From sugahara at irs.mech.tohoku.ac.jp Fri Aug 1 05:10:53 2008 From: sugahara at irs.mech.tohoku.ac.jp (Yusuke SUGAHARA) Date: Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:10:53 +0900 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Call for Nominations "IROS Harashima Award, for Innovative Technologies" Message-ID: <20080801210057.BDC2.7753EDD6@irs.mech.tohoku.ac.jp> Call for Nominations IROS Harashima Award for Innovative Technologies The IROS Harashima Award for Innovative Technologies is established by the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, the Robotics Society of Japan, and the Society of Instrument and Control Engineers to honor Professor Fumio Harashima, the founding chair of the IROS conferences. The Harashima Award will recognize outstanding contributions of an individual of the IROS community who has pioneered activities in robotics and intelligent systems. This is an annual award starting from last year. To propose a candidate, please submit a letter of recommendation, which should summarize the candidate's qualifications for the award, to the nomination committee chair, Kazuhiro Kosuge Professor Department of Bioengineering and Robotics Tohoku University kosuge at irs.mech.tohoku.ac.jp by email before August 12th, 2008. The following is the detailed description of the award. Purpose: To honor Professor Fumio Harashima, the founding 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. Prize: $ 2000 and a plaque Eligibility: The recipient must have created a new research area and/or technology for intelligent robots and systems. The recipient must have presented his or her contribution in one or more past IROS conferences. Basis for Judging: Factors that will be considered are: a created area and/or technology for intelligent robots and systems, achievements for the advancement of the field of intelligent robots and systems, and activities in robotics and intelligent systems. Selection: The Section Committee (separate from the Nominations Committee) of the Harashima Award for innovative technologies will evaluate the nominations and make the selection. Presentation: Up to one award will be given annually at the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. -- ========================================== Kazuhiro Kosuge IEEE RAS President Elect 2008-2009 IEEE Fellow, JSME Fellow, SICE Fellow Professor Department of Bioengineering and Robotics Graduate School of Engineering Tohoku University Aoba-yama 01, Sendai 980-8579, JAPAN Telephone +81-22-795-6914 Mobile Phone +81-90-2366-2566 Fascimile +81-22-795-6915 http://www.irs.mech.tohoku.ac.jp/ From behnke at cs.uni-bonn.de Sun Aug 3 12:48:17 2008 From: behnke at cs.uni-bonn.de (Sven Behnke) Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:48:17 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] PhD or PostDoc positions in Humanoid Robotics in Bonn, Germany Message-ID: <48960B81.2020901@cs.uni-bonn.de> Dear All, the Autonomous Intelligent Systems group at the Computer Science Institute of University of Bonn, Germany, has immediate openings for two PhD candidates or PostDocs in the area of humanoid robotics. The group conducts research in the areas of computational intelligence and cognitive robotics. We seek for excellent candidates with a strong own interest in robotics, computer vision, speech processing, or machine learning. The positions are funded by the DFG project "NimbRo - Learning Humanoid Robots" (see: http://www.NimbRo.net). We investigate intuitive multimodal communication between humans and humanoid robots in a museum tour guide scenario as well as humanoid soccer. The robots of our team NimbRo recently defended the title in the RoboCup soccer competition. Education: Masters (or Diploma) degree or PhD in Computer Science, Mathematics, or Physics. A strong mathematical background is highly desirable. Advantageous is experience in any of the areas autonomous intelligent systems, computer vision, speech recognition, or machine learning. Excellent programming skills (Matlab or C++) are also required. Salary: According to NRW TVL-13 annual gross starting from 37.700 Euros (approx. USD 58.570), depending on experience. Applying: Please send applications via email, including the regular CV, your research interests, and list of publications, preferably in a single pdf. Links to download publications and thesis are also welcome. Applications should be sent To: sekretariat _at_ ais.uni-bonn.de Cc: behnke _at_ cs.uni-bonn.de subject: Application HR Best regards, Sven Behnke http://www.ais.uni-bonn.de/behnke From aude at atr.jp Sun Aug 3 21:44:59 2008 From: aude at atr.jp (Ales Ude) Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:44:59 +0900 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] CfP: Imitation and Coaching in Humanoid Robots Message-ID: <2879E508-31B6-407C-9F36-5BAC8CC73A45@atr.jp> Dear All, We would like to announce that a workshop "Imitation and Coaching in Humanoid Robots" will be held on December 1st, 2008, in conjunction with the 2008 IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots, Daejeon, Korea. We encourage researchers interested in imitation and coaching on humanoid robots to submit an abstract to Tamim Asfour (asfour at ira.uka.de). For details please see the workshop home page http://i61www.ira.uka.de/users/asfour/Humanoids2008.htm or download the call from http://www.cns.atr.jp/~aude/ImitationWorkshop.pdf . Best regards, Ales Ude Workshop co-organizer From jlpons at iai.csic.es Mon Aug 4 00:00:19 2008 From: jlpons at iai.csic.es (=?iso-8859-1?Q?Jos=E9_L._Pons?=) Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:00:19 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Special Issue on Lower and Upper limb Exoskeletons in jABB (Second Call) Message-ID: <002e01c8f5ff$c1f1bd10$81786fa1@Gaia> Dear Colleague I would greatly appreciate that you distribute this Call for Papers Special Issue on "Lower & Upper Limb Exoskeletons" for the journal: Applied Bionics and Biomechanics http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/11762322.asp Guest Editors: Professor Jos? L. Pons & Professor Jacob Rosen The deadline for Paper submissions is September, 30, 2008. For more information on this Special Issue, please contact me at the email address shown below. Please inform me at your earliest convenience if you can submit a contribution to this Special Issue. Hoping to hear from you soon. Best regards. Professor Jose L. Pons Email: jlpons at iai.csic.es Jos? L. Pons Grupo de Bioingenier?a - Bioengineering Group Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cient?ficas Ctra. Campo Real, km. 0,200 28500 Arganda del Rey, Madrid, Spain Tel.: 0034 918711900 Fax.: 0034 918717050 From aude.billard at epfl.ch Mon Aug 4 06:28:42 2008 From: aude.billard at epfl.ch (Aude Billard) Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:28:42 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] 2nd Call: 4th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI'09) References: <048a01c89c03$efa91650$6a54b280@sti.intranet.epfl.ch> Message-ID: <006601c8f636$0355ca40$0291b280@lasalap1> ************************************************************************ Call For Papers, Videos, Tutorials/Workshops 4th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI'09) http://hri2009.org March 11-13, 2009, San Diego, CA ************************************************************************ The 4th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human Robot Interaction (HRI 2009) is dedicated to the advancement of natural human-robot interaction. HRI is a single-track, highly selective annual international conference that seeks to showcase the very best interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research in human-robot interaction with roots in social psychology, cognitive science, HCI, human factors, artificial intelligence, robotics, organizational behavior, anthropology and many more, and we invite broad participation. Important Dates 15 September 2008: Submission of full papers and tutorial/workshop proposals 01 December 2008: Submission of videos 12 December 2008: Notification of acceptance 15 December 2008: Submission of late-breaking short papers 12 January, 2009: Final camera-ready papers due Full and Short Paper Submission Authors are invited to submit all manuscripts in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format. Accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings, archived in the ACM Digital Library, and assigned for either oral or full poster presentation. Authors are also encouraged to submit their late-breaking results for short papers (two pages) which will not appear in the proceedings but which will be presented in a special poster session. Detailed instructions are available on the conference web site: http://www.hri2009.org. Topics of interest include: Socially intelligent robots Robot companions Lifelike robots Assistive (health & personal care) robotics Remote robots Mixed initiative interaction Multi-modal interaction Long term interaction with robots Awareness and monitoring of humans Task allocation and coordination Autonomy and trust Robot-team learning User studies of HRI Experiments on HRI collaboration Ethnography and field studies HRI software architectures HRI foundations Metrics for teamwork HRI group dynamics Individual vs. group HRI Robot intermediaries Risks such as privacy or safety Ethical issues of HR Organizational/society impact Video Submission We invite videos related to all aspects of HRI. Besides the importance of the lessons learned and the novelty of the situation, the entertainment value will be judged. The video itself must be self-explanatory for the audience. The videos will be published in the conference proceedings and archived in the ACM Digital Library. Tutorials and Workshops Proposals are sought from those wishing to organize a Tutorial or a Workshop on a HRI-related theme. Tutorials and Workshops will be held on March 10, one day before the main technical sessions. General Co-Chairs Matthias Scheutz, Indiana University Fran?ois Michaud, Universit? de Sherbrooke HRI 2009 Publicity Committee: Aude Billard, EPFL Christine Lisetti, Florida International University Patrick Rau, Tsinghua University -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From wenhui.wang at utoronto.ca Sun Aug 3 18:06:10 2008 From: wenhui.wang at utoronto.ca (Wenhui Wang) Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:06:10 +1200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] 2nd FP: IJBMR Special Issue on Biomedical Robotics In-Reply-To: <01a901c8b4dd$33a7b4a0$04000100@canterbury.ac.nz> References: <014801c86780$70ef87c0$a23eb584@canterbury.ac.nz> <01a901c8b4dd$33a7b4a0$04000100@canterbury.ac.nz> Message-ID: <000001c8f5ce$486f2210$ab3eb584@canterbury.ac.nz> Call for Papers Special Issue: Biomedical Robotics International Journal of Biomechatronics and Robotics [Apologies for possible multiple copies] We greatly appreciate if you can help circulate it to your colleagues. Abstract Recent decades have witnessed the significant development in biomedical robotics from fundamental research to commercialisation development, evaluation and feasibility studies. Robotics, initially brought in as computer-integrated systems for surgical interventions, has been emerging into a wider range of areas including image-guided therapy and rehabilitation robotics in the macro world. More recently, as biology digs into molecular level studies, robotics has also entered a new era in the micro world. Capable of manipulating from meter-sized humans to micrometer-sized cells, robotics plays a unique role in biomedicine, along with the advances in computer science, electrical engineering, transducers, materials, imaging, and MEMS, etc. The objective of this special issue is to bring together a variety of exciting research projects in the cutting edge of applying robotics technology in the broadest sense to biomedical applications. By sharing state-of-the-art research with the robotics community, it is hoped that innovative research ideas and opportunities will be inspired for the existing and emerging biomedical robotic areas. High quality research papers dealing with fundamental issues as well as applied problems are solicited. Due to the milti-disciplinary nature of biomedical robotics, papers presenting information across several disciplines are particularly welcome. Coverage Appropriate topics for submission include, but are not limited to: - Robot-assisted procedures - Smart instrumented tools for surgery - Sensors and actuators in biomedical robotics - Cell/organism micromanipulation - Microrobotics design, modelling and applications in biomedicine - Bionanorobotics conceptualisation, modelling, simulation, and manipulation - Microobjects assembly - Soft-tissue modelling and manipulation - Rehabilitation robotics - Image-guided surgery - Medical imaging and machine vision - Interventional therapy - Tele-surgery - Surgical simulation Important Dates Paper submission deadline: 30 October, 2008 Decision: 31 January, 2009 Revised manuscripts: 28 February, 2009 Guest Editors Dr. Wenhui Wang University of Canterbury Email: wenhui.wang at canterbury.ac.nz Dr. Shane Xie The University of Auckland Email: s.xie at auckland.ac.nz A pdf version CFP is attached for your convenience. From ktsui at cs.uml.edu Mon Aug 4 09:02:51 2008 From: ktsui at cs.uml.edu (Kate Tsui) Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:02:51 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] CFP Abstract for "Experimental Design for Real-World Systems Message-ID: CALL FOR PAPERS Experimental Design for Real-World Systems AAAI Spring 2009 Symposium, March 23-25, Palo Alto, CA Submission deadline: October 3, 2008 As more artificial intelligence (AI) research is fielded in real-world applications, the evaluation of systems designed for human-machine interaction becomes critical. AI research often intersects with other areas of study, including human-robot interaction, human-computer interaction, assistive technology, and ethics. Designing experiments to test hypotheses at the intersections of multiple research fields can be incredibly challenging. Many commonalities and differences already exist in experimental design for real-world systems. For example, the fields of human-robot interaction and human-computer interaction are two fields that have both joint and discrete goals. They look to evaluate very different aspects of design, interface, and interaction. In some instances, these two fields can share aspects of experimental design, while, in others, the experimental design must be fundamentally different. We will provide a forum for researchers from many disciplines to discuss experiment design and the evaluation of real-world systems. We invite researchers from all applicable fields of human-machine interaction. We also invite researchers from allied fields, such as psychology, anthropology, design, human-computer interaction, human-robot interaction, rehabilitation and clinical care, assistive technology, and other related disciplines. This symposium will focus on a wide variety of topics that address the challenges of experiment design for real-world systems including: * the design of system evaluations, * successes and failures in system evaluations, * survey design for user studies, * understanding the role technology plays in society, * ethics of human subject studies, * evaluating the use of machines as interventions, * the uses of quantitative and qualitative data, * and other related topics. Format and Submissions We will have a mix of plenary speakers, short presentations, and break-out groups. We will also have a poster session. Short presentations and posters are invited to submit an abstract (< 3 pages) on experiments conducted during their research, focused on the experimental methodology, especially those with unusual and effective methodologies. Submission formatting details at http://robotics.usc.edu/~dfseifer/aaai-expdesign/. Email submissions to aaai-sss-2009 at cs.uml.edu. Important Dates * Call for Papers Due: October 3, 2008 * Authors Notified: November 2008 * Camera Ready Due: January 9, 2009 Organizing Committee David Feil-Seifer (USC), Heidy Maldonado (Stanford), Bilge Mutlu (CMU), Leila Takayama (Stanford), Katherine Tsui (UMass Lowell) Program Committee Jenny Burke (USF), Kerstin Dautenhahn (Hertfordshire), Gert Jan Gelderbloom (VILANS), Maja Mataric (USC), Aaron Steinfeld (CMU), Holly Yanco (UMass Lowell) From norberto at robotics.dem.uc.pt Mon Aug 4 09:48:56 2008 From: norberto at robotics.dem.uc.pt (norberto at robotics.dem.uc.pt) Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:48:56 +0100 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Research Position OPEN (5 year contract) - Robotics and Automation Message-ID: <024901c8f651$fd8317f0$f88947d0$@dem.uc.pt> Hello, The robotics laboratory of the University of Coimbra, Mechanical Engineering Department, is announcing a research position (5 year contract). Details: http://robotics.dem.uc.pt/norberto/nova/research_position.htm Deadline: 10 of September 2008. Regards, J. Norberto Pires From K.Dautenhahn at herts.ac.uk Tue Aug 5 04:01:04 2008 From: K.Dautenhahn at herts.ac.uk (Kerstin Dautenhahn) Date: Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:01:04 +0100 (BST) Subject: [robotics-worldwide] First CFP: New Frontiers in Human-Robot Interaction (at AISB 2009) Message-ID: ***********First Call for Papers************* NEW FRONTIERS IN HUMAN-ROBOT INTERACTION A two-day symposium at AISB 2009 (6-9 April 2009), Edinburgh, Scotland http://homepages.feis.herts.ac.uk/~comqkd/HRI-AISB2009-Symposium.html Held during the Science Festival (6-18 April 2009): http://www.sciencefestival.co.uk/ Motivation: Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) is a growing research field with many application areas that could have a big impact not only economically, but also on the way we live and the kind of relationships we may develop with machines. Due to its interdisciplinary nature different views and approaches towards HRI need to be nurtured. This symposium will provide a platform to discuss collaboratively recent findings and challenges in HRI. Different categories of submissions are encouraged that reflect the different types of research studies that are being carried out. The symposium will encourage a diversity of views on HRI and different approaches taken. In the highly interdisciplinary research field of HRI, a peaceful dialogue among such approaches is expected to contribute to the synthesis of a body of knowledge that may help HRI sustain its creative inertia that has drawn to HRI during the past 10 years many researchers from HCI, robotics, psychology, the social sciences, and other fields. Topics of interest include but are not limited to: ** Developments towards robot companions ** User-centred robot design ** Robots in personal care and health care ** Robots in search and rescue ** Sensors and interfaces for HRI ** Human-aware robot perception ** Dialogue and multi-modal human-robot interaction ** Robot architectures for socially intelligent robots ** HRI field studies in naturalistic environments ** Robot assisted therapy ** Robots in HRI collaborative scenarios ** Robots in schools and in other educational environments ** Robots as personal assistants and trainers ** Robot and human personality ** New methods and methodologies to carry out and analyze human-robot interaction ** Robots as companions and helpers in the home ** Robots as assistive technology ** Long-term or repeated interaction with robots ** Creating relationships with robots ** Expressiveness in robots ** Sustaining the engagement of users ** Personalizing robots and HRI interfaces ** Human-robot teaching ** Robots that learn socially and adapt to people ** User experience in HRI ** User needs and requirements for HRI ** Robots as autonomous companions ** Robots as remote-controlled tools ** Embodied interfaces for smart homes ** Ethnography and field studies ** Cross-cultural studies Note, articles that are specifically addressing ethical issues in HRI are encouraged to submit to the AISB09 Symposium on .Killer robots or friendly fridges: the social understanding of Artificial Intelligence., and may consider to attend both symposia which will run back to back. The symposium encourages submissions in any of the following categories. The submission should clearly state which category the article falls under: *N* Completed empirical studies reporting novel research findings In this category we encourage submissions where a substantial body of findings has been accumulated based on precise research questions or hypotheses. Such studies are expected to fit within a particular experimental framework (e.g. using qualitative or quantitative evaluation techniques) and the reviewing of such papers will apply relevant (statistical and other) criteria accordingly. Findings of such studies should provide novel insights into human-robot interaction studies. *E* Exploratory studies Exploratory studies are often necessary to pilot and fine-tune the methodological approach, procedures and measures. In a young research field such as HRI with novel applications and various robotic platforms, exploratory studies are also often required to derive a set of concrete research questions or hypothesis, in particular concerning issues where there is little related theoretical and experimental