James S. Albus
Encyclopedia
James Sacra Albus was an American
engineer
, Senior NIST Fellow and founder and former chief of the Intelligent Systems Division of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST).
Ky., Albus received the B.S. degree in physics from Wheaton College
, Illinois, in 1957 and the M.S. degree in electrical engineering
from The Ohio State University
, Columbus, in 1958. In 1972 he received a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park
.
From 1957 to 1973 Albus worked at NASA starting in 1957 as Physicist-Engineer on Project Vanguard at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington DC. From 1958 to 1969 he was Physicist-Engineer at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and from 1963 Acting Head of the Video Techniques Section. From 1969 to March 1973 he was head of the Cybernetics and Subsystems Development Section. In the 1960s he was associated with the early Vanguard satellite program
and responsible for the optical aspect sensors on seven Goddard satellites, more than ten sounding rockets, and over 15 NASA spacecraft.
From 1973 to 2008 Albus worked at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) which changed it's name in 1980 to the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST). March 1973 to June 1980 he was Project Manager for Sensors and Computer Control Technology, NBS where he developed the Cerebellar Model Arithmetic Computer (CMAC) neural net model. From June 1980 to January 1981 he was leader of the Programmable Automation Group at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) and developed the RCS reference model architecture for the Automated Manufacturing Research Facility.
From 1981 to 1996 he was chief of the Robot Systems Division at NIST. Here he founded the Robot Systems Division, hired staff, acquired funding, developed the RoboCrane, and many applications of the RCS architecture for DARPA, NASA, ARL, U.S. Bureau of Mines, Ford, and General Motors. From 1995 to 1998 as Chief, Intelligent Systems Division, NIST he managed a Division of 35 professional scientists and engineers with an $8+ million per year budget. Developed the 4D/RCS architecture for the Army Research Lab (ARL) Demo III Experimental Unmanned Vehicle program. From 1998 to 2008 he was Senior NIST Fellow, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Provided technical leadership to the Intelligent Systems Division and served as Principal Investigator for the implementation of intelligent ground vehicle projects funded by the Army and DARPA.
From June 2008 to 2009 he was Senior Fellow, Krasnow Institute for Advanced Studies, George Mason University
, Fairfax, VA. Provide technical leadership for programs that advance understanding of the computational and representational mechanisms of the human brain. From 2008 to 2011 he worked part time at Robotic Technology Incorporated (RTI) and Robotic Research, LLC.
He was a member of the editorial board of the Wiley Series on Intelligent Systems serves on the editorial boards of six journals related to intelligent systems and robotics; "Autonomous Robots", "Robotics and Autonomous Systems", "Journal of Robotic Systems", "Intelligent Automation" and "Soft Computing".
In 1962 he received the highest NASA cash award granted to that time for the invention of the Digital Solar Aspect Sensor. In 1984 he was winner of the Joseph F. Engelberger Award for robotics technology. He received numerous other awards for his work in control theory including the NIST Applied Research Award, the Department of Commerce Gold and Silver Medals, the Industrial Research IR-100 award, the Presidential Rank Meritorious Executive, the Jacob Rabinow award, and the Japan Industrial Robot Association
R&D Award.
(a crane-like variation on the Stewart platform
idea) and for a novel economic concept known as "Peoples' Capitalism". Peoples' Capitalism goes beyond similar ideas of Louis O. Kelso
and answers the "how would we live without jobs" question so common in Molecular Nanotechnology
discussions.
Albus's vision concerns: a world without poverty, a world of prosperity, a world of opportunity, a world without pollution, a world without war and includes a detailed plan for achievement of same.
In 1971, he published a new theory of cerebellar function that modified and extended a previous theory published by David Marr in 1969. What is now known as the Marr-Albus theory of the cerebellum is regularly cited in the neuroscience literature. It continues to inspire experimental activity by leading cerebellar neurophysiologists throughout the world. The Albus portion of the Marr-Albus theory has also proven an invaluable inspiration to the fields of neural nets, robotics, and intelligent machine systems.
(CMAC). CMAC was awarded an IR-100 award from Industrial Research Magazine as one of the 100 most important industrial innovations of the year 1976. Today, CMAC (a.k.a. Cerebellar Model Arithmetic Computer) continues to inspire research in neural network
s. It has several significant advantages over more traditional neural net learning algorithms. It is orders of magnitude faster in learning non-linear functions than back-propagation, and is much faster in execution. This makes it particularly useful for applications related to real-time adaptive control. CMAC is the subject of many recent publications in the robotics and neural net literature.
