| |
    
|
Reprinted from other members of ECMA
(Engineering College Magazines Associated)
The Human Genome Project is a grand attempt to completely map the 23 pairs of chromosomes that uniquely determine the genetic blueprint of a human being. The sheer scale of this endeavor is a daunting challenge to researchers in the field. Dr. Chris Overton, a biologist at the University of Pennsylvania, explains, "Each chromosome contains a single molecule of DNA--a string of text made up of four different nucleotide characters." The DNA text inherited from each parent is more than three billion characters in length. Working in collaboration, groups of scientists around the globe are attacking different segments of the human genome. The raw data, essentially a long text string, is transferred into databases. However, no standard presentation format is in place in the scientific community today. Overton and others here are developing an interface capable of connecting the many existing databases in the field. The relational model, the most popular choice in business and administrative settings, was unable to handle the needs of a scientific database, such as arrays, lists, bags, and more complicated data types. In response to this, Overton's team developed Collection Programming Language (CPL), a lower-level language that exploits the commonality of data types found in databases. Dr. Susan Davidson, another researcher in the group, concludes, "It is capable of handling arbitrarily complex databases. We haven't seen anything yet that we couldn't really handle."
-El Smith
Pennsylvania Triangle
Fall 1994
Group coordination of many different robotic units has recently become an area of intense research. At Virginia Tech, students in electrical, mechanical, and computer engineering are concentrating efforts in robotic design and development. The product of their research is the army ant, a low-cost, sensor-oriented robot capable of completing "team-oriented" tasks. With the support of Martin Marietta and Delco Electronics as well as funding from the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research, students are building a new breed of robot. The army ant is approximately 18 inches long and one foot wide and is capable of lifting more than one hundred pounds. It relies on two principle control systems: one module handles programmed responses to specific data from sensors and communications, while the second controls the motor. One of the most difficult issues confronting the designers of the army ant is the coordination of several duplicate robots. In theory, the army ant is capable of working with as many other units as necessary to complete an assigned task. In practice, however, enabling a group of army ants to act as one machine is very challenging. Numerous benefits favor this approach to robotic "group activity." Companies may quickly and easily replace broken units, and the machines are very adaptable. Furthermore, once the technology is in place, projects may easily be scaled up in size by merely adding more robots. The Army Ant Research Group can be found on the WorldWideWeb at http://armyant.ee.vt.edu/armyant-project.htm/.
-Nathan M. Phillips
Engineer's Forum (Virginia Tech)
December 1994
