IEEE Robotics & Automation Society Italian Chapter (I-RAS)

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The 2020 IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE2020) is seeking proposals for Tutorials and Workshops, addressing current and future research and application topics that are relevant to the conference areas.

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The 2020 IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE2020) is seeking proposals for Tutorials and Workshops, addressing current and future research and application topics that are relevant to the conference areas.

The IEEE P7008 Standards Working Group, sponsored by the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, is seeking volunteers to bring additional perspectives and expertise into the creation of the IEEE P7008TM Standard for Ethically Driven Nudging for Robotic, Intelligent and Autonomous Systems. This standard will provide guidance for developers and ethicists involved in the design of autonomous, intelligent systems that seek to “nudge” humans; that is, influence choices made by humans through subtle means.

The IEEE P7008 Standards Working Group, sponsored by the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, is seeking volunteers to bring additional perspectives and expertise into the creation of the IEEE P7008TM Standard for Ethically Driven Nudging for Robotic, Intelligent and Autonomous Systems. This standard will provide guidance for developers and ethicists involved in the design of autonomous, intelligent systems that seek to “nudge” humans; that is, influence choices made by humans through subtle means.

The IEEE P7008 Standards Working Group, sponsored by the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, is seeking volunteers to bring additional perspectives and expertise into the creation of the IEEE P7008TM Standard for Ethically Driven Nudging for Robotic, Intelligent and Autonomous Systems. This standard will provide guidance for developers and ethicists involved in the design of autonomous, intelligent systems that seek to “nudge” humans; that is, influence choices made by humans through subtle means. These systems may adaptively select the individuals they nudge, customize the means they use to influence behavior, and/or learn from the effectiveness of the nudges they implement. IEEE P7008TM will provide designers of nudging systems with methods, tools and guidelines for aligning their systems with ethical design principles, and embody an ethical framework grounded in respecting human autonomy, in particular, the human dignity of informed, non-coerced choice. The completed standard will establish a delineation of current and potential nudging techniques and technologies, and frame a design methodology to ensure transparent, ethical decision-making, the assessment of ethical risks and harms due to nudging, and evaluation of nudging effects after deployment.

Working group members have professional experience and personal interests across a broad spectrum of disciplines relevant to this topic, including development/deployment of autonomous and intelligent systems, ethics, cognitive science, psychology, empathic technologies, regulations related to technology, and standards development. We seek additional wide-minded talents to foster this practice of developing systems that incorporate ethics into their design.

If you have any questions about IEEE P7008TM (https://standards.ieee.org/project/7008.html) or would like to become a working group member, please send email to the chair, Sean Dougherty (seand@ieee.org). If you have questions about the IEEE Standards Association or the IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems (https://ethicsinaction.ieee.org/), please send email to Christy Bahn (c.bahn@ieee.org).

The IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS2019) was held 4-8 November 2019 in Macau, China. Congratulations to the following Award Recipients - which were announced on 7 November during the Awards Luncheon.

The IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS2019) was held 4-8 November 2019 in Macau, China. Congratulations to the following Award Recipients - which were announced on 7 November during the Awards Luncheon.

The IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS2019) was held 4-8 November 2019 in Macau, China. Congratulations to the following Award Recipients - which were announced on 7 November during the Awards Luncheon.

IROS Harashima Award for Innovative Technologies

This award is to honor Professor Fumio Harashima, the Founding Honorary Chair of the IROS conferences, by recognizing outstanding contributions of an individual of the IROS community who has pioneered activities in robotics and intelligent systems.

 

Nancy M. Amato - University of Illinois, USA
"For fundamental contributions to innovative robot motion planning and advanced computing methods"

IROS Distinguished Service Award

This award recognizes an individual who has performed outstanding service and leadership for the benefit and advancement of the IROS Conference. Up to two awards will be given annually at the IROS Conference.

 

Ren C. Luo - National Taiwan University, Taiwan
"For thirty years of outstanding contributions to the development of IROS"

Christian Laugier - INRIA, France
“For Outstanding Service and Leadership to IROS Conferences”

IROS Toshio Fukuda Young Professional Award

This award recognizes individuals (from academic institutions, government, industry, or research labs) who, in their early career, have made identifiable contributions that have had a major impact on intelligent robots and systems. Up to two awards will be given annually at the IROS Conference.

 

Takeshi Ando - Panasonic Corporation, Japan
"For contributions to the deployment of service robots and assistive robots"

Mac Schwager - Stanford University, USA
"For contributions to the advancement of multi-robot systems"

IROS Best Paper Award

This award recognizes the most outstanding paper at the annual IROS Conference.