™ has the capacity to lift and precisely manipulate heavy loads over large volumes with fine control in all six degrees of freedom. Laboratory RoboCranes have demonstrated the ability to manipulate tools such as saws, grinders, and welding torches, and to lift and precisely position heavy objects such as steel beams and cast iron pipe. In 1992, the RoboCrane was selected by Construction Equipment magazine as one of the 100 most significant new products of the year for construction and related industries. It was also selected by Popular Science
magazine for the "Best of What's New" award as one of the 100 top products, technologies, and scientific achievements of 1992.
A version of the RoboCrane has been commercially developed for the Air Force to enable rapid paint stripping, inspection, and repainting of very large military aircraft such as the C-5 Galaxy
. RoboCrane is expected to save the Air Force $8 million annually at each of its maintenance facilities. This project was recognized in 2008 by a National Laboratories Award for technology transfer. Potential future applications of the RoboCrane include ship building, construction of high rise buildings, highways, bridges, tunnels, and port facilities; cargo handling, ship-to-ship cargo transfer on the high seas, radioactive and toxic waste clean-up; and underwater applications such as salvage, drilling, cable maintenance, and undersea waste site management.
(RCS), a reference model architecture that has been used over the past 25 years for a number of intelligent systems including the NBS Automated Manufacturing Research Facility (AMRF), the NASA telerobotic servicer, a DARPA Multiple Autonomous Undersea Vehicle project, a nuclear Submarine Operational Automation System, a Post Office General Mail facility, a Bureau of Mines automated mining system, a commercial open architecture machine tool controller, and numerous advanced robotic projects, including the Army Research Lab Demo III Experimental Unmanned Ground vehicle.
During the 1980s, the Albus-Barbera reference model architecture (a.k.a. RCS - for Real-time Control System) provided the fundamental integrating principle of the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) Automated Manufacturing Research Facility (AMRF.) This was an $80 million experimental automated factory-of-the-future. It was co-funded by the U.S. Navy Manufacturing Technology Program and the National Bureau of Standards (NBS). The success of the AMRF was largely responsible for the Congressional Legislation that transformed NBS into NIST.
During the 1990s, Dr. Albus led a team of researchers in developing an open architecture Enhanced Machine Controller (EMC) for intelligent machine tools and next generation inspection systems based on the RCS principles. The EMC was successfully tested and evaluated by shop personnel in a production prototype shop at General Motors Powertrain plant in Flint Michigan. Commercial controllers based on this version of the EMC have been developed and used by industry for water-jet cutters and machining cell controllers. Application Program Interface (API) specifications for open architecture controller standards have been developed in collaboration with an industry consortium consisting of developers, vendors, and users including General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Boeing, DOE, NIST, and a number of small companies. EMC software and documentation has also been made available to universities and is currently being incorporated into curriculum for university courses in advanced control systems.
to a Cognitive Architecture for Intelligent Multi-Agent Systems. This extended architecture is designed to enable any level of intelligent behavior, up to and including human levels of performance in driving vehicles and coordinating tactical behaviors between autonomous air, ground, and amphibious vehicle systems. It addresses the fundamental theoretical questions regarding whether computational processes are capable of emulating the functional processes in the brain, and provides a theoretical basis for understanding how the machinery of the brain generates the processes of the mind. Dr. Albus' recent work has led to a biologically plausible model of representation and computation in the human cortex.
Decade of the Mind has been formally adopted as a major thrust area by the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Studies at the George Mason University
. Three Decade of the Mind workshops have been held and a fourth is scheduled at Sandia National Labs. The director of the Krasnow Institute has made many contacts on Capitol Hill, and prospects seem good that Decade of the Mind may become a funded program during the next administration.
on intelligent systems and robotics, and authored or coauthored five books:
About Peoples' Capitalism
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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,...
, Senior NIST Fellow and founder and former chief of the Intelligent Systems Division of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology
National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology , known between 1901 and 1988 as the National Bureau of Standards , is a measurement standards laboratory, otherwise known as a National Metrological Institute , which is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce...
(NIST).
Biography
Born in LouisvilleLouisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
Ky., Albus received the B.S. degree in physics from Wheaton College
Wheaton College (Illinois)
Wheaton College is a private, evangelical Protestant liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago in the United States...
