Latest News
2018 RAS Award Recipients Announced!
- Details
The IEEE Robotics & Automation Society recognizes and congratulates the following individuals for their outstanding accomplishments and service to RAS and the robotics and automation community. They will be honored during an award luncheon to be held during the IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation (ICRA 2018) on 24 May 2018 at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Venue, Brisbane, Australia. Please join us in congratulating these outstanding recipients!
RAS Pioneer Award
Vijay Kumar - University of Pennsylvania (PA), United States
"For pioneering work on the theory and practice of cooperative robotics and networked unmanned aerial vehicles"
Daniela Rus - Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States
"For pioneering work in the science and design of distributed and self-reconfiguring robotic systems"
RAS George Saridis Leadership Award in Robotics and Automation
Antonio Bicchi - University of Pisa and IIT Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy
"For his leadership in the robotics and automation community through research innovation, technology transfer, education and professional development"
Bill Hamel - University of Tennessee (TN), United States
"For continued leadership that has significantly contributed to the growth and development of robotics in hazardous environments and to the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society"
IEEE RAS Distinguished Service Award
Torsten Kröger - Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany
"For his broad and creative contributions to conference, technical, and industrial activities of RAS"
Frank C. Park - Seoul National University, South Korea
"For his dedication and notable contributions to RAS publications and governance"
Early Academic Career Award in Robotics and Automation
Jens Kober - Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), The Netherlands
"For fundamental contributions to learning and application of versatile motor skills in robotics"
Julie Shah - Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States
"For contributions to human-robot collaboration and transition of results to real world applications"
Early Government or Industry Career Award in Robotics and Automation
Alexander Kernbaum - SRI International (CA), United States
"For his work on robotic actuation and the invention of new transmission mechanisms"
RAS Most Active Technical Committee Award
Technical Committee on Multi-Robot Systems
Co-Chairs: Nora Ayanian, Robert Fitch, Antonio Franchi, Lorenzo Sabattini
RAS Chapter of the Year Award
IEEE Connecticut Robotics and Automation Chapter - United States
Co-Chairs: Biao Zhang, Haoyu Wang
2018 IEEE Robotics and Automation Award recipient announced!
- Details
Heartfelt congratulations to Matthew T. Mason, selected recipient of the prestigious 2018 IEEE Robotics and Automation Award for "Scientific and educational contributions to the mechanics of manipulation enabling real-world robot autonomy, and for leadership in robotics." He will receive this award during the 2018 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) in Madrid, Spain on 1-5 October 2018.
Matthew T. Mason’s contributions to advancing the mechanics of grasping and manipulation are essential to enabling robots to physically interact with the world. A proponent of minimalism in robotic manipulation, his innovative thinking provides simple solutions that allow robots to perform sophisticated tasks, such as parts feeders used for automatic assembly and packaging. He established the geometrical and mechanical foundations for robotic manipulation, and he pioneered pushing and planar sliding as important processes in manipulation. As founder of Carnegie Mellon University’s Manipulation Lab, Mason supervised development of the origami-folding robot, desktop mobile manipulators, scale-invariant grasping, throwing, striking, regrasp, and the use of simple single-actuator. He was also a key architect of the Robotics Roadmap that led to the National Robotics Initiative.
An IEEE Fellow, Mason is a professor of computer science and robotics at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
The IEEE Robotics and Automation Award was established in 2002 by the IEEE Board of Directors, and is presented for contributions in the field of robotics and automation. It includes but is not limited to: manufacturing automation; robotics and automation in unstructured environments; sensor design; integration and fusion; robot design; modeling; planning and control; methodologies for robotics and automation, and the quality of the nomination. This Award is sponsored by the IEEE Robotics & Automation Society.
