Building a collaborative network of researchers in mechano-computation

Last year, Vickie Webster-Wood, associate professor of mechanical engineering and Nick Gravish, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of California San Diego, hosted a workshop to bring together many of the nation’s leading experts in mechano-computation - a field that integrates both mechanical and computational processes and distributes them throughout a system to produce autonomous and responsive behavior.  

Traditionally, mechanical systems and computational systems exist separately, but emerging research across biology, physics, chemistry, and robotics has demonstrated that computation can also occur within mechanical systems, offloading and simplifying the computation that must be done by the brain or controller. 

“Pushing the boundaries of mechano-computation is how we will give robots animal-like capabilities, and how we will create energy-efficient intelligence,” Webster-Wood said. “The brain needs a body to act on the world, for all of the recent advances in AI to impact the real physical world, we need methods for truly embodied intelligence, where the mechanics and controls are strategically developed together.” 

While the workshop identified tremendous opportunities for mechano-computation, it also identified critical barriers that the community needs to overcome to achieve this promised potential.

Pushing the boundaries of mechano-computation is how we will give robots animal-like capabilities.

Vickie Webster-Wood, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering

To overcome these barriers, Webster-Wood in a joint partnership between Carnegie Mellon University, UC San Diego and Purdue University is building a collaborative research network focused on mechano-computation. 

‘The Mechano-computation for Expanding Scientific Horizons Network, also known as MESH, is funded by The National Science Foundation and brings together experts from robotics, mechanics, biology, neuroscience, computer science, information theory, and applied mathematics. 

Nicholas Gravish at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, and Laura Blumenschein and Zachary Kingston at Purdue University are collaborators on the project focused on fostering interdisciplinary dialogue, developing quantitative measures, and pushing the boundaries of mechanical intelligence research.  

“By fostering research connections and exchanges, as well as creating a central resource for sharing findings, benchmarks, and methodologies, we can accelerate innovation and establish the United States as a leader in this transformative area of study,” said Webster-Wood.