From emg at dei.unipd.it Mon Sep 1 06:08:55 2008 From: emg at dei.unipd.it (Emanuele Menegatti) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:08:55 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Deadline is Extended: CFP: International Workshop on Standards and Common Platforms for Robotics References: Message-ID: Dear Researchers, The deadline of the paper submission of International Workshop on Standards and Common Platforms for Robotics is extended. The new deadline is 12th, Sept. 2008. We are welcome your contributions not only on research results but also on proposal and activity reports on standardization and developemnt of common platforms. Also, accepted papers will be published in the workshop proceedings of SIMPAR. Here is revised CFP. Thank you in advance, ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CALL FOR PAPERS International Workshop on Standards and Common Platforms for Robotics (SCPR 2008) November 3rd, 2008 Venice, Italy http://monicareggiani.net/simpar2008/index.php?option=com_content&task= view&id=32&Itemid=50 OBJECTIVE Application fields of robotics has been widely-spreading now, so that required functionalities of robots becomes varied and complex. In order to handle such complexity, several activities for standardizations and platform developments is attracting researchers and developers. The goal of the Workshop is to provide a forum for discussion and exchange of ideas among them on the topic about common framework for robotics that enhance abilities of robotics for complex applications. TOPICS Topics of interest include (but are not limited to): * Standardization activities of robotics * Common platform for robotics and its software * Middleware to integrate robotics and other software functionalities * Other standards related to robotics * Evaluation and comparison of existing standards or platform/middleware * Open issue on standardization PAPER SUBMISSION All manuscripts should be prepared according to Springer-Verlag's Incs style. LaTeX style files and World templates for final camera-ready copies are available from the Springer-Verlag website. The page limit for the final submission of papers is 12 pages. Papers accepted for presentation in the workshop will be published in the SIMPAR conference proceedings. At least one (1) author must register in the workshop to present a paper. Paper must be in PDF format and sent to Workshop Organizer (scpr2008 at m.aist.go.jp). The deadline is September 12st, 2008. SCHEDULE September 12th, 2008 : Deadline for submission of paper. October 5th, 2008 : Notification of acceptance Octover 20th, 2008 : Submission of camera ready papers November 3rd, 2008 : Workshop ORGANIZERS Itsuki Noda (AIST) N.N. __________________________________________________________________ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NODA, Itsuki, Dr. Eng. Senior Research Scientist Information Technology Research Institute National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology AIST Tsukuba Central-2 1-1-1 Umezono, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568, JAPAN Tel. +81-29-862-6517 Fax. +81-29-862-6513 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From Jean-Marc.Bollon at inrialpes.fr Mon Sep 1 07:58:18 2008 From: Jean-Marc.Bollon at inrialpes.fr (Jean-Marc Bollon) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2008 16:58:18 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Probabilistic Reasoning and Decision Making in Sensory-Motor Systems - NEW BOOK Message-ID: Probabilistic Reasoning and Decision Making in Sensory-Motor Systems ****************************************************************************** Both living organisms and robotic systems must face the same central difficulty: How to survive being ignorant? How to use an incomplete and uncertain model of their environment to perceive, infer, decide, learn and act efficiently? Indeed, any model of a real phenomenon is incomplete: there are always some hidden variables, not taken into account in the model, that influence the phenomenon. The effect of these hidden variables is that the model and the phenomenon never behave exactly alike. Uncertainty is the direct and unavoidable consequence of incompleteness. A model may not foresee exactly the future observations of a phenomenon as these observations are biased by the hidden variables. It may neither predict exactly the consequences of its decisions. Probability theory, considered as an alternative to logic to model rational reasoning, is the perfect mathematical framework to face this difficult challenge. Learning is used in a first step to transform incompleteness into uncertainty, inference is then used to reason and take decisions based on the probability distributions constructed by learning. This so-called subjectivist approach to probability allows uncertain reasoning as complex and formal as the ones made using logic with exact knowledge. This book presents twelve different implementations of this approach to very different sensory-motor systems either by programming robots or by modeling living systems. Each of these works summarizes a PhD dissertation defended in different European universities. All these works use Bayesian Programming: a mathematical formalism, which defines in simple mathematical terms the way probability, can be used as an alternative to logic. Bayesian Programming also proposes a programming and modeling methodology as, to respect the mathematical formalism, the programmer should follow always the same steps to build his model. Finally, Bayesian Programming is a common language to understand and compare the different models. This language is used all along this book by all the authors and insures the global coherence of these twelve very different examples. More information : http://emotion.inrialpes.fr/BP/spip.php?article18 How to buy : http://www.springer.com/engineering/book/978-3-540-79006-8 http://www.amazon.com/Probabilistic-Reasoning-Decision-Sensory-Motor-Springer/dp/3540790063/ref=sr_1_7ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205844732&sr=1-7 From sdhuang at eng.uts.edu.au Mon Sep 1 17:56:49 2008 From: sdhuang at eng.uts.edu.au (Shoudong Huang) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:56:49 +1000 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Call for Papers: ISSNIP-HRI 2008 in Sydney, Australia (Deadline extended) Message-ID: <48BC8F51.5040107@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 (*Deadline extended)*** * Paper submission Deadline: September 15, 2008 Notification of acceptance: October 15, 2008 Camera ready manuscript: October 31, 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. 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From E.Guglielmelli at unicampus.it Tue Sep 2 10:33:08 2008 From: E.Guglielmelli at unicampus.it (Guglielmelli Eugenio) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:33:08 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] CFP T-RO SI Rehab Robotics - Reminder In-Reply-To: <83134CAD576988499F9A03D5B756C15107CC346B@elrond.unicampus-int.it> References: <83134CAD576988499F9A03D5B756C15107CC3424@elrond.unicampus-int.it> <83134CAD576988499F9A03D5B756C15107CC346B@elrond.unicampus-int.it> Message-ID: <83134CAD576988499F9A03D5B756C1510D7A6232@elrond.unicampus-int.it> ****Apologies for multiple posting******** REMINDER - September 15, 2008: Deadline for Paper Submission NEW T-RO SUBMISSION FORMAT - IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS, SEE RED TEXT BELOW Call for Papers IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ROBOTICS Special Issue on Rehabilitation Robotics Rehabilitation Robotics aims at the development of novel medical solutions for assisted motor therapy and functional assessment of patients with reduced motor and/or cognitive abilities in order to ultimately favor the best achievable functional recovery. Robot-assisted therapy emphasizes the central role of the patient during the motor exercise. This poses major technical challenges for the design of safe and effective robotic platforms. Typical requirements include high backdriveability, easy adaptation to different anthropometric parameters, adaptive control schemes for interaction control, friendly human-machine interfaces for motivating the patient and for allowing customization of robot performance by the doctor or therapist. A new generation of rehabilitation robots, to be conceived and developed in tight cooperation with medical experts and end users, is expected to come in the near future. Researchers working in the academy or industry are invited to submit papers to this Special Issue of the IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO) on the theoretical, technological and experimental aspects of design, development, and validation of novel rehabilitation robotic systems. Topics - Novel robotic systems for application to rehabilitation - Human-centred design methods and case studies of rehabilitation robots - Robotic platforms for functional assessment and human behavioral analysis - Exoskeletons and operational machines for lower and\or upper limb rehabilitation - Robotic systems for telerehabilitation and homecare - Portable robotics systems for ubiquitous rehabilitation - Backdriveable mechanisms, compliant actuators and other innovative components for rehabilitation robots - Physical human-robot interaction control in rehabilitation applications - Impedance control, adaptive motor control and learning in rehabilitation robotics - Multimodal and natural human-robot interfaces for rehabilitation - Robotic systems for cognitive rehabilitation and for diagnosis and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders - Magnetic-imaging (MI) compatible robotic systems - Application of robotic systems for biomechanical modeling of the human body - Robotic systems for prevention of age-related motor disabilities Important dates May 15, 2008: Call for Papers September 15, 2008: Deadline for Paper Submission December 31, 2008: Completion of First Review March 15, 2009: Completion of Final Review June 2009 (tentative): Publication Submission and Review of Papers This is the first T-RO Special Issue on this topic and also the first one that will be fully handled electronically via the papercept system. Author information is available at the T-RO web site http://www.ieee-ras.org/tro. Submissions should go to T-RO PaperCept at http://ras.papercept.net/journals/tro. T-RO considers also accompanying multimedia material. Starting from August 15, all T-RO initial submissions should be already in Transactions format Regular papers for SI: max 17 pdf pages in Transactions format from initial submission (with extra page charge over 10, upon acceptance) Short papers for SI: max 9 pdf pages in Transactions format from initial submission (with extra page charge over 5, upon acceptance) Papers submitted to the Special Issue undergo the usual T-RO review process. Please refer your T-RO submissions to this Special Issue following the guidelines provided on the papercept system. For downloading the PDF release of this CFP and further information on the Special Issue, please check the IEEE RAS TC on Rehabilitation & Assistive Robotics web site at http://tab.ieee-ras.org/ . We look forward to receiving your submissions. The Guest Editors of the T-RO Special Issue on Rehabilitation Robotics Dr. Takanori Shibata, AIST, Japan - shibata-takanori at aist.go.jp Dr. Michelle J. Johnson, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA - mjjohnso at mcw.edu Prof. Eugenio Gugliemelli, Universit? Campus Bio-Medico, Roma, Italy - e.guglielmelli at unicampus.it From emg at dei.unipd.it Tue Sep 2 05:13:45 2008 From: emg at dei.unipd.it (Emanuele Menegatti) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:13:45 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] deadline extension: Omnidirectional Robot Vision Workshop Message-ID: <7F4766A8-F202-4606-974A-91E16F2665ED@dei.unipd.it> Dear Colleagues, due to several requests in the last hours, we decided to extend the paper submission deadline for the First Workshop on Omnidirectional Robot Vision to be held on November 4, 2008 in Venice, Italy . Please find the Call for Paper and the instruction for authors at : http://www.dei.unipd.it/~emg/omniRoboVis2008/ NEW:: extended DEADLINE for paper submission: September 10, 2008 :: NEW NEW:: We wish to remind you also the Special Issue of Robotics and Autonomous Systems (Journal , Elsevier) linked to the workshop. Please find the Call for Paper of the Special Issue at : http://www.dei.unipd.it/~emg/omniRoboVis2008/SpecialIssue-RAS2009 The workshop is co-located with SIMPAR 2008 (International Conference on Simulation, Modeling, and Programming for Autonomous Robots). http://www.simpar-conference.org/ Best Regards, Emanuele Menegatti and Tomas Pajdla (OmniRoboVis 2008 Workshop Co-Chairs) ------------------------------------------ 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 salah at acfr.usyd.edu.au Mon Sep 1 16:57:54 2008 From: salah at acfr.usyd.edu.au (Salah Sukkarieh) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:57:54 +1000 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] SLAM Summer School 2009 Message-ID: <00e601c90c8e$8d26a820$a773f860$@usyd.edu.au> The 4th Summer School in Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) will be hosted by the Australian Centre for Field Robotics, University of Sydney on 20-23 January 2009. Objectives The goal of this summer school is to provide lectures and laboratory work on the basics as well as the state-of-the-art of SLAM, with a bent towards outdoor applications and perception in outdoor environments for autonomous systems. A number of leading international researchers will be presenting their ideas and solutions to this difficult problem, focussing on ideas of machine learning for perception and situational awareness, large scale SLAM and Active-SLAM. The summer school will provide the opportunity for research students who are new to, or interested in, this exciting area to see what methods are being employed and what systems have been demonstrated, as well as to get hands on experience with some of the algorithmic methods. It will also provide the opportunity to interact with fellow researchers in this field with the aim of generating collaborative initiatives. More information including registration can be found here: http://www.acfr.usyd.edu.au/education/summerschool.shtml Salah Sukkarieh Australian Centre for Field Robotics The University of Sydney From jaydev at umd.edu Tue Sep 2 19:28:48 2008 From: jaydev at umd.edu (Jaydev P. Desai) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2008 22:28:48 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Post-Doc in Surgical Robotics for an NIH project at University of Maryland, College Park. Message-ID: <48BDF660.5080908@umd.edu> *Position description:* Research Associate (Post-Doc) position in Surgical Robotics for the design, development, and implementation of a teleoperated robotic system with haptic feedback capability for breast biopsy (Bx) and radio-frequency ablation (RFA) of breast tumor under continuous Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is expected to be available for a National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 project starting January 1, 2009. The selected candidate will also be involved in the currently funded NIH R21 grant on the development of a highly dexterous Minimally Invasive Neurosurgical Intracranial Robot (MINIR) teleoperated under continuous MRI. *Required expertise:* Expertise in one or more of the areas relating to: robot kinematics and dynamics, teleoperated needle guidance and steering, stability issues in teleoperation, nonlinear control, and haptics is strongly desired. Strong hardware design and integration skills and expertise in C++ is a pre-requisite. Selection of potential candidates will begin in November 2008. *Application package:* Interested candidates should submit the following by email in a *single* PDF file to jaydev at umd.edu. 1. Curriculum vitae with a list of at least 3 references 2. At least three papers which could be either published, accepted for publication, or in-preparation which demonstrate some of the required expertise mentioned above. 3. Relevant courses taken during Ph.D studies 4. Expected date of graduation (for those who are currently pursuing a Ph.D) 5. Doctoral dissertation topic 6. A one-page summary of research background and interests and how it aligns with the current position. * * * * *Contact Information:* Jaydev P. Desai Associate Professor Director - Robotics, Automation, Manipulation, and Sensing (RAMS) Laboratory Department of Mechanical Engineering Room 0160, Bldg 088, Glenn L. Martin Hall University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 Phone: 301-405-4427 Fax: 301-314-9477 Web: http://rams.umd.edu/ From ktsui at cs.uml.edu Tue Sep 2 19:56:34 2008 From: ktsui at cs.uml.edu (Kate Tsui) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2008 22:56:34 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Second Call: CFP Abstract for "Experimental Design for Real-World Systems Message-ID: (Apologies for multiple copies.) 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 jonghyuk.kim at anu.edu.au Wed Sep 3 18:30:59 2008 From: jonghyuk.kim at anu.edu.au (Jonghyuk (Jon) Kim) Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:30:59 +1000 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Deadline Extension: ACRA 2008 Message-ID: <002901c90e2d$e29ee0b0$382dcb96@engnet.anu.edu.au> ---------------------------------------------------- Last Call For Participation: 2008 Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation 3-5 December 2008 Canberra, Australia http://www.araa.asn.au/acra/acra2008/ Dear Colleagues, Thank you all who have sumbitted papers to ACRA 2008 in Canberra. The submission due to ACRA 2008 is now extended to Monday 8 September 2008. During the ACRA 2008, there will be a joint session with DICTA (Digital Image Computing: Techniques and Applications) 2008 on Wednesday (3rd of Dec) afternoon session followed by BBQ dinner & discussion time with computer vision community. Detailed events will be posted on the website soon. The important dates are: ---------------------------------------------------- Submission of papers: 5 September 2008 --> 8 Sept 23:59pm (AUS Time) 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 soon. Jon Kim Jonghyuk (Jon) Kim, PhD, Lecturer Department of Engineering (Bldg 32, E233) The Australian National University http://engnet.anu.edu.au/DEpeople/Jonghyuk.Kim From ECCCheah at ntu.edu.sg Wed Sep 3 19:53:56 2008 From: ECCCheah at ntu.edu.sg (CHEAH Chien Chern) Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:53:56 +0800 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] PhD Opennings at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore References: <7CC7A25F6278A24795D6948D32956A4603FEAD34@EXCHANGE22.staff.main.ntu.edu.sg> Message-ID: <7CC7A25F6278A24795D6948D32956A4605DABDC4@EXCHANGE22.staff.main.ntu.edu.sg> PhD Openings: Division of Control and Instrumentation, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Division of Control and Instrumentation at Nanyang Technological University is currently looking for Ph.D. students to join the exciting research in the areas of control systems technologies including robust control, adaptive control, intelligent control and networked control, autonomous systems, perception and machine learning, and biomedical instrumentation. The Division hosts the Research Centre for Intelligent Machines and co-hosts the Research Centre for Modeling and Control of Complex Systems. More details of our research can be found at http://www.ntu.edu.sg/eee/eee4. Prospective students should have a strong interest and background in the fields of mathematical control theory and dynamical systems. Students must apply to the PhD program for admission and scholarships. The details can be found at http://www.ntu.edu.sg. The university provides attractive scholarships for successful candidates. The January 2009 intake is now open for applications. You may send your inquiries to Professor Danwei Wang (edwwang at ntu.edu.sg), Head, Division of Control and Instrumentation or Professor Lihua Xie (elhxie at ntu.edu.sg), Director, Centre for Intelligent Machines. From ecervera at icc.uji.es Thu Sep 4 01:58:31 2008 From: ecervera at icc.uji.es (Enric Cervera) Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:58:31 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] CFP: IARP Workshop RISE 09 Message-ID: <8B9A4FA2-54E3-4594-8504-149CF8D3B943@icc.uji.es> Apologies for multiple postings. IARP Workshop on ?Robots for Risky Interventions and Environmental Surveillance-Maintenance? January,12-14, Brussels /Belgium http://www.robot.uji.es/research/events/rise09 The general objective of the International Advanced Robotics Programme (IARP) is to encourage development of advanced robotic systems that can dispense with human work for difficult activities in harsh, demanding or dangerous environments, and to contribute to the revitalization and growth of the world economy. Through this third workshop, the IARP working group RISE (Risky Intervention and Surveillance /Maintenance of the Environment) and the the European partners of the FW6-IST projects View-Finder (aiming the assistance of fire- fighting/protection services) and Guardians (aiming the use of swarm of robots for Rescue assistance) organise dedicated sessions on next topics, while the mentioned European partners organise demonstrations and videos on the first results of their projects, on the Air Force Base of Beauvechain. Download the CFP and application form at: http://www.robot.uji.es/research/events/rise09 Specific topics include but are not limited to: - Inspection of fire or crisis grounds - CBRN-E threats - Map building and reconstruction - Networked crisis management tools - Human-Machine Interfaces - Remote controlled, semi-autonomous, autonomous robot navigation - Multi-robot cooperation - Swarm of robots - Crisis Management tools An abstract (approximately 300 words in English) should be received not later than November 15, 2008. Electronic submissions of the abstracts (Word , PS-format, PDF-files) should be mailed to: Yvan.baudoin at rma.ac.be - Paper proposal deadline: November 15, 2008 - Final selection and invitation of participants: December 1, 2008 - Receipt of full-papers: December 20, 2008 Workshop inquiries to: Workshop ?Risky Interventions and Environmental Surveillance RISE? Royal Military Academy Department of Mechanical Engineering 30 Avenue de la Renaissance B 1000 Brussels Tel: +32 2 7376553 Fax: +32 2 7376547 Yvan.baudoin at rma.ac.be From ajd at doc.ic.ac.uk Thu Sep 4 04:24:11 2008 From: ajd at doc.ic.ac.uk (Andrew Davison) Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:24:11 +0100 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Robotics: Science and Systems 2008 Final Online Proceedings Message-ID: <48BFC55B.5040108@doc.ic.ac.uk> We would like to thank everyone who participated in what we hope was a very successful RSS 2008 conference in Zurich this June. The final versions of all the published papers, along with extra video materials in many cases, are now available on the roboticsproceedings.org website at: http://roboticsproceedings.org/rss04/ Fabio Ramos University of Sydney Publications Chair Jeff Trinkle Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Program Chair Andrew Davison Imperial College London Publicity Chair Oliver Brock University of Massachusetts Amherst General Chair From hirata at irs.mech.tohoku.ac.jp Thu Sep 4 06:48:27 2008 From: hirata at irs.mech.tohoku.ac.jp (Yasuhisa Hirata) Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:48:27 +0900 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Advanced Robotics : Vol. 22, No. 11 issue Message-ID: <48BFE72B.4010009@irs.mech.tohoku.ac.jp> ************************************************************************ The Official International Journal of the Robotics Society of Japan Advanced Robotics Volume 22, Number 11, 2008 ************************************************************************ >From the following link you have free access to the abstracts of all papers below, and can access the pdf files if you or your institution is subscribing to Advanced Robotics: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/vsp/arb/2008/00000022/00000011 Table of Contents An Experimental Study on Cartesian Impedance Control for a Joint Torque-Based Manipulator pp. 1155-1180(26) Authors: Liu, Hong; Liu, Ye-chao; Jin, Minghe; Sun, K.; Huang, J.B. Terrain-Based Navigation for Underwater Vehicles Using an Ultrasonic Scanning System pp. 1181-1205(25) Authors: Lygouras, John; Kodogiannis, Vassilis; Pachidis, Theodoros; Liatsis, Panagiotis Miniaturized Vision System for Microfluidic Devices pp. 1207-1222(16) Authors: Uvet, Huseyin; Arai, Tatsuo; Mae, Yasushi; Takubo, Tomohito; Yamada, Masato A Probabilistic Framework for Sonar Scan Matching Localization pp. 1223-1241(19) Authors: Burguera, Antoni; Gonz?lez, Yolanda; Oliver, Gabriel Kinematics-Based Navigation Functions pp. 1243-1264(22) Authors: Bendjilali, K.; Belkhouche, F. These are the relevant links to Advanced Robotics: http://www.rsj.or.jp/AR/index_e.html [Advanced Robotics Home Page] http://www.rsj.or.jp/AR/Subscribe_e.html [How to Subscribe] http://www.rsj.or.jp/AR/Submit_e.html [Paper Submission] -- Shigeki Sugano (Waseda University, Japan) Editor-in-Chief, Advanced Robotics Takashi Yoshimi (Toshiba Corporation, Japan) Committee Chair of RSJ International Journal e-info at rsj.or.jp From vgazi at etu.edu.tr Thu Sep 4 08:10:24 2008 From: vgazi at etu.edu.tr (Veysel Gazi) Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:10:24 +0300 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] CFP: 2009 Chinese Control and Decision Conference - Guilin, China Message-ID: <003501c90ea0$5b493390$11db9ab0$@edu.tr> CALL FOR PAPERS 2009 CCDC 21st Chinese Control and Decision Conference 17 - 19 June 2009, Guilin, China http://www.ccdc.neu.edu.cn Organizers -Northeastern University, China -IEEE Industrial Electronics (IE) Chapter, Singapore Local Organizer Guilin University of Electronic Technology Chinese Control and Decision Conference (CCDC) is an annual international conference. The 2009 Chinese Control and Decision Conference (2009 CCDC) is the 21st of the series and will be held in Guilin, China in June 2009. Its purpose is to create a forum for scientists, engineers and practitioners throughout the world to present the latest advancement in Control, Decision, Automation, Robotics and Emerging Technologies. 