Past Recipients can be found HERE
Call for Papers: IEEE RA-L Special Issue on Precision Agricultural Robotics and Autonomous Farming Technologies
- Details
Overview
Growth in world population, increasing urbanization and changing consumption habits means demand for food production is predicted to increase dramatically over the coming decades. This increased demand in food production must be achieved despite challenges such as climate change, a limited supply of new arable land and difficulties in sourcing skilled farm labour. Robotics and automation are likely to play a key role in meeting these challenges over the coming decades by helping to improve farm productivity. A key component of these future autonomous agricultural systems is the development of robust and accurate perception systems for perceiving the agricultural environment. Recently, the development of these agricultural perception systems in both research and industry has been spurred on by the emergence of new and increasingly cost-effective sensing modalities such as multi- and hyperspectral imaging, high resolution cameras, LiDAR, radar and centimetre precision GPS. These sensing modalities have been complemented by advances in the size and affordability of computing power and increasingly capable algorithms. This special issue is supported by IEEE RAS Agricultural Robotics and Automation Technical Committee (TC-AgRa) and IEEE-RAS Technical Committee on Mobile Manipulation (TCMM)
Topical Area
This special issue on RA-L will focus on current advances in the area of autonomous farming. Papers are solicited on all areas directly related to these topics, including but not limited to:
- Robots for pruning, thinning, harvesting, mowing, spraying, and weed removal
- Aerial and ground robotic platforms for soil/crop monitoring, prediction, and decision making
- Aerial Robotics for Environmental and Agricultural applications
- Sensing and yield-estimation in precision agriculture
- Fruit and flower detection and recognition
- Approaches to cost-effective sensing for day/night continuous operation
- Long-term autonomy and navigation in unstructured farming environments
- Manipulators and platforms for soil preparation, seeding, crop protection, and harvesting
- Adaptive sampling and informative data collection
- Adaptive technologies that manage plants, soil or animals according to as-sensed status
- Theoretical and empirical decision-oriented data-analysis techniques including machine learning
Timeline
Special Issue Submission Opens: 17 February 2018
Special Issue Submission Deadline: 24 February 2018 (same as RAL/IROS)
First Decision Communicated to Authors: 21 May 2018
Final Decision Communicated to Authors: 25 July 2018
Accepted RAL Papers appear on IEEEXplore: 23 August 2018
Conference Option
This Special Issue will be associated with the 2018 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 1-5 October 2018 in Madrid,Spain and accepted articles will be presented at the conference. Authors of submissions commit that, if accepted by the IROS Program Committee, they will present the work at IROS.
How to submit
Authors will be available to submit your papers to our special issue via RAS paperplaza (RA-L submission system). There will be a menu on the submission system for our SI, Precision Agricultural Robotics and Autonomous Farming Technologies. But the submission system will be opened on 17 February 2018, and will be closed on 24 February 2018. So please keep in mind the submission is only available from 17 February 2018 for one week.
Website
Advisory Committee
Bruce MacDonald (University of Auckland, New Zealand)
Roland Siegwart (ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
Peter Corke (Queensland University of Technology, Australia)
Organizers/Contact
Ho Seok Ahn, corresponding organizer - hs.ahn@auckland.ac.nz, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Inkyu Sa - inkyu.sa@mavt.ethz.ch, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Feras Dayoub - feras.dayoub@qut.edu.au, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Raj Madhavan, Chair of RAS SIGHT to speak at the Basal Peace Forum
- Details
The Basel Peace Forum 2018 inspires new and unconventional ideas for peacebuilding. To achieve this, carefully selected leading personalities and decision-makers from business, diplomacy, academia, and civil society are invited. The Basel Peace Forum will take place on 14 January 2018 at the Museum of Art (Kunstmuseum), and on 15 January 2018 at the Congress Center in Basel, Switzerland.
Raj Madhavan will be a Guest Speaker for one of the Innovation Forums.
Raj is Founder & CEO, Humanitarian Robotics Technologies, LLC and works at the intersection of robotics & automation and technology-policy.
A ROBOT FOR PEACE? THE POTENTIAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Humanity expects a lot from the development of full artificial intelligence: support for the ending of wars, for example. But at the same time, many fear a loss of control and unintended negative consequences. This forum gathers together experienced technologists and scientists to analyze the role of artificial intelligence in changing warfare and preventing violent conflicts. Furthermore, it explores the impact of virtual platforms on building trust through social and commercial interactions in countries emerging from conflicts.
