Washington —To help spark a national initiative to nurture robotics and intelligent machine technologies, five U.S. senators and one U.S. representative recently cosigned a letter asking senior government officials to draft a memorandum on the subject. The U.S. Departments of Defense, Commerce, and Energy along with NASA and the National Science Foundation will appoint officials to write a paper on how the departments can work together to promote these technologies.

The Robotics and Intelligent Machines Coordinating Council (RIMCC) says the intelligent machines industry is poised for a greater emergence. RIMCC held a congressional exposition in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 30, 1997, which was attended by many legislators. The event included panel discussions on the importance of robotics and intelligent machines to national security, the future world economy, and the health and safety of workers.

Dr. Patrick Eicker, RIMCC's head and director of the R&D Lab at Sandia National Laboratory (Albuquerque, N.M.), says the legislators' letter is the next logical step needed to encourage the robotics and intelligent machines fields. He added that RIMCC will continue to work with these agencies and Congress in developing national initiatives to encourage these industries.