How Will Revolutionize Wireless

ELECTRIFYING THE OUR ROBOTS, PINPOINTING RADIO’S OLIVETTI: FORGOTTEN NAVAJO NATION OURSELVES GHOSTLY ARTIFACTS COMPUTER PIONEER A new power paradigm Making teleoperation How Wi-Fi can see A dazzling debut, for the 21st century work in the real world people through walls then a terrible tragedy P. 06 P. 22 P. 34 P. 40

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THE BRAIN IN THE MACHINE Next-gen rescue robots may borrow their reflexes from humans. by João Ramos, Albert Wang & Sangbae Kim Page 22

28 AI WILL RULE THE AIRWAVES A DARPA Grand Challenge aims to change how we’ve managed wireless spectrum for the last 100 years. By Paul Tilghman

34 SEEING WITH RADIO Wi-Fi–like radio gear can be used to sense people’s location, breathing, and heart rate. By Fadel Adib

40 THE ITALIAN COMPUTER How Italy’s Olivetti became an early pioneer of digital transistorized computers. By Elisabetta Mori

06 NEWS 14 RESOURCES 20 OPINION TI-1 THE INSTITUTE

On the cover: Illustration for IEEE Spectrum by Greg Mably

IEEE SPECTRUM (ISSN 0018-9235) is published monthly by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. All rights reserved. © 2019 by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., 3 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016-5997, U.S.A. Volume No. 56, Issue No. 6. The editorial content of IEEE Spectrum magazine does not represent official positions of the IEEE or its organizational units. Canadian Post International Publications Mail (Canadian Distribution) Sales Agreement No. 40013087. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Circulation Department, IEEE Spectrum, Box 1051, Fort Erie, ON L2A 6C7. Cable address: ITRIPLEE. Fax: +1 212 419 7570. INTERNET: [email protected]. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS: IEEE Members: $21.40 included in dues. Libraries/institutions: $399. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to IEEE Spectrum, c/o Coding Department, IEEE Service Center, 445 Hoes Lane, Box 1331, Piscataway, NJ 08855. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Canadian GST #125634188. Printed at 120 Donnelley Dr., Glasgow, KY 42141-1060, U.S.A. IEEE Spectrum circulation is audited by BPA Worldwide. IEEE Spectrum is a member of the Association of Business Information & Media Companies, the Association of Magazine Media, and Association Media & Publishing. IEEE prohibits discrimination, harassment, and bullying. For more information, visit https://www.ieee.org/web/aboutus/whatis/policies/p9-26.html.

PHOTOGRAPH BY Bob O’Connor SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | JUN 2019 | 01 BACK STORY_ 06.19

donated the computer to a high school in the Tuscan hill town of Bibbiena. And there it’s been ever since. Today, former Olivetti employees periodically travel to the ISIS High School Enrico Fermi to tend to the machine. The encounter with the computer changed Mori’s life. She wrote a master’s thesis about it. Now, she is a Ph.D. candidate in the history of computing at Middlesex University in London. Her article “The Italian Computer,” about Olivetti’s pioneering computers, appears in this issue. “The machine works, but it is fragile,” Mori says. It contains more than 40 kilomet ers of copper cable wrapped LIVING HISTORY in woven glass fiber. “If you don’t run the computer regularly, it will stop bout 10 years ago, Elisabetta Mori and some friends were doing working. If you move it, it will die.” research for an art exhibit on the theme of “archives of memories.” To forestall that eventuality, a local “We approached the theme literally, and so we looked for old examples group called the Associazione Amici of physical memories—computer memories,” Mori recalls. “We tried to see dell’Olivetti ELEA 9003 is raising funds the oldest computers built in Italy.” At the Museum of Computing Machin- to hire and train workers to maintain ery in Pisa, they saw the Calcolatrice Elettronica Pisana, an early digital the computer. You can reach them at computer developed by the University of Pisa in 1957 with the support of [email protected]. A the Olivetti company. But the machine had long ago stopped working. “Until I saw it working, I didn’t realize Then they heard about a working model of the ELEA 9003, Olivetti’s first com- how complex, fascinating, and noisy mercial mainframe, introduced in 1959. They lost no time tracking it down. these early computers were,” Mori This 9003 had originally belonged to a bank in Siena, where it was used for pay- says. “I would have missed one big

roll, managing accounts, calculating interest rates, and the like. In 1972, the bank part of the story.” ■ LINKE ARMIN

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02 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG CONTRIBUTORS_ CONTRIBUTORS_

EDITOR IN CHIEF Susan Hassler, [email protected] ADVERTISING PRODUCTION MANAGER EXECUTIVE EDITOR Glenn Zorpette, [email protected] Felicia Spagnoli, [email protected] EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, DIGITAL SENIOR ADVERTISING PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Fadel Adib Harry Goldstein, [email protected] Nicole Evans Gyimah, [email protected] MANAGING EDITOR Elizabeth A. Bretz, [email protected] EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD, IEEE SPECTRUM Adib is an assistant professor at MIT, where he SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Susan Hassler, Chair; Steve Blank, David C. Brock, Sudhir Dixit, obtained his Ph.D. in 2016. His doctoral research Mark Montgomery, [email protected] Shahin Farshchi, Limor Fried, Robert Hebner, Jason K. Hui, was initially aimed at making Wi-Fi faster, but SENIOR EDITORS Grant Jacoby, Leah Jamieson, Mary Lou Jepsen, Deepa Kundur, the focus changed to using wireless technology Stephen Cass (Resources), [email protected] Norberto Lerendegui, Steve Mann, Allison Marsh, Sofia Olhede, Erico Guizzo (Digital), [email protected] to sense things, as he describes in “Seeing With Jacob Østergaard, Umit Ozguner, John Rogers, Radio” [p. 34]. In 2015, he participated in the Jean Kumagai, [email protected] Jonathan Rothberg, Umar Saif, Takao Someya, White House Demo Day for entrepreneurs. “He’s Samuel K. Moore, [email protected] Maurizio Vecchione, Yu Zheng, Kun Zhou, Edward Zyszkowski Tekla S. Perry, [email protected] starting to turn blue,” said President Obama, after Philip E. Ross, [email protected] EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD, THE INSTITUTE Adib held his breath to show that radio could be David Schneider, [email protected] Kathy Pretz, Chair; Qusi Alqarqaz, John Baillieul, Philip Chen, Shashank Gaur, Susan Hassler, Hulya Kirkici, Cecilia Metra, used to sense breathing. Now that’s dedication. DEPUTY ART DIRECTOR Brandon Palacio, [email protected] San Murugesan, Mirela Sechi Annoni Notare, Joel Trussell, PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR Randi Klett, [email protected] Hon K. Tsang, Chonggang Wang ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Erik Vrielink, [email protected] SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR MANAGING DIRECTOR, PUBLICATIONS Eliza Strickland, [email protected] Michael B. Forster Maria Gallucci NEWS MANAGER Amy Nordrum, [email protected] EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE Freelance journalist Gallucci writes in this issue ASSOCIATE EDITORS IEEE Spectrum, 3 Park Ave., 17th Floor, about an effort to connect the Navajo Nation to the Willie D. Jones (Digital), [email protected] New York, NY 10016-5997 Michael Koziol, [email protected] power grid in the southwest United States [p. 6]. TEL: +1 212 419 7555 FAX: +1 212 419 7570 SENIOR COPY EDITOR Joseph N. Levine, [email protected] Despite deployments of solar and wind in the area, BUREAU Palo Alto, Calif.; Tekla S. Perry +1 650 752 6661 COPY EDITOR Michele Kogon, [email protected] “there’s still this desire for full-grid connectivity,” DIRECTOR, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, EDITORIAL RESEARCHER Alan Gardner, [email protected] she says, because grid power is more reliable than MEDIA & ADVERTISING Mark David, [email protected] ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT off-grid renewables. U.S. utilities sent workers Ramona L. Foster, [email protected] ADVERTISING INQUIRIES Naylor Association Solutions, through mutual aid agreements—the same tool CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Evan Ackerman, Mark Anderson, Erik Henson +1 352 333 3443, [email protected] that helped Puerto Rico rebuild after Hurricane Robert N. Charette, Peter Fairley, Tam Harbert, Mark Harris, REPRINT SALES +1 212 221 9595, ext. 319 David Kushner, Robert W. Lucky, Prachi Patel, Morgen E. Peck, Maria, which Gallucci covered for IEEE Spectrum. REPRINT PERMISSION / LIBRARIES Articles may be Richard Stevenson, Lawrence Ulrich, Paul Wallich photocopied for private use of patrons. A per-copy fee must EDITOR IN CHIEF, THE INSTITUTE be paid to the Copyright Clearance Center, 29 Congress Kathy Pretz, [email protected] St., Salem, MA 01970. For other copying or republication, ASSISTANT EDITOR, THE INSTITUTE contact Managing Editor, IEEE Spectrum. Lucas Laursen Joanna Goodrich, [email protected] COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS IEEE Spectrum is a Since moving to Madrid nine years ago, freelance DIRECTOR, PERIODICALS PRODUCTION SERVICES Peter Tuohy registered trademark owned by The Institute of Electrical and journalist Laursen has switched Internet EDITORIAL & WEB PRODUCTION MANAGER Roy Carubia Electronics Engineers Inc. Responsibility for the substance providers several times to get lower rates or better SENIOR ELECTRONIC LAYOUT SPECIALIST Bonnie Nani of articles rests upon the authors, not IEEE, its organizational service. While city dwellers like him have options, PRODUCT MANAGER, DIGITAL Shannan Dunlap units, or its members. Articles do not represent official those in rural areas still lack Internet access. In WEB PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Jacqueline L. Parker positions of IEEE. Readers may post comments online; MULTIMEDIA PRODUCTION SPECIALIST Michael Spector comments may be excerpted for publication. IEEE reserves this issue, Laursen reports on cooperatively ADVERTISING PRODUCTION +1 732 562 6334 the right to reject any advertising. owned Wi-Fi networks that help bridge the gap [p. 8]. “I like the idea of people tackling these problems head on and really trying to solve them for their community,” he says.

IEEE BOARD OF DIRECTORS CORPORATE ACTIVITIES Donna Hourican PRESIDENT & CEO José M.F. Moura, [email protected] +1 732 562 6330, [email protected] João Ramos +1 732 562 3928 FAX: +1 732 465 6444 MEMBER & GEOGRAPHIC ACTIVITIES Cecelia Jankowski PRESIDENT-ELECT Toshio Fukuda +1 732 562 5504, [email protected] Ramos is a postdoc at MIT’s Biomimetic Robotics TREASURER Joseph V. Lillie SECRETARY Kathleen A. Kramer STANDARDS ACTIVITIES Konstantinos Karachalios Lab, which is led by mechanical engineering PAST PRESIDENT James A. Jefferies +1 732 562 3820, [email protected] professor Sangbae Kim. They, along with MIT VICE PRESIDENTS Witold M. Kinsner, Educational Activities; Hulya Kirkici, EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES Jamie Moesch Ph.D. candidate Albert Wang, wrote “The Brain Publication Services & Products; Francis B. Grosz Jr., Member +1 732 562 5514, [email protected] in the Machine” [p. 22], about disaster-response & Geographic Activities; K.J. “Ray” Liu, Technical Activities; GENERAL COUNSEL & CHIEF COMPLIANCE OFFICER robots whose performance is enhanced by a new Robert S. Fish, President, Standards Association; Thomas M. Sophia A. Muirhead +1 212 705 8950, [email protected] Coughlin, President, IEEE-USA CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER & kind of teleoperation suit. “You strap yourself to DIVISION DIRECTORS ACTING CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER this suit, and it lends your skills and agility to the Renuka P. Jindal (I); David B. Durocher (II); Sergio Benedetto Thomas R. Siegert +1 732 562 6843, [email protected] robot,” explains Ramos. The result is smarter and (III); John P. Verboncoeur (IV); John W. Walz (V); Manuel Castro TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES Mary Ward-Callan stronger than either a robot or a human alone. (VI); Bruno Meyer (VII); Elizabeth L. “Liz” Burd (VIII); Alejandro +1 732 562 3850, [email protected] “Alex” Acero (IX); Ljiljana Trajkovic (X) MANAGING DIRECTOR, IEEE-USA Chris Brantley REGION DIRECTORS Babak Dastgheib-Beheshti (1); Wolfram Bettermann (2); +1 202 530 8349, [email protected] Gregg L. Vaughn (3); David Alan Koehler (4); Robert C. Shapiro (5); Keith A. Moore (6); Maike Luiken (7); IEEE PUBLICATION SERVICES & PRODUCTS BOARD Paul Tilghman Magdalena Salazar-Palma (8); Teófilo J. Ramos (9); Hulya Kirkici, Chair; Derek Abbott, Petru Andrei, When Tilghman became project manager for Akinori Nishihara (10) John Baillieul, Sergio Benedetto, Ian V. “Vaughan” Clarkson, DARPA’s Spectrum Collaboration Challenge, a DIRECTOR EMERITUS Theodore W. Hissey Eddie Custovic, Samir M. El-Ghazaly, Ron B. Goldfarb, Larry Hall, Ekram Hossain, W. Clem Karl, Ahmed Kishk, competition to develop AI-enabled techniques for IEEE STAFF Aleksandar Mastilovic, Carmen S. Menoni, Paolo Montuschi, managing the RF spectrum, he wondered, What EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & COO Stephen Welby Lloyd A. “Pete” Morley, George Ponchak, Annette Reilly, am I getting myself into? Running a grand challenge +1 732 562 5400, [email protected] Sorel Reisman, Gianluca Setti, Gaurav Sharma, Maria Elena CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER Cherif Amirat is nerve-wracking, he says. “The daunting part is +1 732 562 6017, [email protected] Valcher, John Vig, Steve Yurkovich, Bin Zhao, Reza Zoughi the passing of the torch.” Tilghman’s hope is that IEEE OPERATIONS CENTER PUBLICATIONS Michael B. Forster research in this area will continue even after the +1 732 562 3998, [email protected] 445 Hoes Lane, Box 1331 CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER Karen L. Hawkins Piscataway, NJ 08854-1331 U.S.A. challenge, which is being held in October and +1 732 562 3964, [email protected] Tel: +1 732 981 0060 Fax: +1 732 981 1721 which he writes about in this issue [p. 28].

SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | JUN 2019 | 03 SPECTRAL LINES_ 06.19

1500 SALESFORCE (IRELAND) A Sampler of 2019 Tech Job News 1200 AMAZON (INDIA) 10 percent of its workforce. The breakdown included 97 engineers, 174 technicians, 900 AMAZON and a handful of other tech jobs. It’s not all gloom, though; GM subsidiary 600 SONY LOCKHEED Cruise Automation plans to add tech (JAPAN) MARTIN WESTERN GM PAYPAL McAFEE DIGITAL CRUISE professionals to its San Francisco offices. 300 APPLE THINFILM APPLE SPACEX SAP There’s been no word on how many, but the company has dramatically expanded 0 its office space. And GM Cruise has held -300 beer bashes for tech workers in Seattle, U.SBASED, aiming to install as many as 200 engineers -600 NONU.S. NONCALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA ONLY there by the end of the year. Former Valve Corp. engineers might want to check that out—the company cut 13 employees, with layoffs reportedly focused in its virtual- Who’s Firing? (Oracle, SpaceX) reality hardware division. Sunny skies outside the Bay Area: Who’s Hiring? (Sony, Glassdoor) Glassdoor, the online recruitment site, announced that it will build a product- Taking the temperature of engineering employment and software-engineering team in Chicago, as we look back on the first quarter of 2019 which will be Glassdoor’s first engineering team housed outside the San Francisco/ ere more engineering jobs created or lost in the first months Silicon Valley area. The company says it is actively of 2019? The biggest news came in March, when Oracle looking for dozens of engineers for front-end, back- Corp. started clear-cutting engineers around the world. end, machine-learning, and testing positions, along The layoff news came via employee reports, not an official with data scientists, product managers, and designers. Oracle announcement, and overall numbers are still unclear. Amazon announced that it will add some 800 jobs Worldwide layoff numbers were initially pegged from 500 to to its tech hub in Austin, Texas, mostly in software and several thousand, and estimates suggested that around 100 hardware engineering, cloud computing, and research. W positions would be eliminated in the San Francisco Bay Area Apple announced that it will add 170 people to alone. That number, at least, turned out to be low. Oracle, in late March, its new San Diego tech operation this year, bring- alerted the California Employment Development Department (EDD) that ing in an additional 1,000 through 2020. its cuts included 255 positions in its Redwood City offices and 97 in Santa Lockheed Martin announced plans to hire 200 Clara. ¶ Other layoff notices drizzled across Silicon Valley offices. But the engineers for its New York facilities, to focus on systems numbers, generally in the hundreds, weren’t exactly a downpour. The num- engineering, product electrical engineering, software bers posted in hiring announcements were typically higher—and mostly engineering, integration, testing, and manufacturing. described openings outside the San Francisco Bay Area. ¶ Cloudy with Outside the United States. Sony announced that it scattered layoffs in California:PayPal filed plans with the EDD to cut 183 will add 320 semiconductor engineers to its payroll jobs, mostly in software engineering. SAP likewise filed layoff plans, indicat- in Japan this year and another 320 in 2020, mostly ing that it will cut 446 California jobs, also mostly in software. ¶ Thinfilm aimed at developing image sensors. Google has Electronics announced worldwide staff cuts, including 54 Bay Area pro- added more than a dozen semiconductor design fessionals, reported to be mostly hardware engineers. ¶ Western Digital engineers to a new facility in Bengaluru, India, so Corp. announced a layoff of 211 staff members in Silicon Valley and another far this year; Reuters reported that the company’s 100 in Irvine, Calif. The company indicated that most, though not all, of the chip-design team could grow to 80 by the end of layoffs involve engineering jobs, including dozens in its SanDisk division 2019. And Amazon has listed more than 1,000 tech and some 50 from R&D operations. ¶ Cybersecurity toolmaker McAfee jobs in India. cut 200 employees from its Silicon Valley offices in late January and early The extended forecast? Partly sunny with a chance February, with layoffs affecting sales and finance as well as engineering.¶ of rain. —Tekla S. Perry Apple cut 190 workers from its Silicon Valley self-driving car division. The A version of this article appears in our View From cuts included both software and hardware engineers, as well as at least one the Valley blog. machine-learning expert. ¶ In Southern California, SpaceX announced plans to lay off hundreds of its employees, with cuts amounting to about ↗ POST YOUR COMMENTS at https://spectrum.ieee.org/techjobnews0619

04 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG Looking beyond our solar system with ray tracing simulation...

Visualization of ray trajectories in a white pupil échelle spectrograph.

Astronomers detected an Earth-like planet 11 light-years away from our solar system. How? Through data from an échelle spectrograph called HARPS, which finds exoplanets by detecting tiny wobbles in the motion of stars. Engineers looking to further the search for Earth- mass exoplanets can use ray tracing simulation to improve the sensitivity of échelle spectrographs. The COMSOL Multiphysics® software is used for simulating designs, devices, and processes in all fields of engineering, manufacturing, and scientific research. See how you can apply it to spectrography.

comsol.blog/echelle-spectrographs PLUGGING IN THE NAVAJO NATION

A pilot program brought grid power to 200 homes, but there are 15,000 to go

David Hefner and his crew rum- necessities,” said Hefner, the distribu- bled toward Arizona in bucket tion power line superintendent at Grand trucks, digger derricks, and vehicles full River Dam Authority, a nonprofit util- of materials. The Oklahoma linemen typ- ity in Vinita, Okla. “We wanted to be a ically drive their fleet to storm‑ravaged part of helping build this infrastructure.” communities after hurricanes and tor- For six weeks in April and May, about nadoes disrupt power for days. But when 125 volunteers from two dozen utilities the team set off in April, it wasn’t to partnered with Navajo crews and met repair battered poles and wires. Instead, with families through Light Up Navajo, they helped bring light to homes left in an initiative by NTUA and the Ameri- the dark for generations. can Public Power Association (APPA). About 60,000 people in the Navajo In the coming months, organizers will Nation—a vast swath of high plains and assess how to replicate the program in desert in Arizona, New Mexico, and years to come. Utah—still can’t access the electric grid Teams in the pilot session installed from their homes. Thousands more poles, transformers, lines, and meters lack running water. In recent years, the to connect more than 200 houses to the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) grid—including the home of an elderly the reservation is on federal land). Home- has doubled down on efforts to extend man who planned to buy his first refrig- owners must pay more than $3,000 to power lines, build substations, and pro- erator. NTUA itself has connected about wire their houses and connect electric vide residents with off-grid renewable 4,900 homes in the past 10 years, though meters—a considerable expense. The energy units. Now, public utilities across the work remains costly and painstak- average NTUA customer pays about $630 the United States are pitching in to accel- ingly slow, said Walter Haase, the gen- a year for electricity, which is not nearly erate the country’s longest-running rural eral manager. enough for the utility to recoup its infra- electrification campaign. The utility spends about US $40,000 structure costs. “We have our own American people on average to hook one home up to the At the current pace, NTUA says it will right here in our backyard that don’t grid, including thousands of dollars in take 40 years to connect the remaining

have what we consider the modern fees to use a federal right-of-way (since 15,000 off-grid homes, or about a third (5) ASSOCIATION POWER PUBLIC LANDRY/AMERICAN ALYSA

06 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG GRID WORK: Linemen from Ohio set a pole in the Chinle region of the Navajo Nation [top left]. Workers from Massachusetts connect a distribution line in the Shiprock region [top right]. A crew from Arizona’s Salt River Project poses with a family near Ganado [middle right]. A lineman unspools a wire in the Navajo Nation [bottom right]. Employees from Ohio’s Piqua Power System run a line to a home [bottom left].

Haase said the idea to partner with outside utilities came after a rash of extreme weather blasted grids in Puerto Rico, Texas, and Florida. Workers arrived in droves to restore power through mutual- aid agreements. Haase recently chaired APPA’s board, and members frequently asked about using a similar approach for the Navajo effort. APPA awarded the utility a $125,000 grant to design and launch the pilot program, and NTUA and volunteers are raising more money through GoFundMe campaigns. Through a multimillion-dollar project with the U.S. Department of Energy, the utility has also provided hundreds of off- grid units to Navajo families, including hybrid models that combine an 880-watt solar array, a 400-W wind turbine, and a small battery bank. The units supply a few hours’ worth of electricity in the evening. For elderly couples or people living alone, this can be sufficient. But large families and younger residents, accustomed to round- the-clock power off the reservation, tend to use more electricity than the units are designed to support. In those cases, grid power makes more sense, said Sandra Begay, an engineer and Navajo Nation member who helped facilitate the proj- of the houses scattered throughout the thousands of Hopi families in Arizona ect for Sandia National Laboratories. 70,000-square-kilometer reservation. and numerous Alaska Native households She said the rural electrification efforts “That’s just too long to wait,” Haase said still aren’t connected to the grid. aren’t intended to push modern infra- from his office in Fort Defiance, Ariz. The Navajo Nation formed NTUA in 1959 structure on Navajo families, but rather to Under the Rural Electrification Act of to address this oversight. The utility’s give them the same access enjoyed by resi- 1936, the U.S. government provided finan- first large solar plant, the 27.3-megawatt dents in the rest of the country. “It’s really cial incentives to help utilities and newly Kayenta facility, came on line in 2017. A about choice,” Begay said. “I don’t ever formed cooperatives bring electricity to 28-MW addition is slated for completion want to have it where somebody doesn’t far-flung farms and towns. Yet the move- in June. Revenues from the solar elec- have a choice.” —Maria Gallucci ment largely bypassed Native American tricity help fund the utility’s rural elec- ↗ POST YOUR COMMENTS at https://spectrum.ieee.org/ lands. Along with Navajo households, trification efforts. navajonation0619

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SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | JUN 2019 | 07 WI-FI FOR ALL: A co-op installed four towers to deliver high-speed Wi-Fi service to residents in RURAL CO-OPS the village of Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia. structure. One Missouri electrical cooperative, Co-Mo, applied for U.S. stimulus DELIVER HIGH-SPEED funding to offer broadband to its members. Despite not winning that grant, the cooperative went ahead with its plans INTERNET and now offers members broadband for US $50 a month. Long-range Wi-Fi and a cooperative approach The phenomenon reaches across the may help close the digital divide border to Canada, too. Bell Canada’s CAN $100-a-month DSL service didn’t provide enough bandwidth or speed The U.S. Federal Commu- nities to build more of their own Inter- for entrepreneur Brian Reid’s software nications Commission pro- net infrastructure. Already, despite and business-service companies, so posed a rule update in April rules in 26 U.S. states that create obsta- he paid to extend fiber-optic cables that would make it easier cles for community networks, some from a nearby road to his business in for people to install wireless repeater 3 million Americans, mostly rural, get the village of Lawrencetown, Nova antennas—also known as signal boost- their Internet that way. Scotia. Soon, others heard about his ers. In some rural regions, Wi-Fi can be The federal government spends fast fiber and asked if he would share. the best way to extend the reach of fiber- around US $1.5 billion a year to expand He suggested the municipality set up a optic networks at broadband speeds and broadband Internet service and subsi- cooperative to cover the costs of con- at affordable prices. dize plans for people with low incomes. necting his fiber-optic Internet to mem- The Wireless Internet Service Pro- Still, the so-called digital divide remains. bers via high-throughput Wi-Fi towers viders Association (WISPA), the lobby- Some communities in the United that can transmit from 10 kilometers ing group that proposed the change, States have already taken Internet ser- up to 32 km. argues that it’s necessary to keep up vice into their own hands by self-funding “In rural areas, there is just this sense… with market forces that are driving high-speed fiber and Wi-Fi networks. A that they can’t wait for the federal gov- networks toward smaller hubs oper- handful of rural electricity coopera- ernment or the states to do anything,” ating over shorter ranges. The update tives have even launched broadband says Christopher Mitchell, the director

would also make it easier for commu- cooperatives to build fiber-optic infra- of community broadband networks at REID BRIAN

08 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a nonprofit advocacy organization. ANOTHER STEP Once a fiber-optic line is in place, the hardware to transmit Wi-Fi costs very little. When Reid began TOWARD THE END OF researching options for transmitting Wi-Fi outdoors over long distances, he found that the transmitter was the cheap part, costing maybe CAN $1,500. It MOORE’S LAW would cost 10 times as much to lay the concrete and raise a tower, even with volunteer labor. Samsung and TSMC move to The Lawrencetown cooperative has since 5-nanometer manufacturing installed four of these towers—including one on a farmer’s silo—and is building a fifth. The high- throughput Wi-Fi he tested early on “kind of blew Two of the world’s largest foundries—Taiwan us away,” he recalls. “I could see 600 megabits per Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) second,” or about 7 times as fast as Nova Scotia’s and Samsung—announced in April that they’d average fixed broadband speed in 2018. climbed one more rung on the Moore’s Law If government agencies such as the FCC are ladder. TSMC spoke first, saying its 5-nanometer manu- willing to open up unused licensed spectrum in facturing process is now in what’s called “risk produc- rural regions, community networks could offer tion”—the company believes it has finished the process, even better service, says telecom engineer Carlos but initial customers are taking a chance that it will work Rey‑Moreno of the Association for Progressive for their designs. Samsung followed quickly with a simi- Communications. “The breakthrough will be at lar announcement. the regulatory level in the U.S. and other coun- TSMC says its 5-nm process offers a 15 percent speed gain tries when they open up 6 gigahertz [and other or a 30 percent improvement in power efficiency. Samsung bands],” he says, to take advantage of technology is promising a 10 percent performance improvement or a that can transmit more data than existing Wi-Fi. 20 percent efficiency improvement. Analysts say these -fig Cooperatives have already shown that they can ures are in line with expectations. Compared, though, with be popular and profitable with today’s technology. the sometimes 50 percent improvements of a decade ago, it’s At first, the Lawrencetown cooperative, which clear that Moore’s Law is not what it used to be. But judging began offering services in 2017, charged its 150 or by the investments big foundries are making, customers still so members CAN $60 per month, based on what think it’s worthwhile. a neighboring private ISP charged, but the cooperative soon found that it was generating a profit, Why is 5 nanometers special? which it had to repay to members, minus taxes. It The 5-nm node is the first to be built from the start using has since lowered its prices to CAN $40 a month, extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV). With a wavelength of and grown its membership to 350, but Reid says just 13.5 nm, EUV light can produce extremely fine patterns it could go lower. RS Fiber Cooperative, which built fiber-optic ser- PERFORMANCE AND POWER- vice for 6,000 households, farms, and businesses in CONSUMPTION IMPROVEMENTS rural Minnesota, has a similar story. Both RS Fiber TSMC performance and the Lawrencetown co-op relied on municipal 60 TSMC power consumption loans or backing to build the initial infrastructure. Samsung performance 50 They’ve both since become self-sufficient. Samsung power consumption And being first with fiber is always an advantage, 40 Mitchell says: “It’s a hard business plan to make work, but if you can make it work…[you’ll] prob- 30

ably have an effective monopoly for many years.” change Percent The only difference, Reid says, is that the com- 20 munity owns this monopoly. —Lucas Laursen 10 16/14 10 7 5

SOURCES: SAMSUNG; TSMC (COMPARISONS TO ORIGINAL VERSION OF PREVIOUS NODE) PREVIOUS OF VERSION ORIGINAL TO (COMPARISONS TSMC SAMSUNG; SOURCES: ↗ POST YOUR COMMENTS at https://spectrum.ieee.org/communitywifi0619 Node

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SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | JUN 2019 | 09 on silicon. Some of these patterns the new tech to distinguish them- could be made with the previous selves, he says. generation of lithographic tools, ABB AND but those tools would have to lay Is it okay that there are only two down three or four different pat- companies left? terns in succession to produce the Only Samsung and TSMC are SIEMENS same result that EUV manages in offering 5-nm foundry services. a single step. GlobalFoundries gave up at 14 nm Foundries began 7-nm manu- and Intel, which is years late with TEST SUBSEA facturing without EUV, but later its rollout of an equivalent to com- used it to collapse the number of petitors’ 7 nm, is thought to be pull- lithographic steps and improve ing back on its foundry services, POWER yield. At 5 nm, the foundries are according to analysts. thought to be using 10 to 12 EUV Samsung and TSMC remain steps, which would translate to 30 because they can afford the invest- GRIDS or more steps in the older technol- ment and expect a reasonable return. ogy, if it were even possible to use Samsung was the largest chipmaker Putting a power-distribution the older tech. by revenue in 2018, but its foundry station on the ocean floor Because the photomasks that con- business ranks fourth, with TSMC could allow more raw tain the patterns are so expensive in the lead. TSMC’s capital expendi- materials to be processed and each lithography machine itself ture was $10 billion in 2018. S amsung down there is a US $100 million–plus investment, expects to nearly match that on a “EUV costs more per layer,” says per-year basis until 2030. G. Dan Hutcheson, at VLSI Research. Can the industry function with Slowly but surely, oil- and gas- But it’s a net revenue gap on a per- only two companies capable of the drilling technology is migrating wafer basis, and EUV will form the most advanced manufacturing from floating platforms to the seafloor. core of all future processes. processes? “It’s not a question of Pumps moved down there decades ago. can it work?” says Hutcheson. “It More recently, compressors (which boost Who will use it? has to work.” pressure in a well to keep gas flowing) The new manufacturing processes “As long as we have at least two and separators (which isolate oil from aren’t for everyone. At least not viable solutions, then the industry water and silt) have relocated to the yet. But both companies identi- will be comfortable,” says Jelinek. murky depths. fied some likely early adopters, Putting this equipment closer to wells including suppliers that make What’s next? makes them more productive and energy smartphone application proces- Chipmakers’ pipelines have tradi- efficient. Some oil and gas companies sors and 5G infrastructure. “You tionally had 5 nm following 7 nm even aspire to build subsea factories have to have high volume and a and 3 nm following 5 nm. But that extract and process oil and natural need for either speed or power analysts say to expect foundries gas directly on the seafloor. These fac- efficiency,” says Len Jelinek, a to offer a variety of technologies tories would be safe from hazards such semiconductor-manufacturing with incremental improvements as icebergs and hurricanes. They would analyst at IHS Markit. that fill in the gaps. Indeed, both be controlled remotely, reducing labor Whom you’re competing against Samsung and TSMC are offering costs. Eventually, some believe, offshore counts too, explains Kevin Krewell what they’re calling a 6-nm process. platforms could be phased out entirely. at TIRIAS Research. Graphics pro- Foundries will need those inter However, all of this sunken gear requires cessing units, field-programmable mediate products to keep custom- electricity. Today, operators typically gate arrays, and high-performance ers coming to the edge of Moore’s string power lines from power plants or microprocessors used to be the Law. After all, there aren’t many diesel generators aboard nearby oil rigs first to take advantage of the bleed- numbers left between 5 and 0. to every piece of subsea equipment they ing edge of Moore’s Law. But with —Samuel K. Moore install. That works for a few machines, but less competition in those markets, it’s impractical to string dozens of umbili- ↗ POST YOUR COMMENTS at https://spectrum.ieee. it’s the mobile processors that need org/fivenanometers0619 cals, as they’re known, to the ocean floor.