work. Although care must be taken in the interpretation of findings from such studies, they may highlight issues of great interest and relevance to peers. *S* Case studies Due to the nature of many HRI studies, a large-scale quantitative approach is often neither feasible nor desirable. However, case study evaluation can provide meaningful findings if presented appropriately. Thus, case studies with only one participant, or a small group of participants, are encouraged if they are carried out and analyzed in sufficient depth. *P* Position papers While categories N, E and S require reporting on HRI studies or experiments, position papers can be conceptual or theoretical, providing new interpretations of known results. Also, in this category we consider papers that present new ideas without having a complete study to report on. Papers in this category will be judged on the soundness of the argument presented, the significance of the ideas and the interest to the HRI community. *R* Replication of HRI studies To develop as a field, HRI findings obtained by one research group need to be replicated by other groups. Without any additional novel insights, such work is often not publishable. Within this category, authors will have the opportunity to report on studies that confirm or disconfirm findings from experiments that have already been reported in the literature. This category includes studies that report on negative findings. *D* Live HRI Demonstrations Contributors may have an opportunity to provide live demonstrations (live or via Skype), pending the outcome of negotiations with the local organization team. The demo should highlight interesting features and insights into HRI. Purely entertaining demonstrations without significant research content are discouraged. If authors feel that their particular paper does not fit any of the above mentioned categories, then they should indicate this when submitting their paper so that the reviewing process can take this into consideration. Symposium Chair: Kerstin Dautenhahn Adaptive Systems Research Group School of Computer Science University of Hertfordshire Hatfield, Herts, AL10 9AB U.K. Submission of contributions: We invite unpublished, original work as extended abstracts (up to 3 pages) or full papers of up to 8 pages (double column). In category *D* we invite one page descriptions detailing the demo and its associated research questions. Symposium dates: The 2-day symposium will run during the period 6-9 April 2009. The exact dates will be announced in September 2008, please check: http://homepages.feis.herts.ac.uk/~comqkd/HRI-AISB2009-Symposium.html Proceedings: All accepted contributions will be published in the symposium proceedings (hardcopy and electronic copy). A special journal issue will be considered and/or a book publication. Important Dates: 5th January 2009 - Paper submission deadline 2th February 2009 - Notifications of acceptance 23rd February 2009 - Camera ready copies due Programme Committee: Takayuki Kanda, ATR, Japan Ben Krose, UVA, the Netherlands Aude Billard, EPFL, Switzerland Kerstin Severinson Eklundh, KTH, Sweden Takanori Shibata, AIST, Japan Henrik I. Christensen, Georgia Tech, USA Nuno Otero, University of Minho, Portugal Michael Beetz, TUM, Germany Greg Trafton, Naval Research Laboratory, USA Yiannis Demiris, Imperial College, UK Hatice Kose-Bagci, University of Hertfordshire, UK Kolja Kuehnlenz, TUM, Germany Michael A. Goodrich, Brigham Young University, USA Yoshihiko Nakamura, University of Tokyo, Japan Christoph Bartneck, Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands Michael L. Walters, University of Hertfordshire, UK Karl F. MacDorman, Indiana University, USA Hisato Kobayashi, Hosei University, Japan Tatsuya Nomura, Ryukoku University, Japan Dirk Wollherr, TUM, Germany Kheng Lee Koay, University of Hertfordshire, UK Astrid Weiss, University of Salzburg, Austria Monica Nicolescu, University of Nevada, Reno, USA Sandra Hirche, TUM, Germany Ben Robins, University of Hertfordshire, UK Christine Lisetti, Florida International University, USA Holly Yanco, University of Massachusetts-Lowell, USA Aaron Steinfeld, Carnegie Mellon University, USA Yoshihiro Miyake, Tokio Institute of Technology, Japan Tomio Watanabe, Okayama Prefectural University, Japan Haizhou Li, Institute for Infocomm Research, Singapore Adriana Tapus, USC, USA Andrea Thomaz, Georgia Tech, USA Jong-Hwan Kim, KAIST, South Korea Sylvain Calinon, EPFL, Switzerland Reid Simmons, Carnegie Mellon University, USA Julie Adams, Vanderbilt University, USA Aris Alissandrakis, Tokio Institute of Technology, Japan Yorick Wilks, University of Sheffield, UK Shuzhi Sam Ge, The National University of Singapore Odest Chadwicke Jenkins, Brown University, USA Dong-Soo Kwon, KAIST, South Korea Wolfram Erlhagen, University of Minho, Portugal Illah Nourbakhsh,Carnegie Mellon University, USA Catherina Burghart, University of Karlsruhe, Germany Manfred Tscheligi, University of Salzburg, Austria ----------------------------------------------------- Prof. Dr. Kerstin Dautenhahn Professor of Artificial Intelligence Adaptive Systems Research Group The University of Hertfordshire, School of Computer Science College Lane, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL10 9AB, United Kingdom URL: http://homepages.feis.herts.ac.uk/~comqkd E-mail: K.Dautenhahn at herts.ac.uk Fax: +44-1707-284-303 Tel: +44-1707-284-333 From jonghyuk.kim at anu.edu.au Tue Aug 5 16:08:17 2008 From: jonghyuk.kim at anu.edu.au (Jonghyuk (Jon) Kim) Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:08:17 +1000 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] 2nd Call for Papers: ACRA 2008 Message-ID: <000d01c8f750$25a083e0$382dcb96@engnet.anu.edu.au> ---------------------------------------------------- 2nd Call For Participation: 2008 Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation 3-5 December 2008 Canberra, Australia http://www.araa.asn.au/acra/acra2008/ Dear Roboticists, This is a friendly reminder that the date for submission of papers to ACRA 2008 is now only 1 month away. The 2008 Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation (ACRA'08) will be held at the Australian National University, Canberra during 3-5 December 2008. Please distribute this to your colleagues and students. The important dates are: ---------------------------------------------------- Submission of papers: 5 September 2008 Notification of acceptance: 5 October 2008 Camera ready papers due: 5 November 2008 ACRA 2008: 3-5 December 2008 ---------------------------------------------------- We hope to see you in Canberra in December. Dr. Jonghyuk Kim A/Prof. Robert Mahony ACRA 2008 Co-chairs From sdhuang at eng.uts.edu.au Tue Aug 5 17:47:00 2008 From: sdhuang at eng.uts.edu.au (Shoudong Huang) Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:47:00 +1000 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Call for Papers: ISSNIP-HRI 2008 in Sydney, Australia In-Reply-To: <4898F2C2.7050209@eng.uts.edu.au> References: <4898F2C2.7050209@eng.uts.edu.au> Message-ID: <4898F484.9000406@eng.uts.edu.au> 2008 International Conference on Intelligent Sensors, Sensor Networks & Information Processing (ISSNIP 2008: http://www.issnip.org/2008/) 15-18 December 2008, Sydney, Australia *Symposium on Human-Robot Interaction (ISSNIP-HRI 2008)* *Important Dates* Paper submission Deadline: August 31, 2008 Notification of acceptance: September 30, 2008 Camera ready manuscript: October 15, 2008 Conference Dates: December 15-18, 2008 *Call for papers* Human-robot interaction and collaboration is a quickly growing research area with enormous potential applications in various industries, assistive technologies and human life. The need for human-machine interaction is fundamental to almost all robotic system applications, from operator control of large robot fleets, through intervention in search and rescue robotics, to use of robots in aged care and domestic settings. Together human and machine must cooperatively achieve a task, requiring a joint understanding of abilities and intent, and safe joint management of task execution. This symposium aims to explore recent advances and bring together leading researchers and practitioners in human-robot interaction and collaboration. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following: * Multi-robot task allocation and motion coordination by means of HRI * Multi-modal human-robot communication and fusion of modalities * Interpretation of human-robot communication in the context of a robotic task * Modelling of beliefs, desires and intentions in human-robot interaction * Haptic/tactile rendering in human-robot interaction * Computational linguistics for human-robot interaction * Social learning and human-robot interaction * Long-term human-robot interaction * Human-robot interaction modelling * Human-robot interaction observation and analysis * Experimental studies on human-robot interaction * Human-interactive machines * Individual/group human-robot interaction *For more information, please visit: http://www.elec.uow.edu.au/issnip2008/* -- Dr. Shoudong Huang Senior Lecturer Faculty of Engineering ARC Centre of Excellence for Autonomous Systems Room 609, Level 6, Building 2 The University of Technology, Sydney PO Box 123 Broadway NSW 2007 Australia Ph: +61 2 9514 2964 Fax: +61 2 9514 2655 Email: sdhuang at eng.uts.edu.au Homepage: http://services.eng.uts.edu.au/~sdhuang/ -- -- UTS CRICOS Provider Code: 00099F DISCLAIMER: This email message and any accompanying attachments may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use, disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender expressly, and with authority, states them to be the views the University of Technology, Sydney. Before opening any attachments, please check them for viruses and defects. From ktsui at cs.uml.edu Tue Aug 5 19:18:07 2008 From: ktsui at cs.uml.edu (Kate Tsui) Date: Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:18:07 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] CFP Abstract for "Experimental Design for Real-World Systems In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: CALL FOR PAPERS Experimental Design for Real-World Systems AAAI Spring 2009 Symposium, March 23-25, Palo Alto, CA Submission deadline: October 3, 2008 As more artificial intelligence (AI) research is fielded in real-world applications, the evaluation of systems designed for human-machine interaction becomes critical. AI research often intersects with other areas of study, including human-robot interaction, human-computer interaction, assistive technology, and ethics. Designing experiments to test hypotheses at the intersections of multiple research fields can be incredibly challenging. Many commonalities and differences already exist in experimental design for real-world systems. For example, the fields of human-robot interaction and human-computer interaction are two fields that have both joint and discrete goals. They look to evaluate very different aspects of design, interface, and interaction. In some instances, these two fields can share aspects of experimental design, while, in others, the experimental design must be fundamentally different. We will provide a forum for researchers from many disciplines to discuss experiment design and the evaluation of real-world systems. We invite researchers from all applicable fields of human-machine interaction. We also invite researchers from allied fields, such as psychology, anthropology, design, human-computer interaction, human-robot interaction, rehabilitation and clinical care, assistive technology, and other related disciplines. This symposium will focus on a wide variety of topics that address the challenges of experiment design for real-world systems including: * the design of system evaluations, * successes and failures in system evaluations, * survey design for user studies, * understanding the role technology plays in society, * ethics of human subject studies, * evaluating the use of machines as interventions, * the uses of quantitative and qualitative data, * and other related topics. Format and Submissions We will have a mix of plenary speakers, short presentations, and break-out groups. We will also have a poster session. Short presentations and posters are invited to submit an abstract (< 3 pages) on experiments conducted during their research, focused on the experimental methodology, especially those with unusual and effective methodologies. Submission formatting details at http://robotics.usc.edu/~dfseifer/aaai-expdesign/. Email submissions to aaai-sss-2009 at cs.uml.edu. Important Dates * Call for Papers Due: October 3, 2008 * Authors Notified: November 2008 * Camera Ready Due: January 9, 2009 Organizing Committee David Feil-Seifer (USC), Heidy Maldonado (Stanford), Bilge Mutlu (CMU), Leila Takayama (Stanford), Katherine Tsui (UMass Lowell) Program Committee Jenny Burke (USF), Kerstin Dautenhahn (Hertfordshire), Gert Jan Gelderbloom (VILANS), Maja Mataric (USC), Aaron Steinfeld (CMU), Holly Yanco (UMass Lowell) From hirche at lsr.ei.tum.de Wed Aug 6 03:30:37 2008 From: hirche at lsr.ei.tum.de (Sandra Hirche) Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:30:37 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Assistant professor position (W1) for Multi-Robot Control at Tech Univ Munich Message-ID: <48997D4D.40002@lsr.ei.tum.de> The Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at the Technische Universit?t M?nchen invites applications for the position of a Junior-professor (W1, equivalent to an assistant professor position) for multi-robot control. Candidates are expected to have an excellent scientific record in the area of the control of multi-robot and multi-agent systems. Research experience in at least two of the following fields is expected: ? Control, optimization, and coordination of multi-robot / multi-agent systems ? Higher level planning, navigation, and decision making techniques ? Analysis and synthesis of complex networked systems ? Autonomous vehicles (mobile robots, automobiles, aerial vehicles) Active participation in the Cluster of Excellence ?Cognition for Technical Systems? (www.cotesys.org), the collaborative research center ?Cognitive Automobile? (www.kognimobil.org) and in the area of networked complex automation systems, mechatronics, and robotics is expected. Furthermore, teaching contributions are expected in the bachelor, master, and diploma education of the faculty as well as in novel master degree programs currently being defined such as ?Automotive? and/or ?Mechatronics, Adaptronics and Automation?. The appointment will be for an initial period of three years. Upon positive evaluation of the performance the position will be extended to an overall duration of six years. Candidates must hold a degree from a university or an accredited college of applied science, pedagogical aptitude, and the qualification for academic work, which is typically proven by an excellent Ph.D./doctorate. Further academic achievements, which may have been also obtained outside the university environments, are desirable. In cases of substantially equal eligibility, preferential consideration will be given to disabled candidates. As part of the excellence initiative of the German federal and state governments, the Technische Universit?t M?nchen pursues the strategic goal of substantially increasing the proportion of women in research and education and thus expressly invites qualified female scientists to apply for this position. Applications with the usual supporting information (CV, certificates, credentials, etc., list of publications including reprints of the most important papers) should be submitted to: Dekan der Fakult?t f?r Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik der TU M?nchen, Arcisstrasse 21, 80333 M?nchen, Germany or by Email to dekanat at ei.tum.de Deadline for applications is 30 September 2008. -- Prof. Dr.-Ing. Sandra Hirche Information-oriented Control Institute of Automatic Control Engineering Technische Universitaet Muenchen D-80290 Munich, Germany phone: +49-89-289-23417 fax: +49-89-289-28340 email: hirche at tum.de http://www.lsr.ei.tum.de http://www.shirche.de -------------------------------------------- From f.rodriguez at imperial.ac.uk Wed Aug 6 14:26:14 2008 From: f.rodriguez at imperial.ac.uk (Rodriguez Y Baena, Ferdinando M) Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:26:14 +0100 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Postdoctoral opportunity in the area of medical robotics - Imperial College, London, UK Message-ID: <32DB9F7418A0734089B73B858EA20FEB019FDCA4@icex6.ic.ac.uk> Dear all, I would like bring to your attention the following postdoctoral opportunity in the area or robotic surgery and biomimetics at Imperial College, London, UK: http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/employment/research/en200801871 The closing date for applications is 5th of September and candidates worldwide are welcome. Kind regards, Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lecturer in Medical Robotics Jointly: Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Institute of Biomedical Engineering Room 741, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College, London, SW7 2AZ, UK. Tel: +44(0)20 7594 7046 Fax: +44(0)20 7594 1472 e-mail: f.rodriguez at imperial.ac.uk ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From dayalparhi at yahoo.com Wed Aug 6 00:36:15 2008 From: dayalparhi at yahoo.com (dayal parhi) Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:36:15 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [robotics-worldwide] International Journal - Urgent Call for papers Message-ID: <679087.89990.qm@web51808.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Dear Members, International Journal of Applied Artificial Intelligence in Engineering System publishes paper mainly on robotics. A special issue will come in December 2008. Dead line for submission of papers is 20th September 2008. Please visit the website for detail; "http://www.serialspublications.com/journals1.asp?jid=219&dtype=1&jtype=1" Best regards! Dr. Dayal R. Parhi Department of Mechanical Engineering National Institute of Technology Rourkela , Pin: 769008. Orissa , India Phone: ++916612464509 From mmistry at usc.edu Fri Aug 8 01:42:03 2008 From: mmistry at usc.edu (Michael Mistry) Date: Fri, 08 Aug 2008 17:42:03 +0900 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] 2nd CFP for International Journal of Social Robotics Message-ID: <539FE728-72B6-4E27-91F2-BDFB70F27C66@usc.edu> Call For Paper: Second Issue for International Journal of Social Robotics, Springer http://www.editorialmanager.com/soro/ Dear Authors, With the great response for the Inaugural Issue for International Journal of Social Robotics, we are pleased to announce the Call for Papers in the Second Issue for International Journal of Social Robotics which is scheduled for publication on 1 April 2009. You are cordially invited to submit your original research and discoveries on scientific, technological and philosophical advances in social robots, and their interactions and communications with humans, especially innovative ideas and concepts, new discoveries and improvements, as well as novel applications on the latest fundamental advances in the core technologies that form the backbone of Social Robotics, distinguished developmental projects, as well as seminal works in aesthetic design, ethics and philosophy, studies on social impact and influence pertaining to, and its interaction and communication with human beings and its social impact on our society. Topics of interest for the scientific papers and letters include but are not limited to: ? Affective and cognitive sciences for socially interactive robots ? Context awareness, expectation and intention understanding ? Design philosophies and socially appealing design methodologies ? Biomechatronics, neuro-robotics, and biomedical robotics ? Human factors and ergonomics in human-robot interactions ? Intelligent control and artificial intelligence for Social Robotics ? Knowledge representation, information acquisition, and decision making ? Learning, adaptation and evolution of intelligence ? Interaction and collaboration between robots, humans and environments ? Multimodal sensor fusion and communication ? Robot-ethics in human society ? Interactive robotic arts ? Social acceptance and impact in the society ? Compliance, safety and compatibility in the design of social robots "living" with humans ? Software architecture and development tools ? Human-robot interaction and robot-robot interaction ? Models of human and animal social behaviour as applied to robots ? Applications in education, entertainment, gaming, and healthcare. The Editorial Board is committed to speedy review, fast publication, and high scientific impact. For more information, please visit: Submission On-Line: http://www.editorialmanager.com/soro/ Description of the Journal: http://www.springer.com/engineering/journal/12369 Aims and Scope: http://www.springer.com/engineering/journal/12369?detailsPage=aimsAndScopes Important Dates: Submission of Manuscripts (latest by): 1 October 2008 Notification of Acceptance: 1 December 2008 Submission of Final Paper: 1 January 2009 Final Publication: 1 April 2009 Yours sincerely, Shuzhi Sam Ge, Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Social Robotics, Springer Maja Mataric, Co-Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Social