 

"Planning Reactive Manipulation in Dynamic Environments"
Philipp S. Schmitt, Florian Wirnshofer, Kai M. Wurm, Georg v. Wichert, Wolfram Burgard

IROS ABB Best Student Paper Award

This award recognizes the most outstanding paper authored primarily by a student at the annual IROS Conference.

"Efficient and Guaranteed Planar Pose Graph Optimization Using the Complex Number Representation"
Taosha Fan, Hanlin Wang, Michael Rubenstein, Todd Murphey

IROS JTCF Novel Technology Paper Award for Amusement Culture

This award recognizes technical papers which have made practical technology contributions to Toys, Toy Models and Amusement Culture. 

"Responsive Joint Attention in Human-Robot Interaction"
André Pereira, Catharine Oertel, Leonor Fermoselle, Joe Mendelson, Joakim Gustafson

IROS RoboCup Best Paper Award

This award recognizes technical papers which have made identifiable contributions to RoboCup.

"Motion Decoupling and Composition via Reduced Order Model Optimization for Dynamic Humanoid Walking with CLF-QP based Active Force Control"
Xiaobin Xiong, Aaron D. Ames

IROS KROS Best Paper Award on Cognitive Robotics

This award is to promote interdisciplinary researches on cognition for technical systems and advancements of cognitive robotics in industry, home applications, and daily life.

 

"Planning Beyond The Sensing Horizon Using a Learned Context"
Michael Everett, Justin Miller, Jonathan P. How

IROS Best Paper Award on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics

This award is to promote advanced research on safety, security and rescue robotics. The name of the award is connected with Mr. Motohiro Kisoi who was killed in Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake on 17 January 1995. He was a master student of Kobe University, Japan at that time. He had a dream to create a robot that can help people. To memorialize him and Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the award has established.

"Optimization Based Motion Planning for Multi-Limbed Vertical Climbing Robots"
Xuan Lin, Jingwen Zhang, Junjie Shen, Gabriel Fernandez, Dennis W Hong

IROS ICROS Best Application Paper Award

This award is to promote researches on excellent robot application.

"Visual Servoing of Miniature Magnetic Film Swimming Robots for 3D Arbitrary Path Following"
Chenyang Huang, Tiantian Xu, Jia Liu, Laliphat Manamanchaiyaporn, Xinyu Wu

Call for Papers has been extended to 1-March-2020.

The past few years have seen a significant increase of research activities focusing on the use of active or inherent material compliance in robotic systems, generally known as soft robotics.

Call for Papers has been extended to 1-March-2020.

The past few years have seen a significant increase of research activities focusing on the use of active or inherent material compliance in robotic systems, generally known as soft robotics.

Call for Papers has been extended to 1-March-2020.

The past few years have seen a significant increase of research activities focusing on the use of active or inherent material compliance in robotic systems, generally known as soft robotics. The underlying reason is the importance of soft and deformable structures to develop robotic systems that are safer, cheaper and more adaptable than the level that can be achieved by the conventional rigid-material robots. Soft robotic systems are characterized by several unique aspects like their elastic and deformable bodies, large number of degrees of freedom, possible use of unconventional material and the involvement of intrinsic passive mechanical dynamics. In order to properly handle the characteristics, it is crucial to understand the modern view of intelligence, commonly referred to as embodied intelligence or morphological computation, which emphasizes the importance of the task distribution among the brain or controller of a robot, the morphology such as shape, size and materials composing the robot; as well as the environment. In this modern view of intelligence, optimizing the design of the soft robots are therefore of a great importance. While the design optimization can be either or both led by machines and/or humans, or taking inspiration from biological systems, it will eventually decide the behavior and characteristics of the robot.

The special issue of “Design Optimization of Soft Robots” in IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine aims to summarize the state of the art and disseminate the current advances on the design optimization of soft robots. The desired outcome of this special issue is a general consensus of the shared scientific goals, the relevant perspective and challenges in the research field, as well as high impact applications.