For more information see: http://basel-peace.org/about-the-forum/
Sustainable Humanitarian Technologies Forum to be held at ICRA 2018
- Details
THE ROLE OF ROBOTICS, AUTOMATION, AND AI IN DEVELOPING ECONOMIES
Full-day Forum, International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 24 May 2018
ORGANIZERS: RAJ MADHAVAN & DANIEL ASMAR
CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS
Humanitarian robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence technologies will play an ever-increasing role in global development, particularly in developing economies, in the coming years sooner than one might think or be willing to admit. We are already witnessing several instantiations of such applications in established domains ranging from manufacturing and defense to emerging areas such as disaster response, firefighting, and education, to name a few (for instance, see http://www.ieee-ras.org/ras-sight/projects for a listing of the projects being carried out under the auspices of the IEEE RAS Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology). The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development consists of seventeen Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) that include building resilient infrastructures for sustainable industrialization and fostering innovation (Goal 9) to strengthening and revitalizing global partnerships for sustainable development (Goal 17) among others.
Adoption of emerging technologies tends to be slow in developing countries due to reasons that are usually beyond GDP rates and standard of living indices. Whilst the potential of these technologies is for the most part undeniable, the challenge lies in making them reliable, cost-effective and easily accessible for the masses by taking into account socioeconomic, cultural, environmental, and sustainability factors. Additionally, ethical, legal, and societal considerations of robotics, automation, and other emerging AI technologies are of paramount importance as the demarcation lines between individual privacy, safety, and security and those of the collective society get blurred without timely governance and regulation.
To address these concerns, the Sustainable Humanitarian Technologies Forum will take on the above issues centered on the following three themes:
- Robotics, Automation, and AI Technologies for the benefit of humanity
- Technology-Policy and Ethical, Legal and Societal (ELS) Aspects of Emerging Technologies
- Global South Considerations (particularly those of developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America)
The Forum will bring together experts and thinkers from both technology and public policy domains. The format will consist of keynote addresses and regular presentations with a mini panel discussion after each thematic session covering the gamut of issues stemming not only from research, development, and deployment standpoints but also those from public perception of robotics, automation, and AI. An hour-long panel discussion will conclude the Forum with audience participation both at the conference venue and elsewhere (via Twitter and Facebook). As a record of the Forum, we intend to capture key points from speakers, salient points from the discussions, identify missing gaps and future steps, and summarize them in a post-event White Paper to formulate action items.
If you are working in the above areas and if the goals and themes of the Forum are of interest to you, we would love to hear from you! We are soliciting presentations from researchers and practitioners from industry, academia, NGOs, NPOs, regulatory, and funding agencies. Please email us a 2-page (max.) write-up of your background, experience, and what you would like to present at the Forum to icra2018shtf@gmail.com. In addition, include a separate section in your submission on how your participation/presentation would benefit the Forum. Note that you are not required to write a paper but your presentation at the Forum will be archived post-event for the benefit of the community.
Depending on the level of interest, selected presenters will be invited to write an expanded article for a special issue journal. Along with your submission, let us know if you would be interested in submitting an article to such a special issue.
IMPORTANT DATES
Deadline for Submission of 2-page write-up: 15 February 2018 (email to icra2018shtf@gmail.com)
Notification of Acceptance: 25 February 2018
Forum: 24 May 2018 (confirmed)
IROS 2017 Award Winners Announced
- Details
The IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS2017) was held 24-28 September 2017, in Vancouver, Canada. Congratulations to the following Award Recipients - which were announced on 27 September during the Awards Luncheon. Photos of the event are available here.
IROS Harashima Award for Innovative Technologies
This award is to honor Professor Fumio Harashima, the Founding Honorary Chair of the IROS conferences, by recognizing outstanding contributions of an individual of the IROS community who has pioneered activities in robotics and intelligent systems.
Kevin M. Lynch - Northwestern University, USA
"For his pioneering contributions to robotic manipulation"
IROS Distinguished Service Award
This award recognizes an individual who has performed outstanding service and leadership for the benefit and advancement of the IROS Conference. Up to two awards will be given annually at the IROS Conference.
