Copyright (c) (copr) all rights reserved by TJH Internet SP and Earth Operations Central. All comments are strictly my unsupported opinion unless based upon promotional blurb extracted from the websites linked herein. This is by no means an exhaustive nor definitive list, and no particular recommendation nor assurance of solvency or utility is to be inferred from a listing herein.

Robotics

Academic & Research
Carnagie Mellon's Robotics Institute.
See their excellent and advanced Current Projects Page.
See also the Automatic 3D Modelling from Range Images project.
Georgia Tech's Robotics Research Projects.
Naval Center for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence.
Imaging and Robotic Perception

Analogic Corporation. Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI, NMRI), Ultrasound and other digital imaging. Also, they do analog-digital conversion, data telephony, and test-and-measurement.
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp has some nice imaging systems, primarily for use on spacecraft.
Current Technologies FF1 Framegrabber is a powerful which has an onboard processor for very rapid capture and analysis of video frames. In combination with their Massively-Parallel SIMD Processor which can put the power of a supercomputer in your desktop PC, this company is well on the way towards capturing the cutting edge of robotic perception.
CyberWare makes a product line of 3D laser-scanning digitizers, including a whole-body scanner.
DCS Corporation makes laser-surface mapping equipment and software, robotic hand cameras and other optical/mechanical systems.
DENEB Robotics, Inc., " is today a world leader in 3D graphics-based factory simulation, telerobotic, and virtual reality software. Its products are known for their patented user-friendly menus, comprehensive application functionality including built-in libraries and automatic processing of common operations, and an open architecture for applications involving remote control of automated devices interfacing with external databases or integration of multiple system components. " Deneb makes an awesome line of Simulation and Robotic Programming Software as well.
JPL Multimission Image Processing System. Scientific imaging, and not only visual imaging, they also develop technologies for interpretation of non-visual formats. Take a look at some of their software packages!
Micropower Impulse Radar (MIR). Micropower Impulse Radar, which uses extremely low power modulated RF as an imaging system that can even look through walls, will probably emerge as one of the primary sensing mechanisms for mobile robots.
Picker International Computed Tomography. Picker's product line includes excellent imaging equipment, and their spiral computed tomography can probably be adapted very easily to the needs of robotic perception of volumes.
Quadrant Engineering, Inc. Microwave and millimeter radar imaging systems and applications. They should really get together with the Micropower Impulse Radar folks cited above.

See also The Graphics and Imaging Page.

Motion Control and Manipulators

Northrup-Grumman Electronic Sensors and Systems Division is the proud manufacturer of the robots (telefactors, actually) used to retrieve and disarm bombs.
Philips Electronics.
Comprehension, Cognition, Decision Analysis

Artificial Intelligence Research Group, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom. There are, I must add, evidently quite a few very smart people working at this University. (Contrast this with any American university, where all of the 'smart people' seem to interested exclusively in cornering the markets.)
Computer Integrated Knowledge Systems, National Institutes of Standards & Technology.
Datops. This French company has some extremely interesting products. Here's some blurb:
" DATOPS is a rapidly growing software developer addressing the need for a new way to make time-sensitive business decisions. Recently funded by two venture capitalists in France and USA, Datops' InfoWarningTM technology is becoming the pioneering leader in Knowledge Management Decision Support and Information Mining markets.

The InfoWarningTM technology is the foundation for Datops' application, PERICLES, which researches, analyses and netcasts user relevant information. PERICLES delivers a revolutionary analysis and trend tracking capability that redefines decision-making at all organizational levels. It filters the overwhelming volume of information available to only the relevant, key items. "

IRIT - Institut Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse. This French research institute specializes in cognitive systems and artificial intelligence, as well as more-mundane programming and systems development activities.
KATIE (Knowledge-Based Assistant for Troubleshooting Industrial Equipment). This is not artificial-intelligence per-se but is rather an expert system. It comes fairly close to AI, though, in that it can learn new procedures from experienced personnel, rather than having to be programmed as-such.
Numerical Analysis and Computing Science at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
Robotics Resources, from the University of Massachusetts.
SeaSpace. A commercial concern involved with remote sensing and data interpretation, service and support of satellite imaging systems.
Semio Corporation. Lexical processing with semiotic analysis. Basically, these guys have a product that can read the news for you, and possibly "understand" it.
University of Wisconsin's LIDAR Group. (Laser Interferometry Direction and Ranging).

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