Latest News
The IEEE Robotics & Automation Society (RAS) is sponsoring a number of events for IEEE members in conjunction with the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) from 14–18 September 2014 at the Palmer House Hilton - Chicago, Illinois, USA. They include:
RAS Women in Engineering (WIE) Luncheon
Tuesday, 16 September - 12:10-13:30 – Chicago Room
The WIE luncheon provides an opportunity for all the female and male professionals who are interested in women engineering education to discuss the subjects of career path, career/family choices, and other topics.
RAS Lunch with Leaders - Student Luncheon
Wednesday, 17 September - 12:10-13:10 – Crystal Room
Lunch with Leaders (LwL) offers IEEE student members an opportunity to network with RAS leaders, and get advice and mentoring on their career and research.
Young Professionals Luncheon
Wednesday, 17 September - 12:10-13:10 – Chicago Room
This luncheon is open to recent IEEE graduates, so that they can network with peers and find out more about the benefits of RAS.
There is a $5 USD registration fee to attend each luncheon. Space is limited and first come, first served, so advanced registration is suggested. To register visit: https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?EventID=1605224
For more details on the conference visit: http://www.iros2014.org
This award recognizes the entrepreneurial commercialization of ideas into actual products. Nominations cite and describe the original work that has been translated into commercial application as well as the commercial product and its success. Nominations must also describe the unique characteristics of the transformation into the commercialized product that justify the award. The current and future impact of the commercial product is a fundamental element of the merit for selection.
Selected finalists had the opportunity to present their story of the genesis of a successful innovative product in robotics and automation from its very inception to the final state of commercialization during a special session at the conference of China International Robot Show (CIROS) on 8 July 2014 in Shanghai. The ultimate winner, chosen by an evaluation board consisting of distinguished individuals from industry and academia, will receive a prestigious plaque and a US$ 2,000 prize.
Congratulations to Guy Caverot, BA Systemes, France, as the 2014 recipient of the IEEE/IFR Invention and Entrepreneurship Award for the "Mobile base designed to receive an X-ray machine."
Other 2014 Finalists include:
Yang Yang, Gao Jinrui and Zheng Yongquan, Chaint Robotics, China
"Robotic Automatic Finishing System for Iron Castings"
Charles Deguire, Kinova, Canada
"JACO Rehab edition"
posted 21 July 2014
"Why We Love Robots," a 5-minute short documentary film co-directed by Ken Goldberg, professor at UC Berkeley and the editor of IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering (T-ASE), and his wife, award-winning filmmaker Tiffany Shlain, was nominated for an Emmy Award and won a "Botscar" (Robot film Oscar) at the 2014 Robot Film Festival. The film combines cultural references and found footage to explore our human fascination with robots and emerging research in Cloud Robotics and Belief Space planning.
View the Award Winning Video here: http://j.mp/WhyWeLoveRobots
posted 21 July 2014
Who are the Leaders in the robotic and automation field? Who should be honored with a prestigious IEEE RAS Award? Consider nominating them! But hurry, the deadline for IEEE Robotics & Automation Society Award nominations is midnight (US EST) 1 August 2014.
Details for each award, including eligibility and nomination requirements and lists of previous recipients, may be found at www.ieee-ras.org/awards-recognition/society-awards
posted 16 July
The following IEEE Robotics & Automation Society members have recently been elevated to Senior Members, which is the highest grade which IEEE offers and requires individuals be engineers, scientists, educators, technical executives, or originators in IEEE-designated fields; have experience reflecting professional maturity; have been in professional practice for at least ten years; and show significant performance over a period of at least five of their years in professional practice.