Nancy M. Amato - Texas A&M University, USA
“For Outstanding Contributions to IROS Editorial Methods and Processes”
Wolfram Burgard - University of Freiburg, Germany
“For Outstanding Contributions to the Organization and Quality of IROS Technical Programs”
IROS Toshio Fukuda Young Professional Award
This award recognizes individuals (from academic institutions, government, industry, or research labs) who, in their early career, have made identifiable contributions that have had a major impact on intelligent robots and systems. Up to two awards will be given annually at the IROS Conference.
Andrea L. Thomaz - University of Texas, Austin, USA
“For Outstanding Contributions to Human-Robot Interaction”
IROS JTCF Novel Technology Paper Award for Amusement Culture
This award recognizes technical papers which have made practical technology contributions to Toys, Toy Models and Amusement Culture.
James M. Bern, Grace Kumagai, and Stelian Coros
"Fabrication, Modeling, and Control of Plush Robots”
IROS RoboCup Best Paper Award
This award recognizes technical papers which have made identifiable contributions to RoboCup.
Hafez Farazi and Sven Behnke
"Online Visual Robot Tracking and Identification using Deep LSTM Networks”
IROS KROS Best Paper Award on Cognitive Robotics
This award is to promote interdisciplinary researches on cognition for technical systems and advancements of cognitive robotics in industry, home applications, and daily life.
Renaud Detry, Jeremie Papon Larry Matthies
"Task-oriented Grasping with Semantic and Geometric Scene Understanding”
IROS Best Paper Award on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics
This award is to promote advanced research on safety, security and rescue robotics. The name of the award is connected with Mr. Motohiro Kisoi who was killed in Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake on 17 January 1995. He was a master student of Kobe University, Japan at that time. He had a dream to create a robot that can help people. To memorialize him and Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the award has established.
Masashi Takeichi, Koichi Suzumori, Gen Endo, Hiroyuki Nabae
"Development of a 20-m-long Giacometti Arm with Balloon Body Based on Kinematic Model with Air Resistance”
IROS ICROS Best Application Paper Award
This award is to promote researches on excellent robot application.
Rachel M. Hoffman and H. Harry Asada
"A Multi-Track Elevator System for E-Commerce Fulfillment Centers"
IROS ABB Best Student Paper Award
This award recognizes the most outstanding paper authored primarily by a student at the annual IROS Conference.
Yu Fan Chen, Michael Everett, Miao Liu, and Jonathan P. How
"Socially Aware Motion Planning with Deep Reinforcement Learning"
IROS Best Paper Award
This award recognizes the most outstanding paper at the annual IROS Conference.
Duncan W. Haldane, Justin K. Yim, and Ronald S. Fearing
"Repetitive extreme-acceleration (14-g) spatial jumping with Salto-1P"
IEEE Symbiotic Autonomous Systems (SAS) Initiative: Call for Participants
- Details
Today, we are at a crossroads, whereby continued advances in computerization and digitalization are bringing significant transformative changes that will impact society worldwide, revolutionizing global business operations and fundamentally altering how inanimate objects are perceived in a world increasingly reliant on autonomous systems. A key outcome of this transformation will be a notable shift in the interaction of previously independent systems, including humans, and an increased awareness and responsiveness to autonomous systems that will lead to the development of symbiotic relationships that have significant implications for human society as a whole. The IEEE Symbiotic Autonomous Systems (SAS) Initiative aims to take a leadership role in fostering consensus on how best to bring about symbiotic relationships between autonomous systems, and capitalize on the recognition that Symbiotic Autonomous Systems are poised to have a revolutionary impact on society over the coming years. Collaborating with IEEE communities and global organizations conducting ongoing efforts in the area of autonomous and intelligent systems, the Initiative will pave the way for the development of a new field of symbiotic systems science to consolidate and advance technological expertise with emphasis on ethical, societal, legal implications, and with the objective to promote human-centric economic growth.
We have recently released a comprehensive White Paper outlining our thoughts and direction. The White Paper provides an overview of the enabling technologies and their evolution, provides examples of impact in a number of verticals, and highlights ethical, legal, and societal implications.
The White Paper is available here:
https://symbiotic-autonomous-systems.ieee.org/images/files/pdf/sas-white-paper-final-nov12-2017.pdf
The SAS Initiative is looking for interested RAS folks to join the effort.
Please send an email to <ieeefdc.sas@gmail.com>.
