Wei-Min Shen: Father of the SuperBot!

June 13, 2007

Dr. Wei-Min Shen is the Director of Polymorphic Robotics Laboratory, the Associate Director of the Center for Robotics and Embedded Systems, and a Research Associate Professor in Computer Science at University of Southern California. He received his Ph.D. under Nobel Laureate Professor Herbert A. Simon from Carnegie Mellon University in 1989.

Dr. Shen has more than 20 years of research experience. His current research interests include self-reconfigurable and metamorphic systems, autonomous robots, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Life Science. He has over 100 publications in these areas. He is the recipient of a Silver-Medal Award in 1996 AAAI Robotics Competition, a World Championship Award in 1997 Middle-sized RoboCup Competition, a Meritorious Service Award at ISI in 1997, and a Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Recognition Award at USC in 2003. He is the author of "Autonomous Learning from Environment" (W.H.Freeman), a 360-page book on how machines learn from their environment based on "surprises".

He is the PI for the SuperBot project for developing a modular, multifunctional and self-reconfigurable robotic system for space application, a co-inventor of CONRO, and the inventor of hormone-inspired distributed and decentralized control for self-reconfigurable systems (US Patent #006636781). He has served as chairs and committee members for international conferences and workshops in Robotics, Machine Learning, and Data Mining, and as editorial board members for scientific books and research journals. His research activities have been reported by leading scientific journals such as SCIENCE (9/26/1997 and 8/8/2003) and NATURE (5/28/2004), and media press such as CNN, PBS, BBC, Fox, Discovery, and other newspapers and magazines in the world. His research has been supported by NSF, AFOSR, DARPA, ARO, and NASA.

Tell us about your work. What do you create?

Intelligent, autonomous, and self-reconfigurable robots that are inspired by resilient biological systems.

What drives you to continue pursuing this area of study?

It is my desire to serve humanity, life in general, and the universe.

Howmightyour work might impact people's lives, now and in the future?

My dream is to create intelligent robots that can (1) accomplish complex tasks in environments that are dangerous and risky for human such as space, deepwater, and disaster areas, and (2) accompany, assist and entertain human in daily life.

How did you come up with the idea?

The idea started when I was a graduate student under my PhD advisor Professor Herbert A. Simon (a Nobel Laureate), and later intensified when I was building the award-wining YODA robot and the world-champion Dreamteam soccer-playing robots. The idea of self-reconfiguration using digital hormone came to me at 3AM one night when I was writing a proposal at ISI.

Has anyone ever doubted that your idea could work?

Oh, yes! No one, (and even myself sometimes!) would believe the idea of "hormone control" would fly. But I thought that nature already showed us it could be done, so I persisted.

What is the next step in the innovation process for you (and how might people help)?

I would like to commercialize SuperBot so that it can directly serve humanity with all its potentials. I need help to make this dream come true.

What is the one innovation you can't live without?

The true desire to serve humanity.

What would people be surprised to learn about you?

The journey of my life. I was born in JinHua (near ShangHai), China, on December 25, some years ago. As a child, I did not know what Christmas was. I always complained to my mother: "Why didn't you hold me for one day longer so I would have the same birthday as Chairman Mao!"

After high school, I went to the countryside to receive "re-education" from the Poor and Lower Middle Peasants. I grew rice, tea, and peanuts and learned how to use Water buffalo in the fields and how to ride them home after a long and hard working day. Life was hard then, especially when we were told we would be there forever. I remember on a cold winter evening, I found a dusty old high school textbook in my only suitcase and started to fiddle with it. A friend came by and said: "well, it may be useful for you someday, but not for us." After that, I was motionless and started staring into the darkness outside my window...

Well, I have no complaints about those days --- they taught me well what life is about. After China reopened, the universities were reopened for public entrance examinations and I went to Beijing to attend the universities there. I did very well all the way through and was honored to be selected to study abroad after graduation. In Beijing, I met two important people in my life: my wife Sai-Ying and my advisor Herbert A. Simon.

The rest of the story is ordinary by American standards. I learned how to speak English and how to drive (my first car was a Dodge Dart for $275). I flew a Cessna (never got my pilot's license though) and owned a sailboat. I now drive Mercedes and Z3. Despite all these, I don't think I have changed much; I always followed the meaning of "Wei Min" (i.e., "To serve the people" in English), a principle given to me by my parents since I was born.

What do you wish you would have invented?

I am still working on it!

Any tips for aspiring innovators?

Maintain curiosity, courage, and persistence.

Email or phone?

Combined together.

Galileo, Darwin, Einstein, Socrates or Newton? Other? Why?

All of the above for their invention of scientific methods and results, Plus, the ancient inventors and philosophers in east, who emphasize the idea of "whole system" rather than "individuals".

What is the most fun you've ever had?

The moments when I see my robots become a "living system" from "nonliving parts."