A M Harsha Abeykoon
Richard Adams
Mousa AL-Akhras
Ramzy Ali
Soma Bandyopadhyay
Ranjit Barai
Leo Budin
Darius Burschka
John-John Cabibihan
Zhiqiang Cao
Chee Seng Chan
Chandra Curtis
Houshang Darabi
Jinliang Ding
Joseph Andrew Driscoll
Jafar Ghaisari
Sidney Givigi
Richard Grimmett
Mitsuhiro Hayashibe
Benjamin Hirsch
Chen-Chien Hsu
Iulian Iordachita
Addie Irawan
Ilhem Kallel
Mohammed Khalidy
Raisuddin Khan
Abderrahmane Kheddar
Wilfried Kubinger
Tim Lueth
Carlos Mello
Kazuhiro Nakadai
Nicolaie Popescu-Bodorin
Eloy Rodriguez-Vazquez
Joshua Rykowski
Mohammad Salah
Michael Sousa
Geb Thomas
Ismaila Tijani
Bhekisipho Twala
Rominus Valsalam
Paul V Whalen
Dingguo Zhang
Posted 14 July 2014
Congratulations to the following ICRA 2014 Award recipients! Winners were announced and honored during the RAS Awards Luncheon which took place on 4 June 2014 in Hong Kong.
Best Associate Editor Award
Anya Petrovskaya - Stanford University, USA
Best Reviewer Award
Jens Kober - Bielefeld University, Germany
Dirk Holz - University of Bonn, Germany
Julia Borras Sol - Yale University, USA
Mehmet Dogar - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
Best Pecha Kucha Award
Steven M. LaValle - University of Illinois, USA
Virtual Reality for Everyone!
Best Automation Paper Award
Self-Assembly of a Swarm of Autonomous Boats into Floating Structures
Ian O'Hara, James Paulos, Jay Davey, Nick Eckenstein, Neel Doshi, Tarik Tosun, Jonathan Greco, Jungwon Seo, Matt Turpin, Vijay Kumar, Mark Yim
Best Medical Robotics Paper Award
Automated Capsulorhexis based on a Hybrid Magnetic-Mechanical Actuation System
Franziska Ullrich, Simone Schuerle, Roel Pieters, Avraham Dishy, Stephan Michels, Bradley J. Nelson
ICRA Best Video Award
Agile Justin: An Upgraded Member of DLR's Family of Lightweight and Torque Controlled Humanoids
Berthold Bäuml, Tobias Hammer, René Wagner, Oliver Birbach, Ulrich Hillenbrand, Werner Friedl, Jörg Butterfass, FangYi Zhi, Thomas Gumpert, Stefan Beer
Best Cognitive Robotics Paper Award
Multi-Task Policy Search for Robotics
Marc Peter Deisenroth, Peter Englert, Jan Peters, Dieter Fox
KUKA Best Service Robotics Paper Award
Autonomous Active Recognition and Unfolding of Clothes Using Random Decision Forests and Probabilistic Planning
Andreas Doumanoglou, Andreas Kargakos, Tae-Kyun Kim, Sotiris Malassiotis
Best Manipulation Paper Award
Toward Parallel Continuum Robots
Caroline E. Bryson, D. Caleb Rucker
Best Vision Paper Award
Dense 3D Semantic Mapping of Indoor Scenes from RGB-D Images
Alexander Hermans, Georgios Floros, Bastian Leibe
Best Student Paper Award
Automated Microrobotic Characterization of Cell-Cell Communication
Jun Liu (Student Author), Vinayakumar Siragam, Zheng Gong, Jun Chen, Clement Leung, Zhe Lu, Changhai Ru, Shaorong Xie, Jun Luo, Robert Hamilton, Yu Sun
Best Conference Paper Award
Manipulation Strategy Decision and Execution based on Strategy Proving Operation for Carrying Large and Heavy Objects
Masaki Murooka, Shintaro Noda, Shunichi Nozawa, Yohei Kakiuchi, Kei Okada, Masayuki Inaba
Humanitarian Robotics and Automation Technology Challenge
Team ORION, University of Texas at Arlington, USA
Sandesh Gowda, Isura Ranatunga, Shweta Hardas, Dan Popa
Mobile Microrobotics – Assembly Challenge (co-Winners)
ETH, ETHZ, Switzerland
Roel Pieters, Simone Schuerle, Franziska Ullrich, Samuel Charreyron, Brad Nelson
UTA Micro-Robotics Team, University of Texas, Arlington, USA
Jiwan Ghimire, Sumit K. Das, Greg Martin, Dan Popa
Mobile Microrobotics – Mobility Challenge
NOMAD, LPN-CNRS, France
Gilgueng Hwang, Antoine Barbot, Laurent Couraud
posted 14 July
The IEEE Robotics & Automation Society will host two member luncheons in conjunction with CASE2014, 18 -22 August in Taipei, Taiwan..