Robotics, Springer ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Professor Shuzhi Sam GE, FIEEE, PhD, DIC, BSc, PEng Director, Social Robotics Lab, Interactive Digital Media Institute, and Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering The National University of Singapore, Singapore 117576 Tel: +65 6516 6821, Fax: +65 6779 1103, e-mail: samge at nus.edu.sg ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Professor Maja Mataric, FAAAS, PhD, S.M., B.S. Director, Centre for Robotics and Embedded Systems (CRES), and Computer Science Department & Neuroscience Program University of Southern California Tel: +1 213 740-1169, Fax: +1 213 821-5696, e-mail: mataric at usc.edu ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From J.L.Wyatt at cs.bham.ac.uk Fri Aug 8 01:51:31 2008 From: J.L.Wyatt at cs.bham.ac.uk (J.L.Wyatt at cs.bham.ac.uk) Date: Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:51:31 +0100 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Permanent lectureship in Intelligent Robotics: University of Birmingham, UK Message-ID: UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM SCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE PERMANENT LECTURESHIP IN INTELLIGENT ROBOTICS Applications are invited for a lectureship in Intelligent Robotics in the School of Computer Science. The post-holder will be a member of the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory, a rapidly growing research group. The post holder will be expected to provide leadership in research and teaching in Intelligent Robotics and related areas. In particular the post holder will be expected to strengthen the already outstanding record of external research funding held by the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory. To complement the existing expertise in the lab the successful candidate will be sought primarily in one of the following areas: robot vision, mobile robotics, humanoid robotics, robot learning, the use of robots in modelling biological systems ? including, for example the connections between robotics and psychology, animal cognition and computational neuroscience ? robotic manipulation, developmental/epigenetic robotics, and autonomy in underwater or space robotics. Applicants with expertise in other areas of robotics are welcomed however, and will be seriously considered. Applicants should have an outstanding record of publication in leading international journals and conferences in their area, with evidence of significant impact on the research community. They will either already have a strong record of obtaining research funding, or demonstrate an exceptional potential to do so. Applicants should be exceptional communicators with demonstrably excellent skills in both teaching, and research presentation and management. The appointed person will be expected to contribute to both the research life of the lab and the school, and also teaching and administration in the school. The successful applicant will be expected to lead grant writing, as well as helping to set the research agenda for the future work of the group. The Intelligent Robotics Laboratory is a rapidly growing centre for research in robotics, cognition and machine learning in the UK. It is part of a much larger and internationally renowned AI and Cognitive Science group. Led by Dr Jeremy Wyatt, Dr Richard Dearden and Prof Aaron Sloman, the lab has 15 members, and holds over ?2.2m of research funding. Funding has come from the European Commission, EPSRC, NERC, the Leverhulme Trust, the Royal Society and the British Council among others. We collaborate with research groups across the UK and Europe, including groups in psychology, animal cognition, robotics, AI, cognitive science, and oceanography. Candidates with interdisciplinary interests are welcomed. Information on the Intelligent Robotics laboratory is available here: www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/robotics Further information on the post is available here: www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/groupings/robotics_and_cognitive_architectures/lect08/ Informal enquiries (preferably by email) to Dr Jeremy Wyatt, email: jeremy.l.wyatt at googlemail.com or J.L.Wyatt at cs.bham.ac.uk tel.: +44 121 414 4788, Dr Richard Dearden, email: R.W.Dearden at cs.bham.ac.uk tel.: +44 121 414 6687 or Prof Aaron Sloman, email: A.Sloman at cs.bham.ac.uk tel.: +44 121 414 4775. Enquiries may also be directed to the Head of School, Prof Uday Reddy, email hos at cs.bham.ac.uk tel:+44 121 414 2740. Starting salary in the range of ?34,793 to ?41,545 a year (potential progression on performance once in post to ?46,759) Closing date for applications: 29 August 2008 Ref: S43287 Details from +44 121 415 9000 or www.hr.bham.ac.uk/jobs HR, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT A University of Fairness and Diversity _______________________________________________ robotics-worldwide mailing list robotics-worldwide at usc.edu http://duerer.usc.edu/mailman/listinfo/robotics-worldwide From yoshi.nakamura at kve.biglobe.ne.jp Sat Aug 9 22:29:06 2008 From: yoshi.nakamura at kve.biglobe.ne.jp (Y. Nakamura) Date: Sun, 10 Aug 2008 14:29:06 +0900 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] IROS2008WS: Robot Services in Aging Society Message-ID: <489E7CA2.1070307@kve.biglobe.ne.jp> ++++++++++++++++ CALL FOR PARTICIPATION +++++++++++++++ IROS2008 A FULL DAY WORKSHOP "ROBOT SERVICES IN AGING SOCIETY" September 26, 2008 (Friday) http://www.ynl.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/IROS_Workshop.html Abstracts of talks uploaded. Handouts will soon be available in the page for registered participants. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Speakers: Michael Beetz Technische Universita"t Mu"nchen Henrik Christensen Georgia Institute of Technology Kerstin Dautenhahn University of Herfortshire Masayuki Inaba University of Tokyo Takeo Kanade Carnegie Mellon University Tim Lueth Technische Universita"t Mu"nchen Maja Mataric University of Southern California Tomomasa Sato University of Tokyo Isao Shimoyama University of Tokyo Organizers: Martin Buss Technische Universita"t Mu"nchen Henrik Christensen Georgia Institute of Technology Yoshihiko Nakamura University of Tokyo From wmayol at compsci.bristol.ac.uk Sun Aug 10 06:21:24 2008 From: wmayol at compsci.bristol.ac.uk (W Mayol-Cuevas) Date: Sun, 10 Aug 2008 14:21:24 +0100 (BST) Subject: [robotics-worldwide] PhD Studentship in Computer Vision for mobile localisation Message-ID: Please forward to potentially interested students *full funding available without nationality or residence restrictions* PhD Studentship in Computer Vision for mobile localisation At the University of Bristol UK, sponsored by HPLabs Innovation Research Award. We are looking for a motivated, hard working and insightful student to research on methods that use Computer Vision and mobile sensors to enable localisation. This is a research collaboration between the University of Bristol UK and Hewlett-Packard Research Laboratories UK. The project aims to develop novel methods for positioning a mobile device using a combination of image based location sensing, inertial sensors and external information such as GPS. The intended application is in enabling location services and virtual augmentations. The research can be of interest to both personal and robotic systems. The successful candidate will join the Computer Vision Group at the Department of Computer Science, where we have developed a number of real-time visual location and mapping systems that we have applied to augmented reality and robotics. The University of Bristol is one of the very best universities in the UK and Computer Science one of its most successful departments. The selected student will also be eligible to apply for the regular HPLabs internships. There are no restrictions on nationality as the scholarship can cover overseas university fees and includes a stipend for living expenses. Funding is provided by HP on a yearly basis subject to satisfactory performance. We are looking for the finest candidate from anywhere in the world to join our research team and invite interested students with a good MSc or undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics or equivalent to apply. Applicants should have provable excellent C and/or C++ programming ability (ideally in both Windows and Linux OS), as well as strong mathematical skills. Experience with Computer Vision or related methods is highly desirable and awareness of algorithm design in the context of mobile platforms would be a bonus. The post will be filled when sufficient high quality applications are received. Therefore, applying as soon as possible is advisable. We expect to start the project in October 2008 or earlier. The project lead and supervisor will be Dr Walterio Mayol-Cuevas, in close collaboration with a team of experts at the Pervasive Computing Lab at HPLabs Bristol. Informal enquiries can be made by contacting Dr Walterio Mayol-Cuevas via {wmayol at cs.bris.ac.uk} with subject "HP Research award". For further details on the project and application procedure please visit: http://www.cs.bris.ac.uk/~wmayol/HPaward/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Walterio Mayol-Cuevas Lecturer (Assistant professor) wmayol at cs.bris.ac.uk Department of Computer Science Tel: (44 or 0)117-9545128 University of Bristol FAX: (44 or 0)117-9545208 Woodland Road, BS8 1UB UK http://www.cs.bris.ac.uk/~wmayol ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From denis at icmc.usp.br Mon Aug 11 04:41:38 2008 From: denis at icmc.usp.br (Denis Wolf) Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:41:38 -0300 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] ACM SAC 2009 - ROBOTICS TRACK - DEADLINE EXTENDED In-Reply-To: <48A02532.3030801@icmc.usp.br> References: <488478D9.1050607@icmc.usp.br> <48A02532.3030801@icmc.usp.br> Message-ID: <48A02572.6080800@icmc.usp.br> ACM SAC 2009 - CALL FOR PAPERS Track: Intelligent Robotic Systems (ROBOT) http://www.icmc.usp.br/~lrm/sac09/ The 24th Annual ACM Symposium on Applied Computing (SIGAPP) March 8 - 12, 2009, Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA (http://www.acm.org/conferences/sac/sac2009/) For the past twenty-three years, the ACM Symposium on Applied Computing has been a primary gathering forum for applied computer scientists, computer engineers, software engineers, and application developers from around the world. For the second year, the ACM SAC will have a specific track on robotics. It aims to be a forum for researchers to share experiences, expose issues, and discuss about this exciting research field. Robotics is a multidisciplinary area of study that presents an enormous commercial and research potential. While industrial robotics covers the study, design, and use of robot systems for manufacturing, mobile robotics concerns about developing systems that are capable of making decisions and acting autonomously in real and unpredictable environments to accomplish determined tasks. In the last decade, technological advances made possible the development of very efficient sensors and electronic devices at affordable prices. This fact has great impact on robotics research, allowing the development of efficient and relatively cheap sensors and computing devices. It also allows robots to accomplish more complex tasks, posing new challenges to scientists and engineers. This track focuses on all aspects of robotics, including related areas and applications. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: Rehabilitation Robotics Humanoid Robotics Underwater Robots Search and Rescue Robots Entertainment Robots Multi-robot Coordination Active Perception and Vision Coverage and Deployment Learning Autonomous systems Navigation Localization and Mapping Evolutionary Robotics Grasping Control Architectures and Programming Bio-Inspired Robots Aerial Robotics Contact Modeling and Touching Educational Robotics Smart Actuators Micro/nano robotics Embedded Systems architectures Reconfigurable robotic platforms Vision-based Systems Multi-robot systems Simulation Important Dates Aug. 23, 2008: Paper submissions Oct. 11, 2008: Author notification Oct. 25, 2008: Camera-Ready Copy From trinkle at gmail.com Mon Aug 11 07:51:31 2008 From: trinkle at gmail.com (trink) Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 10:51:31 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Call for Position Papers: Special Session at IROS on Robotics and Cyber-Physical Systems Message-ID: <4f5f4cd20808110751u169beee3r878e4880592175b0@mail.gmail.com> Dear Colleague, With support of NSF's CNS Division, Jeff Trinkle and Bruce Krogh are organizing special session at the IEEE/RSJ 2008 International Conference on Intelligent RObots and Systems (IROS) in Nice, France on Sept 24 ( http://iros2008.inria.fr/ ) to address the relationships between robotics and cyber-physical systems research. This session will include presentations by invited speakers, NSF representatives (to present the forthcoming NSF CPS Initiative), and authors of contributed position papers (solicited here ). Position papers from faculty members who are junior or from under-re-presented groups are particularly encouraged. If you would like to present your ideas, position papers (no longer than three pages) are due September 5th. See http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~webk/IROS_CPSfor more details. Position papers from faculty members who are junior or from under-re-presented groups are particularly encouraged. Information about cyber-physical systems from an NSF summit help in April 2008 can be found here: http://varma.ece.cmu.edu/summit/index.html We look forward to your submissions. Jeff Trinkle (RPI) Bruce Krogh (CMU) From ki at cvl.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp Tue Aug 12 08:41:49 2008 From: ki at cvl.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp (Katsushi Ikeuchi) Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:41:49 +0900 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Subject: IEEE ICRA2009: Call for Papers Message-ID: <033701c8fc91$efae8ab0$cf0ba010$@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp> ICRA 2009 Call for Papers http://www.icra2009.org/contributions/author.html +++ Website open for submissions +++ The 2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA2009) will be held in Kobe, Japan from May 12 to 17, 2009. http://www.icra2009.org/ Prospective authors must submit their papers electronically in PDF format no later than midnight (US Pacific Time) on September 15, 2008. Manuscripts must be in English. Six pages in the standard ICRA format (see instructions below) are allowed for each paper, including figures. A maximum of two additional pages are permitted at an extra charge payable at the time of submitting the final, camera ready version of the paper. Paper submission is via the PaperPlaza system. We strongly recommend that you follow the following step-by-step instructions when preparing your paper and video attachment (if applicable to your paper). Authors of papers originally accompanied by a short video (1-2 minutes) that has been jointly accepted with the paper should include the video (max 5 MB) in the final submission material. *Important Dates: Submission of contributions: September 15, 2008 Notification of acceptance: January 7, 2009 All final contributions due: February 8, 2009 *Submitting your initial submission via PaperPlaza http://ras.papercept.net/conferences/scripts/start.pl Note that the PDF file must not exceed 2MB. If applicable, submit the short video clip not exceeding 5MB. Again, note that these accompanying video clips are distinct from the separate track for video submissions. *If you have questions regarding the final contribution preparation and submission process please contact the ICRA2009 Program Chairs. (Email: program at icra2009.org) Program Chair Katsushi Ikeuchi Program Co-Chairs Kevin Lynch Raja Chatila Shigeki Sugano From ki at cvl.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp Tue Aug 12 08:46:00 2008 From: ki at cvl.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp (Katsushi Ikeuchi) Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:46:00 +0900 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] IEEE ICRA2009: Call for Invited Session Proposals Message-ID: <034101c8fc92$84d2ee60$8e78cb20$@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp> ICRA 2009 Call for Invited Session(s) Proposals http://www.icra2009.org/contributions/invited.html +++ Website open for submissions +++ The 2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA2009) will be held in Kobe, Japan from May 12 to 17, 2009. http://www.icra2009.org/ We now invite you submit proposals for Invited Session(s). Invited sessions on new topics or innovative applications will be considered, consisting of four to six related papers submitted through the regular review process. Prospective organizers should include a brief statement of purpose for the sessions as well as the abstracts of the papers to be included. Note that for your proposal of invited session, approval by the ICRA2009 program committee is required. Submission of invited papers is available after receiving approval by the ICRA2009 program committee. *Important Dates: Submission of proposals: August 29, 2008 Notification of approval: September 1, 2008 Submission of invited papers: September 15, 2008 All final contributions due: February 8, 2009 Prospective authors for the approved invited sessions should submit their papers electronically in PDF format. Six pages in the standard ICRA format are allowed for each paper, including figures. A maximum of two additional pages is permitted. For paper submission, please follow the instructions for paper contribution. http://www.icra2009.org/contributions/author.html *Proposal Format -------------------- The initial submission of an invited session contribution must be accompanied by a summarizing (at most) two (2) pages in the following specified format as a PDF file. Please number and clearly delineate each section. 1. Title 2. Session organizers (complete address, phone, and email) 3. Abstract, motivation and objectives 4. List of topics 5. List of presenters with affiliations and status of confirmation 6. Intended audience 7. Relation to the previous ICRA or IROS sessions/workshops/tutorials. *Submitting an Invited Session Proposal via PaperPlaza: http://ras.papercept.net/conferences/scripts/start.pl Proposals, no longer than 2 pages in length, following the format above must be submitted online via the PaperPlaza system by August 29, 2008. Decisions will be announced by September 1, 2008. Note that for your proposal of invited session, approval by the ICRA2009 program committee is required. Submission of invited papers is available after receiving approval by the ICRA2009 program committee. * If you have questions regarding the submissions process, please contact the ICRA2009 Program Charis. (Email: program at icra2009.org) Program Chair Katsushi Ikeuchi Program Co-Chairs Kevin Lynch Raja Chatila Shigeki Sugano From tadokoro at rm.is.tohoku.ac.jp Mon Aug 11 16:31:06 2008 From: tadokoro at rm.is.tohoku.ac.jp (Satoshi Tadokoro) Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 08:31:06 +0900 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Special Issue on Disaster Response Robotics on J. Advanced Robotics Message-ID: <20080812082239.6B15.CB6C3084@rm.is.tohoku.ac.jp> Special Issue on "DISASTER RESPONSE ROBOTICS" CALL FOR PAPERS for Journal of Advanced Robotics, Vol. 23, No. 9 (July 2009) Guest Co-Editors: Prof. Satoshi Tadokoro (Tohoku University, Japan) Prof. Fumitoshi Matsuno (University of Electro-Communications, Japan) Prof. Daniele Nardi (University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy) Dr. Adam Jacoff (National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA) **** SUBMISSION DEADLINE: September 30, 2008 **** Disaster response is an important humanitarian field of robotics which is poised to make a huge impact in the lives of emergency responders and disaster victims. Robotic systems are expected to support emergency responders by improving their safety and abilities during operations, by deploying advanced sensors and tools where humans can not or should not go, and by providing critical sustenance and support to victims during extrication. Recent progress in robotic technologies and equipment has made fielding of capable robotic systems possible in harsh disaster response environments. These advances are being demonstrated through field tests and exercises at real disasters and emergency responder practice facilities. This special issue will present recent advancements in research and development in the fields of - Mobile systems and component technologies of/for UGVs, serpentine robots, AUVs, balloons, SAVs - Intelligent information gathering methods and technologies for disaster situation - Information processing/integration technologies for disaster response - Systems and technologies for disaster recovery - Technologies for disaster prevention/mitigation including inspection, maintenance and prediction - Human support technologies related to disaster by focusing on the following topics: - Locomotion for ground, aerial, aquatic, indoor, and collapsed structures - Perception for navigation, hazard detection, and victim identification - Mapping of complex environments (2-D, 3-D, GIS