2009 CCDC covers both theory and applications in all the areas of systems, control and decision. The topics of interest include, but are not limited to: Control and Decision: Adaptive control; Robust and H-infinity control; Process control; Variable structure control; Optimal control and optimization; Complex systems; Cooperative control; Identification and estimation; Nonlinear systems; Intelligent systems; Discrete event systems; Game theory; Decision-making theory and method; Decision supporting system and production planning and scheduling; Hybrid systems; Distributed parameter systems; Stochastic systems; Distributed control systems; Networked control systems; Sensor network systems; Fault diagnosis and fault-tolerant control; Delay systems; Neural networks; Fuzzy systems; Social economy systems; Motion control; Control applications; Control engineering education. Automation: Man-machine interactions; Process automation; Intelligent automation; Factory modeling and simulation; Home, laboratory and service automation; Networkbased systems; Planning, scheduling and coordination; Nano-scale automation and assembly; Instrumentation systems; CIMS and manufacturing systems. Robotics: Robot control; Mobile robotics; Mobile sensor networks; Perception systems; Micro robots and micro-manipulation; Visual servoing; Search, rescue and field robotics; Robot sensing and data fusion; Medical robots and bio-robotics; Human centered systems; Space and underwater robots; Tele-robotics; Emerging Technologies: Modeling, control and simulations of biological systems; Biomedical instrumentation; Micro-electromechanical systems, Electric vehicles and intelligent transportation; Integrated systems and processes. Invited Sessions: The Technical Program Committee is soliciting proposals for invited sessions focusing on topics of the conference. Prospective organizers should submit proposals to the Invited Session Chairmen, Professor Yangquan Chen via email yqchen at ece.usu.edu or Dr Zhengguo Li ezgli at i2r.a-star.edu.sg by 30 November , 2008. KEYNOTE ADDRESSES on the State-of-Art in Control and Decision will be delivered by Professor Tamer Basar, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Professor Richard H. Middleton, National University of Ireland Professor Gang George Yin, Wayne State University The Proceedings of 2009 CCDC will be included in the IEEE Xplore database and indexed by Ei Compendex. Important Dates: Deadline for Full Paper submission 30 November 2008 Notification of Acceptance 28 February 2009 Deadline for Camera Ready Manuscript Submission 15 April 2009 Deadline for Authors' Registration 15 April 2009 Please submit your papers through the conference website: http://www.ccdc.neu.edu.cn . Technical Co-Sponsors: -IEEE Control Systems Society -IEEE Industrial Electronics Society -Automatic Control Society, Chinese Association of Aeronautics -Application Society, Chinese Association of Automation -Simulation Methods and Modeling Society, Chinese Association for System Simulations -Intelligent Control & Management Society, Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence From edb at gdl.cinvestav.mx Thu Sep 4 11:50:22 2008 From: edb at gdl.cinvestav.mx (Eduardo Bayro) Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:50:22 -0500 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Deadline is Extended: International Workshop on Cognitive Humanoid Vision WCHV2008 (joint workshop HUMANOIDS'2008) Message-ID: <48C02DEE.4000201@gdl.cinvestav.mx> Dear Researchers, The deadline of the extended abstract submission of the International Workshop on Cognitive Humanoid Vision is extended. The new deadlines is 30th September 2008 ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 hirata at irs.mech.tohoku.ac.jp Thu Sep 4 18:56:34 2008 From: hirata at irs.mech.tohoku.ac.jp (Yasuhisa Hirata) Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:56:34 +0900 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Advanced Robotics : Vol. 22, No. 11 issue Message-ID: <48C091D2.80009@irs.mech.tohoku.ac.jp> ************************************************************************ The Official International Journal of the Robotics Society of Japan Advanced Robotics Volume 22, Number 11, 2008 ************************************************************************ You have free access to the abstracts of all papers below from the following link, and can access the pdf files if you or your institution is subscribing to Advanced Robotics: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/vsp/arb/2008/00000022/00000011 Table of Contents An Experimental Study on Cartesian Impedance Control for a Joint Torque-Based Manipulator pp. 1155-1180(26) Authors: Liu, Hong; Liu, Ye-chao; Jin, Minghe; Sun, K.; Huang, J.B. Terrain-Based Navigation for Underwater Vehicles Using an Ultrasonic Scanning System pp. 1181-1205(25) Authors: Lygouras, John; Kodogiannis, Vassilis; Pachidis, Theodoros; Liatsis, Panagiotis Miniaturized Vision System for Microfluidic Devices pp. 1207-1222(16) Authors: Uvet, Huseyin; Arai, Tatsuo; Mae, Yasushi; Takubo, Tomohito; Yamada, Masato A Probabilistic Framework for Sonar Scan Matching Localization pp. 1223-1241(19) Authors: Burguera, Antoni; Gonzalez, Yolanda; Oliver, Gabriel Kinematics-Based Navigation Functions pp. 1243-1264(22) Authors: Bendjilali, K.; Belkhouche, F. These are the relevant links to Advanced Robotics: http://www.rsj.or.jp/AR/index_e.html [Advanced Robotics Home Page] http://www.rsj.or.jp/AR/Subscribe_e.html [How to Subscribe] http://www.rsj.or.jp/AR/Submit_e.html [Paper Submission] -- Shigeki Sugano (Waseda University, Japan) Editor-in-Chief, Advanced Robotics Takashi Yoshimi (Toshiba Corporation, Japan) Committee Chair of RSJ International Journal e-info at rsj.or.jp From aforner at iai.csic.es Fri Sep 5 06:16:22 2008 From: aforner at iai.csic.es (Arturo Forner Cordero) Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:16:22 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Ph.D. student on bipedal robotics in Spain Message-ID: <888D8FFB5D0244FABE7242EEF73AE1EF@ARTBIOROB> Dear moderator Some people mentioned that this posting was distributed during the holiday period in Europe Would you be so kind to re-distribute this announcement for a PhD position in Spain? A Ph.D. studentship 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 trinkle at gmail.com Fri Sep 5 07:05:47 2008 From: trinkle at gmail.com (trink) Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:05:47 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Final Call for Position Papers: Special Session at IROS on Robotics and Cyber-Physical Systems Message-ID: <4f5f4cd20809050705v12b283fftb878c703e161fd60@mail.gmail.com> Dear Colleague, With support of NSF's CNS Division, Jeff Trinkle and Bruce Krogh are organizing special session (http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~webk/IROS_CPS/) 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 invited presentations by Vijay Kumar, Daniela Rus, Peter Allen, John Hollerbach, and Takeo Kanade, Michael Branicky from NSF/CNS (on 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_CPS for more details. Position papers from faculty members who are junior or from under-re-presented groups are particularly encouraged. If you do not want to present your ideas in a brief talk, feel free to attend the sessions and express your views during the panel discussions. 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 participation. Jeff Trinkle (RPI) Bruce Krogh (CMU) From mail at jan-peters.net Sat Sep 6 07:15:47 2008 From: mail at jan-peters.net (Jan Peters) Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2008 07:15:47 -0700 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] CfP: Autonomous Robots - Special Issue on Robot Learning Message-ID: <907549EC-999B-4E8B-AA1B-5EC17FEA5473@jan-peters.net> Please be reminded of the Call for Papers for the Special Issue on Robot Learning of the Autonomous Robots journal! If you have questions, please contact us by email ASAP or talk to Jan Peters during IROS 2008! Best wishes, Jan Peters & Andrew Ng = = = ======================================================================== Call For Papers: Autonomous Robots - Special Issue on Robot Learning = = = ======================================================================== Quick Facts ========= Editors: Jan Peters, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Andrew Y. Ng, Stanford University Journal: Autonomous Robots Submission Deadline: November 8, 2008 Author Notification: March 1, 2009 Revised Manuscripts: June 1, 2009 Approximate Publication Date: 4th Quarter, 2009 Abstract ====== Creating autonomous robots that can learn to act in unpredictable environments has been a long standing goal of robotics, artificial intelligence, and the cognitive sciences. In contrast, current commercially available industrial and service robots mostly execute fixed tasks and exhibit little adaptability. To bridge this gap, machine learning offers a myriad set of methods some of which have already been applied with great success to robotics problems. Machine learning is also likely play an increasingly important role in robotics as we take robots out of research labs and factory floors, into the unstructured environments inhabited by humans and into other natural environments. To carry out increasingly difficult and diverse sets of tasks, future robots will need to make proper use of perceptual stimuli such as vision, lidar, proprioceptive sensing and tactile feedback, and translate these into appropriate motor commands. In order to close this complex loop from perception to action, machine learning will be needed in various stages such as scene understanding, sensory-based action generation, high-level plan generation, and torque level motor control. Among the important problems hidden in these steps are robotic perception, perceptuo-action coupling, imitation learning, movement decomposition, probabilistic planning, motor primitive learning, reinforcement learning, model learning, motor control, and many others. Driven by high-profile competitions such as RoboCup and the DARPA Challenges, as well as the growing number of robot learning research programs funded by governments around the world (e.g., FP7-ICT, the euCognition initiative, DARPA Legged Locomotion and LAGR programs), interest in robot learning has reached an unprecedented high point. The interest in machine learning and statistics within robotics has increased substantially; and, robot applications have also become important for motivating new algorithms and formalisms in the machine learning community. In this Autonomous Robots Special Issue on Robot Learning, we intend to outline recent successes in the application of domain-driven machine learning methods to robotics. Examples of topics of interest include, but are not limited to: ? learning models of robots, task or environments ? learning deep hierarchies or levels of representations from sensor & motor representations to task abstractions ? learning plans and control policies by imitation, apprenticeship and reinforcement learning ? finding low-dimensional embeddings of movement as implicit generative models ? integrating learning with control architectures ? methods for probabilistic inference from multi-modal sensory information (e.g., proprioceptive, tactile, vision) ? structured spatio-temporal representations designed for robot learning ? probabilistic inference in non-linear, non-Gaussian stochastic systems (e.g., for planning as well as for optimal or adaptive control) From several recent workshops, it has become apparent that there is a significant body of novel work on these topics. The special issue will only focus on high quality articles based on sound theoretical development as well as evaluations on real robot systems. Time Line ======== Submission Deadline: November 8, 2008 Author Notification: March 1, 2009 Revised Manuscripts: June 1, 2009 Approximate Publication Date: 4th Quarter, 2009 Editors ====== Inquiries on this special issue should be send to one of the editors listed below. Jan Peters (http://www.jan-peters.net/) Senior Research Scientist, Head of the Robot Learning Laboratory Department for Machine Learning and Empirical Inference, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tuebingen, Germany Andrew Y. Ng (http://ai.stanford.edu/~ang/) Assistant Professor Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, Palo Alto, USA From list at bartneck.de Fri Sep 5 23:18:52 2008 From: list at bartneck.de (Christoph Bartneck) Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2008 08:18:52 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] job: PhD position on Robots in the Metaverse Message-ID: The Department of Industrial Design of the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven (TU/e) has the following vacancy (code V51.062): PhD position on Robots in the Metaverse Project Description ====================================== The Metaverse (global standards among real and virtual worlds) project will provide a standardized global framework that enables the interoperability between virtual worlds (as for example Second Life, World of Warcraft, IMVU, Google Earth and many others) and the real world (robots, sensors, actuators, vision and rendering, social and welfare systems, banking, insurance, travel, real estate and many others). The project is a funded through the European ITEA organization and the Dutch SenterNovem organization. The Metaverse project will start with a state-of-the-art review of existing technology. The first step to classify robots is to create a taxonomy and nomenclature that may be inspired by the Linnaean classification system. The robot taxonomy will define the criteria on which the classes and orders may be distinguished. Some first works on robot taxonomies are available (Fong, Nourbakhsh, & Dautenhahn, 2003; Yanco & Drury, 2004) and will be examined for applicability. The robot taxonomy will then be applied to robots, starting with currently available robots and then extending to historical important robots. Their data will be gathered in a web-based database, the Internet Robot Database (IRDB). The IRDB will be setup as a community process that will enable the interested audience to continuously expand and improve the database. Based on the IRDB and the taxonomy, a communication standard and protocol will be developed in close collaboration with the other Metaverse partners, including Philips Research, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Utrecht University. Last, several usage scenarios for the communication standard and protocol will be developed and tested. The Department of Industrial Design ====================================== The Department of Industrial Design (ID) of the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), is a rapidly growing department. The department consists of 500 students at the bachelor, master and PhD level in addition to around 100 faculty members. ID focuses on intelligent products, services and networks. These innovative products enable people to interact with the environment in an optimal and flexible way. This project will be embedded into the Designed Intelligent Group (DI), which is a multidisciplinary and highly international group addressing the design of the intelligence in adaptive systems, products and related services. The cooperating disciplines include computer science, electrical engineering, neural computing, software engineering, psychology and industrial design. Requirements ====================================== The candidate should have a Masters degree in computer science, information science or a close related field. He/she should be seriously interested in robotics, taxonomies, web technologies and communication protocols, as witnessed by project results or relevant courses. The candidate must be able to co-operate in a multidisciplinary and international team. The candidate needs to have a scientific attitude and the motivation to perform his/her research at the high level of technological design within the given time frame. Appointment and Salary ====================================== The appointment is for four years. As an employee of the university you will receive a competitive salary as well as excellent employment conditions (including excellent sport facilities and child care). The research in this project must be concluded with writing a PhD thesis. A salary is offered starting at EUR 2000,- per month (gross) in the first year and increasing up to EUR 2558,- per month (gross) in the last year. Moreover 8% bonus share (holiday supplement) is provided annually. Assistance for finding accommodation can be given. Further Information and Application ====================================== Further information about the project, including a full project description, can be obtained from Dr Christoph Bartneck (+31 40 247 5175; c.bartneck at tue.nl). General information about the organization and the hiring procedure can be requested from Ms. Julma Braat, personnel assistant, (+31 40 247 5883; j.a.c.l.braat at tue.nl) Please send your application either as a printed version to the mailing address below or as a PDF version by email to Julma Braat (j.a.c.l.braat at tue.nl). Your application must include a letter explaining your specific interest in the project, an extensive curriculum vitae, a list of three references, and the vacancy code V51.062. Application will be accepted until October 1st, 2008. Eindhoven University of Technology Department of Industrial Design Attn. Ms. J. Braat, room HG 3.92 P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven The Netherlands E-mail: j.a.c.l.braat at tue.nl From russt at mit.edu Sat Sep 6 20:21:04 2008 From: russt at mit.edu (Russ Tedrake) Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:21:04 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Robotics Challenges for Machine Learning workshop at IROS 2008 Message-ID: CALL FOR PARTICIPATION Dear Colleagues, We would like to invite you to participate in our full-day learning workshop at the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) on September 22, 2008 in Nice, France. We have an exciting list of invited talks and contributed poster presentations, which will articulate particular problems in robotics that will benefit from machine learning, as well as the state-of-the-art in methods and results. Details for the meeting can be found here: http://www.learning-robots.de/TC/IROS2008 We hope to see you in Nice! - Russ Tedrake, Nick Roy, Jan Peters, and Jun Morimoto From mail at jan-peters.net Tue Sep 9 02:04:13 2008 From: mail at jan-peters.net (Jan Peters) Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2008 11:04:13 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Junior Research Groups for Systems Neuroscience, Cognitive Neuroscience and Neurorobotics/Medical Robotics Message-ID: <63382CE4-A719-4C12-87E7-D8425EFCEA99@jan-peters.net> Junior Research Groups for Cognitive Neuroscience and Systems Neuroscience at the Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN) The Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN) is a newly established interdisciplinary institution at the Eberhard Karls University T?bingen funded by the German Excellence Initiative program. The CIN strives to deepen our understanding of how the brain generates function and how brain diseases impair functions. It will make use of newly acquired insights to help people with brain disorders and to launch new mind- and brain-inspired applications in many areas of engineering and computer science. Its scientific program is guided by the conviction that progress in the understanding of brain function can only be achieved with an integrative approach spanning multiple levels of organization and pooling the knowledge of researchers from many different fields. In order to strengthen the CINs' specific research aims, we are offering several junior group leader (JRG) positions (equivalent to Assistant Professorship) with tenure track options in the fields of ?Systems Neuroscience?, ?Cognitive Neuroscience?, ?Neurophilosophy? and ?Neurorobotics/Medical Robotics?. Submission deadline is Oct. 15th, 2008 (for Neurophilosophy Oct. 31st, 2008). Framework The intended duration of the position is for 5 years with evaluations by external experts at regular intervals. In case of positive evaluations after 3 years, the JRG will obtain a tenure track option, which may ultimately lead to a professorship at the University of T?bingen. Start-up funds as well as substantial funding for personnel and running costs will be available, but will depend on the qualification and prior experience of the applicant. Appointees will be full members and active participants in the CIN, which will also provide laboratory and/or office space. The JRG leader will be provided opportunities to contribute to research oriented training within the framework of the CIN Graduate Training Centre and the faculties involved in the CIN will provide opportunities for the German habilitation according to established rules, if desired. According to German law, severely disabled persons with equal occupational aptitude will be given preferred consideration. The University of T?bingen strives to promote equal opportunities in science and is committed to increasing the percentage of female scientists in teaching and research. Qualified female candidates are thus strongly encouraged to apply. Application Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae, pdf files of up to 5 key publications, statements of research achievements and future directions (not to exceed 3 pages) as well as the names and addresses of at least three referees. All documents should be submitted electronically to the Acting Director of the Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience T?bingen, Prof. Dr. Peter Thier, at cin at uni-tuebingen.de. For further information on the CIN see: http://www.neuroscience-tuebingen.de/cin/. Submission deadline for all applications is Oct. 15th, for applications in the field of Neurophilosophy Oct. 31st. From giorgio.metta at iit.it Tue Sep 9 07:37:45 2008 From: giorgio.metta at iit.it (Giorgio Metta) Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:37:45 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Phd fellowships at the Italian Institute of Technology Message-ID: <072001c91289$9fbd1b80$df375280$%metta@iit.it> Dear all, Here's a call for 4 Phd positions on robotics. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- GENERAL BACKGROUND The Robotics, Brain and Cognitive Sciences (RBCS) Department of the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) is offering fellowships in the area of Humanoid Robotics and Cognition. These fellowships are within one of three main stream of research carried out at RBCS addressing, besides Humanoid Robotics and Cognition, also Brain Machine Interface and Human Behavior and Biomechanics. The three Research Streams will be developed jointly at RBCS department of IIT under the responsibility of Giulio Sandini and a team of scientists coordinated by Giorgio Metta (Humanoid Robotics), Luciano Fadiga (Brain Machine Interface), Thierry Pozzo (Human Behavior), Franco Bertora (Brain Imaging) and Pietro Morasso (Robotic Rehabilitation). The themes specifically under the Humanoid Robotics and Cognition stream, group the research activities targeting the humanoid platforms of the lab among which iCub (the platform of the RobotCub project http://www.robotcub.org) and ?James? (a one-arm humanoid built to investigate manipulation and object affordance). The research themes proposed are examples of the planned activities in the wider area comprising cognitive systems, visual and tactile perception, sensorimotor coordination, advanced materials for actuation and sensing. More specifically the three research themes proposed for the four fellowships are (short abstract and scientist in charge are included at the end of the message): ? Theme 5.1 Humanoid robot tactile sensing system ? Theme 5.2 Neuromorphic sensors for humanoid robots ? Theme 5.3. The role of actions for perception: improving perception abilities of the humanoid iCub Interested applicants should refer to one of the following website to download instructions on how to apply and/or contact directly the scientists in charge (below) for more information regarding the individual research plans. For the description of the topics offered under the ?Brain Machine Interface? and the ?Human Behavior and Biomechanics? streams refer directly to Annex-A of the application material that can be downloaded from the websites ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- http://www.liralab.it/iit2009phd.htm http://www.iit.it/phd_positions ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- DEADLINE is October 3rd, 2008 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- RESEARCH TOPICS PROPOSED Theme 5.1: Humanoid robot tactile sensing system Tutor: Prof. Giorgio Metta ? Prof. Valle N. available positions: 1 Tactile sensing is the process of detecting and measuring a given property of a contact event in a predetermined area and subsequent pre-processing of the signals ? before sending them to higher levels for perceptual interpretation. Generally, tactile sensing is associated with the force measurement, but - in view of the above definition - the tactile sensing in robots should also include detection and measurement of object information that cannot be deciphered from the force measurement only e.g. temperature. The Ph.D. research activity will involve the development of tactile sensing modules and hence of the skin parts for humanoid robots, their integration with robot and subsequent use in the robot control loop for exploration and manipulation tasks. The research activity will focus on a limited set of candidate transduction technologies for contact sensing; piezoelectric polymers, resistive, capacitive - being the most promising candidates for measuring geometric and mechanical quantities. The possibility of having transducers and conditioning electronics on same medium/substrate ? with transducer directly coupled with an electronic device (i.e. FET/TFT device) ? will be explored. While the transducers can be placed either on flexible (e.g. organic) or rigid (e.g. crystalline silicon) substrate ? based on their location on the robot?s body; the conditioning electronics will be implemented on the silicon substrate. Besides improving the performance of the sensing system, the approach is expected to provide a solution to wiring complexity ? a key problem in robotics. Such a marriage of transducers (e.g. smart materials like piezoelectric polymers) with FET or TFT devices on rigid (e.g. silicon), or flexible (e.g. organic or elastomeric) substrates, would also improve the reliability. Sensors readout and smart processing tasks will be implemented with dedicated electronics embedded in the tactile sensing array. The networking of the modules of tactile sensing arrays, so obtained, is expected to result in a scalable system. Applicants should have a background in one or more of the following fields: electronic engineering, microelectronics, computer science, sensors and robotics. The candidates must have good writing and communication skills and motivation to work in a highly competitive and multidisciplinary environment. For further details concerning the research project, please contact: giorgio.metta at iit.it Theme 5.2: Neuromorphic sensors for humanoid robots Tutor: Dr. Chiara Bartolozzi N. of available positions: 1 Biological sensory systems vastly outperform conventional digital systems in almost all aspects of perception tasks, where the system must process noisy and ambiguous stimuli to produce appropriate behavioral responses. Digital systems require vast amounts of resources to extract relevant information from sensors, but still fail to produce appropriate responses for interacting with the real world in real time. Part of the reason for this might be the fundamental differences in handling sensory data in biological systems and machines. ?Frame-based? time sampling and quantization artifacts present in conventional sensors are particularly problematic for robust and reliable performance. On the contrary biological sensory systems make use of continuous time, stimulus-driven, asynchronous, distributed, collective, and adaptive principles, that make their interpretation of the external world reliable and robust. The goal of this project is to introduce in the field of robotic vision the principles of biological sensory systems design. Specifically we aim at combining the design of novel data-driven biologically inspired sensory devices with the development of new asynchronous event-driven computational paradigms, with structure and morphology that are matched to the requirements of the robots body and its application domain. The candidate shall work on testing of existing asynchronous vision sensors and on the design of new sensors with non-uniform morphology, using analog real-time low-power VLSI neuromorphic circuits. The candidate will participate in the whole project development by also tackling the problem of the realization of supporting data driven asynchronous computational paradigms for machine-vision methodologies that are radically different from conventional ones, and test the developed vision system performance on advanced humanoid robotic platforms. Requirements: Applicants should have a strong interest in bio-inspired hardware engineering and the ability to work independently. Good skills in programming C and Matlab. Fundamental notions of microelectronics; Background in neuroscience. For further details concerning the research project, please contact: chiara.bartolozzi at iit.it Theme 5.3: The role of actions for perception: improving perception abilities of the humanoid iCub Tutor: Prof. Giorgio Metta ? Dr. Lorenzo Natale N. available positions: 2 In modern robotic systems perception is too often inadequate and simplified. This seriously affects the ability of robots to cope with unpredictability and successfully interact in the real world. Artificial perception is a complex task, in which, despite great efforts in computer science, robotics and artificial intelligence, only partial successes have been achieved. The study of perception in humans shows that the brain takes advantage of the integration of the wealth of information available from the different sensory modalities, including information about the incipient action generation. Populations of multimodal neurons are responsible on one side for controlling eye/head, arm, and grasping movements and, on the other, to interpret actions performed by others, for the recognition of objects, and to support goal-directed attention processes. The representation of the world in the brain happens through the activation of multiple pathways and involves the use of sound, vision, touch, and proprioception mixed with activations describing the current motor context and the intended goal. This requires a new way of looking at the problem of learning to extract relevant information at each stage of processing. Outstanding questions regards: How do we represent the space around us? What visual features are important? What is the relationship between sound, vision and touch? How motor information structures the recognition process? Of particular interest is the determination of the link between object-related information and the use of this information for the control of manipulation. In this project we are interested in studying methods for improving the perceptual abilities of the humanoid robot iCub (http://www.robotcub.org), with the goal of exploring ways of using and integrating sensory information originating from the interaction between the robot and the environment. This project requires the investigation and implementation on the robot of several different elements ranging from sensory perception, to motor control, and machine learning: for example, the realization of explorative behaviors to extract information about the environment and objects. This might include grasping and manipulation, but also simpler strategies like pushing, prodding and squeezing objects. One of the goals here is to build a representation of objects that goes beyond the level of the single sensory modality (e.g. vision) but merges the visual appearance of an object with the haptic sensation it produces when grasped, or the sound it produces when touched. To reach this level of competency the robot would require the control of attention and self-recognition. We seek candidates with a strong background in computer science and engineering, who are also interested in the study of perception and modeling of biological systems. Knowledge of electronics and mechanics is not required but it might be useful considered that the successful applicant will be working directly on a real humanoid robot. For further details concerning the research project, please contact: giorgio.metta at iit.it ? lorenzo.natale at iit.it ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Giorgio Metta Italian Institute of Technology Via Morego, 30 16163 Genoa, Italy Ph: +39 010 7178-1411????????????????????? Fax: +39 010 7170-817 URL: http://pasa.liralab.it From aude.billard at epfl.ch Wed Sep 10 14:26:09 2008 From: aude.billard at epfl.ch (Aude Billard) Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:26:09 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] FINAL CALL: 4th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI'09) References: <048a01c89c03$efa91650$6a54b280@sti.intranet.epfl.ch> <006601c8f636$0355ca40$0291b280@lasalap1> Message-ID: <002901c9138b$d811b1f0$2201a8c0@lasalap1> ************************************************************************ FINAL 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 ************************************************************************ Website Open for Submission Submit your paper through the http://www.precisionconference.com/~hri website. All authors will be invited and are strongly encouraged to participate in the review process. ************************************************************************ 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 kenji at ieee.org Tue Sep 9 09:35:16 2008 From: kenji at ieee.org (Kenji Suzuki) Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2008 01:35:16 +0900 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Reminder: IEEE ICRA2009 submissions due 9/15 Message-ID: <008901c9129a$0b0e2630$212a7290$@org> *** This is a reminder that the deadline of submissions of 2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2009) is September 15, 2008, one week later. *** ------------------------------------------------------------------ ICRA 2009 Call for Contributions http://www.icra2009.org/contributions 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 (*Closed) 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 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/ --- On behalf of the ICRA2009 organizing committee Kenji Suzuki ICRA2009 E-Media Chair University of Tsukuba, Japan http://www.iit.tsukuba.ac.jp/~kenji/ Email: kenji at ieee.org From mjjohnso at mcw.edu Wed Sep 10 22:51:34 2008 From: mjjohnso at mcw.edu (Johnson, Michelle) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:51:34 -0500 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] EXTENSION OF SUBMISSION DATE FOR IEEE T_RO SPECIAL ISSUE ON ROBOTICS Message-ID: <3261933EB7678946A50C0314A1AAC07B1D5A6179@MCWMAIL.mcwcorp.net> EXTENSION OF SUBMISSION DATE FOR IEEE T_RO SPECIAL ISSUE ON ROBOTICS NEW DEADLINE DATE IS ... SEPTEMBER 22, 2008. Call for Papers IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ROBOTICS Special Issue on Rehabilitation Robotics Rehabilitation Robotics aims at the development of novel medical solutions for assisted motor therapy and functional assessment of patients with reduced motor and/or cognitive abilities in order to ultimately favor the best achievable functional recovery. Robot-assisted therapy emphasizes the central role of the patient during the motor exercise. This poses major technical challenges for the design of safe and effective robotic platforms. Typical requirements include high backdriveability, easy adaptation to different anthropometric parameters, adaptive control schemes for interaction control, friendly human-machine interfaces for motivating the patient and for allowing customization of robot performance by the doctor or therapist. A new generation of rehabilitation robots, to be conceived and developed in tight cooperation with medical experts and end users, is expected to come in the near future. Researchers working in the academy or industry are invited to submit papers to this Special Issue of the IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO) on the theoretical, technological and experimental aspects of design, development, and validation of novel rehabilitation robotic systems. Topics - Novel robotic systems for application to rehabilitation - Human-centred design methods and case studies of rehabilitation robots - Robotic platforms for functional assessment and human behavioral analysis - Exoskeletons and operational machines for lower and\or upper limb rehabilitation - Robotic systems for telerehabilitation and homecare - Portable robotics systems for ubiquitous rehabilitation - Backdriveable mechanisms, compliant actuators and other innovative components for rehabilitation robots - Physical human-robot interaction control in rehabilitation applications - Impedance control, adaptive motor control and learning in rehabilitation robotics - Multimodal and natural human-robot interfaces for rehabilitation - Robotic systems for cognitive rehabilitation and for diagnosis and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders - Magnetic-imaging (MI) compatible robotic systems - Application of robotic systems for biomechanical modeling of the human body - Robotic systems for prevention of age-related motor disabilities Important dates September 15, 2008: Deadline for Paper Submission December 31, 2008: Completion of First Review March 15, 2009: Completion of Final Review June 2009 (tentative): Publication Submission and Review of Papers This is the first T-RO Special Issue on this topic and also the first one that will be fully handled electronically via the papercept system. Author information is available at the T-RO web site http://www.ieee-ras.org/tro > . Submissions should go to T-RO PaperCept at http://ras.papercept.net/journals/tro > . T-RO considers also accompanying multimedia material. Papers submitted to the Special Issue undergo the usual T-RO review process. Please refer your T-RO submissions to this Special Issue following the guidelines provided on the papercept system. For downloading the PDF release of this CFP and further information on the Special Issue, please check the IEEE RAS TC on Rehabilitation & Assistive Robotics web site at http://tab.ieee-ras.org/ > . We look forward to receiving your submissions. The Guest Editors of the T-RO Special Issue on Rehabilitation Robotics Dr. Takanori Shibata, AIST, Japan - shibata-takanori at aist.go.jp Dr. Michelle J. Johnson, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA- mjjohnso at mcw.edu Prof. Eugenio Gugliemelli, Universit? Campus Bio-Medico, Roma, Italy -e.guglielmelli at unicampus.it ********************************************************************************************************************************** Dr. Michelle J. Johnson, PhD Asst. Prof., Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Medical College of Wisconsin Research Asst. Prof., Biomedical Engineering, Marquette University (414) 805 4256 (MCW office) (414) 384 2000 x45878 or x47171 (Rehab Robotics Lab Office) email: mjjohnso at mcw.edu lab website: http://www.mcw.edu/roboticsrehab From wkchung at postech.ac.kr Wed Sep 10 18:47:25 2008 From: wkchung at postech.ac.kr (Wan Kyun Chung) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:47:25 +0900 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] announcement Message-ID: <3A0DC7B7966245CCB518A4E87E76C16B@wkchung> Hello: Please distribute following announcement to Robotics Community. Thank you very much. Sincerely Wan Kyun Chung ____________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________ Department of Mechanical Engineering, POSTECH The Department of Mechanical Engineering invites applications for tenure-track faculty positions with special interest in the areas of Computer Vision Mechanical Design Perception Outstanding faculty candidates in other areas are also welcomed. Successful candidates are expected to teach and guide undergraduate/graduate students, develop and perform funded research programs in their major areas. An earned doctorate is required. Candidates must possess either Korean citizenship or eligibility to obtain visa for extended stay in Korea. Applications should include: (1) a detailed CV with a photo and a publication record, (2) recommendation letters sent directly from at least three references, (3) transcripts (undergraduate and graduate), (4) a detailed description of research interests and plans, (5) representative publications. Those interested in applying should send in their applications so that all documents for application shall be received by November 30, 2008 to following address: Prof. Wan Kyun Chung/Department Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology San 31, Hyoja-dong, Nam-gu, Pohang, 790-784, South Korea For more information about the Department and the PIRO (Pohang Institute of Intelligent Robotics), please visit http://me.postech.ac.kr/ and http://www.piro.re.kr/. From alanwags at cc.gatech.edu Wed Sep 10 23:18:58 2008 From: alanwags at cc.gatech.edu (Alan Richard Wagner) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2008 02:18:58 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) Pioneer Workshop 2009 Call for Participation In-Reply-To: <656391849.127521221113901435.JavaMail.root@pinky.cc.gatech.edu> Message-ID: <698086153.127541221113938977.JavaMail.root@pinky.cc.gatech.edu> Apologies for cross-posting. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------- CALL FOR PARTICIPATION Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) Pioneer Workshop 2009 March 10, 2009 4th Human-Robot Interaction Conference (HRI2009) March 11-13, 2009 - San Diego, CA, USA http://www.hripioneers.org/hri09/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------- Workshop Description: The field of human-robot interaction is new but growing rapidly. While there are now several established researchers in the field, many of the current human-robotic interaction practitioners are students or recently graduated. This workshop, to be held in conjunction with the HRI 2009 conference, aims to bring together this group of researchers to discuss their work, talk about the important upcoming issues in the field, and hear about what their colleagues are doing. The workshop is the fourth annual workshop for junior researchers in HRI held in conjunction with the HRI conference. Those who have not attended a previous session are highly encouraged to submit to this workshop. Previous attendees will be considered for acceptance as well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------- Workshop Format: The format of the workshop will have participants presenting their work in short talks, hearing from an expert in the field on the important problems in HRI, and meeting in small group sessions to discuss common research themes. The workshop will take place in March 2009, in San Diego in conjunction with the HRI 2009 Conference. Potential participants are encouraged to submit an abstract of their current research, a statement of motivation, and a letter of recommendation by October 1, 2008 (see the webpage http://www.hripioneers.org/hri09/ for more details about the application. Please limit abstracts to two pages. We plan to accept approximately 30 students and young researchers to the workshop. Twelve will be asked to give a brief (10 minute) talk to the workshop about their work. The remainder will be expected to talk about their work during breakout sessions and meals. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------- Important Dates: 1 October 2008 - Application Deadline 19 November 2008 - Notification of acceptance 10 March 2009 - HRI Pioneer Workshop 11-13 March 2009 - HRI 2009 Conference ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------- Organizers: Alan Wagner, Georgia Tech, USA (chair) Emily Mower, USC, USA Rosemarijn Looije, TNO, the Netherlands Maxim Makatchev, CMU, USA Marek Michalowski, CMU, USA For more information, please visit the following website: http://www.hripioneers.org/hri09/ _____ Kind regards, Rosemarijn From jian.dai at kcl.ac.uk Thu Sep 11 05:51:31 2008 From: jian.dai at kcl.ac.uk (Dai, Jian) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:51:31 +0100 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] ReMAR 2009: ASME/IEEE International Conference on Reconfigurable Mechanisms and Robots Message-ID: <15C82B6C47B68847B2DC874B45CC6711765A25EBB2@KCL-MAIL03.kclad.ds.kcl.ac.uk> Dear Editors, could you please circulate the following message on ReMAR 2009: ASME/IEEE International Conference on Reconfigurable Mechanisms and Robots? Best wishes, Jian Professor Jian S Dai Chair in Mechanisms and Robotics Head of Centre for Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems CEng, FIMechE, Cert(Ed)HE, Division of Engineering King's College London, University of London Strand, London WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0) 7848 2321, Fax: +44 (0) 7848 2932 URL: www.kcl.ac.uk/cmms/jsd Dear Colleagues, I am pleased to announce the Call for Papers of the ASME/IEEE International Conference on Reconfigurable Mechanisms and Robots (ReMAR 2009) to be held at King?s College London, University of London, UK in 22-24 June 2009. With the development of science and technology and with space exploration, hazardous environment work, and production requirements of small batch, short run and quick change-over, traditional concepts of mechanisms and robots development are facing a challenge in the 21st century for adaptability and reconfigurability. Since 1990s, researchers are generating new ideas and concepts for new mechanisms and machines including robots for reconfigurability. The ASME/IEEE International Conference on Reconfigurable Mechanisms and Robots (ReMAR 2009) is to provide an international forum for presenting and discussing new mechanisms and robots developed in the past decade for their new properties in changing the topological structure and therefore the mobility of a mechanism or a robot and for discussing their uses for domestic, hazardous, out-space and manufacturing environments for adaptability and reconfiguration. The main areas of this conference include, but not limited to, following subjects: Novel Mechanism Design Metamorphic Robotics Reconfigurable Manufacturing Reconfiguration and adaptability Bio-design Technics Bio-metamorphic Robotics Reconfigurable Robots Kinematics and Dynamics of Reconfiguration Bio-reconfiguration Engineering Metamorphic Mechanisms Reconfigurable Mechanisms Reconfigurable Topology Various Topology Modeling Modular Devices Biological Self-Assembly Mechanisms Biomimetics Artiomimetics The ReMAR 2009 will be held at King?s College London, University of London, which is situated at the heart of London, UK, in conjuction to the celebration of 171 Years of Engineering at King?s College London. King?s is one of the oldest and most prestigious UK universities with 13,000 undergraduate students and 9,200 graduates in nine schools of study with 2,700 academic staff and 2,700 other staff. The Engineering was established at King?s in 1838 and is arguably the oldest established engineering school in England. You are very welcome to submit your work to this conference. Your submission will be reviewed by members of our Programme Committee and selected external reviewers. The accepted papers will be indexed by EI and the special issues of Robotica and Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science will be followed. More detailed information about this event can be found in conference official website: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/cmms/remar2009. I