10 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG Brian Skeels, professor of subsea engineering at the University of Houston and director of emerging technology for the offshore design and consulting firm TechnipFMC, has seen many attempts to “marinize” technologies to work underwater. Dealing with heat is a common stumbling block. If water can’t flow freely around a device, the heat it generates prompts marine life to grow on the equipment, which shortens its life-span. And, Skeels cautions, “what may work in shallow water may not work at deeper depths.” Both systems are expected to work at depths of up to 3,000 meters and operate for 30 years with minimal maintenance. At the end of their lives, the units can be removed from the seafloor. A power-distribution center would be just one piece of any future subsea factory—a vision that has captivated the Industry suppliers ABB and Siemens SUBMERSION: Siemens performed a shallow- industry for more than a decade. Skeels are now putting the finishing touches water test for its subsea power-distribution says the future of subsea processing will system off the coast of Trondheim, Norway. on competing versions of the world’s depend largely on whether such proj- first subsea power-distribution stations. 6.6 kV. The system can provide elec- ects can add more value to the industry Once installed, these stations would tricity to devices with power ratings than they drain in expense. Investment connect via a single line to a “topside” between 1 and 15 megawatts. The umbili- into subsea processing dried up when oil (maritime parlance for above water) cal that hooks it to a generation station prices crashed in 2014. Looking ahead, generator, wind turbine, or power plant, also includes an embedded fiber-optic Skeels thinks the technology holds the and redistribute electricity to under- cable so operators can run everything most potential for remote wells more water equipment. “Our technology is from afar. than 160 kilometers from other facilities. an enabling technology for the subsea One of the hardest parts of building Hani Elshahawi, digitalization lead factory,” says Bjørn Rasch, head of sub- the station, Rasch says, was ensuring it for deepwater technologies at Shell, sea power for Siemens. could withstand the high water pressure says there are clear benefits to having Both projects have been in the works of the seafloor. Instead of encasing all power readily available on the seafloor. for more than five years. ABB will com- the equipment in a pressurized cham- But he doesn’t think subsea factories plete its final round of testing in June ber, engineers flooded the electronics will supplant all platform activities, or and expects to install its first subsea with a synthetic fluid called Midel. This replace any of them in the near future. power system in 2020. Siemens tested biodegradable fluid inside the equip- “It will require decades, in my view,” he its version in shallow water in Norway ment maintains the same pressure as says. “We foresee a more gradual and last November and is now talking with the seawater, which alleviates stress. lengthy transition.” clients about putting its first unit in the The fluid also passively cools the device To Rasch at Siemens, though, the field. “We’re getting close to where we’re by transferring heat from equipment to industry’s vision of subsea factories actually deploying this technology in a the chilly seawater. does not seem as far out as it once did. real project,” Rasch says. Chevron, Eni Norge, Equinor, and “There are many technologies in many Siemens’s model, which the company ExxonMobile have all worked with companies that are in place or close to calls its Subsea Power Grid, consists of a Siemens to get the company’s project being in place,” he says. “This can be transformer, a medium-voltage switch- this far. The next step for both ABB realized in the close future, that’s for gear, and a variable-speed drive. Its dis- and Siemens will be to deliver the first sure.” —Amy Nordrum tribution voltage is around 30 kilovolts, model for installation at an active pro- ↗ POST YOUR COMMENTS at https://spectrum.ieee.org/

SIEMENS while its variable-speed drive puts out duction site. subseapower0619

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SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | JUN 2019 | 11 12 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG PHOTOGRAPH BY Martin Schutt/Picture Alliance/Getty Images KING COAL DEPOSED

WORKERS IN JENA, Germany, are seen here in April using special equipment to take down a chimney that stood as a 225-meter- high monument to burning coal for energy. The heating power plant (owned by TEAG Thüringer Energie) that once belched smoke through the chimney has been converted to a clean-burning natural gas–and– steam combined-cycle power plant. But when demolition of the smokestack—the last of its kind in the German state of Thuringia— is completed in July, there will be no turning back to coal as a fuel source.

THETHE BIG BIG PICTUREPICTURE newsNEWS

SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | JUN 2019 | 13 RESOURCES_HANDS ON

ATTENTION SEEKER: G.tec has introduced a A BRAIN INTERFACE TO commercialized version of the Unicorn EEG [above].

CAPTURE YOUR ATTENTION tion might help soothe symptoms, it doesn’t AN EEG HEADPIECE FOR help in understanding why a child with ADHD is more prone to react to certain stimuli, or CHILDREN WITH ADHD how their symptoms might be treated in a IS NOW MAKER FRIENDLY way that reduces reliance on drugs. My goal was to create a device that would provide the data needed for such insights by AM A FASHION-TECH DESIGNER: I COMBINE FASHION WITH monitoring both the brains of children and I engineering, science, and interactive user-experience technologies. When worn, their environments. The result was Agent many of my designs monitor physiological indicators—such as heart rate—and Unicorn—a headpiece with a projecting horn. react to this information in some way, communicating the wearer’s internal state. In 2016, The horn contains an 8-megapixel camera I was in Linz, Austria, as an Ars Electronica Futurelab artist-in-residence, and I decided that records video during states of height- to take the opportunity to see if I could apply my techniques therapeutically. • The result ened P300 activity, as detected by an EEG was a headpiece that helps children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and built into the headpiece itself. The headpiece their caregivers better understand what environmental cues are associated with symptom- has a shape that automatically positions the atic problems. In April, the underlying technology became commercially available for mak- electrodes at the correct locations on the skull. ers interested in brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). • When I arrived in Linz, I was already To create Agent Unicorn, I did not want to interested in electroencephalography (EEG) devices, which measure the brain’s electrical use any of the commercial EEG devices then available. The cheaper devices lacked good activity, as I saw them as an extension of my ing, that occurs a few hundred milliseconds data-acquisition and processing capabili- earlier work. Through Ars Electronica I met after an external stimulus. The P300 signal ties—many of them used a single electrode Dominik Laister at the nearby Barmherzige is often measured when diagnosing children that touched the forehead and struggled to Brüder Hospital, who became a valuable with ADHD because the signal takes longer distinguish between electrical activity caused advisor. After consulting with him, I decid- to manifest and isn’t as strong as it is in chil- by brain waves and activity caused by muscle ed to focus on what is known as the P300 dren without ADHD. contractions. Medical-grade systems were event-related brain potential signal. P300 is ADHD is commonly treated with stimulants steeply priced—up to US $10,000 for a clunky, a frequent focus of clinical exams and BCI re- such as Adderall that can boost concentra- albeit reliable, device. search. It is a voltage pulse, often thought to tion and focus while reducing hyperactive So I began collaborating with Christoph

be connected to attention and decision mak- and impulsive behaviors. But while medica- Guger, the founder and co-CEO of G.tec, a (3) WIPPRECHT/G.TEC ANOUK

14 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG medical engineering company located near can make a therapist’s job easier by high- Linz. G.tec is a large producer of EEG equip- lighting moments when a child becomes ment and software, mainly supplying hospi- especially attentive, and this can suggest tals and other medical clients. But Guger has points of departure for nonpharmaceutical a keen interest in the new generation of mak- therapeutic measures. ers who want to use neurological data in their While clinical studies are in progress to projects. Because I was specifically interested confirm the value of using Agent Unicorn to in the P300 signal, we were able to trim the treat children with ADHD, G.tec has recent- number of electrodes down from the conven- ly released a US $1,100 version with the tional 64 to eight. We developed a miniature Unicorn EEG for scientists, makers, and art- EEG board that connects to electrodes that ists. This version comes without the cam- can be used without applying conductive gel. era horn, and uses a soft skullcap to hold PLAYFUL TECHNOLOGY: The author places an In the headpiece, the EEG board is con- Agent Unicorn headpiece on a child’s head [top]. A and position the electrodes. A Bluetooth nected to a Raspberry Pi Zero W single-board camera in the base of the horn [bottom] captures connection transmits data for real-time computer. The Pi also receives a continu- video that is transmitted to a computer when the analysis using a number of different pro- EEG detects, via its electrodes, a particular type of al video feed from the horn camera. When brain wave associated with attention. gramming languages. a P300 event is detected, the Pi wirelessly My aim is to create a learning system that sends a video clip incorporating the 3 sec- One of the advantages of Agent Unicorn brings more self-awareness to wearers and onds before the event and the 5 seconds after is the chance to gather data when a child is helps them identify subconscious brain activ- to a laptop computer, so that what captured in a mental state closer to that of their day- ity. Anyone can wear this to measure their activ- the wearer’s attention can be reviewed. to-day life, due to the more natural environ- ity and to draw conclusions from it. For example, By July 2016 I had a few headpieces with ments that the headpiece can be used in, how do we react to various colors? Does seeing horns in a variety of shapes. In collaboration and the agency it offers children. Instead of a piece of chocolate produce a spike? Or how with 3D-printing specialist Igor Knezevic in a doctor measuring their brain activity in a do we respond to hearing our own names? If Los Angeles, we researched an even wider clinic, while they’re chained to a machine via you want to try the device yourself without range of horn shapes and colors, and then 64 head-mounted electrodes, children can buying it, join us at one of the BR41N.io hack- began trying Agent Unicorn out with real chil- pick up and place the device on their heads athons for BCI designers at venues around the dren. We soon discovered that the more play- themselves while in a playroom or classroom. world! —ANOUK WIPPRECHT ful and weird a horn was, the more eager the The Agent Unicorn headpieces also have POST YOUR COMMENTS at https://spectrum.ieee.org/ children were to try it on. LEDs that flash during P300 events. This unicorn0619

SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | JUN 2019 | 15 RESOURCES_AT WORK

THE UNIVERSAL INTERNET them with specific numeric Internet addresses. (There are still some problems, however. IT’S TIME FOR ALL Emojis are fickle because from a code per- NETWORK DEVELOPERS spective, the same emoji can be composed in multiple ways. That’s why emoji-based TO GO BEYOND ASCII URLs, while they do exist, are difficult to work with.) The remaining challenge, according to Hollander, is spreading the word, because it doesn’t matter if everything works at the network level if the code driving specific applications still supports only two- or three-letter TLDs and Latin-character email addresses. And unfortunately, many application developers have not kept up with the times. Creating a software routine to check if an email address or TLD was valid used to be pretty straightforward. Ten years ago, if an application asked a user for an email address, for example, the developer could check if the response was valid by testing it in a few simple ways: It should have the symbol @, and it should end in a period followed by two or three letters. If it didn’t pass those tests, it was garbage. When longer domain names and Unicode ecause much of the earliest DOMAINS UNLIMITED: Although the Internet’s came along, those developers’ tests got work in computing and network- infrastructure can now support top-level domains more convoluted. “Now, I need to look for B composed of more than two or three characters, as ing occurred in the United States well as those written in non-Latin characters, many 2, 3, 4, 6, or 7 characters,” Hollander says. and Europe, the Latin alphabet and its con- user applications are still limited. Nevertheless, it’s a largely solved problem: ventions—such as a left-to-right ordering of “It’s not a hard fix,” he says, adding that there characters—got baked into software and Originally, TLDs used to be either three let- is plenty of code available on GitHub and hardware. But after spending years as the ters long, such as .edu, or two letters long, Stack Overflow for developers looking to general manager of a domain registry for the for country codes like .de. But around 2010, make sure their applications are universal- Asia Pacific region, Don Hollander became things started changing. People were clam- acceptance compliant. For those looking to convinced that Internet applications should oring for more diversity in what could be used dig deeper into the issue, the UASG’s web- support as many languages and writing sys- for a TLD. site offers documentation and links to rele- tems as possible. That led to two big changes. First was the vant standards. UASG also has information Which is why Hollander is now the sec- creation of extended gTLDS—generic TLDs about various languages and code libraries retary general of the Universal Acceptance that can be three letters or longer—which and which ones are up to date. (Hollander Steering Group (UASG), a group that cham- is why .law and .info are now valid options says, for example, that Python is currently pions the idea that all valid top-level domains (the UASG website itself uses .tech). Sec- not up to date.) (TLDs), such as .com, .tech, or . , should ond, TLDs could be set up in languages that Ultimately, universal acceptance is an function in any Web or email application. In don’t use the Latin alphabet, allowing gen- easy way to make the Internet more acces- the process, not only would the Web become eral Unicode characters in email addresses sible for the billions of people whose first more globally accessible, but companies and TLDs. By 2013, over 2,000 new TLDs language is not written in Latin characters. would also be able to make sales or capture had been established. Hollander wants developers to be mindful customer information that they currently lose, By 2015, Hollander says, the ability to han- of that. “The world changed, and they should with the UASG estimating that the economic dle these new and various TLDs had been bring their systems up to date,” he says. benefits could be US $9.8 billion per annum. largely sorted out at the Domain Name Sys- —MICHAEL KOZIOL “The domain name space has changed tem (DNS) level—that is, at the level of the di- POST YOUR COMMENTS at https://spectrum.ieee.org/

a lot in the last few years,” Hollander says. rectories that manage TLDs and associate universal0619 IMAGES COWIE/AFP/GETTY ANDREW

16 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG RESOURCES_GEEK LIFE

A BASIC CHALLENGE Contestants have done amazing things within these limits, squeezing multiple CAN YOU WRITE A GREAT GAME commands into single lines, using abbre- IN JUST 10 LINES? viations where supported, and playing operating systems like a banjo. “Every year there are programs that leave one’s mouth open,” says Kanold. Some of his favor- ites from recent years include Where’s My Cheese? by Victor Parada, a maze game for the Atari 800 that lets players explore 3D mazes from a first-person point of view; Cave Adventure, a bijou text adventure for the ZX81 (accomplished despite the fact that “the ZX81 allows only one command per line!” marvels Kanold); and Mini Bros, an Atari 800 clone of the 1983 Nintendo arcade game Mario Bros., and the 2019 winner in the EXTREM-256 category. Games may seem a trivial object of such programming efforts, but the competition is in the spirit of the original BASIC project at Dartmouth, which encouraged the writing and playing of computer games as a way to bridge the liberal arts/engineering divide, and indirectly led to influen- tial programming books such as David H. here’s life in the old dog yet. READY PLAYER TWO: This is a clone of a popular Ahl’s BASIC Computer Games, published The original computer language 1980s arcade game written for the Atari 800 in just in 1973. (It should be noted that historian T 10 lines of BASIC code. Two people can play at once. designed to help students learn Joy Lisi Rankin—a Dartmouth grad herself— programming was Beginners All Purpose argues that because Dartmouth was all male Symbolic Instruction Code, or BASIC. Al- focused on writing games for Atari comput- until 1972, this unintentionally created an though invented in 1964 at Dartmouth ers. There was no competition in 2012, but ecosystem of games designed to appeal to College in New Hampshire, BASIC had its after that the contest began gathering steam, masculine interests, setting the tone of the heyday in the 1980s, when it was hardwired expanding to include other 8-bit systems computer games industry to this day.) into the microcomputers finding their way and accept entries over the Internet: Kanold Kanold says that while some contestants into people’s homes by the million. Then says he has had submissions from more than are expert programmers who have written it became unfashionable, derided for its 20 countries, with 2019 marking the debut “special development tools to perfect their limitations—and now languages like MIT’s of Colombia and Ukraine. 10 Liners,” the contest is still accessible to Scratch are the go-tos for teaching chil- Submissions are judged by a panel and fall neophytes: “The barriers to participation are dren. But, as the April winners of the annual into three categories: PUR-80, PUR-120, low. Ten lines [is] a manageable project.” For BASIC 10 Liner Contest show, in the right and EXTREM-256, which refer to game pro- those interested in entering the 2020 com- hands the language can still be a remark- grams with maximum line lengths of 80, 120, petition, Kanold points to programing tutorials ably expressive tool. and 256 characters, respectively. (There’s that can be found on YouTube or classic man- The goal of the contest is to write a com- also a Wild category for entries that aren’t uals and textbooks that have been archived plete computer game in—as the name sug- games, or that break the line limit.) In addi- online. “But the best resource is the contest it- gests—just 10 lines of BASIC. The contest is tion, you cannot load anything from storage, self,” he says. “You can find the 10 Liners from the brainchild of Gunnar Kanold, a teacher and no machine code is permitted. Because the previous years on the home page, most of of science, chemistry, physics, mathematics, of the difficulty in running a smorgasbord of them with comprehensive descriptions. With and IT at a secondary school in Friedrichstadt, programs on their original target hardware— these excellent breakdowns, you can learn Germany. According to Kanold in an email some 25 different systems over the years— how the code works.” —STEPHEN CASS interview, the contest started in 2011 as a system emulator that can run on modern