Women in Engineering (WIE) Luncheon
The Women in Engineering (WIE) Luncheon will take place on Wednesday, 20 August, from 12:00-13:00. The WIE luncheon provides an opportunity for all the female and male professionals who are interested in women's engineering education to discuss the subjects of career path, career/family choices, and other topics. There is a $5 USD registration fee to attend. Advanced registration is required.
To join WIE luncheon, please register HERE.
IEEE Student and Young Professionals Luncheon
The IEEE Student and Young Professionals Luncheon will take place on Thursday, 21 August, from 12:00-13:00. This luncheon offers Student and Young Professional members an opportunity to network with RAS leaders, and get advice and mentoring on their career and research. There is a $5 USD registration fee to attend. Advanced registration is required.
To join Student and Young Professionals Lunch, please register HERE.
posted 14 July
Congratulations to IEEE RAS Administrative Committee member Toshio Fukuda, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan.
He has been elected to serve as 2015 MGA Vice Chair - Strategic Management and Analysis/Chair, MGA Strategic Direction and Environmental Assessment Committee.
posted 1 July 2014
Dates: July 21-25, 2014
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Co-Chairs: Dr. Cameron Riviere and Dr. Howie Choset, The Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University http://biorobotics.ri.cmu.edu/education/summerschool/
This intensive one-week Summer School will provide trainees with lectures, hands-on laboratory experiences, and informal interactions to introduce them to the state of the art in this rapidly growing field. The school is designed for PhD and MD students, postdoctoral fellows, residents, and other early-career researchers in relevant fields. A limited number of seats will be available for trainees from outside North America.
Posters: All participants, especially doctoral students, are expected to present posters describing their research projects or interests.
Costs: We have received partial support for the school from the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, the National Institutes of Health, Intuitive Surgical, Medtronic, Blue Belt Technologies, and the Disruptive Health Technology Institute of Carnegie Mellon University. To cover the remaining costs, a registration fee of $595 per student/postdoc will be charged, which will cover tuition, meals, and accommodation in University residences. A reduced fee of $292 is also available for attendees who do not require lodging or who prefer to make their own arrangements. All attendees are responsible for arranging their own transportation to and from Pittsburgh. Additional reductions in fees are possible, pending additional sponsorships; any updates to the fee will be posted on the website. Application: To apply, please visit http://biorobotics.ri.cmu.edu/education/summerschool/. Applications should be submitted by June 15, 2014. The application process is designed to select the students who are most likely to benefit from attending the school while ensuring that the backgrounds and expertise of the attendees cover a broad range.
Confirmed Speakers:
Howie Choset, PhD, Carnegie Mellon University
Paolo Dario, PhD, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa
Elena De Momi, PhD, Politecnico di Milano
Simon DiMaio, PhD, Intuitive Surgical, Inc.
Pierre Dupont, PhD, Children's Hospital, Boston
Umamaheswar Duvvuri, MD, PhD, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Gregory Hager, PhD, Johns Hopkins University
Blake Hannaford, PhD, University of Washington, Seattle
Takeo Kanade, PhD, Carnegie Mellon University
Sylvain Martel, PhD, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal
Allison Okamura, PhD, Stanford University
Michael Ost, MD, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Rajni Patel, PhD, University of Western Ontario
Cameron Riviere, PhD, Carnegie Mellon University
Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena, PhD, Imperial College London
Nabil Simaan, PhD, Vanderbilt University
George Stetten, MD, PhD, University of Pittsburgh/Carnegie Mellon University
Russell Taylor, PhD, Johns Hopkins University
For more information, please contact: Cameron Riviere (camr at ri.cmu.edu).