integration, etc.) - Manipulation capabilities (hazards, payloads, obstacles, doors, etc.) - Communications for reliable data transfer (tether management, radio, etc.) - Human-robot interfaces for improved remote situational awareness - Intelligent behaviors to improve robot performance and survivability - Training methods and other personnel issues - Performance metrics for robots and equipment - Emerging technologies (sensors, power sources, micro robots, etc.) - Deployment logistics and operational integration issues - Emergency management issues related to robotics PAPER SUBMISSION: PDF format file of the complete manuscript should be sent by September 30, 2007 to the office of Advanced Robotics, the Robotics Society of Japan through our homepage (www.advanced-robotics.org). Sample form of the manuscript is available at the homepage. Also send the same file to Prof. Satoshi Tadokoro (tadokoro at rm.is.tohoku.ac.jp) with the e-mail subject "AR Special Issue" for the co-editors' confirmation. -- Satoshi Tadokoro Professor, Graduate School of Information Sciences, Tohoku University 6-6-01 Aramaki Aza Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579 Japan Phone +81-22-795-7022 Fax +81-22-795-7023 From axel.schneider at uni-bielefeld.de Tue Aug 12 11:04:39 2008 From: axel.schneider at uni-bielefeld.de (Axel Schneider) Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:04:39 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] PhD grant in bioinspired robotics, Cluster of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC), Bielefeld University, Germany Message-ID: <48A1D0B7.5000708@uni-bielefeld.de> The Graduate School Cognitive Interaction Technology at Bielefeld University, Germany offers a research grant for a PhD-student in the research project Designing a multi-legged robot as a test-bed for motion intelligence mechanisms This project is situated in the CITEC research area motion intelligence and is jointly supervised by the departments of Mechatronics of Biomimetic Actuators and Biological Cybernetics. Its goal is the development of a multi-legged multipurpose robot platform that serves as a carrier for different sensor modalities and the underlying technologies. A certain degree of autonomy for field trials will be achieved, for example, to collect vision and navigation data from real world scenarios and to test walking capabilities, decision making and planning ahead (mental models) also outside the lab environment. The Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC) at Bielefeld University has been established in the framework of the Excellence Initiative as a research center for intelligent systems and cognitive interaction between humans and technical systems. The CITEC agenda comprises the central topics of motion intelligence, attentive systems, situated communication, and memory and learning. It combines the knowledge of computer scientists, biologists, physicists, sports scientists, linguists and psychologists in order to understand the processes and functional constituents of cognitive interaction. In addition, research and development are directed towards establishing cognitive interfaces that facilitate the use of complex technical systems. We invite applications from outstanding young scientists. A successful candidate must hold an excellent academic degree (MSc/Diploma) in the area of engineering sciences or natural/computer sciences. We are particularly interested in applicants with a strong interest in bioinspired robotics and a background in a corresponding field, e.g. mechatronics, embedded systems or applied computer sciences. Strong programming skills, advanced mathematical competence and the interest in interdisciplinary work are expected. The candidate should be proficient in both written and spoken English. The research grant will be given for the duration of three years starting winter term 2008. Complete applications include: a cover letter providing information about the qualification and the motivation of the candidate, a CV including publication list and research experience, certificates of academic qualifications, as well as the name and contact information of two references. Please provide your documents as electronic data (pdf). Bielefeld University is an equal opportunity employer and therefore especially encourages women to apply. In the case of comparable competences and qualification, women will preferably be considered if there are no dominating reasons arising from the person of another applicant. Bielefeld University explicitly encourages disabled people to apply. Applications arriving no later than September 14, 2008 will be guaranteed to receive full consideration in the current call. Please submit your application to Dr. Axel Schneider Universit?t Bielefeld Technische Fakult?t / AG MBA P.O. Box 10 01 31 33501 Bielefeld Germany Email: axel.schneider at uni-bielefeld.de or Prof. Dr. Josef Schmitz Universit?t Bielefeld Biologische Kybernetik P.O. Box 10 01 31 33501 Bielefeld Germany Email: josef.schmitz at uni-bielefeld.de For further information about CITEC, please visit: www.cit-ec.de. From hhl at mmmi.sdu.dk Tue Aug 12 22:35:35 2008 From: hhl at mmmi.sdu.dk (Henrik Hautop Lund) Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 07:35:35 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Faculty position on Robotics and Play Message-ID: <4B92F0DEBBAF69418C16E70309ED4609014DD935@ADM-EXCH0D.adm.c.sdu.dk> VACANT ASSISTANT PROFESSORSHIP IN RESEARCH ON PLAYWARE AND ROBOTICS Applications are invited for a position as assistant professor in Playware and Robotics at Centre for Playware, The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute, University of Southern Denmark, in Odense, Denmark. It is a faculty position (tenure track) with an initial 3-year period as assistant professor. Start date: as soon as possible. The Institute performs internationally-oriented research in robotics, software engineering and modern artificial intelligence, and the successful applicant will mainly be involved in research and development activities in the field of playware, modern artificial intelligence and robotics. The successful applicant will form part of the Institute's research on playware, i.e. intelligent hardware and software that create play and playful experiences for users of all ages, at Centre for Playware (www.sdu.dk/playware). The main focus of the Centre is to merge research of modular robotics, modern artificial intelligence, human-robot interaction, arts, and play culture. It is desirable that applicants have an interest in playware and empirical experience with modern artificial intelligence, modular robotics or human-robot interaction, and general hands-on experience with novel technology. Centre for Playware develops robotic building blocks that create global behaviour through their composition, allowing everyday users to employ and develop robotic artefacts. This is the reason why the Centre, in addition to technology takes a great interest in areas such as cultural studies and interaction design to expand the development of robotics in products and everyday use e.g. in toys, playgrounds, hospital equipment, sports, music, etc. The research group is internationally known for its state-of-the-art research exemplified by RoboCup Humanoids Free Style World Championship 2002, and the inventions of the ATRON modules for self-configuration, African I-BLOCKS, RoboMusic, RoboCup Junior, the modular robotic therapy tiles, and the Playware playgrounds. The vacancy requires an assistant professor that is able to participate in this work at high, international level. The person appointed is, to an extent to be agreed upon, expected to teach and instruct students enrolled at the University of Southern Denmark, who participate in courses or do projects as part of their study programme. The person appointed may expect to be involved in other work activities as well. Deadline for applications: 5 September 2008, noon. Please follow guidelines on: http://www.jobs.sdu.dk/vis_stilling.php?id=4491&lang=eng Further information may be obtained by contacting Professor Henrik Hautop Lund, tel. (+45) 6550 3575, e-mail: hhl at mmmi.sdu.dk and/or by visiting the web site of the University: http://www.sdu.dk. Henrik Hautop Lund, professor Centre for Playware, Maersk Institute University of Southern Denmark Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M, Denmark www.sdu.dk/playware From emg at dei.unipd.it Wed Aug 13 00:25:26 2008 From: emg at dei.unipd.it (Emanuele Menegatti) Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:25:26 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Early CfP: Special Issue on Omnidirectional Robot Vision (RAS Journal) Message-ID: ===Robotics and Autonomous Systems (Elsevier) ====== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Special Issue: Omnidirectional Robot Vision ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Guest Editors: * Emanuele Menegatti (University of Padua, Italy) * Tomas Pajdla, (Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic) Early CALL FOR PAPER Omnidirectional vision research has always been greatly stimulated by mobile robotics and it has been finding its major applications there. Significant progresses have been made since the pioneer works which used shielded light bulbs or steel spheres as mirrors. Nowadays, several companies are selling high quality omnidirectional mirrors and cameras. Recently, a broader community has started working with omnidirectional sensors and commercial applications appeared also in surveillance and automotive industry. The increase of resolution of modern cameras overcome one of the major limitations of omnidirectional vision, the low resolution of omnidirectional images. The increase of computational power on board of nowadays robots and vehicles enables the use of more complex robot vision algorithms. Therefore, more computer vision algorithms are now applicable to omnidirectional images and the new approaches show their effectiveness in moving robots or autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles. In this special issue, we wish to collect examples of active collaboration of computer vision and robotic researchers to develop more robust, practical and applicable systems in robotics and elsewhere. **** The core of the special issue will be a selection of papers accepted to the ?Workshop on Omnidirectional Robot Vision? (**deadline 1st September 2008**). http://www.dei.unipd.it/~emg/omniRoboVis2008/ Authors of papers published at the workshop will be asked for an extended version of their paper to go through a new peer-review process. Nevertheless, the special issue will be open also to contribution not previously submitted to the workshop. The workshop will be co-located with SIMPAR 2008 (SIMULATION, MODELING and PROGRAMMING for AUTONOMOUS ROBOTS) conference http://www.simpar-conference.org/ . We invite interested scientists from omnidirectional vision and robotics communities to submit thier work and to attend the Workshop in VENICE, ITALY. **Topics of interest - Omnidirectional sensors for robotics - Omnidirectional vision for mobile robots, flying robots and manipulators - Omnidirectional vision for robot navigation and safety - Omnidirectional vision for multi-robot teams (including RoboCup leagues) - Omnidirectional visual odometry - Omnidirectional SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) - Omnidirectional vision in industrial robotics and automotive industry **IMPORTANT DATES (of special issue): Deadline for submission of paper: January 30, 2009 Notification of acceptance: March 25, 2009 Submission of final camera ready papers: April 25, 2009 **SUBMISSION: Please send your contribution by email directly to the Guest Editors at the following addresses emanuele.menegatti at dei.unipd.it, pajdla at cmp.felk.cvut.cz in PDF format following the template you can find at: http://ees.elsevier.com/robot/ The number of pages of the single paper can range between 12 and 20. Best regards, Emanuele Menegatti and Tomas Pajdla - RAS Guest Editors - ------------------------------------------ Emanuele Menegatti, Ph.D. Intelligent Autonomous Systems Laboratory (IAS-Lab) Department of Information Engineering The University of Padua via ognissanti 72 I-35129 Padova - ITALY Skype: emanuele.menegatti Phone: ++39 049 827 7840 FAX: ++39 049 827 7826 http://www.dei.unipd.it/~emg ------------------------------------------ From aforner at iai.csic.es Wed Aug 13 04:58:26 2008 From: aforner at iai.csic.es (Arturo Forner Cordero) Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:58:26 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] PhD studentship In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <002601c8fd3b$e51203c0$84786fa1@ARTBIOROB> Dear moderator Would you be so kind to distribute this announcement for a PhD position in Spain? A Ph.D. fellowship is available in the Bioengineering Group of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cient?ficas (Spanish National Research Council) to work in an exciting European project to improve the stability of bipedal robots and lower-limb exoskeletons. We are searching for an outstanding PhD candidate to perform research in the context of the European project ESBiRRo. http://www.iai.csic.es/users/esbirro/ Please, forward this call to any person who might be interested. Note that, due to EU immigration rules, it is required to obtain a work/student visa for non-EU citizens. The skills required: Scientific skills / Background: - Control Engineering - Mechanics - Electronics - Interest on Biological Systems and bioengineering - Multidisciplinary research Technical skills / Capabilities: - Experience/Education in mechanical design (ProEngineer, CATIA or ADAMS) - Experience/Educatin to program in C, C++ Important skills: - Ability to communicate ideas and writing skills in English - Knowledge of Spanish will be positively considered - Ability to work in a team - Educational/Working experience in other countries will be positively evaluated. Application procedure: Interested applicants should send their CV by e-mail to: A. Forner-Cordero, aforner at iai.csic.es and J.L. Pons, jlpons at iai.csic.es Best regards A. Forner-Cordero, PhD ------------------------------------------- Arturo FORNER-CORDERO, PhD Bioingenier?a / Bioengineering. Instituto de Autom?tica Industrial (IAI-CSIC) Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cient?ficas / Nat. Research Council of Spain Ctra de Campo Real km. 0,2. 28500 Arganda del Rey (Madrid) Espa?a Tel: +34 91 871 19 00 :: Fax: +34 91 871 70 50 http://www.iai.csic.es/users/gb/ http://www.iai.csic.es/users/afornercordero/ ------------------------------------------- From tadokoro at rm.is.tohoku.ac.jp Tue Aug 12 12:26:43 2008 From: tadokoro at rm.is.tohoku.ac.jp (Satoshi Tadokoro) Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 04:26:43 +0900 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Call for Participants: SSRR 2008 Message-ID: <20080813042533.6266.CB6C3084@rm.is.tohoku.ac.jp> *** Call for Participants *** SSRR 2008 2008 IEEE International Workshop on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics Aoba Memorial Hall, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan October 21-24, 2008 Advance Registration Due: September 30, 2008 (On-site registration is possible after this date.) Registration URL: http://www.rm.is.tohoku.ac.jp/ssrr2008/registration.html According to the instruction on the above web page, finish the registration. Note that all the paper presentation needs at least one registration by September 15, 2008. WORKSHOP TOPICS The 2008 IEEE International Workshop on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics (SSRR2008) is dedicated to identifying and solving the key issues necessary to field capable robots across a variety of challenging applications. This year it will be hosted at Tohoku University (October 21-24, 2008). This sixth workshop in the series will address both the research challenges posed by search and rescue scenarios and the design of deployable robotic systems that satisfy user-defined requirements. It will be co-located with Robot Demonstration to create a unique opportunity for development and exchange of research ideas and technical solutions. As always, emergency responders and other expected users will be involved in presentations and discussions to ensure the practical relevance of technology developments for actual usage. Topics for papers and demonstrations include: - Robot performance requirements and technical solutions for applications of SSRR (urban search and rescue, CBRN hazard detection/mitigation, explosive ordinance disposal, physical security, surveillance, $B!D(B) - Locomotion for ground, aerial, aquatic, indoor, and collapsed structures - Perception for navigation, hazard detection, and victim identification - Mapping of complex environments (2-D, 3-D, GIS integration, ...) - Manipulation capabilities (hazards, payloads, obstacles, doors, ...) - Communications for reliable data transfer (tether management, radio, ...) - Intelligent behaviors to improve robot performance and survivability - Human-robot interfaces for improved remote situational awareness - Autonomous search and exploration - Multi-robot teams and mixed human-robot teams - Training methods and other personnel issues - Safety standards of robots and systems - Evaluation and performance metric of robotic systems - Emerging technologies (sensors, power sources, micro robots, $B!D(B) - Emergency management issues related to robotics VENUE Sendai is a historic city known by Date Masamune, the first load of Sendai Clan established in 1600. He dispatched a Japan's first mission to Europe via Mexico in 1613 to meet Pope Paul V and to promote international trade. Sendai has a population of one million now, and is the political and economic center of Japan's Tohoku (northeast) Region. Tohoku University was established in 1907 as the third national university in Japan with "Research First" and "Open-door" policies. It has nine full professors in robotics, and one of the major centers of robotics research in Japan. SPONSORS Sponsored by: IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Technically Co-Sponsored by: Tohoku University International Rescue Systems Institute NIST Intelligent Systems Division COMMITTEE General Chair Satoshi TADOKORO, Tohoku University, Japan Program Co-Chairs: Takashi TSUBOUCHI, University of Tsukuba, Japan (Asia & Oceania) Daniele NARDI, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy (Europe & Africa) Richard VOYLES, University of Denver, USA (America) -- Satoshi Tadokoro Professor, Graduate School of Information Sciences, Tohoku University 6-6-01 Aramaki Aza Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579 Japan Phone +81-22-795-7022 Fax +81-22-795-7023 From kosuge at irs.mech.tohoku.ac.jp Tue Aug 12 17:59:55 2008 From: kosuge at irs.mech.tohoku.ac.jp (Kazuhiro Kosuge) Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:59:55 +0900 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] IEEE ICRA2009: Call for Contributions Message-ID: <48A2320B.9090705@irs.mech.tohoku.ac.jp> ICRA 2009 Call for Contributions http://www.icra2009.org/contributions +++ Website open for submissions +++ The 2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA2009) will be held in Kobe, Japan from May 12 to 17, 2009. http://www.icra2009.org/ *Important Dates: Submission of Invited session proposals: August 29, 2009 Submission of contributions: September 15, 2008 (Papers, Videos, T/W) Notification of acceptance (T/W): November 15, 2009 Notification of acceptance: January 7, 2009 (Papers and Videos) All final contributions due: February 8, 2009 The theme of the conference is "Robotics and IRT for Livable Societies", reflecting the ever growing interests in research, development and applications in the dynamic and exciting areas of robotics and automation. * Submit your paper/video contributions or invited sessions, workshops/tutorials proposals via the PaperPlaza web page. http://ras.papercept.net/conferences/scripts/start.pl We are looking forward to seeing you in Kobe. IEEE ICRA2009 General Chair Kazuhiro Kosuge -- ========================================== Kazuhiro Kosuge IEEE RAS President Elect 2008-2009 IEEE Fellow, JSME Fellow, SICE Fellow Professor Department of Bioengineering and Robotics Graduate School of Engineering Tohoku University Aoba-yama 01, Sendai 980-8579, JAPAN Telephone +81-22-795-6914 Mobile Phone +81-90-2366-2566 Fascimile +81-22-795-6915 http://www.irs.mech.tohoku.ac.jp/ From jmh at cs.utah.edu Wed Aug 13 07:46:35 2008 From: jmh at cs.utah.edu (John Hollerbach) Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 08:46:35 -0600 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] August 2008 issue of IJRR Message-ID: <48A2F3CB.9060009@cs.utah.edu> A new issue of The International Journal of Robotics Research is available online: 1 August 2008; Vol. 27, No. 8 The below Table of Contents is available online at: http://ijr.sagepub.com/content/vol27/issue8/?etoc Robot Odor Localization: A Taxonomy and Survey Gideon Kowadlo and R. Andrew Russell The International Journal of Robotics Research 2008;27 869-894 http://ijr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/27/8/869 On Signature Invariants for Effective Motion Trajectory Recognition Shandong Wu and Y.F. Li The International Journal of Robotics Research 2008;27 895-917 