are micro-generators for generating electricity for integrated circuits, micro-resonators and micro-actuators which can be used to produce micro-sensors, or used in optical communications and micro-robotic applications.

Because the weight and volume of micro-sensors are only a thousandth or a millionth of regularly sensors, they cost significantly less to launch into space and are therefore frequently used in aeronautics.

There are also micro pressure sensors which can be implanted in a prosthetic bone to monitor whether it has moved or come loose due to pressures caused by changes in the patient's weight. This means that doctors no longer have to insert equipment inside patients' bodies to monitor the prosthetic bone. This greatly reduces the latters' pain and discomfort.

Prof. Li pointed out that microsystems research is rare among local universities, and of such research that does exist, the University's has the most practical value.

Collaborative Research of Enormous Potential

Advanced Microsystems Laboratory

Prof. Xu and Prof. Li said that the two laboratories have a very close working relationship. Recently they began a project that makes use of micro-machines to manufacture a micro-robot which can travel inside veins. Such a robot may have great potential in medical application. The pooling of expertise of two state-of-the-art laboratories in research no doubt breeds enormous potential.

The Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering has moved into the new Mong Man Wai Building. With increased office and laboratory space, researchers now enjoy improved working conditions and that no doubt will also be reflected in the quality of their research.