posted 25 June 2014
Robotics & Automation (R&A) Technologies have the potential to transform and improve the lives of people around the globe by addressing world's toughest challenges. The IEEE Robotics & Automation Society – Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology (RAS–SIGHT) is engaging the academic and non-academic community to propose viable solutions in R&A to address relevant world problems through the Humanitarian Robotics and Automation Technology Challenge (HRATC). HRATC is an unprecedented opportunity for IEEE members from around the world to collaborate using their skills and education to benefit humanity. The problems (challenges) are framed with the environmental, cultural, structural, political, socio-economic and resource constraints so that solutions can be developed, deployed, and sustained. RAS–SIGHT is the first and only IEEE Society to have a SIGHT. The mission of RAS-SIGHT is the application of robotics and automation technologies for promoting humanitarian causes around the globe and to leverage existing and emerging technologies for the benefit of humanity and towards increasing the quality of life in underserved, underdeveloped areas in collaboration with existing global communities and organizations.
According to the UN Mine Action Service, landmines kill 15,000-20,000 people every year (mostly children) and maim countless more across 78 countries. Demining efforts cost $300-1000 per mine, and, for every 5000 mines cleared, one person is killed and two are injured. Thus, clearing post-combat regions of landmines has proven to be a difficult, risky, dangerous and expensive task with enormous social implications for civilians. Motivated by these considerations, the first HRATC edition took place at the 2014 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA'14) in Hong Kong (and Coimbra, Portugal, remotely), and focused on promoting the development of new strategies for autonomous landmine detection using a mobile (ground) robot. HRATC'14 Organizers were Raj Madhavan (Chair, RAS-SIGHT, USA), Lino Marques (University of Coimbra, Portugal), Edson Prestes (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul , Brazil), and Prtihviraj Dasgupta (University of Nebraska-Omaha, USA). For more information on the Challenge and scope, see http://www.isr.uc.pt/HRATC2014/. 14 teams submitted their entries and were progressively eliminated based on the stages of the Challenge.
HRATC'14 had three stages: simulation, testing, and Finals. For the simulation stage, a software framework that runs on Linux-based Operating System and uses ROS for communicating with both Gazebo simulator and real robot was developed. Using this framework, the teams were classified according to the performance of their strategy in a simulation scenario. The scoring metric was computed using several performance measures that included number of detected mines, number of exploded unknown mines, covered area, and coverage time. The best-ranked teams were then allowed to advance to the testing phase. In the testing phase, the teams ran their detection and classification strategies on a Clearpath Husky A200 robot in an outdoor arena covered by low grass, with few trees, ditches and surrogate mines. This robot was equipped with several sensors that include GigE cameras, SICK laser range finder, and three-coil pulse induction metal detector. Each team had three trials to evaluate and adjust their strategies. After three trials, four teams participated in the Finals at ICRA (on the same robot in Portugal) and were evaluated according to the scoring metric.
Team ORION of the University of Texas at Arlington, USA was declared as the grand winner. The second and third place finishers were Team Geeks of the Square Table (University of Bremen, Germany) and Team USMiners (University of Southern Mississippi, USA). Thanks to IEEE SIGHT sponsorship, the three best-ranked teams received a cash prize ($1000, $500, $250, respectively) together with a certificate and a plaque.
In the next HRATC edition that will take place at ICRA 2015 in Seattle, we will continue to refine the development of new strategies for autonomous landmine detection. Besides, RAS-SIGHT is currently investigating new challenges for the robotics and automation community. Additional information regarding challenges, deadline, and subscription for the next edition will be available from http://www.ieee-ras.org/educational-resources-outreach/humanitarian-efforts.
