An NSF I/UCRC (the "Center") is a consortium of companies and universities working on industry-relevant medium-term research of interest to all parties. This Center is focused on the emerging research field of Robots and Sensors for Human Well-being and its applications, which includes: Automated Robotic Platforms, Medical, Health, Agriculture, Transportation, Environmental and many other Industrial applications. As a true cooperative venture, university researchers, member company representatives, and invited public officials play a role in the selection of research projects the Center pursues. In fact, it is the Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) that evaluates and prioritizes all proposed projects and then in cooperation with the Site Directors allocates funding for specific projects within the Center. The strategic plan for the past four years has drawn on applied research (always promoting synergies between the different Sites) on:

• Medical and Health, e.g., autism detection, physical rehabilitation, cancer detection
• Precision Agriculture, e.g., nitrogen deficiency detection, weed detection, crop collection
• Environmental Monitoring, e.g., cleaning plants from nuclear waste, cleaning lakes of unwanted algae
• Infrastructure Monitoring, e.g., detection of cracks on large installations by deploying sophisticated planning and navigation
• Transportation, e.g., automating the detection of parking space availability at rest truck stops

Beyond the research mission, the Center is also charged with coordinating marketing studies and creating and developing new emerging markets through standardization and coordination with the federal government.

The many benefits of Center membership are outlined in the Executive Presentation, as well as details on the structure and objectives of the Center. The main benefit to membership is networking and collaboration with university researchers, industry leaders, and end-users under an umbrella of favorable overhead and intellectual property agreements.