Topics of Interest

We invite both original research or review/position papers of topics related to design optimization of soft robots, both those focusing on the use of active compliance or inherent material compliance. The topics include but not limited to the followings:

• Additive manufacturing for model-free design automation
• Bio-inspired approaches for design optimization of soft robots
• Brain-soft body co-optimization
• Design of artificial skin and stretchable sensors
• Design optimization for soft and safe physical human-robot interactions
• Design optimization in continuum robots
• Design optimization in soft arms, manipulation and grasping 
• Design optimization in self-healing soft robots
• Design optimization through modeling and simulation of soft bodies
• Morphological computation and embodied intelligence
• Optimizing soft actuator design
• Soft modular robots
• Soft robot design optimization for energy efficiency
• Wearable robots design optimization

For more information:  https://www.ieee-ras.org/publications/ram/special-issues/special-issue-on-design-optimization-of-soft-robots

HRI 2020 Half-Day Workshop, “Mental Models of Robots in Human-Robot Interaction” held in Cambridge, UK on 23 March 2020 is now offering two extended deadlines- One for applicants who want notification before the conference’s early registration deadline, and another for those who don’t.

HRI 2020 Half-Day Workshop, “Mental Models of Robots in Human-Robot Interaction” held in Cambridge, UK on 23 March 2020 is now offering two extended deadlines- One for applicants who want notification before the conference’s early registration deadline, and another for those who don’t.

HRI 2020 Half-Day Workshop, “Mental Models of Robots in Human-Robot Interaction” held in Cambridge, UK on 23 March 2020 is now offering two extended deadlines- One for applicants who want notification before the conference’s early registration deadline, and another for those who don’t.

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Deadline Extended for Submission of 2-page Extended Abstracts:

Earlier Deadline: 20 January 2020 for notification by 29 January 2020 (*before* early registration deadline)

Later Deadline: 24 January 2020 for notification by 5 February 2020 (*after* early registration deadline)

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We would like to invite you to participate in the 1st Workshop on Mental Models of Robots, to be held at HRI 2020 in Cambridge, UK on 23 March 2020.

The workshop website can be found through this link: https://mmhri.github.io/

We are soliciting 2-page extended abstracts to be presented in short talks at the workshop. Some suggested topics are below. Please contact Matt Rueben at mrueben@usc.edu with questions about the workshop topic, scope, or anything else.

Applicants with a background in human-computer interaction, natural language processing,design, human factors, psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science, and any other related disciplines are welcome to apply. We especially encourage submissions from researchers and practitioners contributing theories, methods and applications that are only sparsely used in the HRI community such as human factors, gaming, and employee education for working with industrial robots.

http://humanrobotinteraction.org/2020/

HRI is a financially co-sponsored RAS event

DEADLINE EXTENSION ends 22-January-2020

 

The IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) is seeking applications for the Member Activities Board’s Student Activities Committee (SAC). There are openings for one chair and one or more co?chairs. These positions offer great opportunities to learn more about the Society, have an international impact, and expand one’s professional network. The chair will serve for two calendar years (2020 – 2021), and the co?chairs for a one?year term in 2020 and renewable for a second year.

The IEEE?RAS Student Activities Committee promotes student participation in the Society activities in co?operation with all Society Boards, Committees and Working Groups, under the supervision of the Member Activities Board. The mission of the committee includes working on issues of interest to student members and interacting with student members and student chapter branches. Current areas of focus include:

• Lunch with Leaders held at flagship conferences (ICRA, CASE, IROS)
• Fun, informal social events at RAS sponsored conferences
• Educational webinars
• Membership development
• SAC Website and social media content
• Coordination with student branch chapter chairs
• SAC column in IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine (quarterly publication)

If you wish to be considered, please complete an Application Form by 10 January 2020 22 January 2020 and indicate whether you are applying for the Chair or Co-Chair position (please specify one or more co-chair positions):  and include the following information:

1. A letter indicating applicant’s interest in serving on the SAC and relevant experience (2 pages maximum)
2. A CV or résumé (2 pages maximum)
3. A letter of support from a faculty member at your college or university (preferably a current member of IEEE and RAS).

For more information, click here.

Call For Abstracts- AGAINST-20

AGAINST robot dystopias: thinking through the ethical, legal and societal issues of robotics and automation (AGAINST-20)

Call For Abstracts- AGAINST-20

AGAINST robot dystopias: thinking through the ethical, legal and societal issues of robotics and automation (AGAINST-20)

 

Call For Abstracts- AGAINST-20

AGAINST robot dystopias: thinking through the ethical, legal and societal issues of robotics and automation (AGAINST-20)

A full-day ICRA 2020 workshop- 31 May 2020 or 4 June 2020

Paris, France

https://against-20.github.io/

Submission deadline: 23 March 2020

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Intelligent robots come with promises of great value to society but can also be seen as threats in terms of job loss, increased social inequalities, transparency and privacy, age/race/gender bias in training or design, autonomous warfare, excessive delegation of decision-making, etc. This workshop aims to put forth a diversity of viewpoints from experts not only in robotics and AI but also disciplines that are close to the real-world use of robots: social science, law, economics, and philosophy. Together we want to explore possible outcomes of increased uptake of intelligent robots, and contribute to ethical frameworks and good practices. The workshop builds on its previous edition AGAINST-19 at ICRA 2019, which focused on bias and discrimination. This edition will further extend its scope to other topics of ethics and responsible innovation in robotics, while at the same time keeping its focus on spreading awareness and a critical mindset in our robotics community regarding ethical issues of the technologies we design.