, Illinois, in 1957 and the M.S. degree in electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
from The Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
, Columbus, in 1958. In 1972 he received a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
.
From 1957 to 1973 Albus worked at NASA starting in 1957 as Physicist-Engineer on Project Vanguard at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington DC. From 1958 to 1969 he was Physicist-Engineer at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and from 1963 Acting Head of the Video Techniques Section. From 1969 to March 1973 he was head of the Cybernetics and Subsystems Development Section. In the 1960s he was associated with the early Vanguard satellite program
Project Vanguard
Project Vanguard was a program managed by the United States Naval Research Laboratory , which intended to launch the first artificial satellite into Earth orbit using a Vanguard rocket as the launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Missile Annex, Florida....
and responsible for the optical aspect sensors on seven Goddard satellites, more than ten sounding rockets, and over 15 NASA spacecraft.
From 1973 to 2008 Albus worked at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) which changed it's name in 1980 to the National Institute of Standards and Technology
National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology , known between 1901 and 1988 as the National Bureau of Standards , is a measurement standards laboratory, otherwise known as a National Metrological Institute , which is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce...
(NIST). March 1973 to June 1980 he was Project Manager for Sensors and Computer Control Technology, NBS where he developed the Cerebellar Model Arithmetic Computer (CMAC) neural net model. From June 1980 to January 1981 he was leader of the Programmable Automation Group at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) and developed the RCS reference model architecture for the Automated Manufacturing Research Facility.
From 1981 to 1996 he was chief of the Robot Systems Division at NIST. Here he founded the Robot Systems Division, hired staff, acquired funding, developed the RoboCrane, and many applications of the RCS architecture for DARPA, NASA, ARL, U.S. Bureau of Mines, Ford, and General Motors. From 1995 to 1998 as Chief, Intelligent Systems Division, NIST he managed a Division of 35 professional scientists and engineers with an $8+ million per year budget. Developed the 4D/RCS architecture for the Army Research Lab (ARL) Demo III Experimental Unmanned Vehicle program. From 1998 to 2008 he was Senior NIST Fellow, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Provided technical leadership to the Intelligent Systems Division and served as Principal Investigator for the implementation of intelligent ground vehicle projects funded by the Army and DARPA.
From June 2008 to 2009 he was Senior Fellow, Krasnow Institute for Advanced Studies, George Mason University
George Mason University
George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...
, Fairfax, VA. Provide technical leadership for programs that advance understanding of the computational and representational mechanisms of the human brain. From 2008 to 2011 he worked part time at Robotic Technology Incorporated (RTI) and Robotic Research, LLC.
He was a member of the editorial board of the Wiley Series on Intelligent Systems serves on the editorial boards of six journals related to intelligent systems and robotics; "Autonomous Robots", "Robotics and Autonomous Systems", "Journal of Robotic Systems", "Intelligent Automation" and "Soft Computing".
In 1962 he received the highest NASA cash award granted to that time for the invention of the Digital Solar Aspect Sensor. In 1984 he was winner of the Joseph F. Engelberger Award for robotics technology. He received numerous other awards for his work in control theory including the NIST Applied Research Award, the Department of Commerce Gold and Silver Medals, the Industrial Research IR-100 award, the Presidential Rank Meritorious Executive, the Jacob Rabinow award, and the Japan Industrial Robot Association
Japan Robot Association
The Japan Robot Association is a trade association made up of companies in Japan that develop and manufacture robot technology. It was formed in 1971 as the Industrial Robot Conversazione. The association was reorganized and renamed as the Japan Industrial Robot Association in 1972, and was...
R&D Award.
Work
Dr. Albus was notable for his contributions to cerebellar robotics, development of a two-handed manipulator system known as the RobocraneRobocrane
The Robocrane is a kind of manipulator resembling a Stewart platform but using an octahedral assembly of cables instead of struts. Like the Stewart platform, the Robocrane has six degrees of freedom .It was developed by James S...