http://ijr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/27/8/895 Stable Running with Segmented Legs Juergen Rummel and Andre Seyfarth The International Journal of Robotics Research 2008;27 919-934 http://ijr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/27/8/919 Numerical Methods for Reachable Space Generation of Humanoid Robots Yisheng Guan, Kazuhito Yokoi, and Xianmin Zhang The International Journal of Robotics Research 2008;27 935-950 http://ijr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/27/8/935 Kinematic and Static Analysis of a Three-degree-of-freedom Spatial Modular Tensegrity Mechanism Marc Arsenault and Cl?ment M. Gosselin The International Journal of Robotics Research 2008;27 951-966 http://ijr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/27/8/951 Optimal Force Generation in Parallel Manipulators for Passing through the Singular Positions S?bastien Briot and Vigen Arakelian The International Journal of Robotics Research 2008;27 967-983 http://ijr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/27/8/967 From cmuhl at cit-ec.uni-bielefeld.de Wed Aug 13 08:27:08 2008 From: cmuhl at cit-ec.uni-bielefeld.de (Claudia Muhl) Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:27:08 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] 10 PhD and Postdoc grants, Cluster of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology, Bielefeld University, Germany Message-ID: <48A2FD4C.5020403@cit-ec.uni-bielefeld.de> The Graduate School Cognitive Interaction Technology, Bielefeld University, Germany offers: 10 Research Grants for PhD Students and Postdoc Researchers The Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC) at Bielefeld University has been established in the framework of the Excellence Initiative as a research center for intelligent systems and cognitive interaction between humans and technical systems. The CITEC agenda comprises the central topics of motion intelligence, attentive systems, situated communication, and memory and learning. It combines the knowledge of computer scientists, biologists, physicists, sports scientists, linguists and psychologists in order to understand the processes and functional constituents of cognitive interaction. In addition, research and development are directed towards establishing cognitive interfaces that facilitate the use of complex technical systems. The Graduate School Cognitive Interaction Technology offers research grants for PhD students and Postdoc researchers willing to contribute to the cross-disciplinary research agenda of CITEC. The international profile of CITEC fosters the exchange of researchers and students with related scientific institutions. A structured training program offers support for scientific career advancement and professional orientation. We invite applications from outstanding young scientists. Successful candidates must hold an excellent academic degree (MSc/Diploma/PhD) in the related disciplines, be already engaged in research, and proficient in both written and spoken English. The research grants will be given for the duration of three years starting winter term 2008. Complete applications include: a cover letter providing information about the qualification and the motivation of the candidate, a CV including publication list and research experience, certificates of academic qualifications, as well as a description of the research interests with regard to the research areas of CITEC (max. 8500 characters). Please provide your documents as electronic data (pdf). Applications for PhD grants shall contain the sketch of a PhD project, or the explanation of the individual research interests of the candidate within the research agenda of CITEC. Please do not hesitate to contact CITEC researchers in advance if you want to concretize your project idea. For a complete list of researchers, visit: www.cit-ec.de . Postdoc researchers are asked to provide the outline of a research project pertinent to the CITEC research objectives. Applications arriving no later than *September 14, 2008* will be guaranteed to receive full consideration in the current call. Please submit your application to Prof. Thomas Schack, Head of Graduate School, Email: gradschool at cit-ec.uni-bielefeld.de Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology Prof. Thomas Schack Head of Graduate School Cognitive Interaction Technology CITEC Gesch?ftsstelle Universit?tsstra?e 25 33615 Bielefeld Germany Contact address: Claudia Muhl, Manager of Graduate School phone: +49-(0)521-106-6566. For further information about CITEC, please visit: www.cit-ec.de . From mk at mech.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp Wed Aug 13 08:45:39 2008 From: mk at mech.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp (Makoto Kaneko) Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:45:39 +0900 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] IEEE ICRA2009: Call for Tutorial and Workshop Proposals Message-ID: <48A301A3.8050107@mech.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp> ICRA 2009 Tutorials and Workshops Call for Proposals http://www.icra2009.org/contributions/tutorial-workshop.html +++ Website open for submissions +++ The 2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA2009) will be held in Kobe, Japan from May 12 to 17, 2009. http://www.icra2009.org/ We solicit tutorial and workshop proposals that address important and new topics related to the conference theme, Robotics and IRT for Livable Societies, as well as robotics and automation in general. Workshops should focus on areas of active research, in order to provide an informal forum for participants to exchange developing research results and ideas. Tutorials should target established fields of research, in order to provide descriptions on its state of the art, by individuals who are recognized researchers of the field. All workshop/tutorial proposals will be reviewed by the ICRA 2009 Workshop/Tutorial Committee. The initial submission of a tutorial or workshop contribution must be accompanied by a summarizing (at most) two (2) pages in the following specified format as a PDF file. Please number and clearly delineate each section. *Proposal Format -------------------- - Title - Organizers (complete address, phone, and email) - Abstract (less than 200 words, indicate full or half day, workshop or tutorial) - Motivation and objectives (less than 300 words) - List of topics - List of presenters with affiliations and status of confirmation - Intended audience - Tentative schedule and agenda (*) - Contents of the workshop / tutorial proceedings (if any, indicate paper or abstract proceedings, or poster sessions, etc.) - Relation to the previous ICRA or IROS workshops/tutorials. (*) Dates and time: May 12 (9:00-17:00), 13 (9:00-12:00) and 17(9:00-17:00), 2009. Note that the date and time proposed by the organizer may be changed in the final program, according to the balance of topics and schedule. *Important Dates: Submission of proposals: September 15, 2008 Notification of acceptance: November 15, 2008 W/T agenda submission: January 15, 2009 Final W/T material due: March 1, 2009 *Submitting a Tutorial or Workshop Proposal via PaperPlaza: http://ras.papercept.net/conferences/scripts/start.pl Proposals, no longer than 2 pages in length, following the format above must be submitted online via the PaperPlaza system by September 15, 2008. Decisions will be announced by November 15, 2008. If you have questions regarding the proposal, please contact the Tutorials and Workshops Charis. (Email: workshops at icra2009.org) Tutorials and Workshops Chairs Yoky Matsuoka Cecilia Laschi Makoto Kaneko From K.Dautenhahn at herts.ac.uk Fri Aug 15 03:12:04 2008 From: K.Dautenhahn at herts.ac.uk (Kerstin Dautenhahn) Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:12:04 +0100 (BST) Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Research Assistant/Postdoc position in Developmental Robotics Message-ID: Dear colleagues, I would appreciate if you could circulate this advert to researchers who might be interested in the post. thank you, Kerstin Dautenhahn ------- Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences School of Computer Science, Adaptive Systems Research Group http://adapsys.feis.herts.ac.uk/ University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom http://www.herts.ac.uk/ Research Assistant/Fellow in Developmental Robotics 20,436 - 24,403 GBP per annum starting salary (depending on qualifications) Fixed term contract until end of August 2009 (funding may be available after August 2009 pending on the outcome of grant applications) A postgraduate Research Assistant/Fellow post is available in the EU Framework VI funded project Robotcub. This multidisciplinary project consists of several European partners. You will pursue research into development robotics, in particular in the context of human robot interactive communication. You will be a member of the Adaptive Systems Research Group at University of Hertfordshire in the School of Computer Science. The highly active and multidisciplinary research group has an excellent international research track record including research in developmental robotics and human-robot interaction. You should have a strong postgraduate degree (MSc or PhD) in Computer Science or a related area and are expected to have strong qualifications and experience in biologically-inspired developmental robotics, robot learning, machine learning, robot vision or related areas, as well as excellent research experience in robot programming. The development of software for a humanoid robot (http://kaspar.feis.herts.ac.uk/), and contributions to the iCub (http://www.robotcub.org/), forms a central part in the research. For informal inquiries please contact the team leader Prof. Kerstin Dautenhahn (K.Dautenhahn at herts.ac.uk). Closing date: 29 August 2008 Quote Reference: EN8650 Starting Date: as soon as possible All formal applications must be made online: http://web-apps.herts.ac.uk/uhweb/apps/hr/research-vacancies.cfm ----------------------------------------------------- Prof. Dr. Kerstin Dautenhahn Professor of Artificial Intelligence Adaptive Systems Research Group The University of Hertfordshire, School of Computer Science College Lane, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL10 9AB, United Kingdom URL: http://homepages.feis.herts.ac.uk/~comqkd E-mail: K.Dautenhahn at herts.ac.uk Fax: +44-1707-284-303 Tel: +44-1707-284-333 From dayalparhi at yahoo.com Tue Aug 12 07:31:02 2008 From: dayalparhi at yahoo.com (dayal parhi) Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 07:31:02 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [robotics-worldwide] International Paper Urgent Call Message-ID: <515396.26624.qm@web51802.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Dear Members, International Journal of Applied Artificial Intelligence in Engineering System publishes paper mainly on robotics. A special issue will come in December 2008. Dead line for submission of papers is 20th September 2008. Please visit the website for detail; "http://www.serialspublications.com/journals1.asp?jid=219&dtype=1&jtype=1" Best regards! Dr. Dayal R. Parhi Department of Mechanical Engineering National Institute of Technology Rourkela , Pin: 769008. Orissa , India Phone: ++916612464509 From emg at dei.unipd.it Fri Aug 15 05:20:45 2008 From: emg at dei.unipd.it (Emanuele Menegatti) Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:20:45 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Last CfP: Workshop Omnidirectional Robot Vision 2008 Message-ID: Please find here the PDF leaflet to distribute! http://www.dei.unipd.it/~emg/omniRoboVis2008/CfP-Workshop-OmniRoboVis2008.pdf ====================================================== The First Workshop on Omnidirectional Robot Vision www.dei.unipd.it/~emg/omniRoboVis2008/ will be co-located with SIMPAR 2008 (International Conference on Simulation, Modeling, and Programming for Autonomous Robots). http://www.simpar-conference.org We invite scientists from omnidirectional vision and robotics communities to attend the workshop on Omnidirectional Robot Vision? and to discuss sensors, algorithms and applications of omnidirectional vision for robotics. Omnidirectional vision research was always greatly stimulated by mobile robotics and it was finding its major applications there. Recently, a broader community has started working with omnidirectional sensors and commercial applications appeared also in surveillance and automotive industry. We wish to encourage active collaboration of computer vision and robotic researchers to develop more robust, practical and applicable systems in robotics and elsewhere. == NEW++NEW== A Special Issue of Robotics and Autonomous Systems (Journal, Elsevier) based on the workshop papers will be edited after the workshop (Special Issue - Call for Papers) http://www.dei.unipd.it/~emg/omniRoboVis2008/SpecialIssue-RAS2009/ =====NEW====== TOPICS OF INTEREST: ? Omnidirectional sensors for robotics ? Omnidirectional vision for mobile robots, flying robots and manipulators ? Omnidirectional vision for robot navigation and safety ? Omnidirectional vision for multi-robot teams (including RoboCup leagues) ? Omnidirectional visual odometry & SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) ? Omnidirectional vision in industrial robotics and automotive industry PAPER SUBMISSION AND FORMAT All manuscripts should be prepared according to the instructions provided by the Authors' Area at the conference website. The page limit for the final submission of papers is 12 pages. Papers in PDF format should be sent to < emg at dei.unipd.it > IMPORTANT DATES: Deadline for submission of paper: September 1st, 2008 Notification of acceptance: October 5, 2008 Submission of final camera ready papers: October 20, 2008 Workshop date: November 4, 2008 CHAIRS Emanuele Menegatti, University of Padua, Italy Tomas Pajdla, Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic PROGRAM COMMITEE Eduardo Bayro-Corrochano, CINVESTAV, Mexico Ryad Benosman, Univ. of Paris VI, France Vincenzo Caglioti , Politecnico di Milano, Italy Stefano Cagnoni, University of Parma Italy Kostas Daniilidis, University of Pennsylvania, USA Andrew Davison, Imperial College London, UK Horst-Michael Gross, University of Ilmenau, Germany Simon Lacroix, LAAS/CNRS, France Marc Pollefeys, Institute of Computational Sciences, ETH Zurich, Swiss Domenico Prattichizzo, University of Siena, Italy Jos? Gaspar, Instituto Superior T?cnico, Lisbon, Portugal Davide Scaramuzza, Autonomous Systems Lab, ETH Zurich, Swiss Domenico Sorrenti, University of Milan, Italy Tinne Tuytelaars, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium Yasushi Yagi, Osaka University, Japan. Primo Zingaretti, Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy ------------------------------------------ Emanuele Menegatti, Ph.D. Intelligent Autonomous Systems Laboratory (IAS-Lab) Department of Information Engineering The University of Padua via ognissanti 72 I-35129 Padova - ITALY Skype: emanuele.menegatti Phone: ++39 049 827 7840 FAX: ++39 049 827 7826 http://www.dei.unipd.it/~emg ------------------------------------------ From david.filliat at ensta.fr Mon Aug 18 01:34:59 2008 From: david.filliat at ensta.fr (David FILLIAT) Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 10:34:59 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Cognitive Robotics Lecturer, Paris, France Message-ID: <48A93433.3020103@ensta.fr> The Cognitive Robotics team (http://cogrob.ensta.fr) at ENSTA (http://www.ensta.fr/) in Paris is offering a permanent lecturer position in cognitive robotics. The candidates should speak French and have experience in at least two of the following areas : developmental robotics, machine learning, computer vision, mobile robotics. Detailed job description: http://uei.ensta.fr/assets/divers/fiche_ens_cherch_rob.pdf Deadline : august, 31th, 2008 Best regards, David FILLIAT. -- --------------------------------------------------------------- David FILLIAT - Enseignant-Chercheur / Assistant Professor ENSTA/UEI Lab http://uei.ensta.fr/filliat Cognitive Robotics Theme http://cogrob.ensta.fr 32, Boulevard Victor Ph.: +33/0 1 45 52 54 13 F75739 Paris Cedex 15, France Fax: +33/0 1 45 52 83 27 --------------------------------------------------------------- From kenji at ieee.org Sun Aug 17 20:48:58 2008 From: kenji at ieee.org (Kenji Suzuki) Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:48:58 +0900 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] IEEE ICRA2009: Call for Contributed Videos Message-ID: <008801c900e5$58b83db0$0a28b910$@org> [Our apologies if you receive multiple copies of this announcement.] ---------------------------------------------------------------- ICRA 2009 Call for Contributed Videos http://www.icra2009.org/contributions/video.html +++ Website open for submissions +++ The 2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA2009) will be held in Kobe, Japan from May 12 to 17, 2009. http://www.icra2009.org/ The submission of a contributed video is due on Sep 15, 2008. *Important Dates: Submission of contributions: September 15, 2008 Notification of acceptance: January 7, 2009 All final contributions due: February 8, 2009 Initial video contributions (a self-contained 1.5-3 minutes video not connected with a paper accepted to ICRA 2009) consist of a mpeg file (max 50 MB). The initial submission of a video contribution must be accompanied by a summarizing two-page text as a PDF file. This text should provide an outline of the work presented, references to papers that provide more details about the work as well as related work. Submit your video and the IEEE PDF-compliant version of your 2 page summarizing text via the PaperPlaza web page. http://ras.papercept.net/conferences/scripts/start.pl * Submitting an Invited Session Proposal via PaperPlaza: Submit your video and the IEEE PDF-compliant version of your 2 page summarizing text via the PaperPlaza web page. http://ras.papercept.net/conferences/scripts/start.pl * If you have questions regarding the submissions process, please contact the Video Proceedings Chair. (Email: video at icra2009.org) Videos Chair Peter Corke ---------------------------------------------------------------- On behalf of the ICRA2009 Videos Chair Kenji Suzuki ICRA2009 E-Media Chair University of Tsukuba, Japan http://www.iit.tsukuba.ac.jp/~kenji/ Email: kenji at ieee.org From dcoombs at SETcorp.com Sat Aug 9 02:57:50 2008 From: dcoombs at SETcorp.com (David Coombs) Date: Sat, 09 Aug 2008 05:57:50 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] job: Robotics Engineer @ SETcorp, Arlington, Virginia Message-ID: Robotics Engineer About SET Science, Engineering, and Technology (SET) Corporation is a small, privately owned business founded in 2002 by scientists from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. SET was established to create and commercialize ?smart? technologies that help humans accomplish complex tasks. From video and radar systems that automatically detect human behaviors, to knowledge discovery systems that find meaningful patterns in vast quantities of seemingly unrelated data, our products make our society safer, better informed, and more productive. Headquartered in Arlington, VA, with offices in Dayton, OH, Denver, CO, and Greenbelt, MD, we serve a diverse base of defense, homeland security, and intelligence community clientele. SET is an employee-focused company with the belief that people are our most important asset. At SET, we put this belief into action by providing a workplace that challenges, motivates and allows people to excel in their careers. Job Description The Robotics Engineer will develop real-time robotics systems, ranging from proof of concept demonstrations to efficient, reliable implementations. The successful candidate will work with an interdisciplinary team to select hardware components and design and implement software to achieve real-time performance on prototype systems. Responsibilities include integrating into multi-threaded, multi-process, multi-processor environments (windows, linux, etc.) with cross-platform compatibility and portability. The robotics engineer will develop real-time software to control actuator systems for closed loop real-time intelligent interactive and autonomous system applications. Examples include detecting and tracking moving objects and controlling gimbals and pan-tilt units to precisely point a payload at sequences of targets over extended tracks. The robotics engineer should enjoy writing code close to the hardware for unmanned systems, from ground-based applications to UAVs. Required Skills The ideal candidate will have 5 to 10 years of experience developing real-time software for government or commercial software systems. Candidate must have experience using C/C++/ Java in MS Windows or Unix/Linux software development environments (such as visualC++ or gcc/g++/gdb/make, C#) and tools (such as CVS, subversion or other CM system; bugzilla, roundup or other bug/issue tracking). Experience developing robust real-time systems is essential. BS or MS in Robotics, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, EE, ME or related field. Have or be able to obtain DOD Secret clearance. Desirable Experience ? Sensor experience: GPS/INS, compass, LRF, etc. ? Sensor/actuator alignment and calibration ? Kinematic modeling, tracking and control ? Mission planning, Guidance/navigation and control, path