Massie/McLurkin Innovative Lives Presentation and Interviews
name: label: Creator
content: Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
label: Inventor
content: Massie, Thomas
label: Inventor
content: McLurkin, James
label: Names
content: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
label: Names
content: SensAble Technologies (formerly SensAble Devices, Inc.)
label: Interviewer
content: Judd, Michael
title: label: Topic
content: Innovative Lives Program (NMAH public program series)
topic: label: Topic
content: Electronic engineers -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Artificial intelligence -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Computer science
label: Topic
content: Inventions -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Electronics -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Microrobotics
label: Topic
content: Inventors -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Remote-control -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Robotics -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Slides (Photography)
label: Topic
content: Photographs
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This collection was created by the Innovative Lives Program of The Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation on October 27, 1995. The Innovative Lives series brings young people and American inventors together to discuss inventions and the creative process and to experiment and play with hands-on activities related to each inventor's product.
creator: label: Creator
content: Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
label: Inventor
content: Massie, Thomas
label: Inventor
content: McLurkin, James
setName: label: See more items in
content: Massie/McLurkin Innovative Lives Presentation and Interviews
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Thomas Massie was born in West Virginia in 1969 and grew up in Vanceburg, Kentucky. He graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1993 with a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering and a masters in Mechanical Engineering in 1995. AT MIT's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Laboratory Massie developed, with his adviser J. Kenneth Salisbury, a principal research scientist at the AI Lab, and later built, a prototype system that provides users with surprisingly vivid tactile impressions of nonexistent virtual objects.  Massie's invention is called the Phantom Haptic Interface. In August of 1993, Massie and Salisbury established SensAble Devices Inc., in Cambridge, MA to manufacture the arm. Massie later changed the name of the company to SensAble Technologies.

James McLurkin was raised in Baldwin, New York and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1995 with a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. McLurkin built upon the earlier work of robot communities. Each robot is essentially identical to Cleo, a micro-robot he designed that was once considered as a basis for a remote-controlled colon surgery device. Each robot ant has a pair of tiny treads powered by a battery and two motors taken from vibrating beepers. The robots are guided away from the objects they hit and toward illumination sources by antennae and light sensors, and they also have mandibles powered by a third motor to pick up bits of food--quarter inch balls of crumpled brass.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Cubic foot (3 boxes, 5 hours)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1995; 1997.
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: The collection was transferred from the Lemelson Center to the Archives Center on July 8, 1997.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0603
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Videotapes
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Oral history
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is divided into four series.  

Series 1: Orginal Videos

Series 2: Master Videos

Series 3: Reference Videos

Series 4: Photographs
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Alison Oswald, Febuary 1999.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Videotapes -- 1990-2000
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews -- 1980-2000
label: Genre/Form
content: Oral history -- 1990-2000
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This collection consists of approximately 5 hours of original, master and reference video footage and photographs, documenting Thomas H. Massie and James McLurkin in 1995 and 1997.  Massie invented the Phantom Haptic Interface, an electronic device giving existing computer technology the ability to simulate the sense of touch.  James McLurkin invented a community of microrobotic ants that detect food, pass messages, and pick up small objects. Both inventors discuss their inventions and potential applications, as well as their backgrounds and experience as student inventors.