(a crane-like variation on the Stewart platform
Stewart platform
A Stewart platform is a type of parallel robot that incorporates six prismatic actuators, commonly hydraulic jacks. These actuators are mounted in pairs to the mechanism's base, crossing over to three mounting points on a top plate. Devices placed on the top plate can be moved in the six degrees...
idea) and for a novel economic concept known as "Peoples' Capitalism". Peoples' Capitalism goes beyond similar ideas of Louis O. Kelso
Louis O. Kelso
Louis Orth Kelso was a political economist in the classical tradition of Smith, Marx and Keynes. He was also a corporate and financial lawyer, author, lecturer and merchant banker who is chiefly remembered today as the inventor and pioneer of the Employee Stock Ownership Plan , the prototype of...
and answers the "how would we live without jobs" question so common in Molecular Nanotechnology
Molecular nanotechnology
Molecular nanotechnology is a technology based on the ability to build structures to complex, atomic specifications by means of mechanosynthesis. This is distinct from nanoscale materials...
discussions.
Albus's vision concerns: a world without poverty, a world of prosperity, a world of opportunity, a world without pollution, a world without war and includes a detailed plan for achievement of same.
Brain theory
Neural nets
Based on his cerebellar model, Albus invented a new type of neural net computer, the Cerebellar Model Articulation ControllerCerebellar Model Articulation Controller
The Cerebellar Model Articulation Controller is a type of neural network based on a model of the mammalian cerebellum. It is also known as the Cerebellar Model Arithmetic Computer...
(CMAC). CMAC was awarded an IR-100 award from Industrial Research Magazine as one of the 100 most important industrial innovations of the year 1976. Today, CMAC (a.k.a. Cerebellar Model Arithmetic Computer) continues to inspire research in neural network
Neural network
The term neural network was traditionally used to refer to a network or circuit of biological neurons. The modern usage of the term often refers to artificial neural networks, which are composed of artificial neurons or nodes...
s. It has several significant advantages over more traditional neural net learning algorithms. It is orders of magnitude faster in learning non-linear functions than back-propagation, and is much faster in execution. This makes it particularly useful for applications related to real-time adaptive control. CMAC is the subject of many recent publications in the robotics and neural net literature.
RoboCrane
Dr. Albus invented and developed a new generation of robot cranes based on six cables and six winches configured as a Stewart platform. The NIST RoboCraneRobocrane
The Robocrane is a kind of manipulator resembling a Stewart platform but using an octahedral assembly of cables instead of struts. Like the Stewart platform, the Robocrane has six degrees of freedom .It was developed by James S...
™ has the capacity to lift and precisely manipulate heavy loads over large volumes with fine control in all six degrees of freedom. Laboratory RoboCranes have demonstrated the ability to manipulate tools such as saws, grinders, and welding torches, and to lift and precisely position heavy objects such as steel beams and cast iron pipe. In 1992, the RoboCrane was selected by Construction Equipment magazine as one of the 100 most significant new products of the year for construction and related industries. It was also selected by Popular Science
Popular Science
Popular Science is an American monthly magazine founded in 1872 carrying articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. Popular Science has won over 58 awards, including the ASME awards for its journalistic excellence in both 2003 and 2004...
magazine for the "Best of What's New" award as one of the 100 top products, technologies, and scientific achievements of 1992.
A version of the RoboCrane has been commercially developed for the Air Force to enable rapid paint stripping, inspection, and repainting of very large military aircraft such as the C-5 Galaxy
C-5 Galaxy
The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft built by Lockheed. It provides the United States Air Force with a heavy intercontinental-range strategic airlift capability, one that can carry outsize and oversize cargos, including all air-certifiable cargo. The Galaxy has many...
. RoboCrane is expected to save the Air Force $8 million annually at each of its maintenance facilities. This project was recognized in 2008 by a National Laboratories Award for technology transfer. Potential future applications of the RoboCrane include ship building, construction of high rise buildings, highways, bridges, tunnels, and port facilities; cargo handling, ship-to-ship cargo transfer on the high seas, radioactive and toxic waste clean-up; and underwater applications such as salvage, drilling, cable maintenance, and undersea waste site management.
Real-time Control System
Albus co-invented the Real-Time Control SystemReal-Time Control System
The Real-time Control System is a software system developed by NIST based on the Real-time Control System Reference Model Architecture, that implements a generic Hierarchical control system...
(RCS), a reference model architecture that has been used over the past 25 years for a number of intelligent systems including the NBS Automated Manufacturing Research Facility (AMRF), the NASA telerobotic servicer, a DARPA Multiple Autonomous Undersea Vehicle project, a nuclear Submarine Operational Automation System, a Post Office General Mail facility, a Bureau of Mines automated mining system, a commercial open architecture machine tool controller, and numerous advanced robotic projects, including the Army Research Lab Demo III Experimental Unmanned Ground vehicle.
