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From: gerry@cive.ri.cmu.edu (Gerry Roston)
Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Subject: Re: Divert NASA budget to robotics
Message-ID: <9935@pt.cs.cmu.edu>
Date: 17 Jul 90 15:41:57 GMT
References: <2787@dftsrv.gsfc.nasa.gov> <18608@ttidca.TTI.COM>
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, CS/RI
Lines: 31

In article <18608@ttidca.TTI.COM> hollombe@ttidca.TTI.COM (The Polymath) writes:
>
>Our unmanned space effort is run by JPL.  That's their job.  They compete
>with NASA for funding.  They do a _lot_ more robotics research.

JPL does not COMPETE with NASA for funding.  (I worked there...)
JPL is one of the NASA centers, although they are different from
the others due to historical reasons.  Each of the NASA centers tries
to get a piece of the NASA pie.  And yes, each center does have an
area for which they are noted.

JPL is not the only center working on robotics.  In  typical
governemental stupidity, NASA has robotics work proceeding
at several centers.  This does not allow the appropriate people
to work together.  Also, because of limited budgets, each center
tries to prove that they should get money.  Therefore, a great
amount of time is spent geting demos tweaked to prove things work,
and answering bureaucratic nonsense to ensure a steady stream of
funding into the center.

Basically, the above was a flame of NASA... it just slipped out.
Based my my experience, and some estimation, probably less than
25% of the money spent by NASA (at their centers) is actually used
to advance robotics.  


-- 
gerry roston, field robotics center
robotics institute, carnegie mellon university
pittsburgh, pennsylvania, 15213  (412) 268-6557
gerry@cive.ri.cmu.edu