The Challenge organizers thank Clearpath Robotics, Inc., the FP7-TIRAMISU project, RAS Competitions Committee, and RAS-SIGHT for their support and partnership in organizing HRATC'14. Special thanks are reserved for the tireless efforts of the Testing and Simulation Team members at the University of Coimbra and at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul: Gonçalo Cabrita, David Portugal, Bruno Gouveia, Vitor Jorge, Guilherme Franco, Renan Maffei, and Jose Baca Garcia from the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
posted 19 June 2014
Congratulations to the following winners of the 2014 King-Sun Fu Memorial Award. This award honors the best paper printed in the IEEE Transactions on Robotics in the previous year. The authors were presented their award during the RAS Awards Luncheon at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) on 4 June 2014 in Hong Kong.
"Robots Driven by Compliant Actuators: Optimal Control Under Actuation Constraints"
IEEE Transactions on Robotics, vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 1085-1101, 2013
David J. Braun, Florian Petit, Felix Huber, Sami Haddadin, Patrick van der Smagt, Alin Albu-Schäffer, Sethu Vijayakumar
posted 18 June 2014
It's not too late!
Will you be organizing a Conference in the coming months? Are you considering organizing a conference? Then, this Workshop is for you!
RAS will host the 2014 RAS Panel of Conference Organizers (POCO) on Sunday 1 June, 9:00-14:00 in S230. Get answers to your questions about the organization, requirements, logistics, technical program and finances of conferences, both large and small. Speak with the experts for advice on how to make sure your conference is executed flawlessly!
Space is limited, so we encourage you to register as soon as your availability is confirmed. Please register for this FREE workshop on-line:
https://adobeformscentral.com/?f=2ZE8ns0WdXgEkDnxSb32qQ
Presenters to include:
RAS Associate VP - Conference Finance: Paolo Fiorini
RAS Associate VP - Conference Operations: Torsten Kroeger
RAS Treasurer: Ron Lumia
IEEE Conference Expert: Alicia Zupeck
IEEE RAS Staff: Kathy Colabaugh
For more information see: www.ieee-ras.org/about-ras/ras-calendar/event/428-ras-poco-panel-of-conference-organizers
posted 26 May 2014
The RAS Conference Activities Board (CAB) is seeking proposing for the 2019 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) organization in North or South America. CAB will give priority to proposals received prior to 15 August 2014, with the intention of discussing the different submissions at its September meeting in Chicago during IROS 2014. All proposers will be invited to discuss their proposal during this meeting. The final decision will be made after presentations at the next CAB meeting at ICRA 2015 in May.
Each proposal should be submitted to RAS@ieee.org and should contain the following material:
- Location and plan
- Organizers and write-ups about their backgrounds and interactions with RAS previously. At the minimum, include names and background of general Chairs, Program Chairs, Local Arrangement Chairs, Workshops and Tutorials Chairs, and Finance Chairs.
- Description of available infrastructure (e.g., broadband Internet)
- Nearby and/or onsite hotel capacities
- Exhibits
- Program discussion
- Budget plan
- Milestones
- Signing a "contract" with RAS
For more information, please refer to http://www.ieee-ras.org/conferences-workshops/conferences-overview
posted 23 May 2014
Minesweeping is incredibly time-intensive and dangerous; it's estimated that over 20 thousand people lose their lives in mine-related accidents each year. With statistics such as this, it's no wonder robots haven't been used in mine detecting scenarios sooner. To build awareness and advance this technology, IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) will be hosting the first ever Humanitarian Robotics and Automation Technology Challenge (HRATC) to be held at ICRA 2014 (May 31-June 1). The Challenge aims to promote and develop new strategies for autonomous landmine detection and will be conducted virtually, with the physical robot situated in Coimbra, Portugal, so teams from around the world can participate.
For more information see: www.clearpathrobotics.com/blog/icra-challenge-landmine-detection/
posted 25 April 2014
In efforts to receive sufficient proposals from all Geographic Areas of RAS, the Deadline for 2015 Proposals has been extended to 1 May 2014
Each year, the IEEE Robotics & Automation Society offers financial support for three Technical Education Programs (RAS-TEP), formerly Summer Schools. In efforts to bring RAS closer to its membership, these programs rotate though the Americas, Europe and Asia and Pacific.