VÍCTOR PARADA VÍCTOR “party fun at a small weekend meeting” that computers must be available. POST YOUR COMMENTS at https://spectrum.ieee.org/basic0619

SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | JUN 2019 | 17 RESOURCES_CAREERS

WHERE THE JOBS ARE IN 2019 ENGINEERS WHO CAN PROTECT AND WRANGLE DATA ARE REALLY IN LUCK

“All we’re hearing is data, data, data,” It’s the “hottest job market” McLaughlin has As a result of this high demand, employ- says Steve McLaughlin, dean of Georgia seen in his 25-year career—what he calls a ers are locked in intense competition for top Tech’s College of Engineering, in Atlanta. “golden era for engineers.” EE talent, who have “tons” of opportunity and “It’s kind of incredible,” McLaughlin muses. That view matches what Angie Keller, senior choice in this candidate’s job market, Keller “Every company in every sector is essentially vice president of Randstad’s engineering divi- says. (Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor telling us, ‘We’re not an energy company, we’re sion in the United States, is seeing nationally Statistics back up this positive view: The a data company now.’ ‘We’re no longer logis- from her position at the staffing agency. most recent figures, from 2016, peg the me- tics, we’re not an automaker—we’re a data firm.’ “[Today’s market] is all about machine dian salary for all engineers at US $91,000, That’s what’s taking up every bit of oxygen.” learning, robotics, controls, embedded sys- which is about double the median wage for Georgia Tech’s engineering students are tems,” Keller agrees. “All companies across all workers.) taking well-paying jobs in microelectron- all industries are looking at ways to make “We’re seeing salary increases at all levels, ics, avionics, radar, robotics, consumer de- things more efficient. For that you need en- from entry level to three-years’ experience

vices, and cybersecurity, among other fields. gineers—lots of them.” and up,” Keller says. “The wages just contin- IMAGES GETTY

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18 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG ue to outpace the market in other sectors. It’s Over in Asia, the slowdown in shipyard proj- In the Middle East, Jones says, innova- hard sometimes for companies to keep up, ects that Jones was tracking two years ago has tions around agriculture are on the upswing, because all the engineers you’re talking to completely reversed, he says: “They are very with the region importing experienced tal- are demanding, and getting, a higher wage.” busy now, particularly in South Korea, China, ent from Europe to supercharge areas like Those wages soar even higher for engineers and Japan, with a number of multibillion-dollar greenhouse technology. in cybersecurity, says McLaughlin, thanks not projects in the pipeline.” This includes South —JULIANNE PEPITONE only to more intense focus on cyberthreats Korea’s participation in the Coral South float- POST YOUR COMMENTS at https://spectrum.ieee.org/ and data breaches, but also increased main- ing liquified natural gas (FLNG) project facility. hotjobs0619 stream concern about data privacy. “The [cybersecurity] salaries are just beyond, absolutely out of sight, atmospheric,” McLaughlin says. “We have students get- New Version! ting hired at Amazon and Google for several hundred thousand dollars right out of school. Everyone’s very aware of the cyberthreats and data breaches, but there’s also height- ened awareness of data privacy as well.” But amid all this talk of golden eras and astronomical salaries, one significant engineering population is struggling in the United States: international students. Georgia Tech has seen “a huge shift downward” in the number of companies willing to hire on H-1B visas, McLaughlin says, with several students being told the firm would love to interview them but just isn’t taking international hires right now. McLaughlin guesses the reticence is due to uncertainty around immigration, with the Trump administration’s temporary bans on immigrants from certain countries this year. The administration also denied nearly a third of H-1B visas in the first quarter of fiscal 2019, according to estimates from the Na- tional Foundation for American Policy. However, for engineers outside the U nited States, the job market around the globe is equally “buoyant,” says Keith Jones, business director at the London-based recruitment services firm CCL Global. In Europe and Asia, robotics and artificial intelligence are also ruling the day, with sectors including automotive and manufacturing snapping Over 75 New Features & Apps in Origin 2019! For a FREE 60-day up plenty of EEs. Over 500,000 registered users worldwide in: evaluation, go to Europe in particular is leading the way ◾ 6,000+ Companies including 20+ Fortune Global 500 OriginLab.Com/demo in power-train technology, especially the ◾ 6,500+ Colleges & Universities and enter code: 8547 United Kingdom, France, and Germany, ◾ 3,000+ Government Agencies & Research Labs Jones says. The only European decline he sees coming down the pike is a likely reduc- tion in the amount of data centers, as large 25+ years serving the scientific & engineering community corporations and small firms alike are moving to cloud-based and colocation solutions rather than on-site centers.

SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | JUN 2019 | 19 INTERNET OF EVERYTHING_BY STACEY HIGGINBOTHAM OPINION

farming today, lidar identifies insects while robots pick weeds with the aid of computer vision. The goal in agri- cultural tech is to make workers more efficient, rather than eliminating them. Construction technology startups, using artificial intelligence and the IoT, have a similar goal. Oren’s goal, for example, is to make construction work more like a typical manufacturing process by using a sensor-packed device that’s mounted to a crane to track the flow of materials on a site. Versatile Natures’ devices also monitor environmental factors, such as wind speed, to make sure the crane isn’t pushed beyond its capabilities. Another construction-tech startup, Pillar Technologies of New York City, aims to reduce the impact of on-site environments on workers’ safety and construction schedules. Pillar makes sensors that measure eight environmental metrics, including temperature, humidity, carbon monoxide, and partic- ulates. The company then uses the gath- ered data to evaluate what is happening DECONSTRUCTING THE at the site and to make predictions about delays, such as whether the air is too CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY humid to properly drywall a house. Because many work crews sign up for multiple job sites, a delay at one THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY can be a mess. When constructing site often means a delay at others. Alex any building, there are several steps you must take in a specific order, Schwarzkopf, cofounder and CEO of so a snag in one step tends to snowball into more problems down the Pillar, hopes that one day Pillar’s devices line. You can’t start on drywall until the plumbers and electricians will use data to monitor construction complete their work, for example, and if the drywall folks are behind, the crew progress and then inform general con- working on the interior finish gets delayed even more. • Developers and general tractors in advance that the plumbers contractors hope that by adopting Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to cut costs, are behind, for example. That way, the build faster, and use a limited labor pool more efficiently, they can turn the messy, contractor can reschedule the drywall fragmented world of building construction into something more closely resem- group or help the plumbers work faster. bling what it actually is—a manufacturing process. • “We’re looking at the most Construction is full of fragmented pro- fragmented and nonstructured process ever, but it is still a manufacturing process,” cesses, and understanding each frag- says Meirav Oren, the CEO of Versatile Natures, an Israeli company that provides ment can lead to an improvement of on-site data-collection technology to construction sites. The more you understand the whole. As Oren says, there is a lot the process, says Oren, the better you are at automating it. In other conversations of low-hanging fruit in the construction I’ve had with people in the construction sector, the focus isn’t on prefabricated industry, which means that startups can housing or cool bricklaying robots. The focus is on turning construction into a regi- attack a small individual problem and mented process that can be better understood and optimized. • Like agriculture— still make a big impact. n which has undergone its own revolution, thanks to connected tech—construction ↗ POST YOUR COMMENTS at https://spectrum.ieee.org/ is labor intensive, dependent on environmental factors, and highly regulated. In ioeconstruction0619

20 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG ILLUSTRATION BY Greg Mably NUMBERS DON’T LIE_VACLAV SMIL OPINION

University of Pennsylvania. Starting in 1883, he began to make an extensive series depicting animal and human locomotion. Its creation relied on 24 cameras fixed in parallel to the 36-meter- long track and two portable sets of 12 batteries at each end. The track had a marked background, and animals or people activated the shutters by break- ing stretched strings. The final product was a book with 781 plates, published in 1887. This com- pendium showed not only running domestic animals (dogs and cats, cows and pigs) but also a bison, a deer, an elephant, and a tiger, as well as a running ostrich and a flying parrot. Human sequences depicted various runs and also ascents, descents, lifts, throws, wrestling, dances, a child crawling, and a woman pouring a bucket of water over another woman. JUNE 1878: MUYBRIDGE’S Muybridge’s 1,000 frames a second soon became 10,000. By 1940, the GALLOPING HORSE patented design of a rotating mirror camera raised the rate to 1 million per second. In 1999, Ahmed Zewail got a EADWEARD MUYBRIDGE (1830–1904), an English photographer, Nobel Prize in Chemistry for develop- established his American fame in 1867 by taking a mobile studio to ing a spectrograph that could capture Yosemite Valley and producing large silver prints of its stunning the transition states of chemical reac- vistas. Five years later he was hired by Leland Stanford, then the tions on a scale of femtoseconds—that president of the Central Pacific Railroad, formerly the governor of California is, 10-15 second, or one-millionth of one- and latterly the founder of the eponymous university in Palo Alto. S tanford— billionth of a second. who was also a horse breeder—challenged Muybridge to settle the old dispute Today, we can use intense, ultrafast about whether all four of a horse’s legs are off the ground at one time dur- laser pulses to capture events separated ing a gallop. • Muybridge found it difficult to prove the point. In 1872 he took by mere attoseconds, or 10-18 second. (and then lost) a single image of a trotting horse with all hooves aloft. But he This time resolution makes it possi- persevered, and his eventual solution was to capture moving objects with ble to see what has been until recently cameras capable of a shutter speed as brief as 1/1,000 of a second. • The con- hidden from any direct experimental clusive experiment took place 141 years ago, on 19 June 1878, at Stanford’s Palo access: the motions of electrons on the Alto farm. Muybridge lined up thread-triggered glass-plate cameras along the atomic scale. track, used a white-sheet background for the best contrast, and copied the Many examples can be given to illus- resulting images as simple silhouettes on a disc rotating in a zoopraxiscope, a trate the extraordinary scientific and device he invented in order to display a rapid series of stills to convey motion. engineering progress we have made dur- Sallie Gardner, the horse Stanford had provided for the test, clearly had all ing the past 141 years, but this contrast four hooves off the ground. But the airborne moment did not take place as is as impressive as any other advance I portrayed in famous paintings, perhaps most notably Théodore Géricault’s can think of—from settling the dispute 1821 Derby at Epsom, now hanging in the Louvre, which shows the animal’s legs about airborne horse hooves to observ- extended, away from its body. Instead, it occurred when the horse’s legs were ing flitting electrons. n beneath its body, just prior to the moment the horse pushed off with its hind ↗ POST YOUR COMMENTS at https://spectrum.ieee.org/ legs. • This work led to Muybridge’s magnum opus, which he prepared for the muybridge0619

PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION BY Stuart Bradford SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | JUN 2019 | 21 DYNAMIC DUO: MIT’s João Ramos wears a teleoperation suit that connects his body to that of HERMES, a bipedal robot designed for disaster response. Ramos’s reflexes help HERMES keep its footing.

22 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG THE BRAIN IN THE MACHINE

MIT is building robots that use full- body teleoperation to move with greater agility

BY JOÃO RAMOS, ALBERT WANG & SANGBAE KIM Photography by Bob O’Connor

SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | JUN 2019 | 23 A SUDDEN, TRAGIC WAKE-UP CALL: That’s how many roboticists view the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, caused by the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in 2011. Reports following the accident described how high levels of radiation foiled workers’ attempts to carry out urgent measures, such as operating pressure valves. It was the perfect mission for a robot, but none in Japan or elsewhere had the capabilities to pull it off. Fukushima forced many of us in the robotics community to realize that we needed to get our technology out of the lab and into the world.

Disaster-response robots have made significant progress motions to the robot and the robot’s motions to you. So if the since Fukushima. Research groups around the world have robot steps on debris and starts to lose its balance, the operator demonstrated unmanned ground vehicles that can drive over feels the same instability and instinctively reacts to avoid falling. rubble, robotic snakes that can squeeze through narrow gaps, We then capture that physical response and send it back to the and drones that can map a site from above. Researchers are robot, which helps it avoid falling, too. Through this human- also building humanoid robots that can survey the damage robot link, the robot can harness the operator’s innate motor and perform critical tasks such as accessing instrumentation skills and split-second reflexes to keep its footing. panels or transporting first-aid equipment. You could say we’re putting a human brain inside the machine. But despite the advances, building robots that have the same motor and decision-making skills of emergency workers FUTURE DISASTER ROBOTS will ideally have a great deal remains a challenge. Pushing open a heavy door, discharging a of autonomy. Someday, we hope to be able to send a robot fire extinguisher, and other simple but arduous work require into a burning building to search for victims all on its own, a level of coordination that robots have yet to master. or deploy a robot at a damaged industrial facility and have it

One way of compensating for this limitation is to use teleop- SIMON SAYS: To test their teleoperation scheme, the MIT researchers eration—having a human operator remotely control the robot, had HERMES perform some tasks [left to right] that required strength, like using a fire extinguisher and swinging an axe, and others that either continuously or during specific tasks, to help it accom- required dexterity, like pouring water into a cup. plish more than it could on its own. Teleoperated robots have long been used in industrial, aero- locate which valve it needs to shut off. We’re nowhere near that space, and underwater settings. More recently, researchers level of capability. Hence the growing interest in teleoperation. have experimented with motion-capture systems to transfer The DARPA Robotics Challenge in the United States and a person’s movements to a humanoid robot in real time: You Japan’s ImPACT Tough Robotics Challenge are among the wave your arms and the robot mimics your gestures. For a fully recent efforts that have demonstrated the possibilities of tele- immersive experience, special goggles can let the operator see operation. One reason to have humans in the loop is the unpre- what the robot sees through its cameras, and a haptic vest and dictable nature of a disaster scene. Navigating these chaotic gloves can provide tactile sensations to the operator’s body. environments requires a high degree of adaptability that cur- At MIT’s Biomimetic Robotics Lab, our group is pushing the rent artificial-intelligence algorithms can’t yet achieve. melding of human and machine even further, in hopes of accel- For example, if an autonomous robot encounters a door han- erating the development of practical disaster robots. With sup- dle but can’t find a match in its database of door handles, the port from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency mission fails. If the robot gets its arm stuck and doesn’t know (DARPA), we are building a telerobotic system that has two how to free itself, the mission fails. Humans, on the other hand, parts: a humanoid capable of nimble, dynamic behaviors, and a can readily deal with such situations: We can adapt and learn new kind of two-way human-machine interface that sends your on the fly, and we do that on a daily basis. We can identify varia-