planning, routing, sensor planning ? Standard industrial software development, test, and maintenance practices, processes, and documentation, such as SEI CMM ? Real-time or high-speed code optimization on general-purpose processors (such as Pentium or Power PC processors) ? RTOS experience: Windows XP Embedded (XPe), VxWorks, LynxOS, QNX, RTLinux, etc. ? Scripting and prototyping: Matlab, perl, python ? Structured code, abstraction, encapsulation, device drivers, etc. Job Location Arlington, VA, U.S. Position Type Full-Time/Regular Please Contact Human Resources SET Corporation 1005 North Glebe Road, 4th Floor Arlington VA 22201 703-738-6216 HR at SETcorp.com http://www.SETcorp.com From dcoombs at SETcorp.com Sat Aug 9 02:59:52 2008 From: dcoombs at SETcorp.com (David Coombs) Date: Sat, 09 Aug 2008 05:59:52 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] job: Sensor Processing Engineer @ SETcorp, Arlington, VA Message-ID: <74D4A7B1-FDF3-45D5-8C96-9227C5688CD4@SETcorp.com> Sensor Processing Engineer About SET Science, Engineering, and Technology (SET) Corporation is a small, privately owned business founded in 2002 by scientists from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. SET was established to create and commercialize ?smart? technologies that help humans accomplish complex tasks. From video and radar systems that automatically detect human behaviors, to knowledge discovery systems that find meaningful patterns in vast quantities of seemingly unrelated data, our products make our society safer, better informed, and more productive. Headquartered in Arlington, VA, with offices in Dayton, OH, Denver, CO, and Greenbelt, MD, we serve a diverse base of defense, homeland security, and intelligence community clientele. SET is an employee-focused company with the belief that people are our most important asset. At SET, we put this belief into action by providing a workplace that challenges, motivates and allows people to excel in their careers. Job Description The Sensor Processing Engineer will develop real-time sensor processing systems for robotics applications, ranging from proof of concept demonstrations to efficient, reliable implementations. The successful candidate will work with an interdisciplinary team to select hardware components and design and implement software to achieve real-time performance on prototype systems. Responsibilities include integrating into multi-threaded, multi-process, multi- processor environments (windows, linux, etc.) with cross-platform compatibility and portability. The sensor processing engineer will develop real-time software to process sensor data for closed loop real-time intelligent interactive and autonomous system applications. Examples include detecting and tracking moving objects over extended tracks. The sensor processing engineer should enjoy writing code close to the hardware for unmanned systems, from ground-based sensors to UAVs. Required Skills The ideal candidate will have 5 to 10 years of experience developing real-time software for government or commercial software systems. Candidate must have experience using C/C++/ Java in MS Windows or Unix/Linux software development environments (such as visualC++ or gcc/g++/gdb/make, C#) and tools (such as CVS, subversion or other CM system; bugzilla, roundup or other bug/issue tracking). Experience developing robust real-time systems is essential. BS or MS in Robotics, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, EE, ME or related field. Have or be able to obtain DOD Secret clearance. Desirable Experience ? Sensor experience: video, radar, ladar, flash ladar, GPS/INS, compass, LRF, etc. ? Image and video formats and camera interfaces (1394 Firewire IIDC/DCAM, GigE, CameraLink) ? Sensor processing: video detection and tracking and object recognition ? Vision and image processing software libraries and tools: OpenCV, Intel IPL, and DirectX/DirectShow ? Sensor/actuator alignment and calibration ? Standard industrial software development, test, and maintenance practices, processes, and documentation, such as SEI CMM ? Real-time or high-speed code optimization on general-purpose processors (such as Pentium or Power PC processors) ? RTOS experience: Windows XP Embedded (XPe), VxWorks, LynxOS, QNX, RTLinux, etc. ? Scripting and prototyping: Matlab, perl, python ? Structured code, abstraction, encapsulation, device drivers, etc. Job Location Arlington, VA, U.S. Position Type Full-Time/Regular Please Contact Human Resources SET Corporation 1005 North Glebe Road, 4th Floor Arlington VA 22201 703-738-6216 HR at SETcorp.com http://www.SETcorp.com From joe.connell at comcast.net Tue Aug 12 10:33:27 2008 From: joe.connell at comcast.net (joe.connell at comcast.net) Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:33:27 +0000 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Automation Engineer Silicon Valley Message-ID: <081220081733.9190.48A1C96700006162000023E6221656627604040A0202010CD20A0106@comcast.net> Automation Engineer Responsibilities Primary equipment focus will be factory Automation tools, robotics, and automated conveyor systems but may include other supporting equipment throughout the factory. Provide detailed new equipment and acceptance testing specifications when required to support the procurement of new tools or improvement of existing tools. Drive all activities related to ensuring new equipment is built to specification. Thoroughly characterize and document the base line performance and capability of each system and drive actions to maintain tool performance to the documented base line. Provide technical support for electrical controls, robot programming, vision inspection, and automation. Write and maintain effective maintenance specifications, keeping them current with changing process demands and create training materials as well as conduct training of support personnel as required. Drive continuous improvement programs to improve equipment process and manufacturing performance, maximize the Mean Productive Time Between Interrupts (MTBIp) and Operational Uptime. Drive cost reduction and containment projects related to the equipment set to reduce the cost of tool maintenance, repair, and operation. Experience Excellent understanding of the principles of automated handling tools, electronics, equipment function, operation, maintenance, and repair. Sold understanding of the principles used in electro-pneumatic systems, multi-axis robotic systems, conveyor belt transport systems, data collection systems, and mechanical engineering skills. Strong "hands-on" capability in the installation and deployment into manufacturing of production equipment. Must be willing and have a strong desire to work on equipment A working knowledge in PLC based process control systems (Rockwell, Seimens, other) used in distributed network configurations. Special Skills: - Experienced in working on equipment powered by 480VAC or lower. - In Depth understanding of camera recognition/evaluation systems as related to trouble shooting and repair/calibration. - Experienced in tuning, calibrating, and repairing electro-mechanical transport systems (i.e. - conveyor type drives). - Experienced in setting up and maintaining robotic handling/transfer systems - Able to read schematics, mechanical drawings, and troubleshoot to component level. - Working knowledge of test equipment and calibration standards. Education BSME, BSEE, or equivalent, Masters a plus. Location Silicon Valley Please forward resume to joe.connell at comcast.net From Thomas.Ditzinger at springer.com Mon Aug 18 05:20:35 2008 From: Thomas.Ditzinger at springer.com (Ditzinger, Thomas, Springer DE) Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:20:35 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Handbook of Robotics Message-ID: <6AE6FF8C5284D344940E31CCA688E870FBAE2B@HDEXS1.springer-sbm.com> We are proud to announce the publication of the Springer Handbook of Robotics, edited by B. Siciliano and O. Khatib - for details, sample chapters or orders see www.springer.com/978-3-540-23957-4 . The pre-publication price is still valid until end of August! With the best wishes, Thomas Ditzinger ================================================================ Dr. Thomas Ditzinger, Senior Editor, Engineering/Applied Sciences Springer-Verlag, Tiergartenstr. 17, D-69121 Heidelberg, Germany Phone: +49-6221-487 8623, Fax: +49-6221-4876 8623, Skype: tditzinger, http://www.springer.com mailto:Thomas.Ditzinger at springer.com ================================================================ From baillie at gostai.com Tue Aug 19 01:53:23 2008 From: baillie at gostai.com (Jean-Christophe Baillie) Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:53:23 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Gostai Urbi Training Sessions / September (after IROS) - November 2008 Message-ID: <48AA8A03.7030109@gostai.com> Subject: Gostai Urbi Training Sessions / Sept, Nov announcement Gostai announces the next issue of its two days technical training sessions, with two scheduled dates: Gostai Advanced Urbi Training (2 days) * September 29-30 (right after IROS) * November 17-18 Location: ENSTA/Gostai 32 Bd Victor, Paris France http://www.gostai.com/training URBI Urbi is a middleware for robotics, which includes dedicated abstractions to handle parallelism and event-based programming from within C++, Java or Matlab, together with a distributed component architecture called UObject. Urbi is flexible and can be interfaced with other technologies like Player/Stage or CORBA, it works with C++, Java, Matlab on Linux or Windows. The main focus is on simplicity, flexibility and code re-use, while providing convenient abstractions needed in the development of complex robotics applications with real-time capabilities. Urbi is already compatible with 16 different type of robots, and is also used in Robocup, especially through the robotstadium.org competition. SCOPE Gostai's specialized Urbi Advanced Training sessions are designed to provide attendees with a practical and broad knowledge about all aspects of the Urbi technology. This includes: the urbiscript parallel language, the UObject architecture and how to use it to build a customized Urbi Engine for any robot, the Urbi Studio graphical programming suite, advanced asynchronous programming and how to use Urbi in simulated environments. REQUIREMENT A medium level in C++ or Java is required, and a basic understanding of classical programming techniques. No previous knowledge of Urbi is necessary. TARGETED AUDIENCE Researchers, PhD, Engineers DATES First Session: Sept 29-30 (right after IROS) Second Session: Nov 17-18 LOCATION We are located inside Paris: http://www.gostai.com/contact COST 1500? ex.VAT for the two days, includes lunch. LINKS Detailed description of the training session (pdf): http://www.gostai.com/downloads/gostaitraining/training%20-%20the%20urbi%20architecture.pdf REGISTRATION http://www.gostai.com/training.html Best Regards, Gostai -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Jean-Christophe Baillie, Ph.D. http://www.gostai.com CEO, Gostai SAS R&D: 32 Bd Victor 75015 Paris, France Std.: +33/0 1 45 52 64 80 Mailbox: 15 rue Vergniaud 75013 Paris Fax: +33/0 9 55 66 67 54 --------------------------------------------------------------------- From Rene.Mayorga at uregina.ca Tue Aug 19 17:55:15 2008 From: Rene.Mayorga at uregina.ca (Rene Mayorga) Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:55:15 -0600 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Humanoid Robots jABB Special Issue References: <482EFD67.238F.0089.0@uregina.ca> Message-ID: <48AB1712.238F.0089.0@uregina.ca> Dear Colleague I would greatly appreciate that you distribute this notice. Call for Papers Special Issue on "Humanoid Robots" for the journal: Applied Bionics and Biomechanics http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/11762322.asp The deadline for Paper submissions is September 29, 2008. If you are interested in contributing to this Special Issue, please contact me at your earliest convenience (Email address below). Also, please prepare your Paper contribution following the "Instructions for Authors" guidelines at: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/authors/tbobauth.asp http://www.editorialmanager.com/abbi/ Best regards. Dr. Rene V. Mayorga Editor in Chief Applied Bionics and Biomechanics From dayalparhi at yahoo.com Tue Aug 19 00:09:45 2008 From: dayalparhi at yahoo.com (dayal parhi) Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:09:45 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [robotics-worldwide] International Journla Paper Urgent Call Message-ID: <210283.78455.qm@web51808.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Dear Members, International Journal of Applied Artificial Intelligence in Engineering System publishes paper mainly on robotics. A special issue will come in December 2008. Dead line for submission of papers is 20th September 2008. Please visit the website for detail; "http://www.serialspublications.com/journals1.asp?jid=219&dtype=1&jtype=1" Best regards! Dr. Dayal R. Parhi Department of Mechanical Engineering National Institute of Technology Rourkela , Pin: 769008. Orissa , India Phone: ++916612464509 From sdhuang at eng.uts.edu.au Tue Aug 19 21:50:09 2008 From: sdhuang at eng.uts.edu.au (Shoudong Huang) Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:50:09 +1000 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Call for Papers: ISSNIP-HRI 2008 in Sydney, Australia Message-ID: <48ABA281.7010801@eng.uts.edu.au> 2008 International Conference on Intelligent Sensors, Sensor Networks & Information Processing (ISSNIP 2008: http://www.issnip.org/2008/) 15-18 December 2008, Sydney, Australia Symposium on Human-Robot Interaction (ISSNIP-HRI 2008) *Important Dates* Paper submission Deadline: August 31, 2008 Notification of acceptance: September 30, 2008 Camera ready manuscript: October 15, 2008 Conference Dates: December 15-18, 2008 *Call for papers* Human-robot interaction and collaboration is a quickly growing research area with enormous potential applications in various industries, assistive technologies and human life. The need for human-machine interaction is fundamental to almost all robotic system applications, from operator control of large robot fleets, through intervention in search and rescue robotics, to use of robots in aged care and domestic settings. Together human and machine must cooperatively achieve a task, requiring a joint understanding of abilities and intent, and safe joint management of task execution. This symposium aims to explore recent advances and bring together leading researchers and practitioners in human-robot interaction and collaboration. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following: * Multi-robot task allocation and motion coordination by means of HRI * Multi-modal human-robot communication and fusion of modalities * Interpretation of human-robot communication in the context of a robotic task * Modelling of beliefs, desires and intentions in human-robot interaction * Haptic/tactile rendering in human-robot interaction * Computational linguistics for human-robot interaction * Social learning and human-robot interaction * Long-term human-robot interaction * Human-robot interaction modelling * Human-robot interaction observation and analysis * Experimental studies on human-robot interaction * Human-interactive machines * Individual/group human-robot interaction For more information, please visit: http://www.elec.uow.edu.au/issnip2008/ -- Dr. Shoudong Huang Senior Lecturer Faculty of Engineering Centre of Excellence in Autonomous Systems Room 609, Level 6, Building 2 The University of Technology, Sydney PO Box 123 Broadway NSW 2007 Australia Ph: +61 2 9514 2964 Fax: +61 2 9514 2655 Email: sdhuang at eng.uts.edu.au Homepage: http://services.eng.uts.edu.au/~sdhuang/ -- -- UTS CRICOS Provider Code: 00099F DISCLAIMER: This email message and any accompanying attachments may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use, disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender expressly, and with authority, states them to be the views the University of Technology, Sydney. Before opening any attachments, please check them for viruses and defects. From athomaz at cc.gatech.edu Thu Aug 21 09:42:24 2008 From: athomaz at cc.gatech.edu (Andrea Thomaz) Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:42:24 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] AAAI Spring Symp: Agents that Learn from Human Teachers Message-ID: ----------------------------------------------------------- Call for Papers: AAAI Spring Symposium Agents that Learn from Human Teachers http://www.cc.gatech.edu/AAAI-SS09-LFH/ March 23-25, Stanford University Submissions due: Oct 3 ----------------------------------------------------------- This AAAI Spring Symposium aims to bring together a multi-disciplinary group of researchers to discuss how we can enable agents to learn from real-time interaction with an everyday human partner, exploring the ways in which machine learning can take advantage of elements of human-like social learning. The goal of this meeting is to foster a collaborative dialog and bring multiple perspectives to bear on this challenge. We are seeking broad participation from researchers in: 1. Machine Learning 2. Human-Computer Interaction 3. Human-Robot Interaction 4. Intelligent User Interfaces 5. Developmental Psychology 6. Artificial Intelligence 7. Adaptive systems 8. Cognitive Science 9. Computer Games 10.Other related fields We believe that learning will be a key component to the successful application of intelligent agents in everyday human environments (physical and virtual). It will be impossible to give agents all of the knowledge and skills a priori that they will need to serve useful long term roles in our dynamic world. The ability for everyday users, not experts, to adapt their behavior easily will be key to their success. Machine Learning (ML) techniques have had much success over the years when applied to agents, but ML techniques have not yet been specifically designed for learning from non-expert users and current techniques are generally not suited for it out of the box. The symposium's program will cover a variety of topics at the intersection of the various disciplines listed above. For example: 1. How do everyday people approach the task of teaching autonomous agents? 2. What mechanisms of human social learning will machine learning agents need? 3. Are there machine learning algorithms that are more/less amenable to learning with non-expert human teachers? 4. What are proper evaluation metrics for social machine learning systems? 5. What is the state of the art in human teachable systems? 