The RAS-TEP program is jointly run by the Member Activities Board (MAB) and the Technical Activities Board (TAB). The program is intended to sponsor or co-sponsor up to three summer schools per year around the world. One of the three summer schools will be fully sponsored by RAS to a level of $40,000, and it will rotate annually through RAS' three geographical regions in a round robin fashion. The other two summer schools will be cosponsored with interested organizations in the other two geographical regions up to a level of $20,000 each. In 2015, Full sponsorship ($40,000) is available for for Area 2 (Europe, Africa, Middle East)
The review of summer school proposals is based on assessments from two different viewpoints, the first one with respect to the general structure, including organizational matters and budget, and the second one with respect to the technical content. Suited Technical Committees (TCs) of the RAS have to endorse the proposal.
Techncial Education Program Proposal - on-line form
Deadlines for the submission of 2015 proposals:
Deadline Extended!: Now 1 May 2014!
Decision: 1 July 2014
posted 4 February 2014
Minesweepers: Towards a Landmine-free World
23-24 October 2014, Coimbra, Portugal
Detection and removal of antipersonnel landmines is, at the present time, a serious problem of political, economical, environmental and humanitarian dimensions in many countries over the world.Minesweepers: Towards a Landmine-free World is an international outdoor robotic competition on humanitarian demining that aims at motivating researchers and developers to work on innovative solutions for this serious problem.
The third edition of Minesweepers: Towards a Landmine-free World is organized by Institute for Systems and Robotics, University of Coimbra under the auspices of IEEE RAS Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology (RAS-SIGHT). The competition is organized in collaboration with IEEE RAS Egypt Chapter and Hadath for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The competition is technically co-sponsored by IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS).
Competition Categories
•Minesweepers – Academia: for undergraduate and postgraduate students where only metallic objects are available in the competition arena and landmine detection and minefield mapping are required.
•Minesweepers - Juniors: for elementary and high school students where only metallic objects are available in the competition arena and only landmine detection is required.
•Minesweepers – Industry: for professional companies where metallic and non-metallic objects with different dimensions and profiles are available in the competition arena and landmine detection, landmine imagining and minefield mapping are required.
Important Dates
•Registration deadline: 15 May 2014
•Eligibility Round (technical report and short video): 1 July 2014
•Notification of Acceptance: 15 July 2014
•Classification Round: 1-2 September 2014
•Final Round: 3 September 2014
For more information, please visit http://www.landminefree.org/
The IEEE Robotics and Automation Society membership will elect six new members of the Administrative Committee in 2014, each to serve a three-year term beginning 1 January 2015. The AdCom is the governing body of the Society.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF ADCOM MEMBERS
AdCom members must attend two formal meetings each year, one in conjunction with ICRA and the other usually in October/November in conjunction with another major conference. Each AdCom member is expected to serve on at least two of boards and/or committees of the Society.
ELIGIBILITY
Any higher-grade member of the Society is eligible to serve and all higher-grade members plus graduate students may nominate candidates and vote.
TO NOMINATE A CANDIDATE
To nominate a candidate or offer yourself as a candidate, contact the Society at ras@ieee.org by 15 May 2014.
PETITION CANDIDATES
Candidates may also petition to be on the ballot. All persons who, by the deadline, submit petitions with valid signatures and IEEE member numbers with at least 2% of the year-end voting membership will be placed on the ballot.
Only original signatures on paper or electronic signatures submitted through the RAS petition website will be accepted. Faxed or emailed signatures are NOT acceptable. Contact the Society at ras@ieee.org to obtain a paper petition form or to set up an electronic petition.
Completed petitions must be received by 15 May 2014 to be placed on the ballot.
