Obama drives Ned the robot at CMU lab

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/blog/innovation/2011/06/obama-drives-RedZone-robot-at-cmu-lab.html?page=all

Pittsburgh Business Times - by Paul J. Gough

Date: Friday, June 24, 2011, 1:10pm EDT

When President Obama toured the National Robotics Engineering Center at Carnegie Mellon University on Friday, he did more than just watch and learn. He got to run a small, 15-inch robot named "Ned."

The robot, created by local company and CMU spinoff RedZone Robotics, is designed to inspect sewers and water pipes. But it reported for duty Friday morning for the commander-in-chief, who pool reports said took the controls behind an LED touch screen at the Lawrenceville center. Advising Obama were three RedZone executives, Sam Cancilla, Ken Wolf and Sub Vallapuzha.

"Let's see how Ned does," the president said, according to pool reports.

As Ned, which pool reports say looked a little like a torpedo, moved through a pipe, the president said he was fascinated.

"He's sending back data as he's going through," Obama asked.

Ned wasn't the only robot that Obama saw. He saw the DARPA, the Defense Advance Research Project Agency, car, a combat-support vehicle that was built by Chandler, Ariz.-based Local Motors. Local Motors "crowd-sourced" the design, seeking upward of 150 design ideas before settling upon one. It's being held up as a model of what can be done in advanced manufacturing in such a short time.

"That's really cool," Obama said, according to pool reports.

Executives from consumer-goods giant Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) were also on hand to show Obama how Los Alamos Labs software helped P&G retool its diaper manufacturing and save $500 million. The digital design tool could help small and midsized manufacturers.

The tour was led by Pradeep Khosla, dean of CMU's College of Engineering.

"Carnegie Mellon is a great example of what it means to move forward," Obama told an invite-only audience following the tour.