Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: brunix!news.Brown.EDU!noc.near.net!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!library.ucla.edu!news.mic.ucla.edu!magnesium.club.cc.cmu.edu!honeydew.srv.cs.cmu.edu!crabapple.srv.cs.cmu.edu!e4.ius.cs.cmu.edu!hbb
From: hbb@cs.cmu.edu (Ben Brown)
Subject: Re: NASA invented device "Capaciflex"
Message-ID: <CCC01B.BzJ.1@cs.cmu.edu>
Sender: hbb@e4.ius.cs.cmu.edu (Ben Brown)
Nntp-Posting-Host: e4.ius.cs.cmu.edu
Organization: CMU Vision and Autonomous Systems
References:  <25bm9h$rqf@bbs.pnl.gov>
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1993 20:10:22 GMT
Lines: 30

In article <25bm9h$rqf@bbs.pnl.gov>, d3a132@pnl.gov (Carl P Baker) writes:
> A coworker saw a NASA invented device called the "Capaciflex" on the NASA
> channel.  Apparently it uses a capacitance effect to detect the presence of
> obstacles in the environment of a robot.  Does anyone know where I could get
> more information?  Has anyone heard of this thing?  Is anyone using it?
> 
> thanks
> -- carl
> 
> Carl P Baker
> cp_baker@pnl.gov
> 509-375-2724
> 
> You can tell how far we have to go when FORTRAN is the language of
> supercomputers.
> 	-- Steven Feiner
> 
> Disclaimer: I am not the official spokesperson for anyone.  For which
> organizations that use spokespersons are profoundly grateful.
> 

The Capaciflector is a concept for capacitive proximity sensing recently
patented by NASA. The development is being done at NASA Goddard Space
Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. A company called Computer Applications
Systems, Inc. in Signal Mountain, TN has a license to make and sell the
sensors. At Carnegie Mellon, we're working on a compact, low-cost
version of the sensor, but have not yet established a licensing
arrangement that permits us to sell the device.

	Ben