More information on this initiative can be found here: https://symbiotic-autonomous-systems.ieee.org
2018 IEEE RAS Fellow Class Announced
- Details
Congratulations to the following RAS Members - elevated to IEEE Fellow grade, effective 1 January 2018!
2018 RAS Fellows evaluated by the IEEE Robotics & Automation Society
Pieter Abbeel - University of California, Berkeley, USA
"For contributions to apprenticeship and reinforcement learning for robotics and autonomous systems"
Hajime Asama - University of Tokyo, Japan
"For contributions to distributed autonomous robotic systems"
Oliver Brock - Technische Universität Berlin, Germany
"For contributions to mobile manipulation and grasping"
Jian Dai - King's College London, United Kingdom
"For contributions to reconfigurable and metamorphic mechanisms"
Jaydev Desai - Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
"For contributions to medical and swarm robotics"
Maria Gini - University of Minnesota, USA
"For contributions to multi-agent programming in robotics"
David Hsu - National University of Singapore, Singapore
"For contributions to robot motion planning"
Lynette Jones - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
"For contributions to tactile and thermal displays"
Shugen Ma - Ritsumeikan University, Japan
"For contributions to the design and control of environment-adaptive robots"
Kazuhiro Saitou - University of Michigan, USA
"For contributions in computational assembly and disassembly design of mechanical products"
Siddhartha Srinivasa - University of Washington, USA
"For contributions to robotic manipulation and human-robot interaction"
Jocelyne Troccaz - Université Grenoble Alpes, France
"For contributions to robotics and imaging for medical applications"
2018 RAS Fellows evaluated by other IEEE Societies
Evaluated by the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society:
Erik Blasch - US Air Force Research Lab, USA
"For leadership in aerospace information fusion systems"
Evaluated by the IEEE Computer Society:
Peter Stone - University of Texas at Austin, USA
"For contributions to reinforcement learning, multiagent systems, and robotics"
Evaluated by the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society:
Haibo He - University of Rhode Island, USA
"For contributions to adaptive learning"
Evaluated by the IEEE Control Systems Society:
Mark Campbell - Cornell University, USA
"For contributions to control and estimation theory for autonomous systems"
Evaluated by the IEEE Control Systems Society:
Jonathan How - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
"For contributions to guidance and control of air and space vehicles"
Evaluated by the IEEE Control Systems Society:
Sonia Martinez - University of California, San Diego, USA
"For contributions to the geometric mechanics and control"
Evaluated by the IEEE Control Systems Society:
Silviu-Iulian Niculescu - The Laboratoire des Signaux et Systèmes, France
"For research on the effects of delays in system dynamics"
Evaluated by the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society:
Wen-Hua Chen - Loughborough University, United Kingdom
"For contributions to the applications of nonlinear disturbance observer based control"
Evaluated by the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society:
Shuji Tanaka - Tohoku University, Japan
"For contributions to micro-electromechanical systems for acoustic wave devices, physical sensors, and power generation"
RAS announces newly elected 2018 Administrative Committee Members
- Details
Congratulations to the six RAS members elected by the membership to serve a three-year term beginning 1 January 2018. We wish the newly elected members of the Administrative Committee success and thank all candidates for their willingness to serve and for permitting their names to be included on the ballot.
AdCom Members Elected at Large
Osaka, Japan
Bari, Italy
AdCom Members from RAS Geographic Area 1 (the Americas):
British Columbia, Canada
RAS Geographical Area 2 (Europe, Africa, Middle East--IEEE Region 8):
Karlsruhe, Germany
AdCom Member from RAS Geographical Area 3 (Asia, Australia, Pacific Rim):
Chiba, Japan
Time is running out! Vote Now in the RAS AdCom Election!
- Details
The Deadline to vote is 25 October 2017!
RAS members are voting to elect six new members of the RAS Administrative Committee to serve 3-year terms beginning 1 January 2018. All RAS members (Graduate Student Members and above) have received voting instructions, the biographies, and statements of the candidates by email. RAS membership must be active as of 15 August 2017 to be eligible to vote. Members who do not have valid emails registered with the IEEE or have opted not to receive e-mail from IEEE, have received their election materials by post.
Click here to review the candidates' bios and position statements.