SELECTION OF FINAL BALLOT
The Nominations Committee will consider all nominations and petitions and select the candidates to be placed on the ballot.
posted 28 March 2014
2014 RAS Panel of Conference Organizers (POCO)
Sunday, 1 June 2014
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), Hong Kong
Conference timelines, Bank Accounts, Budgets, Whether to hire a meeting planner, Conference Closings, Hotel Contracts, Insurance, Tax Issues— organizing a conference can be a daunting task, especially a large conference like ICRA or IROS involving a thousand people or more. Anyone who is involved in organizing an IEEE Conference, or is thinking about organizing a conference, is urged to attend. Get answers to your questions about the organization, requirements, logistics and finances of conferences, both large and small. Speak with the experts for advice on how to make sure your conference is executed flawlessly!
The RAS Panel of Conference Organizers (RAS POCO) will take place on Sunday, 1 June from 9:00-14:00 during ICRA 2014, in room S230, L2 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Hong Kong. Lunch will be provided by RAS. Registration is required.
Tentative Agenda
0900-0905 Welcome and Opening Remarks - Raja Chatila
0905-0930 Conferences in RAS / Conference Committee Roles and Responsibilities– Paolo Fiorini
0930-1000 Getting Started: Types of Sponsorship, Requesting Sponsorship from RAS, Conference Initiation and MOUs – Kathy Colabaugh
1000-1020 Managing a Technical Program/ Paper Review / Plagiarism Screening - TBD
1020-1040 Conference Publications - Start to Finish - TBD
1040-1130 Conference Finance: From Budgets to Closing – Ron Lumia
1130-1315 Event Planning and Execution: estimating conference space, hotel rooms, social events, internet, registration – Torsten Kroeger/Alicia Zupeck
1230-1330 WORKING LUNCH
1315-1345 Working with IEEE Meetings, Conferences & Events – Alicia Zupeck
1345-1400 Q/A and Discussion
Space is limited, so we encourage you to register as soon as your availability is confirmed.
Please register for this FREE workshop on-line:
https://adobeformscentral.com/?f=2ZE8ns0WdXgEkDnxSb32qQ
Or register by email: ras@ieee.org
posted 25 March 2014
The IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine will have a special issue on Emerging Advances and Applications in Automation. Contributions are solicited on state-of-the-art research and applications in the general area of automation, and, according to the nature of IEEE RAM, having solid and significant industrial and practical impacts. The goal is to bring together researchers and practitioners from both academia and industry, to present efficient scientific and engineering solutions, address the needs and challenges for integration with new technologies, and provide visions for future research and development. The issue will feature original, significant and visionary automation papers describing scientific methods and technologies with both solid theoretical development and practical importance. Papers that describe innovative work on abstractions, algorithms, theories, methodologies, models, systems, and case studies that can be applied across industries to significantly advance efficiency, quality, productivity, and reliability for society are welcome. In addition, participation from industry practitioners interested in integrating knowledge across disciplines is encouraged.
The topics include but are not limited to:
• Foundations of Automation;
• Automation in Life Sciences and Health Care;
• Automation in Meso, Micro and Nano-scale;
• Manufacturing Automation;
• Discrete Event Systems;
• Mechatronics;
• Sustainable Production;
• Logistics and Supply Chain Management;
• Smart Buildings and Smart Cities;
• Emerging Topics in Automation.
RAM also considers multimedia material (typically, videos) accompanying the submission of a paper. Instructions on the preparation of this material can be found on www.ieee-ras.org/ram/for_authors. Multimedia will appear side-by-side to the accepted paper in the electronic version of the Special Issue within IEEE Xplore.