24 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG tions in the shapes of objects, cope with poor visibility, and even figure out how to use a new tool on the spot. The same goes for our motor skills. Consider running with a heavy backpack. You may run slower or not as far as you would without the extra weight, but you can still carry out the task. Our bodies can adapt to new dynamics with surprising ease. The teleoperation system we are developing is not designed to replace the autonomous controllers that legged robots use to self-balance and perform other tasks. We’re still equipping our robots with as much autonomy as we can. But by coupling the robot to a human, we take advantage of the best of both worlds: robot endurance and strength in addition to human versatility and perception. Our lab has long explored how biological systems can inspire the design of better machines. A particular limitation of existing robots is their inability to perform what we call power manipulation—strenuous feats like knocking a chunk of concrete out of the way or swinging an axe into a door. Most robots are designed for more delicate and precise motions and gentle contact. We designed our humanoid robot, called HERMES (for Highly Efficient Robotic Mechanisms and Electromechani-

cal System), specifically for this type of heavy manipulation. The robot is relatively light—weighing in at 45 kilograms—and yet strong and robust. Its body is about 90 percent of the size of an average human, which is big enough to allow it to naturally maneuver in human environments. Instead of using regular DC motors, we built custom actuators to power HERMES’s joints, drawing on years of experience with our Cheetah platform, a quadruped robot capable of explosive motions such as sprinting and jumping. The actuators include brushless DC motors coupled to a plan- etary gearbox—so called because its three “planet” gears revolve around a “sun” gear—and they can generate a massive amount of torque for their weight. The robot’s shoulders and hips are actuated directly while its knees and elbows are TO THE RESCUE: Equipped with driven by metal bars connected to the actuators. This makes powerful motors, HERMES is a HERMES less rigid than other humanoids, able to absorb highly dynamic robot. mechanical shocks without its gears shattering to pieces. The first time we powered HERMES on, it was still just

MIT (4) a pair of legs. The robot couldn’t even stand on its own,

PHOTOGRAPH BY Bob O’Connor SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | JUN 2019 | 25 the operator’s limbs and waist (the human body’s center of mass, basically) and uses rotary encoders to accurately measure dis- placements to within less than a centime- ter. But some of the linkages aren’t just for sensing: They also have motors in them, to apply forces and torques to the operator’s torso. If you strap yourself to the BFI, those linkages can apply up to 80 newtons of force to your body, which is enough to give you a good shove. We set up two separate computers for controlling HERMES and the BFI. Each computer runs its own control loop, but the two sides are constantly exchanging data. In the beginning of each loop, HERMES gath- ers data about its posture and compares it with data received from the BFI about the operator’s posture. Based on how the data differs, the robot adjusts its actuators and then immediately sends the new posture data to the BFI. The BFI then carries out a similar control loop to adjust the operator’s posture. This process repeats 1,000 times per second. To enable the two sides to operate at such fast rates, we had to condense the information they share. For example, rather than sending a detailed representation of the PUPPET MASTER: João Ramos and his colleagues are building a scaled-down version operator’s posture, the BFI sends only the of HERMES called Little HERMES. The robot will feature autonomous functions but position of the person’s center of mass and will also rely on a human teleoperator to accomplish more than it could on its own. the relative position of each hand and foot. The robot’s computer then scales these so we suspended it from a harness. As a simple test, we pro- measurements proportionally to the dimensions of HERMES, grammed its left leg to kick. We grabbed the first thing we which reproduces that reference posture. As in any other two- found lying around the lab—a plastic trash can—and placed it way teleoperation loop, this coupling may cause oscillations in front of the robot. It was satisfying to see HERMES kick the or instability. We minimized that by fine-tuning the scaling trash can across the room. parameters that map the postures of the human and the robot. To test the BFI, one of us (Ramos) volunteered to be the THE HUMAN-MACHINE INTERFACE we built for controlling operator. After all, if you’ve designed the core parts of the HERMES is different from conventional ones in that it relies system, you’re probably best equipped to debug it. on the operator’s reflexes to improve the robot’s stability. We In one of the first experiments, we tested an early balancing call it the balance-feedback interface, or BFI. algorithm for HERMES to see how human and robot would The BFI took months and multiple iterations to develop. behave when coupled together. In the test, one of the research- The initial concept had some resemblance to that of the full- ers used a rubber mallet to hit HERMES on its upper body. body virtual-reality suits featured in the 2018 Steven Spielberg With every strike, the BFI exerted a similar jolt on Ramos, movie Ready Player One. That design never left the drawing who reflexively shifted his body to regain balance, causing board. We discovered that physically tracking and moving a the robot to also catch itself. person’s body—with more than 200 bones and 600 muscles— Up to this point, HERMES was still just a pair of legs and a isn’t a straightforward task, and so we decided to start with torso, but we eventually completed the rest of its body. We a simpler system. built arms that use the same actuators as those used by the To work with HERMES, the operator stands on a square legs and hands, made out of 3D-printed parts reinforced with platform, about 90 centimeters on a side. Load cells measure carbon fiber. The head features a stereo camera, for stream- the forces on the platform’s surface, so we know where the ing video to a headset worn by the operator. We also added operator’s feet are pushing down. A set of linkages attaches to a hard hat, just because.

26 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG PHOTOGRAPH BY Bob O’Connor In another round of experiments, we had HERMES punch Much of this was still preliminary work, and Little HERMES through drywall, swing an axe against a board, and, with wasn’t freely standing or able to walk around. A supporting pole oversight from the local fire department, put out a controlled attached to its back prevented it from tipping forward. At some blaze using a fire extinguisher. Disaster robots will need more point, we’d like to develop the robot further and set it loose to than just brute force, though, so HERMES and Ramos also amble around the lab and perhaps even outdoors, as we’ve done performed tasks that require more dexterity, like pouring with Cheetah and Mini Cheetah (yes, it too has a little sibling). water from a jug into a cup. In each case, as the operator simulated performing the task OUR NEXT STEPS include addressing a host of challenges. while strapped to the BFI, we observed how well the robot One of them is the mental fatigue that an operator experiences mirrored those actions. We also looked at the scenarios in after using the BFI for extended periods of time or for tasks which the operator’s reactions could help the robot the most. that require a lot of concentration. Our experiments suggest When HERMES punched the drywall, for instance, its torso that when you have to command not only your own body but rebounded backward. Almost immediately, a correspond- also a machine’s, your brain tires quickly. The effect is espe- ing force pushed the operator, who reflexively leaned for- cially pronounced for fine-manipulation tasks, such as pour- ward, helping HERMES to adjust ing water into a cup. After repeating its posture. the experiment three times in a row, We were ready for more tests, the operator had to take a break. but we realized that HERMES is Our goal is to build an agile The solution here is to have the too big and powerful for many of operator and the machine share the experiments we wanted to do. quadruped that transforms the responsibility for stabilizing the Although a human-scale machine into a skilled bipedal robot. robot. If HERMES is performing a allows you to carry out realistic task that requires more conscious tasks, it is also time-consuming to effort from the operator, the oper- move, and it requires lots of safety ator doesn’t also have to keep the precautions—it’s wielding an axe! Trying more dynamic behav- robot balanced; an autonomous controller can take over the iors, or even walking, proved difficult. We decided HERMES robot’s balance. One way to identify such scenarios is by track- needed a little sibling. ing the operator’s gaze. A fixed stare indicates a mentally tax- ing task, and in such cases, the autonomous balancing mode LITTLE HERMES IS A SCALED-DOWN version of HERMES. should kick in. Like its big brother, it uses custom high-torque actuators, Another hurdle for our system—or any teleoperated system, which are mounted closer to the body rather than on the for that matter—is transmission delays. Imagine you’re control- legs. This configuration allows the legs to swing much faster. ling a robot remotely and there’s a 1-second lag between your For a more compact design, we reduced the number of axes commands and the robot’s responses. You may still be able to of motion—or degrees of freedom, in robotic parlance—from teleoperate it, but if the delay gets any bigger, you may start to six to three per limb, and we replaced the original two-toed feel disoriented and unable to perform manipulations. Our plan feet with simple rubber spheres, each having a three-axis is to rely on new wireless technologies like 5G, which offer both force sensor tucked inside. low latency and high throughput transmissions. Connecting the BFI to Little HERMES required adjustments. Finally, there are some bold new designs we’d like to explore. There’s a big difference in scale between a human adult and Although HERMES and Little HERMES are two-legged robots, this smaller robot, and when we tried to link their movements there’s no real reason why a rescue robot should be bipedal. directly—mapping the position of the human’s knees and the One promising possibility is a machine that would walk on robot’s knees, and so forth—it resulted in jerky motion. We four legs to traverse challenging terrain and then stand up on needed a different mathematical model to mediate between its hind limbs to perform manipulation tasks, much as some the two systems. The model we came up with tracks parame- primate species do. ters such as ground contact forces and the operator’s center of Our long-term vision is to merge the legged robots we’ve mass. It captures a sort of “outline” of the operator’s intended developed in our lab: Cheetah and HERMES. The result would motion, which Little HERMES is able to execute. be a fast-moving quadruped robot that could autonomously In one experiment, we had the operator step in place, slowly run into a disaster site, then transform into a bipedal robot at first and then faster. We were happy to see Little HERMES that could borrow the skills and reflexes of an experienced first marching in just the same way. When the operator jumped, responder. We believe technologies like these will help emer- Little HERMES jumped too. gency workers do their jobs better and more safely. In a sequence of photos we took, you can see both human One day, hopefully soon, robots will be ready when called and robot in midair for a brief instant. We also placed pieces of upon. n wood underneath the robot’s feet as obstacles, and the robot’s

controller was able to keep the robot from falling. ↗ POST YOUR COMMENTS at https://spectrum.ieee.org/hermes0619

SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | JUN 2019 | 27

By Paul Tilghman

A DARPA Grand Challenge seeks autonomous radios to manage the wireless WILL RULE THE AIRWAVES spectrum

IN THE EARLY 2000S, BLUETOOTH ALMOST MET AN UNTIMELY END. The first Bluetooth devices struggled to avoid interfering with Wi-Fi routers, a higher-powered, more-established cohort on the radio spectrum, with which Bluetooth devices shared frequencies. Bluetooth engineers eventually modified their standard—and saved their wireless tech from early extinction—by developing frequency- hopping techniques for Bluetooth devices, which shifted operation to unoccupied bands upon detecting Wi-Fi signals. • Frequency hopping is just one way to avoid interference, a problem that has plagued radio since its beginning. Long ago, regulators learned to manage spectrum so that in the emerging wireless ecosystem, different radio users were allocated different frequencies for their exclusive use. While this practice avoids the challenges of detecting transmissions and shifting frequencies on the fly, it makes very inefficient use of spectrum, as portions lay fallow. • Today, demand is soaring for the finite resource of radio spectrum. Over the last several years, wireless data transmission has grown by roughly 50 percent per year, driven largely by people streaming videos and scrolling through social media on their smartphones. To meet this demand, we must allocate spectrum as efficiently as possible. Increasingly, that means that wireless technologies cannot have exclusive frequencies, but rather must share available spectrum. Frequency hopping, which Blue tooth uses, will be part of the solution, but to cope with the surging demand we are going to have to go far beyond it. >>>

ILLUSTRATION BY Greg Mably SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | JUN 2019 | 29 To tackle spectrum scarcity, I created the Spectrum COLOSSAL CHALLENGE: DARPA simultaneously. That way, we could Collaboration Challenge (SC2) at the U.S. Defense built the world’s largest radio- ensure that each radio couldn’t have frequency emulation test-bed, Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), where called Colosseum, to pit teams its own dedicated channel, because I am a program manager. SC2 is a three-year open com- against one another. Paul Tilghman there wouldn’t be enough spectrum petition in which teams from around the world are [left] and Ben Hilburn present the to go around. results to a rapt audience during rethinking the spectrum-management problem with the second preliminary round. With that in mind, we developed a clean slate. Teams are designing new radios that use scenarios that would be played out artificial intelligence (AI) to learn how to share spec- in a series of round-robin matches, trum with their competitors, with the ultimate goal of increasing over- in which three, four, or five independent radio all data throughput. These teams are vying for nearly US $4 million in networks all broadcast together in a roughly prizes to be awarded at the SC2 championship this coming October in one-square-kilometer area. The radio networks Los Angeles. Thanks to two years of competition, we have witnessed, for would be permitted access to the same frequen- the first time, autonomous radios collectively sharing wireless spectrum cies, and each network would use an AI system to transmit far more data than would be possible by assigning exclusive to figure out how to share those frequencies with frequencies to each radio. the other networks. We would determine how successful a given match was based on how many • • • tasks, such as phone calls and video streams, BEFORE SC2, VARIOUS DARPA PROJECTS had demonstrated that a hand- were completed. A group of radio networks com- ful of radios could autonomously manage spectrum by frequency hop- pleting more tasks than another group would ping, as Bluetooth does, in order to avoid one another. So why can’t we be crowned the winner for that match. How- just extend the use of the frequency-hopping technique to a wider array ever, our main goal was to see teams develop of radios, and solve the problem of limited spectrum that way? AI-managed radio networks that would be capa- Unfortunately, frequency hopping works only up to a point. It depends ble of completing more tasks collectively than on the availability of unused spectrum, and if there are too many radios would be possible if each radio was using an trying to send signals, there won’t be much, if any, unused spectrum avail- exclusive frequency band. able. To make SC2 work, we realized, we would need to test competing We realized quickly that placing these radios

teams on scenarios with dozens of radios trying to share a spectrum band in the real world would have been impractical. DARPA IMAGES: ALL

30 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG WORKING IT OUT: In one scenario, Slice of Life, set in an outdoor mall, each team’s radio network emulates a different store’s Wi-Fi hot spot. Early in the day, the red team, perhaps acting as the Wi-Fi for a coffee shop, requires the most bandwidth [top]. Later, the green team needs more, and starts overlapping with red while jostling for spectrum [middle]. Eventually, the three teams settle on a new arrangement as green experiences the heaviest traffic [bottom].

sages or video streams, between 128 radios at once. There are 64 field- programmable gate arrays that handle the emulation by together performing more than 150 trillion floating-point operations (teraflops). For each match, we plug in radios so that they can “broadcast” radio-frequency signals straight into C olosseum. This test-bed has enough computing power to calcu- late how those signals will behave, according to a detailed mathematical model of a given environment. For example, within Colosseum are emulated walls, off which signals “bounce.” There are emulated rain- storms and ponds, within which signals are partly “absorbed.” The emulation provides all the information necessary for the teams’ AIs to make appropriate decisions based on their observations during each emulated scenario. Faced with a cellphone jammer that is flooding a frequency with meaningless noise, for example, an AI might choose to change its frequency to one not affected by the jammer. We would never be able to guarantee that the • • • wireless conditions would be the same for each team that competed. Also, moving individual IT’S ONE THING TO BUILD AN ENVIRONMENT for AIs to collaboratively radios around to set up each scenario and each manage spectrum, but it’s another thing entirely to create those AIs. To match would have been far too complicated understand how the teams competing in SC2 are building these AI sys- and time consuming. tems, you need a bit of background on how AI has developed in the past So we built Colosseum, the world’s largest radio- several decades. frequency emulation test-bed. Currently housed Broadly speaking, researchers have advanced AI in a couple of “waves” in Laurel, Md., at the Johns Hopkins U niversity that have redefined how these systems learn. The first wave of AI was Applied Physics Laboratory, C olosseum occu- expert systems. These AIs are created by interviewing experts in a par- pies 21 server racks, consumes 65 kilowatts, and ticular area and deriving a set of rules from them that an autonomous requires roughly the same amount of cooling system can use to make decisions while trying to accomplish something. as 10 large homes. It can emulate more than These AIs excel at problems, such as chess, where the rules can be writ- 65,000 unique interactions, such as text mes- ten down in a straightforward fashion. In fact, one of the best-known

SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | JUN 2019 | 31 ORDERLY CHAOS: The AI-managed networks for five teams broadcast first in defined channels [left]. Then those channels are removed and the AIs work out how to share spectrum [right]. The result looks chaotic, but the networks succeed in completing almost as many connections as before.

was a project in 2018, in which the nonprofit AI research company OpenAI demonstrated that a group of five AIs could beat a team of human players in the video game Dota 2.