will look forward to your attendance with us! Sincerely yours, Professor Jian S Dai General Chair ASME/IEEE International Conference on Reconfigurable Mechanisms and Robots (ReMAR 2009) http://www.kcl.ac.uk/cmms/remar2009 Chair in Mechanisms and Robotics Head of Centre for Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems CEng, FIMechE, CertEd(HE) School of Physical Sciences and Engineering King?s College London University of London Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK +44 (0) 20 7848 2321 www.kcl.ac.uk/cmms/jsd From jmh at cs.utah.edu Thu Sep 11 08:35:11 2008 From: jmh at cs.utah.edu (John Hollerbach) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2008 09:35:11 -0600 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Submissions open for World Haptics 2009 Message-ID: <48C93AAF.4090100@cs.utah.edu> Dear colleague, Submissions are now open for World Haptics 2009 (the 3rd Joint Eurohaptics Conference and Symposium on Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environment and Teleoperator Systems), to be held March 18-20, 2009, in Salt Lake City. Besides the submissions information below, please visit the conference web site at http://www.worldhaptics2009.org/. I invite you to submit your haptics-related research to World Haptics 2009. Sincerely yours, John Hollerbach, General Chair There are two categories of submissions: * Regular papers are limited to six pages. This year, there will be no category of 2-page sketches. In addition, authors will be able to submit a video accompanyment. Finally, authors will have an option of including a hands-on demonstration as part of their paper. o Submissions deadline: October 15, 2008, midnight Pacific Daylight Time. o Notification of acceptance by: November 26, 2008. o Final contributions due: December 23, 2008. * Demonstration papers are limited to two pages, and describe a hands-on demo. o Submissions deadline: November 15, 2008, midnight Pacific Daylight Time. o Notification of acceptance by: November 26, 2008. o Final contributions due: December 23, 2008. In addition, exhibitors are invited to submit demonstrations of products or developments. Papers and videos will appear both in the conference DVD and printed proceedings, and will be posted on IEEE Xplore. If authors choose to retain the copyright, their papers and videos will appear only in the conference DVD and will not be posted to Xplore. Such papers will not be eligible for awards. As the World Haptics Conference grows, the only way to keep to a 3-day, single-track schedule is to rely more on poster presentations. The designation of podium versus poster presentations is considered to be one of style, not weight. Consequently, in the proceedings there will be no distinction made as to how a paper was presented. Special emphasis will be given to the poster sessions. Assignment of a paper to be a poster versus podium presentation will take into account achieving a spectrum of topics, and where possible authors' wishes as to the presentation style. When a paper is accompanied by a hands-on demo, it will be assigned to poster presentation. Submission of Regular Papers Please visit the IEEE Robotics and Automation Paperplaza web site to submit your paper by the October 15, 2008 deadline. * Papers must be in English, and not exceed six (6) pages in length. * We are using the IEEE Computer Society templates to format papers. Please use one of the following two templates: o Latex format o MS Word format More information about these templates can be found at: http://www.cs.sfu.ca/~vis/Tasks/camera.html. Videos should not use special codecs (coders/decoders) in order to provide as much portability across platforms as possible. We strongly recommend the most common media formats (mpeg 1 or mpeg 4). Only freely available players (e.g., QuickTime, RealPlayer, Microsoft Windows Media Player, MPlayer) should be required for viewing the video. Although the paper has to be self-contained (i.e., fully readable and understandable independently from the video), an explicit reference to the accompanying video should be present in the text of the paper. Submission of Demonstration Papers Demonstrations are an effective way to convey progress in haptics. For demonstrations not associated with a regular paper submission, proposals consist of a two-page paper and optional video due November 26, 2008. The two-page paper should describe the demo purpose, organization, and equipment, possibly including pictures and other explanatory material. The conference will provide basic infrastructure for the accepted demos, which by default will consist of a posterboard, table, two chairs, and electrical connections. Please add a third page describing any special needs beyond the basic setup. Please use the paper templates for regular papers, and submit at the IEEE Robotics and Automation Paperplaza web site. Submission of Exhibitions World Haptics is the best chance to present your organization's products or developments related to haptic interfaces, simulation environments, robotics, components, and ancilliary systems. Proposals for exhibitions should be submitted by December 15, 2008 to the General Chair (jmhATcsDOTutahDOTedu). In your proposal, please describe any needs besides the standard booth setup. From Rene.Mayorga at uregina.ca Thu Sep 11 15:30:54 2008 From: Rene.Mayorga at uregina.ca (Rene Mayorga) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:30:54 -0600 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Humanoid Robots jABB Special Issue References: <482EFD67.238F.0089.0@uregina.ca> <48AB1712.238F.0089.0@uregina.ca> Message-ID: <48C947BD.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 aude.billard at epfl.ch Thu Sep 11 23:59:05 2008 From: aude.billard at epfl.ch (Aude Billard) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 08:59:05 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] EST 12pm Submission: 4th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI'09) Message-ID: <004c01c914a5$0be90630$6891b280@sti.intranet.epfl.ch> ************************************************************************ FINAL 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 ************************************************************************ Website Open for Submission Submit your paper through the http://www.precisionconference.com/~hri website. All authors will be invited and are strongly encouraged to participate in the review process. PAPER/TUTORIAL/WORKSHOP SUBMISSION DEADLINE (STRICT): 15 September 2008, midnight EST ************************************************************************ 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 katz at merl.com Fri Sep 12 12:48:42 2008 From: katz at merl.com (Joseph Katz) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:48:42 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Position available -- Senior Research Scientist in Mechatronics and Control Message-ID: <5DB4B687-4DAF-46A1-AC75-01FA0819682B@merl.com> Senior Research Scientist - Mechatronics and Control Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL, http:// www.merl.com), located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the North American arm of the corporate R&D organization of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO, http://global.mitsubishielectric.com). MELCO is a $35 billion global leader in electrical and electronic equipment used in industrial, commercial and home products. MERL is embarking on the development of a new research program in mechatronics and control, including applications to factory automation, aerospace, transportation (automotive, elevator, escalator), and other areas of MELCO's business. The Senior Researcher will lead a group at MERL collaborating with MELCO's mechatronics and control R&D facilities in Japan to extend the performance envelope of systems such as high-performance factory automation machines and elevators, and other state-of-the-art mechanical control systems. The ideal candidate will have: ? a Ph.D. from a well-recognized institution in mechatronics and control (or equivalent training and experience); MERL will also consider exceptional candidates in allied fields. ? a balance of theoretical and practical orientation ? the proven ability to make fundamental innovations ? the proven ability to formulate, initiate, and pursue research programs, and lead research teams in achieving the goals of these programs ? some relevant industrial experience This is a ground floor opportunity in a world-class research laboratory. MERL is an Equal Opportunity Employer. PRINCIPALS ONLY apply to mechatronics at merl.com. No phone calls please. From simon.miles at kcl.ac.uk Sat Sep 13 09:18:39 2008 From: simon.miles at kcl.ac.uk (Simon Miles) Date: Sat, 13 Sep 2008 17:18:39 +0100 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] AAMAS-09: 2nd Call for Papers Message-ID: (apologies if you receive multiple copies of this call) CALL FOR PAPERS The Eighth International Joint Conference on AUTONOMOUS AGENTS AND MULTI-AGENT SYSTEMS (AAMAS-09) Budapest, Hungary May 10--15, 2009 http://www.conferences.hu/AAMAS2009/ (please note that, while some prior publicity has given a start date of May 11, the conference as whole will begin with tutorials and doctoral consortium on May 10) INTRODUCTION AAMAS is the leading scientific conference for research in autonomous agents and multiagent systems. The AAMAS conference series was initiated in 2002 by merging highly respected individual conferences: - the International Conference on Multi-Agent Systems (ICMAS); - the International Workshop on Agent Theories, Architectures, and Languages (ATAL); - the International Conference on Autonomous Agents (AA). The aim of the joint conference is to provide a single, high-profile, internationally respected archival forum for scientific research in the theory and practice of autonomous agents and multiagent systems. See http://www.ifaamas.org for more information. AAMAS-09 is the Eighth conference in the AAMAS series, following enormously successful previous conferences at Bologna, Italy (2002), Melbourne, Australia (2003), New York, USA (2004), Utrecht, The Netherlands (2005), Hakodate, Japan (2006), Honolulu, USA (2007) and Estoril, Portugal (2008). AAMAS-09 will be held at the Europa Congress Center, Budapest, Hungary. INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS AAMAS-09 encourages the submission of *original* papers covering theoretical, experimental, methodological, and application issues in autonomous agents and multiagent systems. Authors are discouraged to submit papers describing work that has already been published in previous AAMAS workshops with post-proceedings publications and/or published as short papers in previous AAMAS proceedings, unless that the authors *clearly* demonstrate significant new content with respect to the previous publication. The main theme of AAMAS-09, based on feedback from previous conferences, will be reinforcing the rich panorama of *interconnections* in the field. We encourage the community, and the authors in particular, to reflect about their work not as belonging to just a niche in a long list of topics, but rather as a point in an abstract topological space defined by three complementary axes: (i) the *focus* of the work contribution being presented, (ii) the *description level* of the contribution and, (ii) the intellectual *inspiration source* of the approach used in the research. Every paper will be evaluated appropriately with respect to each of these three axes. Moreover, the use of this topological space will help this year and future AAMAS conference organizers to better stress some particular points in this space to be highlighted in the program, as it was the case of the special tracks presented in AAMAS-08 and will be the case of the special areas in AAMAS-09. DESCRIPTION LEVEL AXIS AAMAS-09 encourages the submission of papers in several descriptive styles: (i) theoretical, (ii) experimental (architecture/system-oriented), (iii) methodologies/languages (design/software engineering/programming-oriented), and (iv) applications. Every paper should make clear its contribution to the AAMAS field, place itself in the context of relevant related work, and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of its approach. Theoretical papers should make clear the significance and application-relevance of the results to the AAMAS community. Experimental papers should address broad issues in the context of autonomous agents or multi-agent systems architectures or performance rather than isolated generic capabilities (such as general planning or learning). Methodological and language papers should propose advances in MAS analysis/design methodologies, process and process models for agent-oriented software development, frameworks for MAS specific properties (like cooperation, coordination etc...), agent verification and validation techniques/tools, and multi-agent programming languages, deployment platforms and development tools. Application papers should make clear both their scientific and technical contributions, and their practical strengths and weaknesses. INSPIRATION SOURCE AXIS AAMAS-09 welcomes papers from many intellectual approaches, including artificial intelligence, distributed systems, economics, social/management sciences, (multi-)robotics, and biologically-inspired approaches. FOCUS AXIS Broadly speaking, the AAMAS community-specific topics of interest are focussed in individual agents, their environment, their interactions, and their social/organizational structure. Agent Focus: contributions are focussed on the elements for structuring/defining/analyzing individual processing entities: - agent architectures - agent reasoning/deliberation/decision mechanisms - agent perception and action - believable agents - believable agents - agents models of emotion, motivation, personality, etc. Environment Focus: contributions are focussed on the elements for structuring/defining/analyzing the the external world (including humans) and its information exchange with the processing entities: - environmmental entities - agent-human interaction - interface agents Interaction Focus: contributions are focussed on the elements for structuring/defining/analyzing the information and control exchange between the processing entities - agent communication languages - interaction protocols - ontological / semantic interactions - conflict resolution and negotiation - argumentation theories - coordination mechanisms - multi-agent planning and learning - reputation and trust - privacy and security Social/Organizational Structure Focus: costributions are focussed on elements for structuring/defining/analyzing the identity and properties of multiple processing entities - groups and teams - norms and normative behavior - commitments - autonomy - organizations and institutions - organizational planning/learning - organizational reputation and trust - coalition formation - open systems Comprehensive/Cross-cutting Focus: contributions dealing with all or more than one of the previous focus - complete applications demonstrating several different significant foci - evaluation techniques - ethical and legal issues - standardization efforts in industry and commerce - meta-papers (on the state of agent research, on the conference, etc.) SPECIAL AREAS Particularly this year, we are strongly encouraging papers that focus on some of the issues located at the topological space described above: Inspiration source axis: - (Multi-)Robotics - Social Sciences Description level axis: - Methodologies/languages - Applications Focus axis: - (Virtual) Agents - Social/Organizational Structure In addition to conventional conference papers, AAMAS-09 will also include a demonstration track for work focusing on implemented systems, software, or robot prototypes; and an industry track for descriptions of industrial applications of agents. The submission processes for the demonstration and industry tracks will be separate from the main paper submission process. SUBMISSION DETAILS This year the conference is soliciting regular papers (8 pages) and extended abstracts (2 pages). Extended abstracts are encouraged as a mechanism for the timely reporting of interesting but preliminary work, that may not as yet have the level of evaluation or detail that would be expected for a regular paper. The program chairs may, at their discretion, accept papers that were submitted as regular papers as extended abstracts, if the authors have explicitly agreed to this when registering their papers. Accepted regular papers will receive a slot for oral presentation in the conference. In addition, both regular and extended abstracts will be presented in poster sessions and appear in the conference proceedings. Reviews will be double blind, therefore authors are requested to avoid including anything that can be used to reveal their identity. Submissions will be peer reviewed rigorously and evaluated on the basis of adherence, originality, soundness, significance, presentation, understanding of the state of the art, and overall quality of their technical contribution. More details about the review process can be found in the conference page. Authors should refer to the conference page to download the adequate paper formats and the instructions to access the Confmaster system. Full instructions and style files are now available, and submission will be possible from 20th September onwards. http://www.conferences.hu/AAMAS2009/submission.html ORGANIZING COMMITTEE General Chairs: Carles Sierra, Artificial Intelligence Research Institute of the Spanish Research Council (Spain) Cristiano Castelfranchi, ISTC-CNR (Italy) Program Chairs: Jaime Sim?o Sichman, Politecnic School, University of S?o Paulo (Brazil) Keith S. Decker, Dept. of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Delaware (USA) A more complete list of other members of the AAMAS-09 Organizing Committee may be found in http://www.conferences.hu/AAMAS2009/. IMPORTANT DATES Oct 10, 2008 EDT (GMT-4): electronic abstract submission deadline Oct 14, 2008 EDT (GMT-4): electronic paper submission deadline Dec 19, 2008: paper notification Feb 06, 2009: camera-ready copy submission deadline -- Dr Simon Miles Agents and Intelligent Systems Group Department of Computer Science Kings College London, UK From ki at cvl.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp Sat Sep 13 15:20:36 2008 From: ki at cvl.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp (Katsushi Ikeuchi) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2008 07:20:36 +0900 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] ICRA09 firm deadline Message-ID: <002d01c915ee$f2268420$d6738c60$@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp> Dear potential contributors of ICRA09, ICRA09 will have the FIRM deadline of paper submission, as stated in the web, Monday September 15th 23:59:59. PST. Katsushi Ikeuchi Program Chair of ICRA09 From G.SenGupta at massey.ac.nz Sun Sep 14 16:31:09 2008 From: G.SenGupta at massey.ac.nz (Sen Gupta, Gourab) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:31:09 +1200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] ICARA 2009 - Wellington, New Zealand 10-12 Feb 2009 Message-ID: <92FDFD8B26EB6542B1E1BF017BB998D14F4EB9CA07@TUR-EXCHMBX.massey.ac.nz> Hi, The 4th International Conference on Autonomous Robots and Agents (ICARA 2009) will be held in James Cook Hotel Grand Chancellor, Wellington, New Zealand, from 10th to 12th February, 2009. ICARA 2009 is intended to provide a common forum for researchers, scientists, engineers and practitioners throughout the world to present their latest research findings, ideas, developments and applications in the area of autonomous robotics and intelligent systems. Conference proceedings will be indexed in IEEE Xplore. Selected papers will be considered for publication in international journals and book series. Please visit the conference website for all the details - http://icara.massey.ac.nz Paper submission deadline is 30th September 2008 Regards, Gourab Sen Gupta, General Co-Chair Subhas Mukhopadhyay, Technical Program Chair From choset at cs.cmu.edu Sun Sep 14 19:01:43 2008 From: choset at cs.cmu.edu (Howie Choset) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:01:43 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Faculty Positions in the Robotics Institute Message-ID: <48CDC207.1080202@cs.cmu.edu> *Tenure, Research, and Systems Faculty Positions at The Robotics Institute* The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University invites applications from outstanding faculty candidates at all levels and in all tracks (tenure-track, research, and systems) with special interest in the areas of Medical and Rehabilitative Robotics Assistive and Prosthetic Technologies Dynamic Systems and Control Materials and Mechanism Design Human Robot Interaction Field Robotics Outstanding candidates in other areas are also welcomed. Applications should include a letter indicating the area of specialization and faculty track, a detailed curriculum vitae, a research statement (including both current and future directions) and a teaching statement (if appropriate for the track), copies of 1 - 3 representative papers, and the names and email addresses of three or more individuals who have been asked to provide letters of reference. Applicants should arrange for reference letters to be sent directly to the Robotics Institute Faculty Search Committee (hard copy or email), to arrive before January 15, 2009. Letters will not be requested directly by the Search Committee. All applications should indicate citizenship and, in the case of non-US citizens, current visa status. Applications and reference letters (PDF format) may be submitted via email to *robotics-facultysearch at ri.cmu.edu*, or to: Robotics Institute Faculty Search Committee ATTENTION: Rachel Shackelford School of Computer Science Wean Hall 4212 Carnegie Mellon University 5000 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3891 Evaluation of applications will start on November 30th, 2008 and will continue through January 15th, 2009. However, applications may be accepted for review after that date until all positions have been filled. The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University was established in 1979 to conduct basic and applied research in robotics technologies relevant to industrial and societal tasks. Seeking to combine the practical and the theoretical, the Robotics Institute has diversified its efforts and approaches to robotics science while retaining its original goal of realizing the potential of the robotics field. Faculty members hold primary appointments in the Institute and many have appointments in other academic units including Mechanical Engineering, Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Machine Learning, and Computer Science. Faculty candidates are expected to have a strong interest in research, outstanding academic credentials, and an earned Ph.D. Candidates for tenure-track appointments should also have a strong interest in graduate and undergraduate education. The highly selective graduate programs in the Robotics Institute draw top students from around the world. Further information about the Robotics Institute and its programs may be found at www.ri.cmu.edu. Carnegie Mellon University is an Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity Employer and encourages applications from women and members of underrepresented groups. From tadokoro at rm.is.tohoku.ac.jp Tue Sep 16 01:16:33 2008 From: tadokoro at rm.is.tohoku.ac.jp (Satoshi Tadokoro) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:16:33 +0900 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Call for Participants: SSRR 2008 Message-ID: <20080916171419.A88E.CB6C3084@rm.is.tohoku.ac.jp> Dear Robotics Researchers IEEE International Workshop on Safety, Security and Rescue Robotics will be held in Tohoku University, Japan on October 21-24, 2008 as follows. Satoshi -- 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 URL: http://www.rm.is.tohoku.ac.jp/ssrr2008/ Advance Registration Due: September 30, 2008 (On-site registration is possible after this date.) 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, $B!D(B) - Manipulation capabilities (hazards, payloads, obstacles, doors, $B!D(B) - Communications for reliable data transfer (tether management, radio, $B!D(B) - 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 $BED=j!!M!(B $BElKLBg3XBg3X1!!!>pJs2J3X8&5f2J!!1~MQ>pJs2J3X at l96!!65k8)@gBf;T at DMU6h9S4,;z at DMU(B6-6-01 Tel 022-795-7022 Fax 022-795-7023 Email tadokoro at rm.is.tohoku.ac.jp From jlpons at iai.csic.es Tue Sep 16 02:32:17 2008 From: jlpons at iai.csic.es (=?iso-8859-1?Q?Jos=E9_L._Pons?=) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:32:17 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Special Issue on Lower and Upper limb Exoskeletons in jABB (Final Reminder) Message-ID: <79EBC2EF8C2D44EB8118B0E9D4FD183E@Gaia> Dear Colleagues, This is the last reminder before the deadline for the submission of papers for the Special Issue on Lower and Upper limb Exoskeletons to be published in jABB is met. Please follow the link http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/journal.asp?issn=1176-2322&linktype=44 for instructions for authors. Contributions can be sent by email to me. The original Call for contributions is copied below for your reference. ----------------------------------- 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 --------------------------------- Should you need any additional information, do not hesitate to contact me. Best regards, Prof. 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 alanwags at cc.gatech.edu Tue Sep 16 08:13:40 2008 From: alanwags at cc.gatech.edu (Alan Richard Wagner) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:13:40 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) Pioneer Workshop 2009 Call for Participation In-Reply-To: <698086153.127541221113938977.JavaMail.root@pinky.cc.gatech.edu> Message-ID: <2091739749.165201221578020191.JavaMail.root@pinky.cc.gatech.edu> **Second Attempt to post Apologies for cross-posting. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------- CALL FOR PARTICIPATION Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) Pioneer Workshop 2009 March 10, 2009 4th Human-Robot Interaction Conference (HRI2009) March 11-13, 2009 - San Diego, CA, USA http://www.hripioneers.org/hri09/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------- Workshop Description: The field of human-robot interaction is new but growing rapidly. While there are now several established researchers in the field, many of the current human-robotic interaction practitioners are students or recently graduated. This workshop, to be held in conjunction with the HRI 2009 conference, aims to bring together this group of researchers to discuss their work, talk about the important upcoming issues in the field, and hear about what their colleagues are doing. The workshop is the fourth annual workshop for junior researchers in HRI held in conjunction with the HRI conference. Those who have not attended a previous session are highly encouraged to submit to this workshop. Previous attendees will be considered for acceptance as well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------- Workshop Format: The format of the workshop will have participants presenting their work in short talks, hearing from an expert in the field on the important problems in HRI, and meeting in small group sessions to discuss common research themes. The workshop will take place in March 2009, in San Diego in conjunction with the HRI 2009 Conference. Potential participants are encouraged to submit an abstract of their current research, a statement of motivation, and a letter of recommendation by October 1, 2008 (see the webpage http://www.hripioneers.org/hri09/ for more details about the application. Please limit abstracts to two pages. We plan to accept approximately 30 students and young researchers to the workshop. Twelve will be asked to give a brief (10 minute) talk to the workshop about their work. The remainder will be expected to talk about their work during breakout sessions and meals. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------- Important Dates: 1 October 2008 - Application Deadline 19 November 2008 - Notification of acceptance 10 March 2009 - HRI Pioneer Workshop 11-13 March 2009 - HRI 2009 Conference ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------- Organizers: Alan Wagner, Georgia Tech, USA (chair) Emily Mower, USC, USA Rosemarijn Looije, TNO, the Netherlands Maxim Makatchev, CMU, USA Marek Michalowski, CMU, USA For more information, please visit the following website: http://www.hripioneers.org/hri09/ _____ Kind regards, Alan From nikos.tsagarakis at iit.it Tue Sep 16 05:36:19 2008 From: nikos.tsagarakis at iit.it (Tsagarakis Nikos) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:36:19 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Phd Positons in Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Dept. of Advanced Robotics Message-ID: <52B2198F13AB6F4F95E25AF88DE14C803B9B90@EXCHANGE.netexchange.int.netscalibur.it> Dear all, The Department of Advanced Robotics at the Italian Institute of Technology is offering this year a number of PhD positions in Robotics. Project themes are grouped into four main streams: Humanoid Robotics, Biomimetics, Telepresence VR and Haptics and Medical Robotics (see abstracts below) The Deadline for the applications is the 3rd of October 2008. More information and details on how to apply can be found in http://www.iit.it/phd_positions For further details concerning the research projects, please contact nikos.tsagarakis at iit.it PhD Themes //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Stream 1: Telepresence, VR and Haptics Researchers working in this area will work on the development of multimodal telepresence and haptic interaction paradigms, and hardware/software drawing on simultaneously displayed cutaneous and kineathesic experiences, the application of these technologies in human computer interactions and human centred robotics and the key psycho-physical testing of the experiences. The work will draw on expertise in engineering (mechanical and electronic) and computer systems. There may also be a small number of opportunities for researchers from a Psycho-physics and/or Psychology background. Theme 3.1: Bi-manual Semi-Exoskeleton for Enhanced Teleoperation and Virtual Immersion Tutor: Dr Nikos Tsagarakis N. of available positions: 1 The sense of touch is crucial in any kind of training or teleoperation procedures as these actions require the user to extensively engage his hand and fingers. In the recent years the rapid improvements in hardware and software to provide effective force/touch feedback has led to the development of generic haptic devices that have been applied in various training simulators and teleoperation systems. In most of these instances the mobility, dexterity and general utility for unencumbered use are relatively poor. In addition these systems provide only point contact and cannot address much more complex haptic scenarios where hands (groping with fingers or manipulation) are used to feel forces of varying levels while manipulating objects in a large workspace. To be of any advantage the touch modality should be conveyed to the user in a natural manner through a highly perceptive and transparent haptic interface. The development of a multi degree of freedom haptic system (based on exoskeletal systems) with large isotropic working volume, high backdrivability and multimodal feedback capability will be the core of this research. Applicants ideally should have a background in one or more of the following fields: electronic engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, and robotics. The candidates must have good writing and communication skills and motivation to work in a highly competitive and multidisciplinary environment. Experience with CAD and a good knowledge of robot kinematics analysis would be a benefit. Theme 3.2: Integration of Multimodal Virtual Reality System Tutor: Eng. Andrea Brogni, Dr. Nikos Tsagarakis N. of Positions: 1 Virtual Reality systems are daily becoming more complex, due to the evolution of different inputs, such as motion capture, 3D sounds, bio-feedback, haptic interfaces and robots. The integration and the mode of interacting in those multi-modal environments is a fundamental area of research for this field. Different sensory streams are coming from different devices and making an interactive application implies deal with many different formats. The topic of the research will involve be studying the systems available in the department and the definition of a basic standard for the communications. The design and the development of a multimodal platform for the integration will be the second part of the research. The work will be based on previous studies and in collaboration with other researchers. The ideal candidate should have a background on computer science or engineering and a strong attitude to mix theory and practice, including programming C++ libraries and interfaces for hardware. Theme 3.3: Interfacing a Virtual Reality Environment with Haptic Interfaces and/or Robots Tutor: Eng. Andrea Brogni, Dr. Nick Tsagarakis N. of Positions: 1 The sense of presence involves the human reactions during the virtual experience. How the user reacts, in behaviour, physiologically and physically, are key points for the evaluation of the level of engagement. Using haptic interfaces and robots, we will introduce other feedbacks, i.e. touch and weight or the physical presence of avatars, that will effect how the user interacts and explore how the user behaves in this configuration? What is the best paradigm for the interaction? What kind of applications would be optimal for increasing the level of presence? The topic of the PhD will be studying the human approach in an immersive virtual environment, when a user has to deal with haptic feedback and robotics mechanism. In particular, the interaction with robotic avatars, human-like or machine, during specific collaborative tasks or experiences will be explored. The ideal candidate should have a background on computer science or engineering and a strong attitude to mix theory and practice, including programming C++ libraries, interfaces for hardware and 3D OpenGL graphics. Experience in Virtual reality and Presence field could be an advantage. Theme 3.4: Investigation of the physiology and psychophysics of the human fingertip. Tutor: Prof Darwin G Caldwell N. of Positions: 1 The human fingers and particularly the fingertips are key to the haptic perception of contact with an environment, yet there is a comparatively poor understanding of the nature of finger tip sensing and perception. This work will involve a study of human tactile perception using a tactile array of vertical-moving pins in contact with the fingertip. It will investigate the sensory nature of the finger tip in terms of spatial and temporal resolution, and psychophysics methodologies to evaluate human tactile performance and use this data to define and specify the design of haptic interfaces. It is also expected that the work will involve testing an use of fMRI and MRI scans. The applicant ideally should have good background in psychophysics. Experience in robotics and graphics OpenGL is an additional bonus but not essential. Theme 3.5: High Fidelity Telepresence Control of a High Dexterity robotic hand Tutor: Prof Darwin G Caldwell N. of Positions: 1 The teleoperation there is often a poor mapping between the actions of the operator and particularly the hand movements of the operators and the movements of the robotic end-effector. This makes high precision, high fidelity manipulation of small or delicate object exteemely difficult or impossible. This project will bring together several research threads considering the development of high fidelity input gloves and finger tracking systems, advanced feedback systems for the fingers (hand exoskeletons, tactile array, thermal feedback) and miniature dextrous manipulators with over 23 dof and advanced tactile sensing. Applicants should have a strong engineering or physical science background. Stream 2: Humanoid Robotics Research in this area will focus on all areas of hardware and to a lesser extent software development for humanoid robots. The research will involve the development of novel actuators, high dexterity end-effectors that will link with the haptics/telepresence research, novel tactile sensing, the use of new structures and materials and self healing, and self repair. Theme 3.6: Human Friendly Actuation Technologies Tutor: Dr Nikos Tsagarakis, Dr Bram Vanderbroght N. of available positions: 1 Robot actuation has been traditionally based on the use of heavy, stiff position/velocity and torque actuation units coupled with rigid non back-drivable transmission mechanisms. These stiff actuation groups are usually implemented by combining DC-Brushed or Brushless or AC drives with planetary or Harmonic Drive Gears and/or timing belts with a high gain PD control. These robots are optimised for precision and speed and are highly repeatable, acting within constrained and well defined environments. Recently, with the introduction of new applications domain such as virtual/tele-presence, robot aided therapy/assistance, humanoids and personal/entertainment robotics and augmentation systems it has become increasingly clear that the traditional actuation approach is not suitable for addressing the performance requirements of these new application domains. The requirement for closer human-robot interaction have highlighted the need for robotic systems which can match the performance of biological systems in terms of ability to regulate displacements and impedance over a wide range of loads and motions enabling control of acceleration and force for enhanced performance, safe interaction and energy efficient task execution. These are key developmental features of all new generation systems. In fact, these requirements are directly linked to the actuation system. The lack of such an actuator unit that can mimic some of the properties of the natural muscle is probably one of the most significant barriers that prevented so far the development of robotic systems exhibiting bio-natural functional behaviour and performance. This limitation of the current actuation technologies is the inspiration for the research which will focus on the: * Development of new biologically (in terms of functional behaviour) based actuation units to form the motion/force (impedance) sources for the new range of robots. * Investigation of appropriate materials and mechanisms (fluidic and nonlinear compliant components, smart materials such Electro/Magneto-rheological fluids) to be used for the implementation of the variable stiffness, variable damping or full impedance regulation principles. * Exploration of how these adjustable impedance principles can be embedded into the design of a conventional engineered actuator unit (electric/fluidic drives) from the mechanism point of view. To design and produce this new range of actuator groups in a compact volume without deteriorating beneficial performance attributes found on conventionally mechatronic actuators (i.e. high power to weight/volume ratio, high force to weight/volume ratio, fast response and good position and force control). * Development of control techniques of the new range of actuation units and demonstrate their application in the development of a lower body for a humanoid robot. Applicants for this area are should ideally possess a strong background in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering or physical system modelling and control. Theme 3.7: Bipedal Walking for the Humanoid Robot "iCub" Tutors: Dr Bram Vanderbroght and Dr Nikos Tsagarakis N. available positions: 1 The humanoid robot "iCub" has been constructed within the European consortium RobotCub. The legs have 12DOF and are powered by electrical motors. In the first stage of system walking traditional control schemes will be implemented consisting of a trajectory generator and stabilizer. In the second phase stretched knee walking and the use of the toe-joint to make bigger steps will be studied. The last phase of the project consists of changing the hardware of the legs to implement compliant actuation and to adapt the control schemes to make benefit of the compliance regarding improved energy efficiency and adaptability regarding different terrains. Applicants should ideally possess a strong background in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science or physical system modelling and control. Theme 3.8: Safe manipulation using compliant actuation Tutor: Dr Irene Sardellitti and Dr Bram Vanderbroght N. available positions: 1 The next generation of robotic manipulators will operate out of their safety cages and in close proximity with humans. Safety hence becomes the primary concern in these devices. Passive compliant actuation is the key for safe human-robot interaction, but control schemes controlling both torque and stiffness of every actuator to combine good tracking performances under a desired safety index are still missing. A manipulator actuated with adaptable compliant actuators developed by IIT will be built. In the first stage the torque/stiffness needs to be controlled to safely track desired trajectories. In a second phase the manipulator will be controlled without the use of control elements as joysticks, but the user will directly manipulate the load which has to be sensed by the manipulator. Preferable a strategy should be developed without using sensory information from torque/force sensors. Applicants should ideally possess a strong background in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science or physical system modelling and control. Stream 3: Biomimetics This area will consider the development of hardware, software and sensory systems for biological inspired robotic systems. Theme 3.9: Bio-natural Functional Locomotion Systems and Physical Principles Tutor: Prof Darwin G Caldwell N. of available positions: 1 A hydraulically actuated quadruped robot (called HyQ) is currently being developed with the aim to study compact hydraulic actuation systems for legged robots and their control incorporating aspects of active/ passive joint stiffness regulation for energy efficient animal locomotion. This will including jumping and running. Furthermore the robot will serve as a platform to test compact power systems as an alternative to batteries (petrol/gas combustion engines, fuel cells, etc) to make future robots power-autonomous for several hours. The final version of the robot will have the following estimated specifications: weight 70-80 kg (including 10kg payload), height less than 1m, four legs with three degrees of freedom each, hydraulic actuation systems, position and force sensing on joint level, compliance in joints. The anatomical design of the legs has been inspired by the morphology of biological systems. The specifications for actuator performance result from dynamic simulations. A first prototype leg has been constructed and its performance is currently being tested. Positions are open to work on the development of energy efficient animal-leg mechanical systems which emulate the biological systems not only from the morphology point of view but also exhibit bio-natural functional behaviour and performance. This will include the development of actuation techniques allowing this behaviour to be simulated. The ability to passively regulate the impedance of the actuator will be the key feature of the actuation units. The first position will consider the locomotion of the robot. After studying different animal gaits such as walk, trot and gallop, dynamic simulations will test stability and efficiency of different control algorithms and motion generators. Successful control methods will finally be tested and improved on the robot platform. The second position will focus on the mechanical design of the robot (CAD), including the hydraulic actuation system, adjustable stiffness mechanisms and eventually compact power systems. Applicants for this area are should ideally possess a strong background in electronic/electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, or a physical science. Theme 3.10: Development of water hydraulic components and systems for robotics Tutors: Dr Yang Yousheng N. available positions: 1 Water hydraulics, which uses water instead of oil as the power transmitting medium, is environmentally friendly, non-flammable, inexpensive, clean, readily available, and easily disposable. More importantly, when compared to oil hydraulics, water hydraulics has a quicker response and a higher efficiency. In addition, it is more stable (in terms of flow velocity and efficiency) over a wide range of operating temperatures due to water's higher bulk modulus, a lower viscosity and a higher specific heat capacity. All the above mentioned advantages make water hydraulics appealing in high performance actuation techniques such as robotics.However, water (as opposed to oil) is more prone to cavitation, poor lubrication, has higher leakage and requires appropriate material and design. The aim of the PhD project is to develop water hydraulic components and systems for robotic actuation. The position will focus on the development of compact, small size and light weight water hydraulic components, including modelling, simulation, prototyping, experiment. The candidate should ideally have a masters degree in Mechanical Engineering or related areas. The candidates must have good writing and communication skills. Ideal candidates should have experience in fluid dynamics, and have programming skills in C or Fortran. Experience with ProE, Fluent, Adams or AMESim would be a benefit but are not essential. Theme 3.11: Autonomous Robotic Propulsion Tutors: Dr Emanuele Guglielmino N. available positions: 1 The aim of the project is the design of an efficient and compact propulsion system (using conventional thermal engines, fuel cells, Stirling engines, electrical motors, hybrid solutions etc) in autonomous robots. The work will focus on the integration of conventional and non-conventional engines and motors into autonomous robots (in particular on a hydraulically actuated quadruped robot, Hy-Q) using a systems engineering approach. The candidate should ideally have a good first degree in mechanical engineering (with major in thermal engines) or an equivalent physical science. Theme 3.12 Actuation and Power Systems Tutor: Prof Darwin Caldwell N. available positions: 1 Actuation systems, power sources and storage of energy are vital and often overlooked features of robotic and humanoid systems. Researchers working in this area will explore novel actuation technology (braided pneumatic Muscle Actuators, Polymeric actuators, Shape Memory Alloys, compliant and hybrid actuation) and the enhancement of current technologies (hydraulics, ER Fluids, MR Fluids, piezoelectric motors). The actuation systems will be incorporated into a new generation of robots having the structure, characteristics and behaviour of humans, hominoids, and/or animals. Previous experience with these technologies would be an advantage but the programme is open to researchers with a strong background in any physical science or engineering discipline. Stream 4: Medical Robotics Theme 3.13: Integrated microfluidic devices for biomanipulations Tutor: Dr Leonardo Mattos No. of available positions: 1 The development of sciences such as genetics, drug discovery and environmental health has been greatly increasing the demand for biomanipulation procedures. Transgenic and gene-target animals, for example, are commonly used as models of a wide range of serious human afflictions, including diabetes, arteriosclerosis, hypertension, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer. As a consequence, the demand for efficient and consistent biomanipulations has also increased. These are very delicate operations, which are traditionally performed on clear Petri dishes placed under a powerful microscope and using mechanical micromanipulators. The equipment employed is bulky and expensive, and the training of operators is often a very long process - up to one year for operations such as embryo microinjections. In addition, the success rate and consistency of biomanipulation procedures are highly affected by the experience and mood of the operators. Therefore, automation is highly desired in this area. The development of novel microfluidic systems has a great potential to simplify and miniaturize the biomanipulation equipment, improve task consistency, and create a more suitable system for computer controlled operations. Hence, the topic of research will involve the identification of microfabrication techniques suitable for the construction of microfluidic devices for cell work under (or off) the microscope; the design and construction of devices for the different biomanipulation tasks; and the development of computer interfaces and controllers for the novel devices. The ideal candidate should have a background on engineering or computer science and a strong attitude towards mixing theory and practice. Experience in robotics, biological systems or real-time systems are additional bonuses. Theme 3.14: Computer Vision for Automated Biomanipulations Tutor: Dr Leonardo Mattos No. of available positions: 1 The advent of high-precision motorized micromanipulators and microscopes incorporating video cameras has enabled the creation of effective teleoperated biomanipulation systems. The use of such systems has demonstrated increased consistency and efficiency of the operations, and also a significant reduction in the training time of new operators. However, these teleoperated systems still require direct control by a well-trained operator, so the biomanipulations are still susceptible to operator errors and to the inconsistency of manual operations. In addition, many biomanipulation tasks are repetitive and time consuming, so the operators spend valuable working hours performing tedious procedures. Consequently, the automation of biomanipulation procedures is highly desired. A key element for the development of a successful automated biomanipulation system is a fast and robust vision system. Such system should be able to localize and track the objects involved in the tasks, and to provide such information as feedback to automatic controllers. Therefore, the topic of research will involve the design of accurate, robust, and fast vision algorithms for biomanipulation applications. The ideal candidate should have a background on computer science or engineering and a strong attitude towards mixing theory and practice. Theme 3.15: Intelligent Controllers for Biomanipulation Automation Tutor: Dr Leonardo Mattos No. of available positions: 1 The automation of biomanipulation procedures is expected to facilitate and speedup biomedical research by improving the consistency and efficiency of the operations, and by reducing contaminations. Furthermore, automation is expected to free laboratory personnel from repetitive and tedious tasks; reduce training costs associated with the operations; and reduce the dependency of biomanipulation facilities on individual operators. However, the success of an automated system is always linked to an efficient and robust control system, which is not easily implemented for biomanipulation tasks because they are often very complex and delicate. The development of rule-based automatic controllers requires extensive process analysis and, even then, may be susceptible to exception errors in complex tasks. The use of machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques may offer an alternative for the development of robust and flexible control systems for biomanipulations. An interesting approach to this problem would be, for example, the development of an intelligent system that can learn tasks by observing expert operators. Another approach could be the development of simulators from which intelligent controllers can be developed. Therefore, the topic of research will involve the investigation of online or offline learning methods applied to the generation of automatic system controllers. Experimentation will be performed in collaboration with the IIT's Neuroscience Department, and will be based on the available fully teleoperated biomanipulation system. The ideal candidate should have a background on computer science or engineering and a strong attitude towards mixing theory and practice. Experience in A.I. and robotics are additional bonuses. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- N.G.Tsagarakis, PhD Senior Researcher Department of Advanced Robotics Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT-Genova) Via Morego 30 16163 Genova Italy Tel: +39 010 71781 428 Fax: +39 010 720321 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- From rht at jhu.edu Wed Sep 17 06:12:55 2008 From: rht at jhu.edu (Russell Taylor) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2008 09:12:55 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] IEEE-RAS/IFRR School of Robotics Science on Medical Robotics and Computer-Integrated Interventional Systems - January 12-16, 2009 Message-ID: IEEE-RAS/IFRR School of Robotics Science on Medical Robotics and Computer-Integrated Interventional Systems January 12-16, 2009 http://www.cisst.org/wiki/MRCIIS NSF Engineering Research Center for Computer-Integrated Surgical Systems and Technology The Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, Maryland, USA Summary: The NSF Engineering Research Center for Computer-integrated Surgical Systems and Technology (CISST ERC) is proud to present a week-long ?winter school? on medical robotics and computer-integrated interventional medicine. Co-organized with the 10th year celebration of the CISST ERC, this intensive short course will include tutorial lectures and research talks by internationally recognized faculty, lab tours & demonstrations in our new facilities in the Computational Sciences and Engineering Building on the Johns Hopkins Homewood Campus, and a compressed version of Johns Hopkins' unique Surgery for Engineers course. Intended audience: The course is open to graduate students and young professionals beginning research in this exciting and rapidly expanding field. Preliminary List of Faculty: We have recruited a distinguished international faculty from leading research institutions around the world. Although the list is still being finalized, it currently includes: Russell Taylor (organizer), Ralph Etienne-Cummings (organizer), Kiyoyuki Chinzei, Simon Dimaio, Etienne Dombre, Gabor Fichtinger, Gregory Hager, Blake Hannaford, Peter Kazanzides, Michael Marohn, Allison Okamura, Terry Peters, Cameron Riviere, Yoshinobu Sato, Luc Soler, Guang-Zhong Yang, Ichiro Sakuma Application Instructions: Apply via email to MRCIIS at jhu.edu Deadline: October 13, 2008 (after this date, applications will be accepted until the school is filled) Requirements: * A completed application form (http://www.cisst.org/wiki2/images/4/48/MRCIISApplication.doc) * A short CV (up to 4 pages) in PDF format * A 1-page statement describing your current research and motivation for attending this school * A letter in PDF format from your research advisor or supervisor approving your attendance at the course and agreeing to ensure that the course fees will be paid should you be accepted See details at http://www.cisst.org/wiki/MRCIIS This short course is sponsored in part by the US National Science Foundation, the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, the International Foundation of Robotics Research, IFRR, and Johns Hopkins University. From isler at cs.rpi.edu Wed Sep 17 08:57:46 2008 From: isler at cs.rpi.edu (I. Volkan Isler) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:57:46 -0500 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] 18th Fall Workshop on Computational Geometry Message-ID: <48D128FA.6070506@cs.rpi.edu> The deadline for the 18th Fall Workshop on Computational Geometry has been extended to Monday, September 22nd, 2008. The aim of this workshop is to bring together, in an informal setting conducive to stimulate collaboration, researchers from academia and industry, as well as students working in Computational Geometry and Geometric Applications. The goal is to learn from each other of recent progress on problems of common interest, leaving sufficient time for discussions and posing of new problems emerging from on-going research. Robotics is one of the main topics of interest. In particular, the workshop provides a great venue for facilitating interactions between algorithmic roboticists and computational geometers. More information is available through: http://www.cs.rpi.edu/fwcg2008/ -- I. Volkan Isler Assistant Professor of Computer Science University of Minnesota http://www-users.cs.umn.edu/~isler/ From rhaschke at techfak.uni-bielefeld.de Wed Sep 17 07:35:20 2008 From: rhaschke at techfak.uni-bielefeld.de (Robert Haschke) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:35:20 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] postdoc position in explorative motor learning at CoR-Lab, Bielefeld University Message-ID: <48D115A8.1020008@techfak.uni-bielefeld.de> CoR-Lab at Bielefeld University invites applications from outstanding Postdocs in the area of autonomous explorative motor learning The successful candidate has a strong background in at least two of the areas visual servoing, dynamical systems and control, and machine learning. The research project will cover dimension reduction methods, development of adaptive vision-based controllers, their evaluation in physics-based simulations and on real robot hands, and the development of explorative learning strategies. The candidate should be able to autonomously acquaint oneself with new research topics, supervise undergraduate students, and integrate into the existing team. Research topic Humans gradually increase their manual competence by active exploration of the manipulation capabilities of their fingers. As compared to learning from sensory data, active learning incorporates the exploration into the skill acquisition process. The project targets to research such active learning paradigms, and to apply them to real-world scenarios such as object-in-hand-manipulation with dexterous robot hands. One interesting example is to learn to rotate a cube so that certain faces become visible one after the other. The learning scheme should exploit multimodal perception, such as joint angle sensors, tactile sensors in the fingertips, and visual information, and integrate these cues with the movement control scheme of a dexterous 20 DOF Shadow Robot Hand. A major goal of the project would be to implement a vertical slice of explorative skills, ranging from learning low level finger control (extending eye-hand to eye-finger coordination) to realizing desired movement skills of an object held in the hand. Generic insights should be gained about how proprioceptive, visual, and haptic information has to be combined to drive the exploration process and about suitable principles for shaping the exploration. This will touch the research areas of reinforcement learning, active learning driven by information maximization, or imitation of previously learnt episodes. Research environment The CoR-Lab has been established at Bielefeld University, Germany, as a research centre for intelligent systems and human-machine interaction. The CoR-Lab forms a strategic partnership between Bielefeld University and the Honda Research Institute Europe GmbH, Germany. It pursues fundamental research in the field of cognitive robots and intelligent systems. A particular focus of the CoR-Lab is the interdisciplinary integration of expertise in engineering, computer science, brain science, and cognitive sciences, including the humanities and social sciences. The Graduate School that is associated with the CoR-Lab provides an exciting and stimulating environment for 20 enthusiastic and creative PhDs and Postdocs, allowing them to pursue research in international teams in close collaboration with an industrial research institute. Scholarship The CoR-Lab offers a three-year scholarship to pursue the research goals of the project. For more information please see: http://www.cor-lab.de/corlab/html/graduate_school/index.php A complete application should include certificates and transcripts of records of the completed course of studies, a detailed curriculum vitae, a cover letter providing information about the qualification for this project, your past and future research interests including your research projects in related areas, as well as your motivation to do research in the Graduate School. Please send your application until 31 October 2008 (preferably in PDF format) to the Managing Director of the Graduate School: Bielefeld University CoR-Lab Graduate School Dr. Carola Haumann 33594 Bielefeld Germany email: chaumann at cor-lab.uni-bielefeld.de From Jonathan.Roberts at csiro.au Wed Sep 17 17:00:19 2008 From: Jonathan.Roberts at csiro.au (Jonathan Roberts) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2008 10:00:19 +1000 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Field Robotics research and engineering positions in Australia Message-ID: <48D19A13.2050100@csiro.au> FIELD ROBOTICS OPPORTUNITIES IN AUSTRALIA Primarily based in Brisbane, Queensland, the CSIRO ICT Centre's Autonomous Systems Laboratory is significantly increasing its capability base and is currently seeking to recruit suitably qualified researchers and engineers who are passionate about their work and enjoy working on real-world problems. The Autonomous Systems Laboratory is creating robots and sensor/agent networks for real-world environments. These systems will bring enormous sociological and economic benefits through improved human safety, increased equipment utilisation, reduced maintenance costs and increased production. We have several positions available: Principal Research Scientist/Team Leader Mining Robotics $103k to $155kpa + Super Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Online details: https://recruitment.csiro.au/asp/job_details.asp?RefNo=2008%2F961 Research Scientist Robotics - Mining Machines $75k to $81kpa + Super Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Online details: https://recruitment.csiro.au/asp/job_details.asp?RefNo=2008%2F976 Research Scientist Robotics - Industrial AGVs $63k to $81kpa + Super Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Online details: https://recruitment.csiro.au/asp/job_details.asp?RefNo=2008%2F957 Research Scientist Signal Processing $75k to $101kpa + Super Perth, Western Australia Online details: https://recruitment.csiro.au/asp/job_details.asp?RefNo=2008%2F959 Research Scientist Robotic Inspection Systems - Terrestrial and Underwater $75k to $101kpa + Super Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Online details: https://recruitment.csiro.au/asp/job_details.asp?RefNo=2008%2F960 Robotics Software Engineers (several positions) Mining Automation $63k to $81kpa + Super Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Online details: https://recruitment.csiro.au/asp/job_details.asp?RefNo=2008%2F954 Please follow the links above. All applications must be made on-line. APPLICATIONS CLOSE 13 OCTOBER (23.59 Australian EST) Full ad here: http://www.cat.csiro.au/ict/jobs PDF ad here: http://www.cat.csiro.au/ict/jobs/AS_Lab_Jobs_2008.pdf -- Jonathan Roberts Science Leader - Robotics Principal Research Scientist Autonomous Systems Laboratory CSIRO ICT Centre Post: P.O. Box 883, Kenmore, Qld 4069, Australia Office: QCAT, 1 Technology Court, Pullenvale, Qld 4069 T: +61 7 3327-4501 F: +61 7 3327-4455 www.ict.csiro.au From sabine.hauert at epfl.ch Thu Sep 18 02:40:03 2008 From: sabine.hauert at epfl.ch (Sabine Hauert) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:40:03 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] CFP: Special Session on Evolutionary Robotics - IEEE CEC 2009 Message-ID: * Apologies for multiple postings * ================================================ CALL FOR PAPERS IEEE CEC 2009 - Special Session on "Evolutionary Robotics" Trondheim, Norway, 18th-21st of May, 2009 http://lis.epfl.ch/specialsessions/CEC09/ http://lis.epfl.ch/specialsessions/CEC09/CFP.pdf Paper submission deadline: 1st of November 2008 ================================================ ORGANISERS Patricia A. Vargas (University of Sussex) Sabine Hauert (EPFL-Lausanne) Dario Floreano (EPFL-Lausanne) Phil Husbands (University of Sussex) DESCRIPTION Evolutionary Robotics (ER) aims to apply evolutionary computation techniques, inspired by Darwin's principle of selective reproduction of the fittest, to automatically design the control and/or hardware of both real and simulated autonomous robots. Having an intrinsic interdisciplinary character, ER is being employed towards the development of many fields of research, among which we can highlight neuroscience, cognitive science, evolutionary biology and robotics. Hence the objective of this special session is to assemble a set of high-quality original contributions that reflect and advance the state-of-the-art in the area of Evolutionary Robotics, with an emphasis on the cross-fertilization between ER and the aforementioned research areas, ranging from theoretical analysis to real-life applications. Topics of interest include (but are are not restricted to): * Evolution of robots which display minimal cognitive behaviour, learning, memory, spatial cognition, adaptation or homeostasis. * Evolution of neural controllers for robots, aimed at giving an insight to neuroscientists or advancing control structures. * Evolution of communication, cooperation and competition, using robots as a research platform. * Co-evolution and the evolution of collective behaviour. * Evolution of morphology in close interaction with the environment, giving rise to self-reconfigurable, self-designing, self-healing and self-reproducing robots or humanoid and walking robots. * Evolution of robot systems aimed at real-world applications as in aerial robotics, space exploration, industry, search and rescue, robot companions, entertainment and games. * Evolution of controllers on board real robots or the real-time evolution of robot hardware. * Novel or improved algorithms for the evolution or robot systems. * The use of evolution for the artistic exploration of robot design. PAPER SUBMISSION Submissions should follow the guidance given on the IEEE CEC 2009 conference website: http://www.cec-2009.org/submission.shtml. When submitting, please select the special session on "Evolutionary Robotics". All submissions will be peer-reviewed with the same criteria used for other contributed papers. All accepted papers will be included in the published conference proceedings. POST CONFERENCE BOOK PUBLICATION Authors of the best selected paper from among those accepted for the "Evolutionary Robotics" session will be invited to submit an extended version for review for possible publication as a chapter in the forthcoming book "The Horizons of Evolutionary Robotics" edited by Patricia A. Vargas, Ezequiel Di Paolo, Inman Harvey and Phil Husbands (target publisher MIT Press). IMPORTANT DATES: Paper Submission:.........................November 01, 2008 Notification of Acceptance:...........January 16, 2009 Camera-Ready Submission:........February 16, 2009 ------------------------------------------ Sabine Hauert Laboratory of Intelligent Systems EPFL, Switzerland http://lis.epfl.ch Phone: +4121 6937759 Email: sabine.hauert at epfl.ch ------------------------------------------ From edb at gdl.cinvestav.mx Fri Sep 19 07:24:31 2008 From: edb at gdl.cinvestav.mx (Eduardo Bayro) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:24:31 -0500 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Deadline is Extended: International Workshop on Cognitive Humanoid Vision WCHV2008 (joint workshop HUMANOIDS'2008) Message-ID: <48D3B61F.8060800@gdl.cinvestav.mx> Dear Researchers, The deadline of the extended abstract submission of the International Workshop on Cognitive Humanoid Vision is extended. The new deadlines is 30th September 2008 ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 30 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 30. Notification of acceptance will be given on October 15 and the submission of the final version at November 5. From fabio.bonsignorio at gmail.com Thu Sep 18 13:16:19 2008 From: fabio.bonsignorio at gmail.com (Fabio Bonsignorio) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:16:19 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] CfP and Program IROS 2008 Sept 26 Workshop on Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking for Intelligent Robots and Systems Message-ID: Dear all, you will find below the call for participation for the IROS workshop on performance evaluation and benchmarking for intelligent robots to be held in NICE on September 26th during IROS 2008. The program is here: http://www.heronrobots.com/EuronGEMSig/GEMSIGIROS08Program.html Join the discussion! All the best Fabio, Angel and Raj Workshop: September 26th CALL FOR PARTICIPATION It is a well-known fact that current robotics research makes it difficult not only to compare results of different approaches, but also to assess the quality of individual work. Some steps have been taken to address this problem by studying the ways in which research results in robotics can be assessed and compared. In this context, the European Robotics Research Network EURON has as one of its major goal the definition and promotion of benchmarks for robotics research. The Performance Metrics for Intelligent Systems (PerMIS) Workshop series has been dealing with similar issues in the context of intelligent systems. A related issue, if not a prerequisite, is the capability of replicating research results. The EURON Good Experimental Methodology and Benchmarking Special Interest Group aims to gather efforts in replication of results and benchmarking in order to increase the overall experimentation benefit in robotics research. The main purpose of this workshop is to contribute to the progress of performance evaluation and benchmarking, focusing in intelligent robots and systems, by providing a forum for participants to exchange their on-going work and ideas in this regard. The emphasis of the workshop will be on cognitive solutions to practical problems. These cognitive approaches should enable an "intelligent" system to behave appropriately in real-world scenarios in various application domains. We also propose to discuss the distinction between autonomy and intelligence (if any) and how one influences the other. Date The full-day workshop is scheduled to be held on September 26th 2008. You can register for the workshop via the IROS'08 website at http://www.iros2008.org/. Intended Audience The primary audience of the proposed workshop is intended to be researchers and practitioners both from academia and industry with an interest in cognitive robotics and how these approaches can be utilized in generating intelligent behaviors amidst uncertainty for robots in the service and commercial sectors. The workshop is also aimed at benchmarking and objectively evaluating performance of such robots. Accordingly, it is envisioned to be useful for anyone who has an interest in quantitative performance evaluation of robots. Contact Details Angel P. del Pobil, Univ. Jaume I pobil at icc.uji.es Raj Madhavan ORNL/NIST raj.madhavan at nist.gov Fabio Bonsignorio Heron Robots fabio.bonsignorio at heronrobots.com About the Organizers The organizers of the workshop have been actively involved in performance evaluation and benchmarking for robotics. The organizers are currently involved in several projects to define methods for measuring cognitive abilities for robots, both at the component and the systems level. -- Fabio P. Bonsignorio Ceo Heron Robots s.r.l. Via R.Ceccardi 1/18 I-16121 Genova Italy www.heronrobots.com From simon.miles at kcl.ac.uk Fri Sep 19 04:58:19 2008 From: simon.miles at kcl.ac.uk (Miles, Simon) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:58:19 +0100 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] AAMAS-09 Call for Workshop Proposals Message-ID: (apologies if you receive multiple copies of this call) AAMAS 2009 Workshops Call for Proposals The AAMAS-2009 Organizing Committee invites proposals for the Workshop Program to be held immediately prior to the main technical program of the AAMAS conference. The main goal of the AAMAS-2009 workshops is to stimulate and facilitate active exchange, interaction, and comparison of approaches, methods, and ideas related to specific topics, both theoretical and applied, in the general area of Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems. The workshops will provide an informal setting where participants will have the opportunity to discuss specific technical topics in an atmosphere that fosters the active exchange of ideas. Members from all areas of the AAMAS community are invited to submit workshop proposals for review. Workshops on new and emerging topics, or on applications, are particularly encouraged. Workshops can vary in length from half-day to two full days, but most will be one full day in duration. Important Dates for Workshop Proposals -------------------------------------- November 1, 2008 Proposal Submission Deadline December 1, 2008 Acceptance Notification December 15, 2008 Deadline for posting Workshops Call for Papers December 15, 2008 AAMAS-08 Workshops Program Announced May 11-12, 2009 AAMAS-2009 WORKSHOPS AAMAS-09 Workshops Requirements for Submission ---------------------------------------------- Proposals for workshops should contain the following information: o A technical description of the workshop, specifying the workshop goals, the technical issues that it will address, and the relevance of the workshop to the main conference. This description should include a discussion of why and to whom the workshop is of interest. o A list of related workshops (or previous incarnations of the proposed workshop) held within the last three years, if any, and their relation to the proposed workshop. If known, organizers' names and affiliations, number of submissions, acceptances and registered attendees, and follow-up publications should be noted. o A preliminary workshop agenda, planned duration, and a proposed schedule for organizing the workshop. This should include a brief description of how the organizers intend to encourage an atmosphere appropriate for a workshop, description of paper review process, and publicity plans (distribution lists, web sites, journals, etc.). o If available, a list of tentatively confirmed attendees. o The names, affiliations, and contact details postal addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of the proposed workshop organizing and/or program committees, and the chair(s). The committee should consist of at least three or four people, from different institutions, knowledgeable about the technical issues to be addressed. o A description of the qualifications of the chair(s) (and organizing committee, if available) with respect to organizing an AAMAS workshop, including a list of workshops previously arranged by any members of the proposed organizing committee, if any. Proposers are encouraged to send their draft proposal to potential participants for comments before submission. All proposals should be submitted by the deadline (November 1, 2008), via electronic mail, to the AAMAS-09 Workshop Chair: Gal A. Kaminka (galk at cs.biu.ac.il) Plain ASCII is **strongly** preferred. Prospective organizers will be notified of the committee's decision no later than: December 1, 2008. The selection of the workshops to be included in the final AAMAS program will be based upon multiple factors, including: the scientific/technical interest of the topics, the quality of the proposal, balance and distinctness of workshop topics, and the capacity of the conference workshop program. Note that authors of proposals addressing similar and/or overlapping content areas and/or audiences may be requested to merge their proposals as a condition for acceptance. Responsibilities of AAMAS and workshop organizers ------------------------------------------------- For all accepted proposals, AAMAS will be responsible for: o Providing publicity for the workshop series as a whole. o Providing logistic support and a meeting place for the workshop. o Together with the organizers, determining the workshop date and time. o Duplicating working notes and distributing them to the participants. o A total of one (1) free workshop registration (up to organizers to decide who gets it). Workshop organizers will be responsible for the following: o Setting up a web site for the workshop. o Advertising the workshop and issuing a call for papers (by December 15, 2008) and later, a call for participation. o Collecting and evaluating submissions, notifying authors of acceptance or rejection on a timely basis, and ensuring a transparent and fair selection process. o Making the PDF of the whole workshop notes available to the workshop chair by the printing deadline (expected MARCH 15, 2009), as well as a list of audio-visual requirements and any special room requirements. o Ensuring that the workshop organizers and the participants register for the workshop and are invited to register to the main conference (at least one author must register for the workshop in order for a paper to appear in the workshop proceedings). AAMAS reserves the right to cancel any workshop if the above responsibilities are not fulfilled, or if too few attendees register for the workshop to support its running costs. To cover costs, it will be necessary to charge workshop participants a workshop fee. Inquiries --------- Please send proposals and inquiries to: Gal A. Kaminka (galk at cs.biu.ac.il) The MAVERICK Group Computer Science Department Bar Ilan University, Israel -- Dr Simon Miles Agents and Intelligent Systems Group Department of Computer Science Kings College London, UK From mmoll at cs.rice.edu Sun Sep 21 16:08:20 2008 From: mmoll at cs.rice.edu (Mark Moll) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2008 18:08:20 -0500 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] IROS 2008 motion planning tutorial Message-ID: <7E460304-4056-4E3B-AD4B-6A6C5B192992@cs.rice.edu> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- IROS 2008 Half-Day Tutorial Motion planning with the OOPSMP toolkit: A hands-on tutorial on using state-of-the-art motion planning algorithms -------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Date: Friday, September 26, 2008 (morning session) * URL: http://www.kavrakilab.org/OOPSMPtutorial * Organizers: Mark Moll, Lydia E. Kavraki, Erion Plaku, Ioan Sucan, Konstantinos Tsianos, and Kostas Bekris * Objectives and Topics The objective of this course is to provide a hands-on tutorial on using the Object-Oriented Programming System for Motion Planning (OOPSMP) software package. This software contains implementations of most state-of-the-art motion planning algorithms. It is designed to be highly modular and easily accessible. To use the existing motion planners in OOPSMP one only has to write simple XML ?les specifying the motion planning problem and the desired solver. The motion planning problem description includes a speci?cation of the environment and the robot(s). The solver description includes a high- level planner, a low-level local planner, and algorithm parameters. It is designed to be very accessible and no previous programming experience is required to use the existing functionality. However, OOPSMP is ?exible enough to be extended with other sampling- based motion planning algorithms. We will also cover what is needed to add one?s own algorithms. Many of the basic data structures used in motion planning algorithms are, of course, already implemented, so that trying out new ideas will be easy. The hands-on part of the tutorial is preceded with an overview of the current state-of-the-art motion planning algorithms. The emphasis will be more on the relative merits of each motion planning method rather than the details of each algorithm. This should allow an OOPSMP user to make an informed decision on choosing a particular motion planning algorithm and its parameters for a given problem. * Intended Audience OOPSMP is both a teaching tool as well as a research testbed for developing new motion planning algorithms. The tutorial is thus intended for those who teach robotics classes and researchers in the ?eld of motion planning. * Tutorial material After the tutorial, slides and videos will posted on the tutorial web site. The OOPSMP software described in this tutorial is available at http://kavrakilab.org/OOPSMP/index.html . Mark Moll -- http://www.cs.rice.edu/~mmoll Rice University, MS 132, PO Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251 713-348-5934 (phone), 713-348-5930 (fax) From stephen at nist.gov Mon Sep 22 09:41:43 2008 From: stephen at nist.gov (Stephen Balakirsky) Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:41:43 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] SPIE 09 Industrial Robotics and Manufacturing Conference Message-ID: <003a01c91cd2$1906dd80$13480681@MEL.NIST.GOV> Apologies if you receive multiple copies of this call SPIE 2009 Conference on Industrial Robotics and Manufacturing Part of the SPIE International Symposium on Defense, Security + Sensing 13-17 April 2009, Orlando World Center Marriott Resort & Convention Center, Orland FL Call for abstracts This conference provides an opportunity to explore research and development opportunities for industrial robotics and automation in a new light. Industrial robotics started the "robotics revolution" some 50 years ago. Today, that legacy of early robotics development has branched out into many exciting areas that include research and applications in the service sector, agriculture, consumer products, defense, military, undersea and space exploration, and much more. This diversity in the "New Robotics" areas is driving significant R&D funding and commercial activity that now exceeds efforts in the traditional industrial robotics areas. Some may say that industrial robotics for manufacturing is a "mature" sector, which could be interpreted as being "stagnant". Those working in the field understand that this couldn't be farther from the case and that many of the technologies being pioneered in the "New Robotics" can be leveraged to significantly enable new capabilities in manufacturing applications. This conference will be looking to examine the technology requirements and operational capabilities of automation programs for manufacturing, mining, agriculture, warehousing, and food processing applications that have been leveraging the "New Robotics". This conference brings together the technologists, developers and user communities to discuss requirements, challenges, and technical approaches relevant for commercial processes and military systems. It provides a balanced perspective on (a) programs and applications, and (b) theory, algorithms, designs, and implementation. This conference provides a unique opportunity for program managers to present their unique requirements and perspectives on the important technical issues. This conference will feature an expanded opportunity for hands-on demonstration of robot and automation systems and component technologies. Researchers who would like to demonstrate their technologies and unique capabilities are strongly encouraged to contact one of the program chairs. Papers are solicited in the following topic areas: * intelligent warehouse applications * human machine interface * discrete parts manufacturing * standard interfaces * intelligent control, performance measurements and standards for next-generation AGV's * cable robot systems * performance evaluation for sensors for manufacturing metrology * paint/depainting * intelligent assembly * mining applications * automation in agriculture * sensor fusion and integration * novel mobility platforms and running gear configurations * commercial applications * embedded world and vehicle models * system performance modeling and simulation * operator interface and human-robot interactions * novel robot arm configurations and applications. Abstract Due Date: 29 September 2008 Go to http://spie.org/dss to submit your abstract. _____________________________________________ 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 pierre at bu.edu Mon Sep 22 06:34:16 2008 From: pierre at bu.edu (Pierre Dupont) Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 09:34:16 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Postdoctoral Positions in Image-guided Robotic Surgery Message-ID: Two postdoctoral fellows are sought for National Institutes of Health sponsored projects in image-guided and robot-assisted beating-heart intracardiac surgery. The positions will involve some combination of the following elements: ? Design of minimally invasive surgical robots and instruments ? Design of MEMS robot-delivered surgical tools and implants ? Controller design & implementation for flexible surgical robots ? Image-based robot control ? In vitro and in vivo prototype testing Requirements for the position are a PhD in engineering and experience with robot system mechanical and control system design, system integration, image processing and C++. Experience with medical applications is also desirable. The initial appointment will be for one year with the possibility of extension. Qualified applicants should respond by email to Pierre Dupont (pierre at bu.edu) with a description of their qualifications, academic background, PhD thesis, publications and availability. From lijin at ifi.uzh.ch Mon Sep 22 05:58:40 2008 From: lijin at ifi.uzh.ch (Lijin Aryananda) Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:58:40 +0200 (CEST) Subject: [robotics-worldwide] PostDoc and PhD positions at the AI Laboratory of the University of Zurich Message-ID: (Sorry for cross-posting) The AI Laboratory (http://www.ailab.ch) of the University of Zurich has openings for a number of PostDoc and PhD positions in Robotics and Embodied AI. Description: The research work will be carried out within the context of one of three new European Union collaborative projects, with the following main themes: Project 1. Compliant humanoid robotics and embodied statistical learning Project 2. Bio-inspired dynamic locomotion and heterogeneous modular robotics Project 3. Novel design principles and technologies for soft-bodied robots inspired by the octopus Qualification: Applicants should (or are about to) have a Master's degree (for PhD positions) or a PhD degree (for PostDoc positions), with a background in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Material Science, Physics, or Applied Mathematics. Good English skills are mandatory (written and oral). German language skills are not required. Application: Applications (CV, statement of interest, and the names of three references) should be sent by email to: Lijin Aryananda (lijin at ifi.uzh.ch) and Max Lungarella (lunga at ifi.uzh.ch). Additional information can be found on: http://ailab.ifi.uzh.ch/research/open-positions From kenji at ieee.org Mon Sep 22 20:58:10 2008 From: kenji at ieee.org (Kenji Suzuki) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2008 05:58:10 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Nominations requested: IEEE ICRA2009 Student Travel Support Message-ID: <00a101c91d30$9991ba70$ccb52f50$@org> * We apologize if you receive multiple copies of this announcement. ------------------------------------------------------ Submission deadline: November 30, 2008 ------------------------------------------------------ ICRA 2009 Student Travel Support http://www.icra2009.org/awards/travel-supports.html 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/ Nominations are requested for the Student Travel Support for IEEE ICRA2009. The travel support of up to $1,000 for student attendees of ICRA2009 ($500 for attendees from Region 10, $1,000 for attendees from other regions). The funds will also be used to cover student registration fee. The nominator should fill in the Student Travel Support Request Form. (available to download from the website), including in particular the student's data, the number provided by the PaperPlaza system to the already submitted paper, and a justification for the request. Note that the paper should not be resubmitted, as it is already in the system. The filled Request Form should be converted to a PDF file and submitted through the conference submission website (PaperPlaza). *Important Dates: Submission of request forms: November 30, 2008 (23:59:59 US Pacific Time) Notification of acceptance: Mid January, 2009 (*Notification of acceptance for Papers and Videos is scheduled on January 7, 2009.) IEEE ICRA2009 General Chair Kazuhiro Kosuge --- On behalf of the ICRA2009 organizing committee Kenji Suzuki ICRA2009 E-Media Chair University of Tsukuba, Japan http://www.iit.tsukuba.ac.jp/~kenji/ Email: kenji at ieee.org From athomaz at cc.gatech.edu Tue Sep 23 14:50:15 2008 From: athomaz at cc.gatech.edu (Andrea Thomaz) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:50:15 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Final CFP -- AAAI Agents the 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 giulio.sandini at iit.it Tue Sep 23 06:28:51 2008 From: giulio.sandini at iit.it (Giulio Sandini) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:28:51 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] IJHR - Special Issue on "Active Vision of Humanoids" - deadline extended Message-ID: <000f01c91d80$517ebe90$f47c3bb0$%sandini@iit.it> Special Issue on the "Active Vision of Humanoids" to be published in the International Journal of Humanoid Research http://www.worldscinet.com/ijhr/mkt/callforpapers_details.shtml#active Submission deadline extended to November 30, 2008 Publication: Spring 2009 Guest Editors: Yiannis Aloimonos and Giulio Sandini Following the successful workshop on the Active Vision of Humanoids that happened in Pittsburgh, PA during the last Conference on Humanoid Robotics (November 2007) (http://planning.cs.cmu.edu/humanoids07/index.shtml) we solicit papers for a special issue on the topic. Practical computer vision-systems are devoted to answering a set of practical questions, such as is there something moving independently in the video taken by a moving camera? What is it? Is there a human in the image? Who is he? On the other hand, humans are involved in an ongoing process of analyzing images. As Stuart Geman wrote, "real world images have essentially infinite detail which can be perceived only by a process that is itself ongoing and essentially infinite. The more you look, the more you see". Considering a humanoid robot, how should we think about its vision? The way we think of a practical vision system or the way we think of human vision? Papers are solicited that keep some focus on the question of the visual/motor architecture of the humanoid: how should its motion system be structured? Should it stabilize the images? Segment the scene into surfaces? Constantly check where it is with regard to its knowledge of the world? How should it build models of objects? How should it integrate cue information? How should it reach a decision? What is its perception of spatial layout? How should it learn, and what should it learn? Is there software that we have today which can be used to provide humanoids with a basic visual front-end, and what would this be? Should we be developing visuo-motor representations? How could we build them and how could we use them? Many of the questions raised above are addressed in contemporary computer vision, but from the perspective of graphics and multimedia, image editing and image databases. Existing approaches do not apply to the case of a real-time system moving the way humans do. The peculiarity of humanoid vision stems from its purpose of supporting the action of an anthropomorphic body (with hands and legs) as opposed to "just" being pattern recognition or image understanding. Thus, in some sense, the humanoid active vision envisioned for this special issue, constitutes an evolution from the Active Vision of the 90's to the "Action Vision" of the new millennium. Action Vision considers the motor system of the humanoid as an integral part of its perceptual machinery. Papers addressing such topics or others relevant to the design of a humanoid's vision system, should be submitted before the end of November for a target publication date of early 2009. From lsl at ua.pt Tue Sep 23 03:42:09 2008 From: lsl at ua.pt (=?iso-8859-1?Q?Lu=EDs_Seabra_Lopes?=) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:42:09 +0100 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Post-doc postion (5 years) in Intelligent Multi-Robot Systems Message-ID: <01bd01c91d69$07f55520$f35288c1@det.ua.pt> ## Post doctoral job offer Job/Fellowship Reference: C2008-UA/IEETA/02 Main research field: Engineering Sub research field: Robotics IEETA - Universidade de Aveiro Portugal ## Job summary: The Transverse Activity on Intelligent Robotics (ATRI) of IEETA invites applications for a research position (Investigador Auxiliar) in Intelligent Multi-Robot Systems. The work plan will be integrated in the CAMBADA project, which won the first place at Soccer Middle-Size League in RoboCup 2008 world championship. The candidates must have a PhD degree (obtained 3 or more years ago) and relevant post-doctoral research experience in Intelligent Multi-Robot Systems or a closely related discipline. Applicants should have a good publication record in SCI journals and conference proceedings. ## Job description: The ATRI of IEETA (Instituto de Engenharia Electr?nica e Telem?tica de Aveiro-Universidade de Aveiro) invites applications for a research position in Intelligent Multi-Robot Systems. The work plan will be integrated in the CAMBADA project (http://www.ieeta.pt/atri/cambada). CAMBADA team has just won the first place at Soccer Middle-Size League in RoboCup 2008 world championship, Suzhou, China. Current research issues within the CAMBADA project are Strategy and Coordination of Multi-Agent Systems, Computer Vision, Sensor Fusion, Agent Architectures, High-level Decision, Hierarchical Organization of Teams of Robots and Robotics Learning. The applicant should pursue his(her) work during the period of this research position in one, or preferably more than one, of the previous topics. The candidates must have a PhD degree and relevant post-doctoral research experience in Intelligent Robotics or a closely related discipline. Applicants should have a good publication record in SCI journals, and the ability to pursue an independent research career. It is expected that they engage in collaborative research with the other researchers at IEETA. There is also the possibility of collaborating in on-going research efforts with Carnegie-Mellon University. The positions are available for 5 years, with the possibility of renewal. Salary will be ca. 43 kEuro/year (indice 195). IEETA is a research institute that does multidisciplinary research and advanced development in several areas of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science. It aims at the creation, transmission and transfer of knowledge. The research is interdisciplinary and builds on intensive internal and external collaboration that has lead (in addition to scientific articles) to a number of prototypes, trademarks, patents and spin-offs. IEETA is committed to foster gender-equality in science. The decision of granting a position depends on the final approval of the Funda??o para a Ci?ncia e Tecnologia (FCT). ## Applications should include: * The CV of the applicant. * The contact information for two persons who can write a recommendation letter if necessary. * A cover letter / statement of purpose, in which the applicant explains its research interests and motivation. These materials should be submitted by e-mail to Anabela Viegas, anabela.viegas at ua.pt, until 30 September 2008 (tel. +351-234370503, fax +351-234370545) A paper copy of all the documentation should also be sent to: Anabela Viegas IEETA Universidade de Aveiro 3810-193 Aveiro Portugal ## Jury: Nuno Lau, Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal Luis Seabra Lopes, Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal Luis Paulo Reis, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, Portugal Hans-Dieter Burkhard, Humboldt-Universit?t Berlin, Germany __________________________________________ Luis Seabra Lopes (lsl at ua.pt) Departamento de Electr?nica, Telecomunica??es e Inform?tica Universidade de Aveiro - 3810-193 Aveiro - Portugal Phone: +351-234-370374 / Fax: +351-234-378157 From ming.xie at robotics.sg Tue Sep 23 18:27:30 2008 From: ming.xie at robotics.sg (=?utf-8?B?TWluZyBYaWU=?=) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:27:30 +0800 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] =?utf-8?q?_Call_for_papers=3A_INNS-NNN_Sympo?= =?utf-8?q?sia_=28New_directions_in_Neural_Networks=29?= Message-ID: <200809240927284687990@robotics.sg> Third, Updated Call for Papers INNS-NNN Symposia (New directions in Neural Networks) 24-25 November 2008, Auckland, NZ associated with ICONIP 2008 (25-28 November 2008) http://www.aut.ac.nz/nnn08/index.htm Paper deadline: Oct 20, 2008. "Modelling the Brain and Nervous Systems" General Chair:John Weng (weng at cse.msu.edu) Program Chair: Nikola Kasabov (nkasabov at aut.ac.nz) Publicity Chair: Ming Xie (mmxie at ntu.edu.sg) Local Organising Chair: Joyce D'Mello (jdmello at aut.ac.nz) Technical support Chair: Peter Hwang (phwang at aut.ac.nz The symposia will provide a forum for researchers to exchange latest new ideas and present new research advances in the general areas related to computational modelling of the brain and nervous systems, including development and learning in? animals and artificial systems/robots, computational neurogenetic modelling, and applications of related techniques. Symposium 1: Development and Learning Co-Chairs: John Weng, Jeffrey L. Krichmar and Hiroaki Wagatsuma Topics: Brain inspired models, neural networks, mental architectures, cell models, plasticity, adaptation, self-organization, attention, reasoning, association, vision, audition, touch, motor, motivational system, learning modes (including supervised, reinforcement and communicative modes) and applications. Invited speakers (preliminary list): Mriganka Sur, MIT; Jeffrey L. Krichmar, University of California, Irvine USA; Steven Levinson, University of Illinois; Mike Merzenich, UCSF; John Weng, Michigan State University. Symposium 2: Computational Neurogenetic Modelling Co-Chairs: Lubica Benuskova, Alessandro E. P. Villa, Nikola Kasabov Topics: The role of genes in brain processes and functions like neural oscillations, language, learning & memory, etc. Genetic and neuronal mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases. New advances in modelling and theoretical understanding of the brain and the nervous system. Invited speakers (preliminary list): Gary F. Marcus, University of New York; Alessandro E. P. Villa, University of Lausanne; Cliff Abraham, University of Otago, NZ; Lubica Benuskova, University of Otago, NZ; Nikola Kasabov, KEDRI/AUT, NZ; Hiroshi Kojima, U.Tamagawa, Japan, Dr. Yaochu Jin, Honda Research Institute Europe. Papers submission: Papers are to be submitted to the on-line system. Papers of maximum 8 pages should be prepared in the LNCS Springer format. Deadline for paper submissions: 31st August 2008. (People who need early visa arrangements must send their papers by end of May 2008. They will be reviewed and a letter sent by end of June). Publications: All accepted papers will be published in Springer LNCS after the conference. Selected papers will be invited to a special issue of a journal and an edited volume. Fees: US (US for students). A fee to attend both the INNS/NNN08 and ICONIP08 is US and US for students. Members of co-sponsorship organisations will be charged a registration fee of 680 USD only for attending both conferences. From alanwags at cc.gatech.edu Wed Sep 24 00:27:57 2008 From: alanwags at cc.gatech.edu (Alan Richard Wagner) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2008 03:27:57 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Final Call for Participation -- Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) Pioneer Workshop 2009 In-Reply-To: <698005638.228361222241194026.JavaMail.root@pinky.cc.gatech.edu> Message-ID: <1623061190.228381222241277065.JavaMail.root@pinky.cc.gatech.edu> Apologies for cross-posting. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------- FINAL CALL FOR PARTICIPATION Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) Pioneer Workshop 2009 March 10, 2009 4th Human-Robot Interaction Conference (HRI2009) March 11-13, 2009 - San Diego, CA, USA http://www.hripioneers.org/hri09/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------- Workshop Description: The field of human-robot interaction is new but growing rapidly. While there are now several established researchers in the field, many of the current human-robotic interaction practitioners are students or recently graduated. This workshop, to be held in conjunction with the HRI 2009 conference, aims to bring together this group of researchers to discuss their work, talk about the important upcoming issues in the field, and hear about what their colleagues are doing. The workshop is the fourth annual workshop for junior researchers in HRI held in conjunction with the HRI conference. Those who have not attended a previous session are highly encouraged to submit to this workshop. Previous attendees will be considered for acceptance as well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------- Workshop Format: The format of the workshop will have participants presenting their work in short talks, hearing from an expert in the field on the important problems in HRI, and meeting in small group sessions to discuss common research themes. The workshop will take place in March 2009, in San Diego in conjunction with the HRI 2009 Conference. Potential participants are encouraged to submit an abstract of their current research, a statement of motivation, and a letter of recommendation by October 1, 2008 (see the webpage http://www.hripioneers.org/hri09/ for more details about the application. Please limit abstracts to two pages. We plan to accept approximately 30 students and young researchers to the workshop. Twelve will be asked to give a brief (10 minute) talk to the workshop about their work. The remainder will be expected to talk about their work during breakout sessions and meals. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------- Important Dates: 1 October 2008 - Application Deadline 19 November 2008 - Notification of acceptance 10 March 2009 - HRI Pioneer Workshop 11-13 March 2009 - HRI 2009 Conference ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------- Organizers: Alan Wagner, Georgia Tech, USA (chair) Emily Mower, USC, USA Rosemarijn Looije, TNO, the Netherlands Maxim Makatchev, CMU, USA Marek Michalowski, CMU, USA For more information, please visit the following website: http://www.hripioneers.org/hri09/ _____ Kind regards, Alan, Rosemarijn, Emily, Maxim, Marek From wkchung at postech.ac.kr Wed Sep 24 08:40:29 2008 From: wkchung at postech.ac.kr (Wan Kyun Chung) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:40:29 +0900 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] announcement In-Reply-To: <55A1B22ACB224CEBB81EB2BFD58464D1@wkchung> References: <55A1B22ACB224CEBB81EB2BFD58464D1@wkchung> Message-ID: Hello>. I requested below posting 2 weeks ago. Please check and announce it soon. In the meanwhile, I want to slightly modify the area. Please use following contents. Wan kyun chung ____________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________ Department of Mechanical Engineering, POSTECH The Department of Mechanical Engineering invites applications for tenure-track faculty positions with special interest in the areas of Computer Vision Mechanical Design Perception Dynamic Analysis of Robot Human Robot Interaction Outstanding faculty candidates in other areas are also welcomed. Successful candidates are expected to teach and guide undergraduate/graduate students, develop and perform funded research programs in their major areas. An earned doctorate is required. Candidates must possess either Korean citizenship or eligibility to obtain visa for extended stay in Korea. Applications should include: (1) a detailed CV with a photo and a publication record, (2) recommendation letters sent directly from at least three references, (3) transcripts (undergraduate and graduate), (4) a detailed description of research interests and plans, (5) representative publications. Those interested in applying should send in their applications so that all documents for application shall be received by November 30, 2008 to following address: Prof. Wan Kyun Chung/Department Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology San 31, Hyoja-dong, Nam-gu, Pohang, 790-784, South Korea For more information about the Department and the PIRO (Pohang Institute of Intelligent Robotics), please visit http://me.postech.ac.kr/ and http://www.piro.re.kr/. From agrawal at UDel.Edu Wed Sep 24 10:07:52 2008 From: agrawal at UDel.Edu (Sunil K. Agrawal) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:07:52 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] =?windows-1252?q?Multiple_Post-doctoral_and_?= =?windows-1252?q?PhD_Student_Immediate_Opening_at_UD_in_robotics_=85?= Message-ID: <48DA73E8.8020404@udel.edu> We are looking for 2 PhD students and 1 post-doctoral researcher for the robotic developments within a 5-year NIH-funded project under the Bioengineering Research Partnership Program entitled ?Robotic Exoskeletons, FES, and Biomechanics: treating Movement Disorders?. Robotic exoskeletons such as GBO and ALEX have been tested on more than 40 healthy and stroke subjects for gait training. The results are available in 4 journal articles and conference papers. More information on the group and this project are available at the following web address http://mechsys4.me.udel.edu/ http://mechsys4.me.udel.edu/research/medical_robotics/ Please send your vita, work experience, and publication list attention to Sunil K. Agrawal, PhD, Professor at agrawal at udel.edu -- Sunil K. Agrawal, PhD Professor of Mechanical Engineering University of Delaware Newark, DE 19716 Phone: (302) 831-8049 Email: agrawal at udel.edu http://mechsys4.me.udel.edu From ktsui at cs.uml.edu Fri Sep 26 07:02:00 2008 From: ktsui at cs.uml.edu (Kate Tsui) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:02:00 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Final Call: CFP Abstract for "Experimental Design for Real-World Systems Message-ID: (Apologies for multiple copies.) FINAL CALL FOR PAPERS Experimental Design for Real-World Systems AAAI Spring 2009 Symposium, March 23-25, Palo Alto, CA Submission deadline: October 3, 2008 @ 11:59:59 EST 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 @ 11:59:59 EST * 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 dario.floreano at epfl.ch Fri Sep 26 12:46:19 2008 From: dario.floreano at epfl.ch (Dario Floreano) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:46:19 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Faculty position at EPFL, Switzerland Message-ID: *******Faculty position at EPFL in the broad area of Advanced Mechanical Engineering Design************** The School of Engineering of EPFL invites applications for a tenure- track faculty position in Mechanical Engineering. The main focus of this search is for a junior position, however, exceptionally well- qualified candidates may be considered at a more senior level. We encourage applications in the broad area of advanced mechanical engineering design. Particular areas of interest include, but are not limited to: fundamentals in design of smart mechanical systems / mechatronics; instrumentation and sensors; actuators, monitoring and control; and design at micro- and nano-scales with advanced engineering materials. Evidence of strong research and teaching capabilities are expected. The successful candidate is expected to initiate independent, creative research programs and participate in undergraduate and graduate teaching. Significant start-up resources and research infrastructure will be available. Internationally competitive salaries and benefits are offered Applications should include a curriculum vitae with a list of publications, a concise statement of research and teaching interests, and the names and addresses (including e-mail) of at least five referees. Applications should be uploaded to http://igmeca-2search.epfl.ch . The deadline for applications is 16 January 2009. Enquiries may be addressed to: Prof. John Botsis, e-mail: position.igm at epfl.ch For additional information on EPFL and the School of Engineering, please consult the web sites: http://www.epfl.ch and http://sti.epfl.ch EPFL aims to increase the presence of women amongst its faculty, and qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. ******************************************************************** Prof. Dario Floreano Tel: +41 21 693 5230 Laboratory of Intelligent Systems Fax: +41 21 693 5859 Station 11, EPFL Lausanne Sec: +41 21 693 5966 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Dario.Floreano at epfl.ch CH-1015 Switzerland http://lis.epfl.ch ******************************************************************** From ssinghpa at mac.com Sun Sep 28 01:09:59 2008 From: ssinghpa at mac.com (Sanjiv Singh) Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2008 04:09:59 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] JFR special issue on DARPA Urban Challenge Part 2 (FREE Access) Message-ID: **** All articles in Part 2 can be accessed for free. **** Special Issue on the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, Part 2 Issue Edited by Martin Buehler, Karl Lagnemma, Sanjiv Singh Volume 25 Issue 9 (August 2008) The Journal of Field Robotics announces the second of 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 2 presents five papers, leading off with a description of Junior (Stanford Racing), the winner of the previous DARPA Grand Challenge and second-place winner in the Urban Challenge. Next are Little Ben (Ben Franklin Racing Team), two papers by Team Annie WAY, and Caroline (Team CarOLO). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ** Editorial Martin Buehler, Karl Iagnemma, Sanjiv Singh http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/121385869/PDFSTART ** Junior: The Stanford entry in the Urban Challenge Michael Montemerlo, Jan Becker, Suhrid Bhat, Hendrik Dahlkamp, Dmitri Dolgov, Scott Ettinger, Dirk Haehnel, Tim Hilden, Gabe Hoffmann, Burkhard Huhnke, Doug Johnston, Stefan Klumpp, Dirk Langer, Anthony Levandowski, Jesse Levinson, Julien Marcil, David Orenstein, Johannes Paefgen, Isaac Penny, Anna Petrovskaya, Mike Pflueger, Ganymed Stanek, David Stavens, Antone Vogt, Sebastian Thrun http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/121385871/PDFSTART ** Little Ben: The Ben Franklin Racing Team's entry in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge Jonathan Bohren, Tully Foote, Jim Keller, Alex Kushleyev, Daniel Lee, Alex Stewart, Paul Vernaza, Jason Derenick, John Spletzer, Brian Satterfield http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/121385870/PDFSTART ** Team AnnieWAY's autonomous system for the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge S?ren Kammel, Julius Ziegler, Benjamin Pitzer, Moritz Werling, Tobias Gindele, Daniel Jagzent, Joachim Schr?der, Michael Thuy, Matthias Goebl, Felix von Hundelshausen, Oliver Pink, Christian Frese, Christoph Stiller http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/121385878/PDFSTART ** Driving with tentacles: Integral structures for sensing and motion Felix von Hundelshausen, Michael Himmelsbach, Falk Hecker, Andre Mueller, Hans-Joachim Wuensche http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/121385879/PDFSTART ** Caroline: An autonomously driving vehicle for urban environments Fred W. Rauskolb, Kai Berger, Christian Lipski, Marcus Magnor, Karsten Cornelsen, Jan Effertz, Thomas Form, Fabian Graefe, Sebastian Ohl, Walter Schumacher, J?rn-Marten Wille, Peter Hecker, Tobias Nothdurft, Michael Doering, Kai Homeier, Johannes Morgenroth, Lars Wolf, Christian Basarke, Christian Berger, Tim G?lke, Felix Klose, Bernhard Rumpe http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/121385882/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 jaydev at umd.edu Mon Sep 29 15:04:22 2008 From: jaydev at umd.edu (Jaydev P. Desai) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:04:22 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] BioRob 2008 Program available online. Message-ID: <48E150E6.8040809@umd.edu> Dear Colleagues, The BioRob 2008 program is now available online. Please visit: http://www.ieee-biorob.org/ There are several highlights of this conference. A) There is a plenary speaker each day of the conference. The plenary speakers this year are: 1) Professor Yoshihiko Nakamura at the Department of Mechano-Informatics, University of Tokyo, Japan, 2) Professor Mark Cutkosky from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University, and 3) Dr. Sriram Subramaniam, Senior Investigator and Chief of the Biophysics Section at the National Cancer Institute, NIH. B) We have three single track mini-symposiums which will feature invited presenters whose papers went through the same rigorous review process as other regular papers submitted to the conference, before being accepted into the mini-symposium. The areas for the mini-symposium are: 1) Cell Manipulation and Interaction, 2) Microrobotic systems for biomedical applications, and 3) Rehabilitation Robotics. C) Due to the high quality of paper submissions, we are pleased and proud to announce that three Journal Special Issues will result from the papers submitted to this conference (after undergoing the journal peer-review process), namely in: 1) IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 2) Journal of Micro-Nano Mechatronics, and 3) IEEE Transactions on Neural and Rehabilitation Engineering D) There are three workshops on the first day of the conference in the areas of: 1) Surgical Robotics, 2) Wearable lower limb exoskeletons, and 3) Gerontechnology: Solutions for an Aging Society. See you in Scottsdale, AZ in October! Jaydev P. Desai Program Chair, BioRob 2008 -- Jaydev P. Desai Associate Professor RAMS Laboratory Department of Mechanical Engineering Room 0160, Bldg 088, Glenn L. Martin Hall University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 Phone: 301-405-4427 Fax: 301-314-9477 Web: http://rams.umd.edu From alanwags at cc.gatech.edu Mon Sep 29 21:14:34 2008 From: alanwags at cc.gatech.edu (Alan Richard Wagner) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:14:34 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [robotics-worldwide] Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) Pioneer Workshop 2009 -- deadline extended In-Reply-To: <2091739749.165201221578020191.JavaMail.root@pinky.cc.gatech.edu> Message-ID: <2107292728.272031222748074102.JavaMail.root@pinky.cc.gatech.edu> Apologies for cross postings. The deadline has been extended until Oct. 15. Historically the workshop has attempted to provide travel grants and accommodations for participants. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------- CALL FOR PARTICIPATION Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) Pioneer Workshop 2009 March 10, 2009 4th Human-Robot Interaction Conference (HRI2009) March 11-13, 2009 - San Diego, CA, USA http://www.hripioneers.org/hri09/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------- Workshop Description: The field of human-robot interaction is new but growing rapidly. While there are now several established researchers in the field, many of the current human-robotic interaction practitioners are students or recently graduated. This workshop, to be held in conjunction with the HRI 2009 conference, aims to bring together this group of researchers to discuss their work, talk about the important upcoming issues in the field, and hear about what their colleagues are doing. The workshop is the fourth annual workshop for junior researchers in HRI held in conjunction with the HRI conference. Those who have not attended a previous session are highly encouraged to submit to this workshop. Previous attendees will be considered for acceptance as well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------- Workshop Format: The format of the workshop will have participants presenting their work in short talks, hearing from an expert in the field on the important problems in HRI, and meeting in small group sessions to discuss common research themes. The workshop will take place in March 2009, in San Diego in conjunction with the HRI 2009 Conference. Potential participants are encouraged to submit an abstract of their current research, a statement of motivation, and a letter of recommendation by October 1, 2008 (see the webpage http://www.hripioneers.org/hri09/ for more details about the application. Please limit abstracts to two pages. We plan to accept approximately 30 students and young researchers to the workshop. Twelve will be asked to give a brief (10 minute) talk to the workshop about their work. The remainder will be expected to talk about their work during breakout sessions and meals. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------- Important Dates: 15 October 2008 - Application Deadline 19 November 2008 - Notification of acceptance 10 March 2009 - HRI Pioneer Workshop 11-13 March 2009 - HRI 2009 Conference ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------- Organizers: Alan Wagner, Georgia Tech, USA (chair) Emily Mower, USC, USA Rosemarijn Looije, TNO, the Netherlands Maxim Makatchev, CMU, USA Marek Michalowski, CMU, USA For more information, please visit the following website: http://www.hripioneers.org/hri09/ _____ Kind regards, Alan From patrick.henaff at uvsq.fr Tue Sep 30 02:19:49 2008 From: patrick.henaff at uvsq.fr (=?windows-1252?Q?Patrick_H=E9naff?=) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:19:49 +0200 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] PostDoc Position in Bio-Inspired Control for Humanoid Robots, France Message-ID: <48E1EF35.1050006@uvsq.fr> Post Doc Position in Bio-Inspired Control for Humanoid Robots ============================================== *Keywords* Humanoid Robots, CPG, bio-inspired control, adaptive behaviour *Post-doctoral researcher work description* The object of this postdoctoral research consists in studying neural adaptive controllers based on plastic biological models dedicated to locomotion of a 3D simulated biped. The goal is to control dynamical behaviours of the biped and to compensate some deficiencies or mechanical damage like rupture of transmission in its hip, knee or ankle. Following the currently research activity in the LISV laboratory, the study will be focused on the synergy and functioning of the biological mechanisms. The neural network plasticity commanding the motor activity of the articulated locomotion will be investigated. This will allow us testing several corrector models taken from biology for different gaits. The method consists on the design of the neural controller following the evolutionary robotics approach based on what is currently developed in the LISV for hexapod robots. *Research Context* This work falls under the research project PHEMA (Humano?de Platform for the study of Human Walk with and without deficiencies). PHEMA project, 3 years duration, is supported by the National French Research Agency. PHEMA aims a better understanding of the locomotion mechanical synergies that govern the human walking, by reproducing it in simulation and with a real anthropomorphic robot. Several static and dynamic behaviours taking into account motor deficiencies which characterize walking handicaps will be raised. PHEMA is making roboticians, neurobiologists and doctors work jointly. PHEMA project is in connection to the previous ROBIAN project (http://www.lisv.uvsq.fr/accueil/recherches/RH/projets/ROBIAN/index.htm) for which a biped robot was built. *Job Location* Laboratoire d?Ingenierie des Systemes de Versailles Universite de Versailles St Quentin 10-12 av de l?Europe, 78140 VELIZY, FRANCE LISV laboratory (www.lisv.uvsq.fr) is located in the Industrial park of V?lizy near Versailles City, and its famous castle. Paris downtown is at approximately 30 mn by public transportation. *Duration: 12 months *REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE AND BACKGROUND* Candidates should have prior experience in the following areas: evolutionary robotics, biological modelling of neural networks, software development, and numerical simulation of legged robots. He or she should have strong background in C++ . Candidates interested in applying should electronically send a curriculum vitae and graduate to Dr. Patrick Henaff at patrick.henaff at uvsq.fr. Applicants should also arrange for 2 letters of reference to be sent to the same address; applicants should not send reference letters themselves. Applicants must be less than 40 years old. *For further information, please contact: Patrick Henaff Associate Professor patrick.henaff at uvsq.fr T?l : +33.1.39.25.49.91 Fax: +33.1.39.25.49.85 -- ________________________________________________ Patrick HENAFF Recherche: patrick.henaff at uvsq.fr - Tel: 01.39.25.49.91 Enseignement: patrick.henaff at u-cergy.fr -Tel: 01.34.38.26.69 From oli at cs.umass.edu Tue Sep 30 13:54:14 2008 From: oli at cs.umass.edu (Oliver Brock) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:54:14 -0400 Subject: [robotics-worldwide] CFP: Autonomous Mobile Manipulation (2nd announcement) Message-ID: <2330F00E4A3C924AB7F7297AE42D353530B8CA@zor.ads.cs.umass.edu> Call for Papers on ------------------------------ Autonomous Mobile Manipulation ------------------------------ for a special issue of the journal Autonomous Robots http://www.editorialmanager.com/auro/ Research in autonomous mobile manipulation seeks to develop mobile robotic systems that autonomously perform manipulation tasks in unstructured environments. Such robotic systems could have a profound impact on many application areas of societal, economic, and scientific importance, including domestic assistance, healthcare, flexible manufacturing, automated supply chain management, planetary exploration, and emergency services. The development of robotic systems for autonomous mobile manipulation is inherently interdisciplinary. Successful systems are likely to require new approaches and innovations involving multiple areas of robotics, such as perception, control, mechanisms, motion planning, manipulation, navigation, human-robot interaction, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. This special issue seeks to capture the state of the art in autonomous mobile manipulation. Special attention will be given to novel approaches validated on real robots that address challenges arising from complex problem domains. Each submission should clearly explain how its contribution is important to autonomous mobile manipulation. We especially encourage submissions that include empirical validation using a real mobile manipulator operating in an unstructured environment. --------------- Relevant topics --------------- - Approaches to perception - Grasping and dexterous manipulation - Motion planning and control - Hardware designs for increased performance and/or safety - Human-robot interaction - Multi-robot systems - Learning and reasoning - Navigation - Architectures for system integration - Applications with empirically demonstrated success Given the breadth of related research, this is only a partial list of appropriate topics. We encourage authors interested in submitting work from other areas to contact the guest editors. --------------- Important Dates --------------- Paper submission deadline: December 15, 2008 Notification to authors: March 15, 2009 Camera ready papers: April 15, 2009 Date of publication: Summer of 2009 ----------- Submissions ----------- Submissions to this special issue will be made through the journal's web site: http://www.editorialmanager.com/auro/ During the online submission process, please select article type "SI: Mobile Manipulation". ------------- Guest Editors ------------- Oliver Brock University of Massachusetts Amherst oli[at]cs.umass.edu Charlie Kemp Georgia Institute of Technology charlie.kemp[at]bme.gatech.edu