Timeline:
Call for papers - March 2014
Deadline for paper submission - 15 June 2014
First review - 15 September 2014
Final review - 15 November 2014
Publication - March 2015
Guest Editors:
Maria Fanti Politecnico di Bari, Dipartimento di Elettrotecnica ed Elettronica, Bari, Italy. fanti@deemail.poliba.it
Ken Goldberg University of California-Berkeley, IEOR and EECS School of Information. Berkeley California, United States. goldberg@berkeley.edu
Youfu Li IEEE Senior Member, Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, HK. meyfli@cityu.edu.hk, http://personal.cityu.edu.hk/~meyfli/
Yu Sun University of Toronto, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Ontario (ON), Canada. sun@mie.utoronto.ca
IEEE-RAS Humanitarian Robotics and Automation Technology Challenge
"Help us to eradicate landmines and improve the quality of life for civilians"
to be held 31 May & 1 June 2014 @ ICRA, Hong Kong (Coimbra, Portugal remotely)
According to the UN Mine Action Service, landmines kill 15,000-20,000 people every year (mostly children) and maim countless more across 78 countries. Demining efforts cost US$300-1000 per mine, and, for every 5000 mines cleared, one person is killed and two are injured. Thus, clearing post-combat regions of landmines has proven to be a difficult, risky, dangerous and expensive task with enormous social implications for civilians. Motivated by these considerations, the IEEE Robotics & Automation Society – Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology (RAS–SIGHT) is inviting the academic and non-academic community to participate in the first Humanitarian Robotics and Automation Technology Challenge (HRATC) at the 2014 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA'14).
This edition will focus on promoting the development of new strategies for autonomous landmine detection using a mobile (ground) robot. These strategies will be evaluated according to the following criteria: exploration time and environmental coverage; detection and classification quality, i.e., when a metallic object is detected, it should be classified correctly as a landmine or non-landmine; landmine avoidance, i.e., while navigating, the robot should not go over landmines.
* How To Participate in the Challenge *
All potential participants should submit a paper (2-3 pages maximum) in the standard IEEE format including figures that describes the motivation, previous experiences and research (if any), and the main techniques that will be used during the Challenge. The organizers will then evaluate this paper and an acceptance notification containing further steps would follow. All submissions should be sent to hratc2014@gmail.com.
All teams will use the same robot that will be available before (for remote practice runs) and during the Challenge. Furthermore, participants will have access to a simulator to develop their code before testing it remotely on the real robot.The Challenge will take place remotely in Coimbra, Portugal, and beamed in real time to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center during ICRA'14. Necessary logistics and travel support (level of support will vary depending on the number of teams) for the event will be provided by HRATC organizers.
Further information about the Challenge is available at the website www.isr.uc.pt/HRATC2014.
Important Dates
Entry Submissions: 1 March 2014
Acceptance Notifications: 5 March 2014
Challenge@ICRA'14: 31 May & 1 June 2014
About IEEE RAS-SIGHT
The IEEE RAS–SIGHT is the first and only IEEE Society to have a SIGHT! The mission of RAS-SIGHT is the application of robotics and automation technologies for promoting humanitarian causes around the globe, and to leverage existing and emerging technologies for the benefit of humanity and towards increasing the quality of life in underserved, underdeveloped areas in collaboration with existing global communities and organizations. To engage the international community in these causes, starting in 2014, RAS-SIGHT will organize an HRATC in RAS-sponsored conferences.
Acknowledgments
The Challenge organizers thank the FP7-TIRAMISU project (http://www.fp7-tiramisu.eu/) and Clearpath Robotics, Inc. for their support and partnership in organizing HRATC'14.
Organizers
Raj Madhavan (IEEE-RAS & UMD-CP, USA)
Lino Marques (UCoimbra, Portugal)
Edson Prestes (UFRGS, Brazil)
Raj Dasgupta (UNOmaha, USA)
Organizing Committee
Vitor Jorge (UFRGS, Brazil)
Gonçalo Cabrita (UCoimbra, Portugal)
Adam Gryfe (Clearpath Tech., Canada)
Alaa Khamis (SuezU, Egypt)
Renan Maffei (UFRGS, Brazil)
Guilherme Franco (UFRGS, Brazil)
Jose Baca Garcia (UNOmaha, USA)
Mariana Kolberg (UFRGS, Brazil)
Contact Information
hratc2014@gmail.com
www.isr.uc.pt/HRATC2014
posted 5 February 2014