• • •

IT’S 9 DECEMBER 2018, and my examples of first-wave AI is IBM’s Deep Blue, which first beat chessmast er DARPA colleagues and I are finally getting our Garry Kasparov in 1997. chance to learn if a group of AIs can succeed There’s a newer, second wave of AI that relies on huge amounts of data, at such a complex multiagent problem. We’re rather than human expertise, to learn the rules of a given task. Second- huddled around a set of computers in a hotel wave AI is particularly good at problems where humans have trouble conference room, just a block away from where writing down all the nuances of a problem and where there often seem Colosseum is installed. The hotel has been our to be more exceptions than rules. Recognizing speech is an example of command center for a week now, and we’ve such a problem. These systems ingest complex raw data, such as audio analyzed more than 300 matches to determine signals, and then make decisions about the data, such as what words the top-scoring teams. In three days, we expect were spoken. This wave of AI is the type we find in the speech recogni- to award up to eight $750,000 awards, one for tion used by digital assistants like Siri and Alexa. each of the top teams. But for the moment, we Today, neither first- nor second-wave AI is used for managing wireless don’t actually know how many prizes we’re spectrum. That meant that we could consider both waves of AI and the going to be handing out. ways in which researchers teach those AIs how to solve problems, to find In the first qualifying event a year earlier, the best solution to our problem. Ultimately, it is easiest to treat spectrum teams were judged solely on their relative rank- management as a reinforcement-learning problem, in which we reward ings. This time, however, to win an award, the the AI when it succeeds and penalize it when it fails. For example, the top teams must also demonstrate that their AI may receive one point for successfully transmitting data, or lose one radios can manage spectrum better than by point for a transmission that was dropped. By accumulating points dur- using traditional dedicated channels. ing a training period, the AI remembers successes and tries to repeat To compare autonomous radios against them, while also moving away from unsuccessful tactics. exclusive-frequency management, we designed In our competition, a dropped transmission often happens because of one last set of matches. First, we took a baseline, interference from another radio’s transmission. So we also have to think in which each team was assigned exclusive fre- of wireless management as a collaborative challenge, because there are quencies, to measure how much data they could multiple radios broadcasting at the same time. The key to AI-managed transmit. Then we removed the restrictions to radios performing better than traditional, static allocation is developing see whether a team’s network could transmit AIs that can maximize their own points while leaving room for the other more data without hampering the four other AIs to do the same. Teams are rewarded when they make as many suc- radio networks sharing the spectrum. cessful transmissions as possible without constantly bumping into one In the hotel room, we’re waiting anxiously for another in the pursuit of available spectrum, which would prevent them the last set of matches to complete. If no one is all from maximizing use of that spectrum. able to clear the bar that we’ve set for them, two As if that’s not difficult enough, there’s one additional wrinkle that years of hard work could be dashed. It occurs to makes spectrum collaboration harder than many similar problems. us that in our zeal, we had no backup plan should Imagine playing a game of pickup basketball with people you’ve never everyone fail. And it didn’t necessarily soothe our met before: Your team’s ability to play together is not going to be any- nerves that by this point in SC2’s existence, we’ve where near as good as that of teammates who have trained together for started to see the limitations of some approaches. years. To date, the most successful challenges involving multiple agents Fortunately, we’ve also begun to spot some of have been ones where AIs have been trained together. A recent example the keys to success. When the competition began,

32 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG nearly all of the teams started with first-wave AI with which it is sharing spectrum. In effect, the radio should develop approaches. This made sense as a starting point— an ever-growing series of rules by mining them from a large volume of remember that there are no AI systems being data—the kind of data that Colosseum is good at generating. That’s why used to manage spectrum. In this first-wave now, during this trial on 9 December 2018, we’re seeing teams shift to approach, the teams are trying to write the gen- a second-wave AI approach. Several teams have built fledgling second- eral rules for collaboratively using spectrum. wave AI networks that can quickly characterize how the other networks Of course, each team has written slightly dif- are playing a match, and use this information to change their own radios’ ferent rules, but every system they developed rules on the fly. had some general principles in common. First, When SC2 started, we suspected that many teams would take the sim- the systems should listen for what frequencies ple approach of employing a “sense and avoid” strategy. This is what a each network has asked to use. Second, from Bluetooth device does when it discovers that the spectrum it wants is the remaining frequency bands, only one radio being used by a Wi-Fi router: It jumps to a new frequency. But Bluetooth’s should be assigned to each band—and teams frequency hopping works, in part, because Wi-Fi acts in a predictable should be good neighbors by not claiming more way (that is, it broadcasts on a specific frequency and won’t change that than their fair share. And third, if there are no behavior). However, in our competition, each team’s radios behave very empty frequency bands, radios should select differently and not at all predictably, making a sense-and-avoid strategy, the ones with the least interference. well, senseless. Unfortunately, these rules fail to catch all the Instead, we’re seeing that a better approach is to predict what the spec- idiosyncrasies of wireless management, which trum will look like in the future. Then, a radio could use those predictions result in unintended consequences that ham- to decide which frequencies might open up—even if only for a moment per the radios’ ability to work together. During or two, just enough to push through even a small amount of data. More SC2, we’ve seen plenty of examples where these precise predictions will allow collaborating radios to capitalize on every seemingly straightforward rules fail. opportunity to transmit more data, without interfering by grabbing for For example, remember the second rule, to the same frequency at the same time. Now our hope is that second-wave be a good neighbor and not hog frequencies? AIs can learn to predict the spectrum environment with enough preci- In principle, this cooperative approach should sion to not let a single hertz go to waste. provide opportunities for other radios to use • • • more spectrum if they need it. In practice, we saw how this strategy goes awry: In one instance, OF COURSE, ALL OF THIS THEORY is useless if the AI-managed systems three teams left a large amount of the spectrum can’t outperform traditional allocation. That’s why we’re delighted to completely unused. see, that night in the hotel room with the results rolling out of Colosseum, Looking at the results, we realized that one that six of the top eight teams had succeeded! The teams demonstrated team insisted on using no more than one- that their radios, when they collaborated to share spectrum, could col- third of the spectrum. While this strategy was lectively deliver more data than if they had used exclusive frequencies. very altruistic, it also limited the connections Three weeks later, four additional teams would do the same, bringing they could make to complete their own tasks— the total to 10. and therefore limited their score as well. It got We were, of course, ecstatic. But encouraging though the results are, it’s worse when another system noticed that the too soon to say when we might see radios using AI actively to manage their first system was not scoring enough points, use of radio spectrum. The important thing to understand about the DARPA so it limited its own spectrum use to allow the grand challenges is that they’re not about the state of technology at the first system to use more, which it would never end of the competition. Rather, the challenges are designed to determine do. Basically, the systems were being too def- whether a fundamental shift is possible. Look at DARPA’s autonomous erential, and the result was wasted spectrum. driving Grand Challenge in 2004: It took another decade for autonomous To fix that problem with a first-wave AI, the technology to start being used in a very limited way in commercial cars. teams have to write another rule. And when That said, the results from our initial tournaments are promising. So far, that new rule results in another unexpected we’ve found that when three radio networks share the spectrum, their outcome, they deal with that by writing another predictions are much better than when four or five teams try to share rule. And so on. These constant surprises and the same amount. But we’re not done yet, and our teams are currently consequent new rules are the main shortcoming building even better systems. Perhaps, on 23 October 2019 at SC2’s live of first-wave AIs. What can seem like a straight- championship event at Mobile World Congress Americas, in Los A ngeles, forward problem might end up being more dif- those systems will demonstrate, more successfully than ever before, ficult than it appeared to be. that AI-operated radios can work together to create a new era of wire- Rather than rely on a few hard-and-fast rules, less communications. n it seems that a better approach is for each radio

to adapt its strategy based on the other radios ↗ POST YOUR COMMENTS at https://spectrum.ieee.org/darpachallenge0619

SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | JUN 2019 | 33 SEEING WITH RADIO Wi-Fi–like equipment can see people through walls, measure their heart rates, and gauge emotions GUTTER CREDIT GOES HERE GOES CREDIT GUTTER

34 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG PHOTOGRAPH BY Firstname Lastname HEN I WAS A BOY, I secretly hoped I would discover latent within me some amazing superpower—say, X-ray vision or the ability to read people’s minds. Lots of W kids have such dreams. But even my fertile young brain couldn’t imagine that one day I would help transform such superpowers into reality. Nor could I conceive of the possibility that I would demonstrate these abilities to the president of the United States. And yet two decades later, that’s exactly what happened. There was, of course, no magic or science fic- tion involved, just new algorithms and clever engineering, using wireless technology that senses the reflections of radio waves emanating from a nearby transmitter. The approach my MIT colleagues and I are pursuing relies on inexpensive equipment that is easy to install—no more difficult than setting up a Wi-Fi router. These results are now being applied in the real world, helping medical researchers and clinicians to better gauge the progression of dis- SEEING WITH RADIO Wi-Fi–like equipment can see people through walls, measure their heart rates, and gauge emotions By eases that affect gait and mobility. And Fadel devices based on this technology will Adib soon become commercially available. In the future, they could be used for monitoring elderly people at home, sending an alert if someone has fallen. Unlike users of today’s medical alert systems, the people being monitored won’t have to wear a radio-equipped bracelet or pendant. The technology could also be used to monitor the breathing and heartbeat of newborns, without having to put sensors in contact with the infants’ fragile skin. You’re probably wondering how this radio-based sensing technology works. If so, read on, and I will explain by telling the story of how we managed to push our system to increasing levels of sensitivity and sophistication.

IT ALL STARTED IN 2012, shortly after I became a graduate student at MIT. My faculty advisor, Dina Katabi, and I were working on a way to allow Wi-Fi networks to carry data faster. We mounted a Wi-Fi device on a mobile robot and let the robot navigate itself to the

HIDDEN FIGURES: These images of human figures were obtained using radio waves. Each column contains two images of the same person. GUTTER CREDIT GOES HERE GOES CREDIT GUTTER

PHOTOGRAPH BY Firstname Lastname SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | JUN 2019 | 35 ELLIPTICAL REASONING ABOUT LOCATION

The time needed for a radio signal to travel from a transmitting antenna to a reflective object (here, a person) and back to a receiving antenna can be used to constrain the position of that object. Knowing the travel time between one such pair of antennas, you can determine that the reflector is located somewhere on an ellipse that has the two antennas at its foci (an ellipse being the set of points for which the distances to the two foci sum to a constant value) [left]. With two such pairs of antennas, you can better pin down the location of the reflector, which must lie at the intersection of two ellipses [right]. With even more antenna pairs, it’s possible to work out where two or more reflecting objects are located. The hot colors in the lower diagrams show the location of two people in a room, as seen from above.

WALL WALL

TRANSMITTER 1 RECEIVER 1 TRANSMITTER 1 TRANSMITTER 2 RECEIVER 1 RECEIVER 2

ONE ANTENNA PAIR THREE ANTENNA PAIRS FIVE ANTENNA PAIRS

spot in the room where data throughput was highest. Every could somehow register these minute reflections, we would, once in a while, our throughput numbers would mysteri- in some sense, be able to see through the wall. ously plummet. Eventually we realized that when someone Using radio waves to detect what’s on the other side of was walking in the adjacent hallway, the person’s presence a wall has been done before, but with sophisticated radar disrupted the wireless signals in our room. equipment and expensive antenna arrays. We wanted to use We should have seen this coming. Wireless communica- equipment not much different from the kind you’d use to tion systems are notoriously vulnerable to electromagnetic create a Wi-Fi local area network in your home. noise and interference, which engineers work hard to com- As we started experimenting with this idea, we discovered bat. But seeing these effects firsthand got us thinking along a host of practical complications. The first came from the completely different lines about our research. We wondered wall itself, whose reflections were 10,000 to 100,000 times whether this “noise,” caused by passersby, could serve as a as strong as any reflection coming from beyond it. Another new source of information about the nearby environment. challenge was that wireless signals bounce off not only the Could we take a Wi-Fi device, point it at a wall, and see on a wall and the human body but also other objects, including computer screen how someone behind the wall was moving? tables, chairs, ceilings, and floors. So we had to come up That should be possible, we figured. After all, walls don’t with a way to cancel out all these other reflections and keep block wireless signals. You can get a Wi-Fi connection even only those from someone behind the wall. when the router is in another room. And if there’s a person To do this, we initially used two transmitters and one on the other side of a wall, the wireless signal you send out receiver. First, we sent off a signal from one transmitter and on this side will reflect off his or her body. Naturally, after measured the reflections that came back to our receiver. The the signal traverses the wall, gets reflected back, and crosses received signal was dominated by a large reflection coming

through the wall again, it will be very attenuated. But if we off the wall. ADIB FADEL IMAGES: ALL

36 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG We did the same with the second transmitter. The signal it tell whether a person was standing up or lying on the floor, received was also dominated by the strong reflection from the for example. Things get trickier if you want to locate mul- wall, but the magnitude of the reflection and the delay between tiple people this way, but as we later showed, with enough transmitted and reflected signals were slightly different. antennas, it’s doable. Then we adjusted the signal given off by the first trans- It’s easy to think of applications for such a system. Smart mitter so that its reflections would cancel the reflections homes could track the location of their occupants and adjust created by the second transmitter. Once we did that, the the heating and cooling of different rooms. You could moni- receiver didn’t register the giant reflection from the wall. tor elderly people, to be sure they hadn’t fallen or otherwise Only the reflections that didn’t get canceled, such as those become immobilized, without requiring these seniors to from someone moving behind the wall, would register. wear a radio transmitter. We even developed a way for our We could then boost the signal sent by both transmitters system to track someone’s arm gestures, enabling the user without overloading the receiver with the wall’s reflections. to control lights or appliances by pointing at them. Indeed, we now had a system that canceled reflections from all stationary objects. Next, we concentrated on detecting a person as he or she THE NATURAL NEXT STEP for our research team—which by this time moved around the adjacent room. For that, we used a technique also included graduate students Chen-Yu Hsu and Hongzi called inverse synthetic aperture radar, which is sometimes Mao, and Professor Frédo Durand—was to capture a human used for maritime surveillance and radar astronomy. With silhouette through the wall. our simple equipment, that strategy was reasonably good at The fundamental challenge here was that at Wi-Fi frequen- detecting whether there was a person moving behind a wall cies, the reflections from some body parts would bounce back and even gauging the direction in which the person was mov- at the receiving antenna, while other reflections would go ing. But it didn’t show the person’s location. off in other directions. So our wireless imaging device would As the research evolved, and our team grew to include fel- capture some body parts but not others, and we didn’t know low graduate student Zachary Kabelac and Professor Robert which body parts they were. Miller, we modified our system so that it included a larger Our solution was quite simple: We aggregated the mea- number of antennas and operated less like a Wi-Fi router surements over time. That works because as a person moves, and more like conventional radar. different body parts as well as different perspectives of the People often think that radar equipment emits a brief radio same body part get exposed to the radio waves. We designed pulse and then measures the delay in the reflections that come an algorithm that uses a model of the human body to stitch back. It can, but that’s technically hard to do. We used an eas- together a series of reflection snapshots. Our device was then ier method, called frequency-modulated continuous-wave able to reconstruct a coarse human silhouette, showing the radar, which measures distance by comparing the frequency location of a person’s head, chest, arms, and feet. of the transmitted and reflected waves. Our system operated While this isn’t the X-ray vision of Superman fame, the low between about 5 and 7 gigahertz, transmitted signals that were resolution might be considered a feature rather than a bug, just 0.1 percent the strength of Wi-Fi, and could determine the given the concerns people have about privacy. And we later distance to an object to within a few centimeters. showed that the ghostly images were of sufficient resolution to Using one transmitting antenna and multiple receiving identify different people with the help of a machine-learning antennas mounted at different positions allowed us to mea- classifier. We also showed that the system could be used to track sure radio reflections for each transmit-receive antenna pair. the palm of a user to within a couple of centimeters, which Those measurements showed the amount of time it took means we might someday be able to detect hand gestures. for a radio signal to leave the transmitter, reach the person in the next room, and reflect back to the receiver— typically several tens of nanoseconds. Multiplying that very short time interval by the speed of light gives the distance the signal traveled from the transmitter to the person and back to the receiver. As you might recall from middle-school geometry class, that distance defines an ellipse, with the two antennas located on the ellipse’s two foci. The person generating the reflection in the next room must be located somewhere on that ellipse. With two receiving antennas, we could map out two such ellipses, which intersected at the person’s

location. With more than two receiving antennas, it THROUGH THE WALL: The radio frequencies used have no trouble penetrating was possible to locate the person in 3D—you could typical walls, which allows the sensor to be in a different room from the subject.

SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | JUN 2019 | 37 GHOST IN THE MACHINE

It’s possible to form a ghostly silhouette of a person subject moves [top row]. Because these images are waves [middle row]. The adjusted images are then com- reflecting radio waves [see images on page 34–35]. obtained when the person is at different distances bined with a model of the human head, torso, and limbs The first step is simply to form heat maps that show from the antennas, an adjustment has to be made to to form a final image. For comparison, a Kinect was where radio energy is being reflected from as the account for the geometrical spreading of the radio used to measure the person’s movements [bottom row].

