David A. Handelman - President & Founder

David Handelman received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University.

Following graduate school Dr. Handelman co-founded Robicon Systems Inc., a robotics and intelligent control R&D company. Robicon Systems developed new control techniques that enable robots to acquire motor skills. Clients included Princeton University and Sarnoff Corporation. Using rule-based systems for their expressiveness, neural networks for learning and limb coordination algorithms for smooth movement of complex skeletons, this biologically inspired form of robot skill acquisition was applied to a variety of simulated systems. One such system enabled an operator to download his or her hand-eye coordination into a computer and was developed as part of a three-year traveling exhibit on the brain sponsored by the Franklin Institute Science Museum and the National Academy of Sciences.

In order to commercialize the robotics technology developed by Robicon Systems, Dr. Handelman co-founded Katrix Inc. in 1993 and its subsidiary Millennium Rush in 1996. The focus became 3D character animation: the creation of goal-directed, interactive, lifelike human and animal characters that can be plugged into a variety of applications. The markets for the technology included training simulations, high-end computer graphics, interactive entertainment and web-based characters.

Early Katrix clients included Hasbro and AT&T. Between 1996 and 1999 Katrix and Millennium Rush licensed character animation technology to Microsoft, developed a virtual reality attraction for Disney, created demonstration software for Intel, developed a PC game, and created web character tools and browser plug-ins. As Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Handelman helped direct, manage and develop all of these projects.

Published articles detailing the success of Katrix/Millennium Rush can be found in Philly Tech (Oct. 1998), The Princeton Packet (Oct. 13, 1998) and U.S.1 (Feb. 24, 1999).

Katrix/Millennium Rush developed Ride the Comix for Disney. As a major component of DisneyQuest, Disney's location-based entertainment centers, Ride the Comix is a virtual reality attraction in which players battle computer-generated villains in hopes of saving the world. Players don a head-mounted display, pick up a virtual sword and attempt to inflict what our development team lovingly called "interesting bloodless death." Computer Graphics World (July, 1998) ran an article on the project.

Katrix/Millennium Rush also developed Dance Studio, a PC game published by MetaCreations (now Viewpoint). Select a dancer, dance style and environment, customize your dancer's clothing, then make him or her move to music of your choosing by hitting keys to the beat. You can then edit 3D camera cuts and lighting. Dance Studio received good press including mentions in Newsweek (Dec. 21, 1998 - search archives for "metacreations dance studio"), Newsday (Feb. 17, 1999) and Computer Chronicles.

Dr. Handelman founded American Android Corp. in 1999. He has authored or co-authored 26 technical papers on robotics and intelligent control and his current focus is on humanoid robot control technology.

Selected Publications

Handelman, D., "Adaptive Collaborative Control of Highly Redundant Robots," Unmanned Systems Technology X, SPIE 6962, (2008). [pdf]

Handelman, D.. and Lane, S. H., "Human-to-Machine Skill Transfer through Cooperative Learning," Intelligent Control Systems – Theory and Applications, IEEE Press, 187-205 (1995).

Handelman, D. and Lane, S., "Fast Sensorimotor Skill Acquisition based on Rule-Based Training of Neural Networks," Neural Networks in Robotics, Kluwer Academic Pub., 255-270 (1993).

Handelman, D., Lane, S. and Gelfand, J., "Robotic Skill Acquisition based on Biological Principles," Hybrid Architectures for Intelligent Systems, CRC Press, 301-328 (1992).

Handelman, D., Lane, S. and Gelfand, J., "Integrating Neural Networks and Knowledge-Based Systems for Intelligent Robotic Control," IEEE Control Systems Magazine, 10(3), 77-87 (1990).

Handelman, D., A Rule-Based Paradigm for Intelligent Adaptive Flight Control, Doctoral Dissertation – Princeton University, (1989).

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