The workshop will provide a venue for both theoretical and technical discussions which interleave philosophy/economics/social-science talks with technical talks.

Important Dates

- Paper submission deadline: 23 March 2020

- Author notification: 19 April 2020

- Camera-ready submission: 4 May 2020

- 31 May or 4 June 2020

This workshop is sponsored by The IEEE RAS Technical Committee on Human Robot Interaction & Coordination

Recommended letter of intent: 28 February 2020

Submission deadline: 30 April 2020

This focused section aims at presenting the latest research advances and the future trends in the development of human-centered based approaches for controlling wearable robots for motion assistance and rehabilitation.

Recommended letter of intent: 28 February 2020

Submission deadline: 30 April 2020

This focused section aims at presenting the latest research advances and the future trends in the development of human-centered based approaches for controlling wearable robots for motion assistance and rehabilitation. While initially conceived for human motion augmentation purposes, wearable powered robots have been gradually proposed as technological aids for rehabilitation and assistance, and functional substitution in patients suffering from motor disorders. Over the last decades and despite the significant technological and scientific achievements in the field of wearable technologies, we have not yet witnessed successful projects pointing out subject-centered robotic suits, which are easy to wear and intuitive enough to cooperate with. Providing such pragmatic solutions or reducing the wearer dependency on external operator would have a great societal impact by improving the quality of life and regaining people Independence. In addition, technological advances and the emergence of wearable and ubiquitous technologies with considerable reduction in size, cost and energy consumption, are becoming privileged solutions to provide autonomous assistive services to humans. This challenging technology is expected to work closely, interact and collaborate with people in an intelligent environment. Thus, communicating the human body with the wearable robotic system requires robust and suitable interfacing solutions.

This special issue aims to gather researchers from different backgrounds to highlight the state of the art, the current and future trends of this highly interdisciplinary field. The accepted papers will provide discussions about the challenges and limiting factors for developing sustainable wearable robots for assistance and rehabilitation of human movements. The special issue aims at publishing original, significant and visionary papers describing the growing challenges of using novel human-robot multimodal interaction paradigms as these should consider both biomechanical and physiological features to allow for efficient and intuitive cooperative behavior. The special issue is also about understanding the recent trends to promote: energy harvesting, complete wearability, portability and reliability of the device, as well as user's safety. Challenges to be covered include efficient coupling and optimized transmission of power from the wearable device to the human body, and optimization of control algorithms for reduction and compensation of interface losses, among others. Submissions of scientific results from experts in academia and industry worldwide will be strongly encouraged.

Topics of interest include:

* Design of kinematically compatible wearable robots

* Advanced impedance-based control for wearable robots

* Human-in-the-loop-optimization algorithms for control of wearable robots

* Adaptive control for smooth physical human-robot interaction

* Torque control approaches for advanced neural interfaces with wearable exoskeletons

* Modular and decentralized exoskeleton design

* Design, control, and characterization approaches for soft wearable robots

* Innovative transmissions for wearable collaborative machines

* Design and test of powered exosuits

* Machine learning techniques for a smooth control of wearable robots

Paper submission and selection:

Interested authors are encouraged to submit no more than TWO IEEE pages A4 extended abstract to the guest editors (trowearablerobots@gmail.com) by 28 February  2020. Full Papers should be submitted by 30 April 2020. All submitted full papers will be rigorously reviewed and the selection of papers will be based on their originality, timeliness, significance and relevance to the scope of the special issue. Submitted papers should not be under consideration for publication anywhere else. More information on submitting can be found at https://www.ieee-ras.org/publications/t-ro/information-for-authors

The highest priority is quality, commensurate with the usual IEEE Transactions on Robotics standards.

For any request, please contact Juan C. Moreno (jc.moreno@csic.es) and Samer Mohammed (samer.mohammed@u-pec.fr).

More information: https://www.ieee-ras.org/publications/t-ro/special-issues