38 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG INITIALLY, WE ASSUMED that our system could track only a person Looking at past research in affective computing—the field who was moving. Then one day, I asked the test subject to of study that tries to recognize human emotions from such remain still during the initialization stage of our device. Our things as video feeds, images, voice, electroencephalogra- system accurately registered his location despite the fact that phy (EEG), and electrocardiography (ECG)—we learned that we had designed it to ignore static objects. We were surprised. the most important vital sign for recognizing human emo- Looking more closely at the output of the device, we real- tions is the millisecond variation in the intervals between ized that a crude radio image of our subject was appearing and heartbeats. That’s a lot harder to measure than average disappearing—with a periodicity that matched his breathing. heart rate. And in contrast to ECG signals, which have very We had not realized that our system could capture human sharp peaks, the shape of a heartbeat signal on our wireless breathing in a typical indoor setting using such low-power device isn’t known ahead of time, and the signal is quite wireless signals. The reason this works, of course, is that the noisy. To overcome these challenges, we designed a sys- slight movements associated with chest expansion and con- tem that learns the shape of the heartbeat signal from the traction affect the wireless signals. Realizing this, we refined pattern of wireless reflections and then uses that shape to our system and algorithms to accurately monitor breathing. recover the length of each individual beat. Earlier research in the literature had shown the possibility Using features from these heartbeat signals as well as of using radar to detect breathing and heartbeats, and after from the person’s breathing patterns, we trained a machine- scrutinizing the received signals more closely, we discovered learning system to classify them into one of four funda- that we could also measure someone’s pulse. That’s because, mental emotional states: sadness, anger, pleasure, and joy. as the heart pumps blood, the resulting forces Sadness and anger are both negative emotions, but cause different body parts to oscillate in subtle sadness is a calm emotion, whereas anger is associ- ways. Although the motions are tiny, our algo- OUR SYSTEM COULD ated with excitement. Pleasure and joy, both posi- rithms could zoom in on them and track them ACCURATELY SENSE tive emotions, are similarly associated with calm with high accuracy, even in environments with EMOTIONS 87 PERCENT and excited states. lots of radio noise and with multiple subjects OF THE TIME WHEN Testing our system on different people, we dem- moving around, something earlier researchers THE TESTING AND onstrated that it could accurately sense emotions hadn’t achieved. TRAINING WERE DONE 87 percent of the time when the testing and train- By this point it was clear that there were impor- ON THE SAME SUBJECT. ing were done on the same subject. When it hadn’t tant real-world applications, so we were excited been trained on the subject’s data, it still recognized to spin off a company, which we called Emerald, to commer- the person’s emotions with more than 73 percent accuracy. cialize our research. Wearing our Emerald hats, we partici- In October 2016, fellow graduate student Mingmin Zhao, pated in the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition and Katabi, and I published a scholarly article about these results, made it to the finals. While we didn’t win, we did get invited which got picked up in the popular press. A few months later, to showcase our device in August 2015 at the White House’s our research inspired an episode of the U.S. sitcom “The Big “Demo Day,” an event that President Barack Obama orga- Bang Theory.” In the episode, the characters supposedly bor- nized to show off innovations from all over the United States. row the device we’d developed to try to improve Sheldon’s It was thrilling to demonstrate our work to the president, emotional intelligence. who watched as our system detected my falling down and While it’s unlikely that a wireless device could ever help monitored my breathing and heartbeat. He noted that the sys- somebody in this way, using wireless signals to recognize basic tem would make for a good baby monitor. Indeed, one of the human mental states could have other practical applications. most interesting tests we had done was with a sleeping baby. For example, it might help a virtual assistant like Amazon’s Video on a typical baby monitor doesn’t show much. But out- Alexa recognize a user’s emotional state. fitted with our device, such a monitor could measure the baby’s There are many other possible applications that we’ve breathing and heart rate without difficulty. This approach could only just started to explore. Today, Emerald’s prototypes also be used in hospitals to monitor the vital signs of neonatal are in more than 200 homes, where they are monitoring test and premature babies. These infants have very sensitive skin, subjects’ sleep and gait. Doctors at Boston Medical Center, making it problematic to attach traditional sensors to them. Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and elsewhere will use the data to study disease progression in patients with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and BOUT THREE YEARS AGO, we decided to try sensing multiple sclerosis. We hope that in the not-too-distant future, human emotions with wireless signals. And why anyone will be able to purchase an Emerald device. not? When a person is excited, his or her heart rate When someone asks me what’s next for wireless sensing, increases; when blissful, the heart rate declines. I like to answer by asking them what their favorite superpower A But we quickly realized that breathing and heart is. Very possibly, that’s where this technology is going. n rate alone would not be sufficient. After all, our heart rates are also high when we’re angry and low when we’re sad. ↗ POST YOUR COMMENTS at https://spectrum.ieee.org/radiosensing0619

SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | JUN 2019 | 39 THE ITALIAN COMPUTER

Italy’s Olivetti was an early pioneer of digital computers and transistors

BY ELISABETTA MORI

“I HAVE MADE MY DECISION: We are going to scrap the first version of our computer, and we will start again from scratch.” It’s the autumn of 1957, and Mario Tchou, a brilliant young Chinese-Italian electrical engineer, is speaking to his team at the Olivetti Electronics Research Laboratory. Housed in a repurposed villa on the outskirts of Pisa, not far from the Leaning Tower, the lab is filled with vacuum tubes, wires, cables, and other electronics, a startling contrast to the tasteful decorations of the palatial rooms.

DIGITAL FUTURE: In the 1950s, Adriano Olivetti [left], the head of Italy’s Olivetti Co., decided that computers were the company’s future, and he hired Mario Tchou [right], a brilliant electrical engineer, to oversee what became the ELEA 9003. (Illustration courtesy of La Lettura/Il Corriere della Sera)

40 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG ILLUSTRATION: CIAJ ROCCHI AND MATTEO DEMONTE

HUMAN SCALE: The ELEA 9003 was housed in modular aluminum cabinets and was designed to be easy to maintain and repair.

On any weekday, some 20 or so physi- of the future. “Olivetti will launch a fully tory worth revisiting, because the legacy cists, technicians, and engineers would transistorized machine,” Tchou tells them. of Olivetti lives on in some surprising ways. be hard at work there, designing, devel- Within a year, the lab would finish a oping, soldering, conferring. In less than prototype of the new machine. In sup- DURING WORLD WAR II, two years—half the time they’d been port of that effort, Olivetti would also computers were expen- allotted—they’ve completed their first launch its own transistor company and D sive, fragile, and hidden, prototype mainframe, called Macchina strike a strategic alliance with Fairchild restricted to military and Zero (Zero Machine). No other company Semiconductor. When Olivetti’s first scientific purposes. But in Italy has ever built a computer before. mainframe, the ELEA 9003, is unveiled after the war, businesses were quick to They’re understandably proud. in 1959, it is an astonishing work of indus- adopt computers to address their escalat- Today, though, is a Sunday, and Tchou trial design—modular, technologically ing need for information management. has called in his boss and three members advanced, and built to human scale. The machines on offer relied on vacuum of the team to discuss a bold decision, one Olivetti, better known for its typewriters, tubes, punch tape, and punch cards, and that he hopes will place Olivetti ahead of adding machines, and iconic advertise- they were slow and unreliable. But they every other computer maker in the world. ments, was suddenly a computer com- were much faster than the manual and Macchina Zero, he points out, uses vac- pany to reckon with. mechanical systems they were replacing. uum tubes. And tubes, he says, will soon The fact that most historical accounts The engineer and entrepreneur Camillo become obsolete: They are too big, they largely ignore Olivetti’s role as an early pio- Olivetti founded Olivetti in 1908 as the first overheat, they are unreliable, they con- neer of computing and transistors may typewriter manufacturer in Italy. Produc- sume too much power. The company have something to do with the series of tion at the company’s factory in Ivrea, near wants to build a cutting-edge machine, and tragic events that would transpire after the Turin, later expanded to mechanical calcu-

transistors are the computer technology ELEA 9003’s introduction. But it is a his- lators and other office equipment. (2) ELISABETTA MORI

42 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG HIGH DESIGN: Architect Ettore Sottsass Jr. created the ELEA 9003’s ergonomic design and distinctive look, including the console’s mosaic-like display.

In the 1920s, Camillo’s eldest son, the Ivrea factory had a large library with In 1952, Olivetti founded a computer Adriano, became more involved in the 30,000 volumes. research center in New Canaan, Conn., family business. Adriano had studied Adriano also established an experimen- at the recommendation of Dino Olivetti, chemical engineering at the Polytechnic tal marketing and advertising depart- Adriano’s youngest brother. Dino had University of Turin. Camillo, a socialist, ment, surrounding himself with smart studied at MIT and was president of the initially employed his son as an unskilled young designers, architects, artists, Olivetti Corp. of America. (That same worker in the Olivetti factory. He then poets, photographers, and musicians. year, Dino contributed to an exhibition sent Adriano to the United States to study The combination of Adriano’s initiatives devoted to Olivetti products and design at industrial methods. In 1926, the Olivettis spurred the company to wider interna- the Museum of Modern Art in New York reorganized the company’s production tional prominence. City.) The lab kept tabs on developments according to the principles of scientific After World War II, Adriano became in the United States, where electronics management. By 1938, Adriano had convinced that electronics was the and computers were at the forefront. assumed the presidency of Olivetti. future of the company, and so he estab- Olivetti sought a worthy academic Adriano believed that the profits of lished a joint venture with the French partner for its computer business. After industry should be reinvested for the firm Compagnie des Machines Bull. Bull a failed alliance with Rome University in betterment of society. Under his ten- was one of the biggest punch-card equip- the early 1950s, the company partnered ure, the company offered worker ben- ment manufacturers in Europe, and it had with the University of Pisa in 1955. At the efits that had no equal in Italy at the just entered the computer business. The time, the only two computers in the coun- time, including more equitable pay for Olivetti-Bull Company became the official try were a National Cash Register CRC women, a complete range of health ser- reseller of Bull’s products in Italy, and the 102A, installed at the Milan Polytechnic, vices, nine months of paid maternity partnership helped Olivetti survey the and a Ferranti Mark I*, installed at an leave, and free childcare. In addition, domestic market potential for computers. applied math research institute in Rome.

SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | JUN 2019 | 43 MADE IN ITALY: The ELEA 9003 was one of the first commercial digital computers to use transistors. These were manufactured by Società Generale Semiconduttori, which Olivetti cofounded in 1957. Shown here is the last working ELEA computer, which is still housed in a technical high school in Tuscany.

The University of Pisa began building a research computer, with Olivetti provid- ing financial support, electronic components, patent licenses, and employees. In exchange, Olivetti’s staff gained valuable experience. While the Pisa project aimed to create a single scientific machine for researchers, Olivetti hoped to develop a series of commercial computers for the business market. Adriano searched for an expert engineer and manager to set up a computer lab within the company and lead Olivetti’s computer team. He eventually found both in Mario Tchou. Born in Italy in 1924, Tchou was the son of Yin Tchou, a Chinese dip- lomat stationed in Rome and Vatican City. After studying electrical engineering at the Sapienza University of Rome, Mario received a scholarship to the Catholic Uni- versity of America, in Washington, D.C., where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in electronic engineering. In 1949, he moved to New York City to get a master’s in physics at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, and three years later, he became an associate professor of electrical engineering at Columbia University. Adriano Olivetti met Mario Tchou in New York City in August 1954 and immediately decided he was the perfect choice. Tchou was an expert in digital control systems, and he worked at one of the most advanced diodes for each installation. But in Italy SGS’s next generation of transis- electronics and computing research labs as elsewhere, transistors were in short tors, though, would be silicon, manu- in the United States. He was also a native supply. Rather than importing devices factured in partnership with Fairchild Italian speaker and understood the compa- from the United States or elsewhere, the Semiconductor. The California startup ny’s culture. Adriano and his son Roberto company decided to manufacture the had been founded the same year as convinced Tchou to move back to Italy and devices in-house. The move would give SGS by a group of young scientists and become the leader of their Laboratorio Olivetti a secure and continuous source engineers that included Robert Noyce Ricerche Elettroniche, in Pisa. of components as well as expertise and and Gordon Moore. In late 1959, SGS insights into the latest developments in contacted Fairchild through Olivetti’s THE LAB’S FIRST proj- the field. New Canaan lab, and the following year ect, Macchina Zero, In 1957, with Telettra, an Italian tele- Fairchild became an equal partner in T went as well as could be communications company, Olivetti SGS with Olivetti and Telettra. Olivetti expected, but Tchou’s founded the SGS Company (which stands now had access to Fairchild’s pathbreak- decision in 1957 to for Società Generale Semiconduttori). ing technology. That included the planar switch to transistors involved risks and SGS soon began producing germanium process, which Fairchild had patented potential delays. The company would alloy junction transistors, based on tech- in 1959 and is still used to make inte-

need at least 100,000 transistors and nology licensed from General Electric. grated circuits. (2) MORI ELISABETTA TOP:

44 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG The result of Tchou’s push for a tran- information—a 1 or a 0. Olivetti workers used Williams-Kilburn tubes and vac- sistorized computer was the ELEA 9003, sewed the ELEA memories by hand at the uum tubes instead of core memory and the first commercial computer to be Borgolombardo factory, near Milan, where transistors. made in Italy. It launched in 1959, and the ELEAs were assembled. To oversee the aesthetic design of between 1960 and 1964, about 40 of the The minimum unit of memory in the the new computer, Adriano brought in mainframes were sold or leased to Italian ELEA 9003 was the character, which the Italian architect Ettore Sottsass Jr. clients, mainly in banking and industry. consisted of six bits plus a parity bit. The Assisted by Dutch designer Andries Van ELEA belongs to what historians of com- total memory ranged from 20,000 to Onck, Sottsass focused on the human- puting consider the second generation of 160,000 characters, with a typical instal- machine interface, using human factors computers—that is, machines that used lation having about 40,000. Two Olivetti and ergonomics to make the computer transistors and ferrite-core memories. In engineers, Giorgio Sacerdoti and M artin easier to operate and maintain. For exam- this respect, the ELEA 9003 was similar to Friedman, had previously worked with ple, he standardized the height of the the IBM 7070 and the Siemens 2002. Core Ferranti computers. Their background racks at 150 centimeters, to allow engi- memories were arrays of tiny magnetic may have influenced some design deci- neers and technicians working on either rings threaded with copper wire. Each sions for the 9003, in particular the com- side to visually communicate with one core could be magnetized clockwise or puter architecture. However, the Ferranti another, as computers were very noisy

BOTTOM: LIQUID CAT LIQUID BOTTOM: counterclockwise, to represent one bit of Mark I* that Sacerdoti worked on in Rome in those days.

SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | JUN 2019 | 45 The ELEA 9003 was housed in a series strengthen its sales in the United States. of modular cabinets. Colored strips iden- The acquisition, however, depleted the tified the contents of each cabinet, such company’s coffers. Worse, Olivetti dis- as the power supply, memory, arithme- covered that Underwood’s manufac- tic logic unit, and the control unit for the turing facilities were outdated and its peripherals, which included printers financial situation bleak. and Ampex magnetic tape drives. Some Then, on 27 February 1960, Adriano ELEA 9003 installations employed vac- Olivetti died from a stroke while trav- uum tubes for the power supplies and eling by train from Milan to Lausanne. tape decks. He was 58 years old. The following year, To facilitate the testing and repair of Mario Tchou was killed in a car accident circuit boards, Sottsass arranged each at the age of 37. At the time of his death, rack in three parts: a central section Tchou had been spearheading the devel- and two wings, which could be opened opment of a new generation of Olivetti like a book. He also organized the con- computers that incorporated silicon com- nection cables in channels above the ponents from SGS-Fairchild. With these racks. Typical mainframes of that era tragic deaths, Olivetti’s computer divi- had their cables positioned beneath the sion lost its most charismatic and vision- floor, making maintenance cumbersome ary leaders. and expensive. The next several years proved tumul- The console’s display used a grid of tuous for the company. Roberto Olivetti colored cubes, similar to mosaic tiles. tried to keep the computer business Each cube was engraved with a letter going, even appealing to the Italian gov- or a symbol. Different sections of the ernment for aid. But the government display showed the status of the 9003’s didn’t view electronics and computers components. An operator could use the as a matter of national interest and so console’s keyboard to enter instructions, refused to bail out Olivetti’s electron- one at a time, for direct execution. ics division. (Nor had the government Sottsass’s design for the Olivetti ELEA supported Olivetti’s development of 9003 was complex but elegant. It was the ELEA, in stark contrast to the U.S. awarded the prestigious Compasso d’Oro and British governments’ generous (Golden Compass) industrial design prize support of their domestic computer in 1959. makers.) Meanwhile, the U.S. government, through its former ambassador OLIVETTI AIMED to to Italy, Clare Boothe Luce, reportedly export the ELEA to the was pressuring Olivetti to sell its elec-

O international market. tronics division, which it finally did to Rather than translating General Electric in 1964. the computer’s com- The sale to GE did not include mands and abbreviations from Italian Olivetti’s small-size programmable into English, French, or German, the calculators, which the company con- company devised a bold solution. It com- tinued to develop. The Programma 101 missioned the Ulm School of Design, one came to market in 1965 and proved an of the most progressive design centers instant hit. [See sidebar, “The Calcula- at the time, to develop a system of sym- tor as Computer.”] bols that would be independent of any Acquiring Olivetti was part of GE’s one language. Although the resulting strategy to enter the European com- sign system was never used in the ELEA puter market. Olivetti’s French partner, OLIVETTI’S MEN [from top]: Adriano series, it prefigures today’s widespread Olivetti transformed his father’s Bull, also faced financial difficulties and use of icons in computer interfaces. typewriter company into an industrial was also bought by GE in 1964. GE con- Olivetti’s big plans for exporting its powerhouse. Mario Tchou led its tinued building computers based on computer division. Ettore Sottsass Jr. computers included the acquisition created the ELEA 9003’s aesthetics. Olivetti’s smaller models and sold them of the U.S. typewriter manufacturer Adriano’s brother Dino founded Olivetti’s as the GE 100 series. The ELEA 4115, for Underwood in 1959. With this move, U.S.-based computer R&D lab. Adriano’s example, became the GE 115. Eventu- son Roberto tried to keep the computer Olivetti hoped to leverage Underwood’s business going after Adriano’s and ally, GE sold about 4,000 machines in FROM TOP: HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES; DONATA AND NICOLETTA TCHOU; PINO MONTISCI/MONDADORI PINO TCHOU; NICOLETTA AND DONATA IMAGES; ARCHIVE/GETTY HULTON TOP: FROM powerful commercial network to Tchou’s deaths. the GE 100 line. PRESS/ALAMY KEYSTONE CINECITTÀ/CONTRASTO/REDUX; LUCE ISTITUTO IMAGES; PORTFOLIO/GETTY

46 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG WE CAN’T KNOW how far Olivetti would have W taken its computer business had Adriano Olivetti and Mario Tchou lived longer. What we do know is that the electronics division left behind an impressive legacy of design, advanced hardware, and talented engineers. Olivetti had unquestionably the most elegant computers of its day. Adriano viewed computers as complex artifacts, whose aesthetics, ergonomics, and user experience had to be carefully cultivated in parallel with the technology. He organized every aspect of the company, including the factories, workers, advertising, and marketing, to embrace this holistic approach to design. In his famous 1973 lecture “Good Design Is Good Business,” IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Jr. credited Adriano Olivetti for inspiring IBM’s own overhaul of its corpo- The CALCULATOR as COMPUTER rate aesthetic in the late 1950s. Olivetti’s computer legacy also lives on through its transistor business. In 1987, SGS merged with the French- AFTER THE SALE of its computer in a lab, beside a swimming pool, and even owned Thomson Semiconducteurs to business to General Electric in 1964, Olivetti at a betting hall. At a time when mainframe managed to retain control of its small computers required a team of programmers, form STMicroelectronics, now a multi electronic calculators. The most notable of engineers, and operators to run, the P101’s national manufacturer of microchips. these would be the Programma 101. compact size, capabilities, and ease of use And the people hired by Olivetti con- Introduced at a Business Equipment were remarkable. It wasn’t exactly cheap: The Manufacturers Association show in New York P101 could be leased on a monthly basis, or tinued to make their mark. Of the many in October 1965, this programmable desktop bought outright for US $3,200 (about $25,000 capable engineers and scientists who calculator was an immediate success. Also today). For comparison’s sake, the monthly rent passed through Olivetti’s doors, one known as the P101 or the Perottina (after the on an IBM System/360 mainframe ranged chief engineer who designed it, Pier Giorgio from $2,700 to $115,000, with purchase stands out. In 1960, the company hired Perotto), it eventually sold more than 40,000 prices from $133,000 to $5.5 million. a 19-year-old named Federico Faggin units, primarily in the United States but also The calculator’s technical features to work in its electronics lab. During in Europe. NASA bought a number of P101s, inspired imitation: Hewlett-Packard which were used by engineers working on the reportedly paid Olivetti about $900,000 in Faggin’s years at Olivetti, he learned 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing. royalties because of the similarities between about computer architecture and logic Among the machine’s selling points was the architecture and the magnetic cards and circuit design and helped to build a its portability. It was roughly the size of an of the HP 9100 programmable calculator electric typewriter. In program mode, it series and those of the Programma 101. small experimental computer. could be used like a computer, with stored The P101’s aesthetic and ergonomic Later, after earning a physics degree instructions, while in manual mode it was a design was the work of a talented young from the University of Padua, Faggin high-speed calculator. Its memory consisted Italian architect named Mario Bellini. In of a magnetostrictive delay line, which used contrast to Sottsass’s futuristic look for worked briefly at SGS-Fairchild in Italy pulses of sound traveling along a coil of the ELEA 9003, Bellini’s P101 is curvy and before moving to Fairchild’s R&D lab in nickel alloy wire to store numeric data and sensual while still being user friendly. Its Palo Alto, Calif., and then to Intel. Draw- program instructions. This kind of memory rounded edges supported the user’s wrists was used in several other small computers and hands in a comfortable way. Magnetic ing on his experience at Olivetti and SGS, and calculators, including the Ferranti Sirius, cards could be easily inserted into the central he soon joined the small team that cre- a small business computer, and the Friden slot. On the right-hand side, a green/red light ated the Intel 4004, the first commer- EC-130 and EC-132 desktop calculators. added a touch of color while also alerting the The P101 had a 36-character keyboard, a operator to any malfunctions. The P101 is cial microprocessor. And so, although built-in mechanical printer, and a magnetic now part of the permanent collection at the Olivetti’s foray into building mainframe card reader/recorder, for storing and Museum of Modern Art in New York City. computers suffered a premature death, retrieving programs. Olivetti supplied a If you own a Programma 101 and need library of commonly used programs. There to get it fixed, don’t despair. A team that the effort indirectly contributed to the was no display as such. includes some of the P101’s original birth of the microcomputer industry that The P101 used only high-level instructions, designers, former Olivetti engineers, surrounds us today. n so programming it was extremely simple. As and volunteers will help you restore and a promotional video proclaimed, “A good repair it. Their lab is located in the Museo

↗ POST YOUR COMMENTS at http://spectrum.ieee.org/ secretary can learn to operate it in a matter of Tecnologicamente in Ivrea, the town near

ELISABETTA MORI ELISABETTA olivetti0619 days!” The ad showed the P101 being used Turin where Olivetti was founded. —E.M.

SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | JUN 2019 | 47 PAST FORWARD_BY ALLISON MARSH

A true child of the Industrial Revolution, Charles Parsons invented the modern steam-turbine generator, AS THE which revolutionized electric-power generation and marine transport. (His first prototype is shown above.) To prove the superiority of his machine, the British engineer built his own experimental vessel, the SY Turbinia. TURBINE Then, in a dramatic demonstration, he used it to crash a naval parade put on by the British Royal Navy in honor TURNS of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, in June 1897. Faster than every other ship, the Turbinia could not be caught. Parsons had made his point. The Royal Navy placed an order for its first turbine-powered ship the following year and in 1905 decreed that all future war vessels would be turbine powered. ■ ↗ For more on Charles Parsons, see https://spectrum.ieee.org/0619pastforward SSPL/GETTY IMAGES SSPL/GETTY

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Superintendent Information Technology The Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) is Germany’s Division university excellence center for digital engineering. www.nrl.navy.mil The Faculty of Digital Engineering, established jointly by HPI and the University of Potsdam, offers an especially practical and engineering-oriented study program in computer science that is unique through- Senior Executive Service Career out Germany. Opportunity-Tier 2 ES-0/0854/0855/1310/1520/1550: $126,148 - $189,600 per annum* (2019 salary) *Actual salary may vary depending on Annually, HPI’s Research Schools grant the scope and complexity of the posi- 18 Ph.D. and Postdoctoral Scholarships. tion and the qualifications and current compensation of the selectee. With their interdisciplinary and international structure, HPI’s two Research Schools on Become a member of an elite research “Service-oriented Systems Engeneering” and “Data Science” interconnect HPI’s research and development community involved in groups as well as its branches at the University of Cape Town, Technion, and Nanjing basic and applied scientific research and University. advanced technological development for tomorrow’s Navy and for the Nation. HPI RESEARCH GROUPS Algorithm Engineering, Prof. Dr. Tobias Friedrich The Superintendent of the Information Technology Business Process Technology, Prof. Dr. Mathias Weske Division is responsible for the conception, Computer Graphics Systems, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Döllner planning and formulation of the scientific program Data Engineering Systems, Prof. Dr. Tilmann Rabl of the Division in pursuance of the military Digital Health, Prof. Dr. Erwin Böttinger, Prof. Dr. Bert Arnrich, Prof. Dr. Christoph Lippert defense of the United States. He/she provides Enterprise Platform and Integration Concepts, Prof. Dr. h.c. Hasso Plattner the Technical and administrative leadership Human Computer Interaction, Prof. Dr. Patrick Baudisch required to insure that significant and productive Information Systems, Prof. Dr. Felix Naumann accomplishments flow from that program. Internet Technologies and Systems, Prof. Dr. Christoph Meinel Operating Systems and Middleware, Prof. Dr. Andreas Polze As the Superintendent, you will: Software Architecture, Prof. Dr. Robert Hirschfeld • Establish priorities by considering the relative System Analysis and Modeling, Prof. Dr. Holger Giese importance of the work to other work carried Applications must be submitted by August 15 of the respective year. on by the Division, its utility and adaptability For more information on HPI’s Research Schools please visit: to the national defense, its usefulness in other www.hpi.de/research-school fields of research and development, and its potential value in relation to the increase of scientific knowledge. • Assigns problems to the operating Branches, Professor/Associate Professor/Assistant Professorship in approves their general plans, stimulates interest and activity on the part of Division personnel, the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering reviews progress and completed work for soundness of approach, validity of conclusions The Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Southern University and advisability of recommendations. of Science and Technology (SUSTech) now invites applications for the faculty • Coordinates the research and development position in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. It is of the Division with that performed in other seeking to appoint a number of tenured or tenure track positions in all ranks. Divisions at the NRL, in other US and allied Government laboratories, universities and Candidates with research interests in all mainstream fields of electrical and electronic engineering industrial laboratories. will be considered, including but not limited to IC Design, Embedded Systems, Internet of Things, VR/AR, Signal and Information Processing, Control and Robotics, Big Data, AI, Communication/ • Is a recognized authority in the field of computer science, communications, cyber Networking, Microelectronics, and Photonics. These positions are full time posts. SUSTech adopts security, artificial intelligence and allied the tenure track system, which offers the recruited faculty members a clearly defined career path. disciplines. Candidates should have demonstrated excellence in research and a strong commitment to teaching. • Responsible for planning and directing the A doctoral degree is required at the time of appointment. Candidates for senior positions must have effective administration of the Division which includes administering budget matters that fall an established record of research, and a track-record in securing external funding as PI. As a State- within the province of the Divisions operations. level innovative city, it is home to some of China’s most successful high-tech companies, such as Huawei and Tencent. We also emphasize entrepreneurship in our department with good initial Applicants should be recognized as national/ support. Candidates with entrepreneur experience is encouraged to apply as well. international authorities and should have planned and executed difficult programs of To apply, please send curriculum vitae, description of research interests and statement on teaching national significance or specialized programs to [email protected]. SUSTech offers internationally competitive salaries, fringe benefits that show outstanding attainment in their field including medical insurance, retirement and housing subsidy, which are among the best in China. of research. Salary and rank will commensurate with qualifications and experience. For more information and specific More information can be found at http://talent.sustech.edu.cn/en and http://eee.sustech.edu.cn/ instructions on how to apply, visit www. en. The search will continue until the position is filled. usajobs.gov, log in and enter the following announcement number: DE-10493155-19- For informal discussion about the above posts, please contact Chair Professor Xiao Wei SUN, JS. The announcement closes 28 June 2019. Head of Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, by phone 86-755-88018558 or email: Contact Lesley Renfro at Lesley.renfro@nrl. [email protected]. navy.mil for more information. E-mailed resumes cannot be accepted. To learn more about working & living in China, please visit: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/careers- advice/country-profiles/china. NRL is an Equal Opportunity Employer

NRL – 4555 Overlook Ave SW, Washington DC 20375 50 | JUN 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG TENURE-TRACK AND TENURED POSITIONS ShanghaiTech University invites highly qualified candidates to fill multiple tenure- track/tenured faculty positions as its core founding team in the School of Information Science and Technology (SIST). We seek candidates with exceptional academic records or demonstrated strong potentials in all cutting-edge research areas of information science and technology. They must be fluent in English. English-based overseas academic training or background is highly desired. ShanghaiTech is founded as a world-class research university for training FACULTY POSITIONS future generations of scientists, entrepreneurs, and technical leaders. Boasting School of Information Science and Technology 2019 a new modern campus in Zhangjiang Hightech Park of cosmopolitan Shanghai, ShanghaiTech shall trail-blaze a new education system in China. Besides establishing The School of Information Science and Technology (SIST) at Fudan and maintaining a world-class research profile, faculty candidates are also expected University invites applications for several tenure-track or tenured faculty to contribute substantially to both graduate and undergraduate educations. positions at the associate and full professor levels. Interested research Academic Disciplines: areas include (but not limited to) the following areas: Candidates in all areas of information science and technology shall be considered. Compensation and Benefits: Micro-nano Systems: neuromorphic computing and artificial intelli- Salary and startup funds are highly competitive, commensurate with experience gence, wireless sensing and smart electronics, Microelectronic and Pho- and academic accomplishment. 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Qualifications: Circuits and Systems: Complex network and system control, sensor • Strong research productivity and demonstrated potentials; network and signal processing, intelligent image and information sys- • Ph.D. (Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, tem, human dynamics and social computation, swarm intelligent sys- Artificial Intelligence, Financial Engineering, Signal Processing, Operation tem, unmanned aircraft control theory and engineering Research, Applied Math, Statistics or related field); • A minimum relevant (including PhD) research experience of 4 years. 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Physical Electronics: wide-band-gap semiconductor materials and devices, optoelectronics, organic light-emitting electronics, nanopho- tonics, solid state lighting, facility agriculture, vision and ergonomics, healthcare lighting, plasma technology and application, thermal management of LED, energy Internet, smart electronics, power electronics Communication: wireless and mobile communications, optical communication and sensing, communication signal processing, wireless multimedia, space and satellite communication, software defined networks, underwater communication, and smart cities applications Optical Engineering: precision optical manufacturing, optical measurement opto-mechanical design & FEA, bio-photonics such as single molecule detection & 3D imaging, VR/AR, space solar energy, digital optics, Ultra-precision Optical Manufacturing, Opto-electronic Device and System ENHANCE YOUR IEEE Electromagnetic Field & Wave: microwave remote sensing, computa- MEMBERSHIP BY JOINING THE tional electromagnetics, radar signal processing, image processing & information sensing, wireless power transmission, space communica- Power & Energy Society tion, microwave circuit and systems Successful candidates must have a Ph.D. degree from a reputed uni- Help shape the future versity, a demonstrated strong research expertise in their discipline, of the industry and give excellent communication skills and a commitment to graduate and un- your career a boost dergraduate teaching. 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