6. What are the grand challenges in building agents that learn from humans? We welcome short and long papers, position statements, videos, and demo proposals as well as panel proposals (indicating the names, affiliations, and email addresses for all panelists). Please submit your paper of 2-8 pages in PDF AAAI submission format [http://www.aaai.org/Publications/Author/formatting-instructions.pdf] to the Learning From Humans submission site: http://www.easychair.org/conferences?conf=aaaiss09lfh Submissions will be judged on technical merit and on potential to generate discussion and create community collaboration. Submissions describing ongoing or completed work are strongly encouraged to include a video or a live-demo proposal as well. The organizers will prepare a technical report summarizing the workshop. Please direct any submission inquires to aaaiss09lfh at easychair.org. ------------------------------------------------------ Andrea Thomaz Asst. Professor, Interactive Computing Georgia Institute of Technology http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~athomaz From K.Dautenhahn at herts.ac.uk Thu Aug 21 02:04:52 2008 From: K.Dautenhahn at herts.ac.uk (Kerstin Dautenhahn) Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:04:52 +0100 (BST) Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Special issue on Robots in the Wild: Exploring Human-Robot Interaction in Naturalistic Environments [Interaction Studies] Message-ID: ------------THIRD CALL FOR PAPERS------------------------------ Robots in the Wild: Exploring Human-Robot Interaction in Naturalistic Environments Special Issue of INTERACTION STUDIES published by John Benjamins Publishing Company Submission Deadline ***15 September 2008*** Interaction Studies is an interdisciplinary journal that publishes original, high-quality research on social behaviour and communication in biological and artificial systems. This special issue encourages submissions on original research findings involving situations where robots and people interact with each other socially 'in the wild', i.e. outside laboratory conditions. Such naturalistic environments may include: - robot assisted search and rescue (e.g. in urban or wilderness environments) - robots in museums and public spaces - robot assisted play for therapy or education - service robots and robot companions in real home settings - human-robot interaction in artistic contexts - human-robot interaction in hospitals, schools, nurseries etc. - others This special issue aims to report on the latest research findings in this field, as well as point out the key challenges (and possible ways to address some of these) that such naturalistic environments pose in terms of methodological, technical and other aspects. The submission of research not involving interactions between physical robots and people are discouraged. Authors should consider the interdisciplinary readership of IS and prepare their manuscripts accordingly. Authors may either submit full papers or short research reports. See the journal's homepage for guidelines on the suggested length and formatting of the manuscripts: http://www.benjamins.com/cgi-bin/t_seriesview.cgi?series=IS Authors who intend to submit a manuscript are encouraged to contact K.Dautenhahn at herts.ac.uk as soon as possible in order to ensure that the planned submission falls within the aims and scope of the special issue. Please submit the journal manuscripts by 15 September 2008 to K.Dautenhahn at herts.ac.uk in PDF only. All articles will be peer-reviewed. ----------------------------------------------------- Prof. Dr. Kerstin Dautenhahn Professor of Artificial Intelligence Adaptive Systems Research Group The University of Hertfordshire, School of Computer Science College Lane, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL10 9AB, United Kingdom URL: http://homepages.feis.herts.ac.uk/~comqkd E-mail: K.Dautenhahn at herts.ac.uk Fax: +44-1707-284-303 Tel: +44-1707-284-333 From ecervera at icc.uji.es Mon Aug 25 00:28:39 2008 From: ecervera at icc.uji.es (Enric Cervera) Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:28:39 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Summer School on Rescue Robotics in Benicassim (Spain) - LAST PLACES Message-ID: Dear colleagues, Registration for IURS2008 is now OPEN: http://www.robot.uji.es/research/events/iurs08/ For the 8th edition of its well-known summer school, the Intelligent Robotics Lab of Jaume-I University, in collaboration with the Sheffield-Hallam University (UK) organizes a tutorial on the engineering, scientific and application domain of rescue robotics, sponsored by the IST-FP6 Guardians and ViewFinder EU Cognitive Systems projects: Rescue robotics has emerged in recent years as an active research field, providing valuable assistance in urban rescue tasks after catastrophes (e.g. earthquakes) or incidents like fire or accidents involving hazardous materials. According to this trend, the school will provide to an audience with an engineering background the basic insights about the technology, science, and domain issues that may be instrumental in successfully applying rescue robotics in the real world. The school instructors are leading world experts in the field, who work actively in past and present cross-disciplinary projects involving partners from technology and emergency responders. Confirmed lecturers: * Robin Murphy (Univ. South Florida, USA) * Roland Siegwart (ETH Zurich, Swtzerland) * Shigeo Hirose (Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan) * Anibal Ollero (University of Sevilla, Spain) * Andreas Birk (Jacobs University Bremen, Germany) * Hartmut Surmann (Fraunhofer Institute, Germany) * Jacques Penders (Sheffield Hallam University, UK) * Yvan Baudoin (Royal Military School, Belgium) * Lino Marques (ISR - University of Coimbra, Portugal) Graduate robotics students will have a unique training opportunity in this emergent and fast-evolving domain, closely interacting for one week with some of the top-level researchers in the world in this field, as well as with fellow students. The school will take place during next September, for the whole week 15-19, in Benic?ssim (Spain), at 300m from the Mediterranean coast. Four sessions of 90 minutes will be held every day, for a total of 30 hours of lesson. Attendance is limited to 40 students. Registration fees, covering course material, accommodation and meals, are 500? (or a reduced fee of 250 ? without accommodation). Remote participation is also offered. Registration fees, covering course material and attendace certificate, are 100?. The official site of the school will be the Hotel Intur Bonaire, and the lectures will be held in a special room of the hotel offering up- to-date technology for conferences and meetings. Speakers ans students will be accommodated in the Hotel Intur Bonaire and in the nearby (50 mts.) Hotel Intur Azor. The official language of the school is English. General Chair: * Jacques Penders, SHU, UK Program Chairs: * Enric Cervera, Jaume-I University, Spain * Yvan Baudoin, RMA, Belgium * Raul Marin, Jaume-I University, Spain Organization chair: * Leo Nomdedeu, Jaume-I University, Spain Request for information: http://www.robot.uji.es/research/events/iurs08/ iurs at uji.es Best regards, Enric Cervera UJI, Spain From stephen at nist.gov Mon Aug 25 08:31:42 2008 From: stephen at nist.gov (Stephen Balakirsky) Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:31:42 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] SIMPAR 2008 Tutorial on USARSim/MOAST Message-ID: <003401c906c7$acf8e0e0$13480681@MEL.NIST.GOV> Dear All, I am pleased to announce that a full day tutorial on the USARSim robotics simulator and MOAST control framework will take place at this year's SIMPAR conference in Venice Italy. Please see http://www.simpar-conference.org/?option=com_content &task=view&id=31 for more information. This tutorial provides a hands-on introduction to a set of simulation and performance evaluation tools that enable researchers and developers to build high-fidelity models of robots that behave realistically within a variety of complex environments. Best regards, Stephen Balakirsky _____________________________________________ Dr. Stephen Balakirsky Intelligent Systems Division National Institute of Standards and Technology 100 Bureau Drive, M/S 8230 Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8230 Tel: (301)975-4791 Fax: (301)990-9688 email: stephen at nist.gov From trinkle at gmail.com Tue Aug 26 06:00:27 2008 From: trinkle at gmail.com (trink) Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:00:27 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Participation and Travel Support for IROS Special Sessions: Robotics and Cyber-Physical Systems Message-ID: <4f5f4cd20808260600l4eea7239n433be84a5c325109@mail.gmail.com> Bruce Krogh and I are organizing two special sessions at IROS on Robotics and Cyber-Physical Systems (defined here http://www.cra.org/ccc/home.article.cps.html) with support from NSF's CNS Division. This session will be a great way for you to catch up on the Cyber-Physical Systems initiative at NSF and on its relationships with robotics. In addition, since the initiative is still in its formative period, input from you will help direct the future of CPS and robotics. There 6 invited speakers: John Hollerbach, Vijay Kumar, Daniela Rus, Peter Allen, and Takeo Kanade. You can participate by attending or giving a short presentation (about 10-12 minutes). To participate via presentation, you must submit a short (about 2 pages) position paper by September 5, 2009. Approximately 5 position papers will be accepted. Presenters will receive $1,000 toward their travel costs to IROS in Nice. We encourage submissions from students, postdocs, and junior faculty members, especially those from under-represented groups. Successful position papers should address the following central questions: (1) What research in robotics is/should be generalizable to the broader domain of CPS. (2) What research in CPS could lead to dramatic advances in robotics. Please see http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~webk/IROS_CPS/ for more details about the sessions, including the tentative schedule. I look forward to your participation. jeff From emmanuel.mateo at wanyrobotics.com Wed Aug 27 06:28:42 2008 From: emmanuel.mateo at wanyrobotics.com (Emmanuel Mateo) Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:28:42 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] IROS 2008 / Wany Robotics - Call for projects Message-ID: <00d201c90848$d34c24a0$886c010a@wanyrobotics.com> Dear roboticist colleagues As you might know, IROS?08 is only a few weeks ahead of us. At this occasion, Wany Robotics would like select and support a lab carrying innovative research in mobile robotics by offering to its team a robotics platform. For many years now we have been involved in the research and our goal is to stay close with researchers. That?s why we are issuing this call to project in order to reward the best research subject with a medium term implication in people lives, using a mobile robotic platform and illustrating the IROS?08 theme: Robots for the planet. The selected project will be rewarded with a fully featured PekeeII robot (worth ?12.299,00) including IR, US and laser range telemeters, but also a core 2 Duo based embedded PC. This call to project is open to every person or group involved in research (graduating students, PhD students, Post Doct, researcher and lab directors). Project presentation: 1 page abstract, 2 if you use illustrations (PDF files) Application deadline: 31 October 08 Abstract have to be sent before the deadline by email at emmanuel.mateo at wanyrobotics.com or directly on the booth number 6 at the IROS where PekeeII will be exhibited. Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any question. Best regards, Emmanuel Mateo, PhD www.wanyrobotics.com emmanuel.mateo at wanytobotics.com +33 467 995 505 From norberto at robotics.dem.uc.pt Wed Aug 27 04:00:49 2008 From: norberto at robotics.dem.uc.pt (norberto at robotics.dem.uc.pt) Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:00:49 +0100 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Reminder: Research Position OPEN (5 year contract) - Robotics and Automation Message-ID: <014f01c90834$2a804220$7f80c660$@dem.uc.pt> Hello, The robotics laboratory of the University of Coimbra, Mechanical Engineering Department, is announcing a research position (5 year contract). Details: http://robotics.dem.uc.pt/norberto/nova/research_position.htm Deadline: 10 of September 2008. Regards, J. Norberto Pires http://robotics.dem.uc.pt/norberto From Nacim.Ramdani at lirmm.fr Wed Aug 27 09:18:31 2008 From: Nacim.Ramdani at lirmm.fr (Nacim RAMDANI) Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:18:31 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] job: Post-Doctoral position in Rehabilitation Robotics, Montpellier, France. Message-ID: <48B57E57.2040008@lirmm.fr> A PostDoctoral/Research associate position in the field of rehabilitation and compensation of motor disabilities, is available at the Robotics Department of the LIRMM laboratory, Montpellier France (www.lirmm.fr), as part of a collaborative project between the LIRMM and Fundacion Fatronik (www.fatronik.com). The purpose of this post is to investigate the modelling of human postural coordination and the definition of experimental protocols for model identification with disabled people. This is a one year fixed term contract, which may be extended further according to the progress of the work and of the outcome of grant applications. Post starting date no later than November 2008. The expected candidates should have a PhD and a strong qualification in one of the following: neurosciences, biomechanics, robotics or any related field. Application and inquiries should be sent to (preferably via e-mail) Dr Nacim RAMDANI e-mail: nacim.ramdani at inria.fr LIRMM UMR 5506 CNRS Univ. Montpellier 2 161 Rue Ada - 34392 Montpellier cedex 5, France mobile: +33 617 83 3542 office: +33 467 41 8559 fax: +33 467 41 8500 From pfaff at informatik.uni-freiburg.de Wed Aug 27 14:47:58 2008 From: pfaff at informatik.uni-freiburg.de (Patrick Pfaff) Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:47:58 +0200 (MEST) Subject: [robotics-worldwide] CFP: IROS 2008 Workshop on 3D-Mapping Message-ID: <22302.77.4.141.109.1219873678.squirrel@webmail.informatik.uni-freiburg.de> Call for Participation IROS 2008 Workshop on 3D-Mapping Friday, September 26 Recently, three-dimensional representations of environments have gained substantial interest in the robotics community as such maps provide better support for a wide variety of tasks including navigation, localization, and perception. For example, robots that know about the three-dimensional structure of the environment can better avoid obstacles, can more reliably localize themselves, and can more robustly detect objects. Accordingly, three-dimensional representations provide benefits in all applications in which robots are deployed in real-world scenarios. Additionally, three-dimensional models of environments are envisioned to be useful in a wide area of applications, which goes far beyond robotics, like architecture, emergency planning, interaction, and visualization. In all of these application domains, there is a need for methods that can automatically construct 3D-models. The goal of this workshop is to establish an open forum about the recent advances in learning three-dimensional maps with mobile robots. It will cover various highly relevant aspects including stereo vision, autonomous cars, dynamic objects, cooperative systems, approximation and reconstruction techniques, and 3D-SLAM. Furthermore, the presentations will be given by members of leading groups in the corresponding areas. Detailed information about the workshop is available at http://ais.informatik.uni-freiburg.de/3dmapping_ws_iros08/ Please come and attend this workshop during the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2008). Kind regards, Patrick Pfaff and Wolfram Burgard (Organizers) From gm4cheng at gmail.com Thu Aug 28 04:41:30 2008 From: gm4cheng at gmail.com (Peng Cheng) Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:41:30 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] CFP : special issue of IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine on Cooperative Control of UAVs Message-ID: Special issue of IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine on Cooperative Control of Multiple Heterogeneous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Coverage and Surveillance UAVs represent the fastest growing market segment of the robotics industry. The price/performance ratio for UAVs is falling and networked UAV groups will soon become a reality with applications in home land security, ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) missions, law enforcement, environmental monitoring, and search and rescue missions. We are seeing a dramatic growth in research on novel UAV systems, theories, and algorithms. Indeed the recently held ICRA workshop on "Cooperative Control of Multiple Heterogeneous UAVs for Coverage and Surveillance" featuring technical discussions and presentations by theoreticians and practitioners and customers attracted over 80 participants. We propose a special issue in IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine on networked unmanned aerial vehicles with articles from international researchers from North America, Australia, Europe and Asia. This special issue will be focused on three key areas: 1) cooperative sensing and coverage algorithms for multiple UAVs in both urban and suburb environments with onboard sensors and network devices; 2) distributed and decentralized control of teams of UAVs, including problem formulation, theories, task allocations, and formation control; and 3) deployment and experimentation with heterogeneous teams of both fixed-wing and rotary-wing UAVs in both military and civilian applications. Guest editors: Vijay Kumar, University of Pennsylvania, kumar at grasp.upenn.edu Ronald Arkin, Georgia Tech, arkin at cc.gatech.edu Karl Hedrick, U. California, Berkeley, khedrick at me.berkeley.edu Marc Steinberg, Office of Naval Research, marc.steinberg at navy.mil Peng Cheng, The MathWorks, Peng.Cheng at mathworks.com The schedule: Deadline for submitting paper: Sept 15, 2008 Decision to authors: Jan 1, 2009 Final paper due: Feb 15, 2009 Publication of the special issue: June 1, 2009 The information is also at http://www.ieee-ras.org/issue/show/id/9. From sandini at unige.it Thu Aug 28 06:40:24 2008 From: sandini at unige.it (Giulio Sandini) Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:40:24 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] PhD fellowships at IIT on "Robotics, Neuroscience, Nanotechnology and Drug Discovery" Message-ID: <000801c90913$a025a4e0$e070eea0$@it> The Italian Institute of Technology IIT in collaboration with the University of Genova is offering 50 research positions for PhD students in the multidisciplinary Doctoral Course on Robotics, Neurosciences, Nanotechnologies and Drug Discovery The Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) is a research institution in Italy that is currently in an advanced start-up phase. The fellowships assigned by IIT to the University of Genova are part of the start-up strategy of the Institute and have the specific goal of forming the first generation of IIT?s research fellows. Following the start of the Research Labs in the IIT?s Headquarters in Genova Morego and the appointment of the first scientists, this year?s research topics are proposed by the Research Directors and their senior collaborators. The candidates are asked to prepare a research project of their choice with explicit reference to the Theme proposed. The soundness of the project will be part of the evaluation process and will be considered preferential for the choice of the individual scientific theme that will be made jointly by the tutor and the candidate. The description of the specific topics of research offered can be found in Annex-A of the application?s documents that can be retrieved from one of the web-pages indicated below. The successful candidates should have a background in Robotics, Bioengineering, Computational Neurosciences, Computer Sciences, Physics, Biology, or a related field. The fellowships have duration of minimum three years. Salary is, according to the Italian public service regulation, approximately ? 16,500 per year. Travel funding to attend conferences and schools is also available. According to the Italian public service regulations candidates should send an application letter and accompanying documents as described here: http://www.iit.it/phd_positions http://www.studenti.unige.it/dottorati http://www.liralab.it/iit2009phd.htm Applications deadline: October 3rd , 2008 The School will start in January 2009, in Genova (Italy). For More information: Scientific: Giulio Sandini (giulio.sandini at iit.it) Administrative: Anastasia Bruzzone and Ingrid Sica (dottorato at liralab.it) --- Prof. Giulio Sandini Italian Institute of Technology Robotics, Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department Phone: +39 010 7178101 - Fax +39 010 720321 and LIRA-Lab, University of Genova Phone: +39 0103532779 - Fax: +39 010353.2948 http://www.liralab.it http://sandini.liralab.it From jmh at cs.utah.edu Thu Aug 28 14:06:55 2008 From: jmh at cs.utah.edu (John Hollerbach) Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:06:55 -0600 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] IJRR September 2008 issue Message-ID: <48B7136F.2070500@cs.utah.edu> A new issue of The International Journal of Robotics Research is available online: 1 September 2008; Vol. 27, No. 9 The below Table of Contents is available online at: http://ijr.sagepub.com/content/vol27/issue9/?etoc Controlling the Walking Speed in Limit Cycle Walking D.G.E. Hobbelen and M. Wisse The International Journal of Robotics Research 2008;27 989-1005 http://ijr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/27/9/989 Wire-driven Parallel Robot: Permitting Collisions Between Wires Yonatan Wischnitzer, Nir Shvalb, and Moshe Shoham The International Journal of Robotics Research 2008;27 1007-1026 http://ijr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/27/9/1007 Data Selection for Hand-eye Calibration: A Vector Quantization Approach Jochen Schmidt and Heinrich Niemann The International Journal of Robotics Research 2008;27 1027-1053 http://ijr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/27/9/1027 Simple Robots with Minimal Sensing: From Local Visibility to Global Geometry Subhash Suri, Elias Vicari, and Peter Widmayer The International Journal of Robotics Research 2008;27 1055-1067 http://ijr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/27/9/1055 Toward Cooperative Team-diagnosis in Multi-robot Systems Michael D.M. Kutzer, Mehran Armand, David H. Scheid, Ellie Lin, and Gregory S. Chirikjian The International Journal of Robotics Research 2008;27 1069-1090 http://ijr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/27/9/1069 From ssingh at ri.cmu.edu Thu Aug 28 14:52:45 2008 From: ssingh at ri.cmu.edu (Sanjiv Singh) Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:52:45 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] JFR special issue on DARPA Urban Challenge Part 1 (FREE Access) Message-ID: **** All articles in Part 1 can be accessed for free. **** Special Issue: Special Issue on the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, Part I Issue Edited by Martin Buehler, Karl Lagnemma, Sanjiv Singh Volume 25 Issue 8 (August 2008) The Journal of Field Robotics announces the first of 3 three parts of a special issue comprising 13 papers in total describing all of the vehicles that competed as finalists in the DARPA Urban Challenge (DUC). Part 1 presents four papers, leading off with three vehicles that successfully completed the race: Boss (Tartan Racing), Odin (Team VictorTango), Skynet (Team Cornell), and Knight Rider (TeamUCF). The second and third special issues dedictated to the DUC will be published later this year. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *** Autonomous driving in urban environments: Boss and the Urban Challenge Chris Urmson, Joshua Anhalt, Drew Bagnell, Christopher Baker, Robert Bittner, M. N. Clark, John Dolan, Dave Duggins, Tugrul Galatali, Chris Geyer, Michele Gittleman, Sam Harbaugh, Martial Hebert, Thomas M. Howard, Sascha Kolski, Alonzo Kelly, Maxim Likhachev, Matt McNaughton, Nick Miller, Kevin Peterson, Brian Pilnick, Raj Rajkumar, Paul Rybski, Bryan Salesky, Young-Woo Seo, Sanjiv Singh, Jarrod Snider, Anthony Stentz, William Red Whittaker, Ziv Wolkowicki, Jason Ziglar, Hong Bae, Thomas Brown, Daniel Demitrish, Bakhtiar Litkouhi, Jim Nickolaou, Varsha Sadekar, Wende Zhang, Joshua Struble, Michael Taylor, Michael Darms, Dave Ferguson http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/120846964/PDFSTART *** Odin: Team VictorTango's entry in the DARPA Urban Challenge Andrew Bacha, Cheryl Bauman, Ruel Faruque, Michael Fleming, Chris Terwelp, Charles Reinholtz, Dennis Hong, Al Wicks, Thomas Alberi, David Anderson, Stephen Cacciola, Patrick Currier,, Aaron Dalton, Jesse Farmer, Jesse Hurdus, Shawn Kimmel, Peter King, Andrew Taylor, David Van Covern, Mike Webster http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/119878426/PDFSTART *** Team Cornell's Skynet: Robust perception and planning in an urban environment Isaac Miller, Mark Campbell, Dan Huttenlocher, Frank-Robert Kline, Aaron Nathan, Sergei Lupashin, Jason Catlin, Brian Schimpf, Pete Moran, Noah Zych, Ephrahim Garcia, Mike Kurdziel, Hikaru Fujishima http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/120846938/PDFSTART *** A practical approach to robotic design for the DARPA Urban Challenge Benjamin J. Patz, Yiannis Papelis, Remo Pillat, Gary Stein, Don Harper http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/120846937/PDFSTART ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Journal of Field Robotics seeks to promote scholarly publications dealing with the fundamentals of robotics in unstructured and dynamic environments. Articles describing robotics research with applications to the environment, construction, forestry, agriculture, mining, subsea, intelligent transportation, search and rescue, military, and space (orbital and planetary) are encouraged. Papers in sensing, sensors, mechanical design, computing architectures, communication, planning, learning, and control, applied to field applications are encouraged. "Visit www.interscience.wiley.com/robotics to find out about subscribing to the journal, and to register with Wiley InterScience to receive email table of contents alerts every time the journal publishes online, by selecting the "Set E-Mail Alert" link. Details for authors are available at: http://journalfieldrobotics.org From jbsong at korea.ac.kr Fri Aug 29 17:58:46 2008 From: jbsong at korea.ac.kr (Jae-Bok Song) Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:58:46 +0900 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Deadline Extension (Sep. 10) of URAI 2008 Message-ID: <000801c90a3b$8e98da20$abca8e60$@ac.kr> Due to numerous requests, submission deadline for URAI 2008 will be extended to September 10, 2008. 5th Int. Conf. on Ubiquitous Robots and Ambient Intelligence (URAI 2008) ==================================================== Location: Korea University, Seoul, Korea Dates: November 20-21, 2008 Website: http://www.robotweek.or.kr ==================================================== The 5th International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots and Ambient Intelligence (URAI 2008), hosted by Korea Robotics Society (KRS) will be held on November 20-21, 2008 at Korea University, Seoul, Korea. [Important Dates] * Submission of Full Papers or Organized Sessions: September 10, 2008 (New) * Notification of Acceptance: October 6, 2008 (New) * Submission of Camera-ready Papers: October 20, 2008 (New) [Relevant Topics] * Division 1: Ubiquitous Robots - Network-based Robotics - Ambient Intelligence - Intelligent Space/Environment Technologies - Human-Robot Interaction - Robot Vision and Audition - Intelligence and Learning - Robotic Agents * Division 2: Robotic Mechanisms and Systems - Navigation / Localization - Robotic Mechanisms and Design - Humanoid Robots - Haptics / Teleoperation - Sensors and Actuators - Medical Robotics - Biorobotics - Control Architecture and Middleware [Sponsors] Korea Robotics Society (KROS) Robotics Society of Japan (RSJ) IEEE Robotics and Automation Society For more details, please contact Prof. Jae-Bok SONG at jbsong at korea.ac.kr . _______________________________________________ robotics-worldwide mailing list robotics-worldwide at usc.edu http://duerer.usc.edu/mailman/listinfo/robotics-worldwide From edb at gdl.cinvestav.mx Fri Aug 29 12:58:54 2008 From: edb at gdl.cinvestav.mx (Eduardo Bayro) Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:58:54 -0500 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Call Workshop Cognitive Humanoid Vision 2008, HUMANOIDS'2008 Message-ID: <48B854FE.3000902@gdl.cinvestav.mx> CALL for PARTICIPATION WORKSHOP COGNITIVE HUMANOID VISION To be held at IEEE-RAS Humanoids?2008 *http://humanoids2008.org/huma5.html Chairs: Prof. *Eduardo Bayro-Corrochano (CINVESTAV, Guadalajara, Mexico) and Prof. Ales Leonardis (Visual Cognitive Systems Laboratory, University of Ljubljana) The organizers invite you to submit a 3-4 pages length extended abstract for review to the Workshop on Cognitive Humanoid Vision. The workshop will take place on Monday, December 1^st ,2008, at KAIST, Daejeon, Korea Important Dates: submission deadline ? September 15 send extended abstracts to: edb at gdl.cinvestav.mx notification of acceptance - October 15 final version ? 5 November workshop - December 1 All accepted abstracts will be published in a DVD workshop proceedings ------ Special Issue of International Journal of Humanoid Robotics (IJHR) selected full extended papers will be consider as part of an special IJHR issue on *Cognitive Human Vision*, which will be printed out in December 2009 ------ Scope In the middle eighties pioneers brought into play the concept of active vision. This accompanied the thoughts of researchers and developers of vision systems up to know. On the other hand research in neuroscience, cognitive robotics and humanoids is showing the need for more understanding about the brain function and the human vision system. Recently at the Workshop ?The Active Vision of Humanoid Robots? (Humnoids?2007, Pittsburgh)* *the wording Action Vision was introduced to relate vision with an expected action when we are looking for the foundations of a cognitive architecture. Definitively, it appears that we need a broad conceptual framework to bring together all those new ideas and efforts for vision to push forward the design and development of intelligent perception action systems.** The visual manifold carries enormous amount of information which can not be exhaustively processed in real time with current technology. So, the obvious WWWW questions are: what, where, when and with which procedures we should look at. The rapid growing in research interests like to understand how the brain works by building humanoids, shows clearly that our current thoughts, theory, algorithms and hardware are by far still insufficient to cope with the high algorithmic complexity involved by the image processing to tackle in real time fundamentals problems like the correspondence problem other our na?ve predisposition to stick with processing in Euclidean metric in apparently obvious subspaces. The attempt of this workshop goes beyond Active Vision or Action Vision, it proposes as study topic the Cognitive Humanoid Vision as a much more general framework to develop a real time vision system for humanoids. The Workshop goal is to gather researchers confronted with the challenge to develop real time algorithms for cognitive vision. The traditional robot architectures are calling for a cognitive architecture to embodied the sophistication required for an intelligent machine. In this regard, the traditional concept of active vision evolves to a concept the /action vision and /further to/ cognitive humanoid vision/, as this is the way how the visual processing is tight with a reactive behaviour as by humans confronted with dynamic changes of all sort in their environment. In this workshop we expect contributions and a debate with focus on following key issues: - visual architecture for a cognitive architecture - Feature extraction, grouping, 3D contours, visuo-motor representations - Segment the scene into surfaces? - How build models of objects and events in space and time? - How integrate cue information - Visuo-motor representations: how build and use them - Priming models to bottom up information - Model base segmentation, prospective anticipation - Conscious reality instead of physical reality - Perception of spatial layout - Software for a basic visual front-end for humanoids - Nature of the information that the humanoid should extract from images and video - A language for processing the semantics of the meaning of the visual manifold - Information extracting and learning at middle level vision Submissions: All accepted abstracts will be published in a DVD workshop proceedings. New results are welcome. We also encourage researchers with relevant work to retarget previously published results to the workshop topic. Authors will be asked to present their work as a talk. Selected papers in an extend form will be considered for an special issue IJHR on Cognitive Humanoid Vision which will be printed out in December 2009. All submissions should describe the material to be presented at the workshop. The extended abstracts should be 3 to 4 pages length and comply with the standard IEEE conference page layout.in PDF format using the IEEE template (http://humanoids2008.org/huma3-2.html). The abstracts should be emailed to edb at gdl.cinvestav.mx by September 15. Notification of acceptance will be given on October 15 and the submission of the final version at November 5. From gm4cheng at gmail.com Sat Aug 30 05:33:30 2008 From: gm4cheng at gmail.com (Peng Cheng) Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2008 08:33:30 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] UPDATE : CFP for a special issue of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine on UAVs Message-ID: Considering the conflict with ICRA deadline on Sep. 15, we extend the submission deadline for this special issue to Sep. 29, 2008. Authors can submit papers going to the page: https://ras.papercept.net/journals/ram/cgi-bin/submission.pl?New Submission requirements are at: http://www.ieee-ras.org/ram/for_authors#first Thanks! Peng Cheng Guest Editor of IEEE RAM ------------ Special issue of IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine on Cooperative Control of Multiple Heterogeneous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Coverage and Surveillance UAVs represent the fastest growing market segment of the robotics industry. The price/performance ratio for UAVs is falling and networked UAV groups will soon become a reality with applications in home land security, ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) missions, law enforcement, environmental monitoring, and search and rescue missions. We are seeing a dramatic growth in research on novel UAV systems, theories, and algorithms. Indeed the recently held ICRA workshop on "Cooperative Control of Multiple Heterogeneous UAVs for Coverage and Surveillance" featuring technical discussions and presentations by theoreticians and practitioners and customers attracted over 80 participants. We propose a special issue in IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine on networked unmanned aerial vehicles with articles from international researchers from North America, Australia, Europe and Asia. This special issue will be focused on three key areas: 1) cooperative sensing and coverage algorithms for multiple UAVs in both urban and suburb environments with onboard sensors and network devices; 2) distributed and decentralized control of teams of UAVs, including problem formulation, theories, task allocations, and formation control; and 3) deployment and experimentation with heterogeneous teams of both fixed-wing and rotary-wing UAVs in both military and civilian applications. Guest editors: Vijay Kumar, University of Pennsylvania, kumar at grasp.upenn.edu Ronald Arkin, Georgia Tech, arkin at cc.gatech.edu Karl Hedrick, U. California, Berkeley, khedrick at me.berkeley.edu Marc Steinberg, Office of Naval Research, marc.steinberg at navy.mil Peng Cheng, The MathWorks, Peng.Cheng at mathworks.com The schedule: Deadline for submitting paper: Sept 15, 2008 --> Sep. 29, 2008 Decision to authors: Jan 1, 2009 Final paper due: Feb 15, 2009 Publication of the special issue: June 1, 2009 Submission info: Authors can submit papers going to the page: https://ras.papercept.net/journals/ram/cgi-bin/submission.pl?New Submission requirements are at: the instruction is at http://www.ieee-ras.org/ram/for_authors#first The information is also at http://www.ieee-ras.org/issue/show/id/9. From work.chandan at gmail.com Sun Aug 31 07:18:22 2008 From: work.chandan at gmail.com (chandan datta) Date: Sun, 31 Aug 2008 18:18:22 +0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] CFP:Workshop in Robotics and Interactive Media In-Reply-To: <2457b8930808310708j63a72955te9ea4bd02d785007@mail.gmail.com> References: <2457b8930808310708j63a72955te9ea4bd02d785007@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <2457b8930808310718vfa55368q9b22e156c30389bf@mail.gmail.com> Call For Participation: Workshop in Robotics and Interactive Media This workshop intends to explore novel developments in robotics (and their applications in various traditional and non-traditional domains), interactive media (including virtual worlds and games), as well as the intersection between these two areas. In more detail: Robotics, a well-established area with time-proven applicability in various domains (such as manufacturing), has expanded immensely in the last decades, successfully entering education (Lego mindstorms being a well-known example), surgery, assistive care for the disabled and elderly, space exploration, as well as entertainment, among others. Furthermore, the dream of personal robots, seems to be getting closer to its realization lately, given the increased efforts of both industry and academia. On the other hand, interactive media of numerous forms have also entered mainstream use, and have expanded into a rich area which extends all the way to online virtual worlds and multiplayer games, domain-specific simulations for education and training, as well as museum technology and digital preservation of cultural heritage. Recently, interesting possibilities have also arisen for exploring the intersection between the two areas: objects and agents, either totally autonomous, or partially, or human-controlled, could for example easily move from the virtual to the physical world and vice-versa, interact across the border of these two worlds, or share vast amount of underlying code as well as content. This workshop thus aims at exploring latest developments in robotics, interactive media, their possible intersections, as well as related questions arising from viewpoints ranging from the purely technical all the way to the social, ethical, and philosophical. Topics include, but are not limited to: Interactive and Conversational Robots Human-Robot Interaction Robots for education, surgery, elderly care and disabilities Traditional applications of robotics Mechanical and motor-control related aspects Kinematics, path planning, and navigation Vision for robots and interactive media Dialogue systems for robots and interactive media Cognitive architectures for robots and characters Interactive Media and Art Virtual worlds and their applications Games for education and entertainment Intersections and combinations of robotics and interactive media Related psychological, social, ethical, and philosophical topics The conference: Innovations in Information Technology (Innovations'08), is a premier forum for the presentation and discussion of technology advances and research results in the field of Information Technology (IT). Held for the first time in the oasis city of Al Ain, the fourth largest city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Innovations '08 is the fifth in the series that has been held since 2004. The conference brings together leading engineers, scientists, researchers and academics in IT from around the world. The latest research advances in fields ranging from traditional computer science to evolving web technologies, bioinformatics and healthcare informatics are explored in Innovations' technical sessions. Submission Innovations 2008 seeks original full-length (5 pages maximum) paper proposals describing research in all areas of Information Technology that contributes to the conference theme. All papers will be peer reviewed and acceptance will be based on quality, relevance and originality. Submissions for tutorials and special sessions are also welcome. The submission guidelines can be found on the conference website: *http://www.it-innovations.ae/* Workshop registration fee (separate registration to conference not required): $195 (fee includes: proceedings, CD and bag, entrance to conference keynotes and first day, three days of lunch / coffee breaks, and one grand gala dinner) Important Dates Abstract submissions due: *September 15, 2008* Papers and posters submissions due: *October 15, 2008 * Notification of acceptance: *October 25, 2008 * Final camera ready paper due: *November 15, 2008 * Organizing Committee: Dr. Nikolaos Mavridis Workshop Chair Asst. Professor, UAEU CIT Director, Interactive Robots and Media Laboratory, UAEU PhD, MIT Media Laboratory http://www.hafeet.uaeu.ac.ae/irml Best regards, Chandan Datta Interactive Robots and Media Laboratory,College of IT, UAEU email: work.chandan at gmail.com , chandan.datta at student-partners.com From M.Steinbuch at tue.nl Sun Aug 31 11:50:08 2008 From: M.Steinbuch at tue.nl (Steinbuch, M.) Date: Sun, 31 Aug 2008 20:50:08 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] new chair in eindhoven on mechatronics and robotics Message-ID: New position full professor in Precision Mechatronics & Robotics at the TU Eindhoven Established at the foundation of the university in 1956, the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is now a premier research department and currently has approximately 1000 engineering (BSc and MSc) students and 100 PhD students. The department participates in the Dutch 3TU Centre of Excellence on Intelligent Mechatronic Systems. Within this centre a new position has been established for a full professor in Precision Mechatronics & Robotics. The region that surrounds Eindhoven is characterised by a concentration of high-tech industry. A focal point of the chair will therefore be on new generations of high-tech systems. A profound knowledge and an advanced use of precision mechatronics form a crucial part of the further development of such systems. A major part of the research within the new chair will therefore be on the design of precision mechatronic systems with extreme performance requirements, using innovative actuating, sensing and control principles, in order to achieve high speed and high accuracy (up to the nanometer range). Indeed, requirements on precision, accuracy, stability, reliability and speed are ever more challenging issues in the design and realisation of such systems. A closely related research field is robotics, with a particular focus on what is currently referred to as cybernics, as it is believed that this kind of automation will form the cornerstone of the next generation of robotics. An additional focus of the chair on the design of robots in connection to its human-dominated environment will therefore be welcome. Candidates for the chair in Precision Mechatronics and Robotics should have an excellent research profile in at least one of the fields described above. Together with colleagues in Control Systems Technology (Steinbuch), Dynamics and Control (Nijmeijer), and Systems Engineering (Rooda) the newly appointed professor will be responsible for courses and student projects in mechatronics, robotics, control, systems, and design, with emphasis on micro-systems. Courses for PhD students will be given within the framework of the graduate school Dutch Institute for Systems and Control (DISC). Requirements Applicants should: * Have a PhD in engineering sciences, in applied physics or applied mathematics, and several years of experience thereafter; * Be an authority in the development and application of modern methods in mechatronics, in particular in fields like precision mechatronics, and/or robotics, as evident from papers in reputed scientific journals, invited lectures, membership of editorial boards, scientific committees, filed patents, etc; * Have a proven record in the acquisition and the management of research grants at a national and an international level; * Have ample experience in teaching courses at different levels and proven didactic skills. Information More information about this position can be obtained from Prof.dr.ir. R. de Borst (Dean, Department of Mechanical Engineering), e-mail: R.d.Borst at tue.nl. More information about the TU/e can be found at http://www.tue.nl/