During the 1980s, the Albus-Barbera reference model architecture (a.k.a. RCS - for Real-time Control System) provided the fundamental integrating principle of the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) Automated Manufacturing Research Facility (AMRF.) This was an $80 million experimental automated factory-of-the-future. It was co-funded by the U.S. Navy Manufacturing Technology Program and the National Bureau of Standards (NBS). The success of the AMRF was largely responsible for the Congressional Legislation that transformed NBS into NIST.
During the 1990s, Dr. Albus led a team of researchers in developing an open architecture Enhanced Machine Controller (EMC) for intelligent machine tools and next generation inspection systems based on the RCS principles. The EMC was successfully tested and evaluated by shop personnel in a production prototype shop at General Motors Powertrain plant in Flint Michigan. Commercial controllers based on this version of the EMC have been developed and used by industry for water-jet cutters and machining cell controllers. Application Program Interface (API) specifications for open architecture controller standards have been developed in collaboration with an industry consortium consisting of developers, vendors, and users including General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Boeing, DOE, NIST, and a number of small companies. EMC software and documentation has also been made available to universities and is currently being incorporated into curriculum for university courses in advanced control systems.
Computational Theory of Mind
Dr. Albus has extended the 4D/RCS reference model4D-RCS Reference Model Architecture
The 4D/RCS Reference Model Architecture is a reference model for military unmanned vehicles on how their software components should be identified and organized.4D/RCS has been developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology...
to a Cognitive Architecture for Intelligent Multi-Agent Systems. This extended architecture is designed to enable any level of intelligent behavior, up to and including human levels of performance in driving vehicles and coordinating tactical behaviors between autonomous air, ground, and amphibious vehicle systems. It addresses the fundamental theoretical questions regarding whether computational processes are capable of emulating the functional processes in the brain, and provides a theoretical basis for understanding how the machinery of the brain generates the processes of the mind. Dr. Albus' recent work has led to a biologically plausible model of representation and computation in the human cortex.
Peoples' Capitalism
Dr. Albus was concerned for many years about the potential social impact of advanced intelligent systems. He was optimistic about the wealth producing capabilities of intelligent machines, but concerned about the elimination of jobs and the downward pressures advanced automation has on human wages and salaries. In 1976, he published a book entitled "Peoples' Capitalism: The Economics of the Robot Revolution". In that book he lays out a plan to broaden capital ownership to the point where every citizen becomes a capitalist with a substantial income from personal ownership of capital assets. He maintains a web site www.PeoplesCapitalism.org where he outlines a practical plan to achieve a future economic system where income from ownership of capital assets supplements, and eventually supplants, wages and salaries as the primary source of income for the average citizen.Decade of the Mind
Dr. Albus conceived of and promoted the idea of a $4 billion 10-year national program to understand the mechanisms of mind. This concept dubbed Decade of the Mind is modeled after the Human Genome project in structure and size.Decade of the Mind has been formally adopted as a major thrust area by the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Studies at the George Mason University
George Mason University
George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...
. Three Decade of the Mind workshops have been held and a fourth is scheduled at Sandia National Labs. The director of the Krasnow Institute has made many contacts on Capitol Hill, and prospects seem good that Decade of the Mind may become a funded program during the next administration.
Publications
Albus has published more than 150 scientific papers, journal articles, and official government studieson intelligent systems and robotics, and authored or coauthored five books:
- 1976. Peoples’ Capitalism: The Economics of the Robot Revolution. New World Books. ISBN 0-917480-01-5
- 1981. Brains, Behavior, and Robotics. Byte/McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-070009-75-9
- 2001. Engineering of Mind: An Introduction to the Science of Intelligent Systems. Wiley. ISBN 0-471-43854-5
- 2001. The RCS Handbook: Tools for Real-Time Control Systems Software Development. Wiley. ISBN 0-471-43565-1
- 2002. Intelligent Systems: Architecture, Design, and Control. Wiley. ISBN 0-471-19374-7
External links
- Dr. James Albus James Albus.org
- James S. Albus at NIST
About Peoples' Capitalism
- Peoples' Capitalism Home includes fulltext of the book
- Peoples’ Capitalism: A Pathway to Abundance James S. Albus writes in h+ Magazine