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

Congratulations and welcome to the following new IEEE Robotics & Automation Society Chapters established in 2018 Q4. 

USA

• IEEE San Diego Section Robotics and Automation Society Chapter

Jordan

• Jordan University of Science & Technology Robotics and Automation Society Student Branch Chapter in the Jordan Section

Turkey

• Istanbul Medipol University Robotics and Automation Society Student Branch Chapter in the Turkey Section

Bolivia

• Universidad Catolica de Bolivia La Paz Robotics and Automation Society Student Branch Chapter in the Bolivia Section

Honduras

• IEEE Honduras Section Joint Chapter, RA24/COM19/C16

India

• University College of Engineering - Osmania University in the Hyderabad Section
• Prathyusha Institute of Technology & Management College Robotics and Automation Society Student Branch Chapter in the Madras Section
• Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering Robotics and Automation Society Student Branch Chapter in the Bangalore Section

Congratulations and welcome to the following new IEEE Robotics & Automation Society Chapters established in 2018 Q4. 

USA

• IEEE San Diego Section Robotics and Automation Society Chapter

Jordan

• Jordan University of Science & Technology Robotics and Automation Society Student Branch Chapter in the Jordan Section

Turkey

• Istanbul Medipol University Robotics and Automation Society Student Branch Chapter in the Turkey Section

Bolivia

• Universidad Catolica de Bolivia La Paz Robotics and Automation Society Student Branch Chapter in the Bolivia Section

Honduras

• IEEE Honduras Section Joint Chapter, RA24/COM19/C16

India

• University College of Engineering - Osmania University in the Hyderabad Section
• Prathyusha Institute of Technology & Management College Robotics and Automation Society Student Branch Chapter in the Madras Section
• Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering Robotics and Automation Society Student Branch Chapter in the Bangalore Section

Heartfelt congratulations to Zexiang Li and Frank Wang, selected recipient of the prestigious 2019 IEEE Robotics and Automation Technical Field Award for "Contributions to the development and commercialization of civilian drones, aerial imaging technology, robotics engineering advancement, innovation, and entrepreneurship." They will receive this award during the 2019 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Montreal, Canada on 20-24 May 2019.

The aerial technology innovations of Zexiang Li and Frank Wang are fueling one of the most significant robotics developments of the past decade—the rise of the drone and its growing impact on society. Wang and Li were the first to dispel the stereotype that useful aerial robots were expensive and unwieldy, repositioning drones from luxurious toys to practical tools. They cofounded Da-Jiang Innovations (DJI), the world’s largest manufacturer and leader in consumer drones and aerial imaging technology. Their flight control systems have provided robotics researchers with platforms for research in visual navigation, collective robotics, simultaneous localization and mapping, and object detection and tracking. Among DJI’s many innovations are drones designed specifically for agricultural applications, autopilot drones for search and rescue, and camera stabilization technology that achieves movie-grade aerial footage for the motion-picture and film industry.

An IEEE Fellow, Zexiang Li is a professor with the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clearwater Bay, Hong Kong, China.

An IEEE member, Frank Wang is founder and chief executive officer of SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China.

The IEEE Robotics and Automation Technical Field Award was established in 2002 by the IEEE Board of Directors, and is presented for contributions in the field of robotics and automation. It includes but is not limited to: manufacturing automation; robotics and automation in unstructured environments; sensor design; integration and fusion; robot design; modeling; planning and control; methodologies for robotics and automation, and the quality of the nomination. This Award is sponsored by the IEEE Robotics & Automation Society.

Past Recipients can be found HERE

Heartfelt congratulations to Zexiang Li and Frank Wang, selected recipient of the prestigious 2019 IEEE Robotics and Automation Technical Field Award for "Contributions to the development and commercialization of civilian drones, aerial imaging technology, robotics engineering advancement, innovation, and entrepreneurship." They will receive this award during the 2019 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Montreal, Canada on 20-24 May 2019.

The aerial technology innovations of Zexiang Li and Frank Wang are fueling one of the most significant robotics developments of the past decade—the rise of the drone and its growing impact on society. Wang and Li were the first to dispel the stereotype that useful aerial robots were expensive and unwieldy, repositioning drones from luxurious toys to practical tools. They cofounded Da-Jiang Innovations (DJI), the world’s largest manufacturer and leader in consumer drones and aerial imaging technology. Their flight control systems have provided robotics researchers with platforms for research in visual navigation, collective robotics, simultaneous localization and mapping, and object detection and tracking. Among DJI’s many innovations are drones designed specifically for agricultural applications, autopilot drones for search and rescue, and camera stabilization technology that achieves movie-grade aerial footage for the motion-picture and film industry.

An IEEE Fellow, Zexiang Li is a professor with the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clearwater Bay, Hong Kong, China.

An IEEE member, Frank Wang is founder and chief executive officer of SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China.

The IEEE Robotics and Automation Technical Field Award was established in 2002 by the IEEE Board of Directors, and is presented for contributions in the field of robotics and automation. It includes but is not limited to: manufacturing automation; robotics and automation in unstructured environments; sensor design; integration and fusion; robot design; modeling; planning and control; methodologies for robotics and automation, and the quality of the nomination. This Award is sponsored by the IEEE Robotics & Automation Society.

Past Recipients can be found HERE

Seth Hutchinson will serve as RAS President Elect in 2018-2019. During the 6 October meeting in Madrid, Spain, the RAS Administrative Committee elected Hutchinson to serve as President Elect under President, Wolfram Burgard and to assume the Society presidency in January 2020. He is an IEEE Fellow and has served RAS on the Administrative Committee, as Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Robotics, as Editor-in-Chief of the ICRA Conference Editorial Board, and on numerous other RAS Committees and RAS Conferences.

Seth Hutchinson is Professor and KUKA Chair for Robotics in the School of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he also serves as Associate Director of the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines. His research in robotics spans the areas of planning, sensing, and control. He has published more than 200 papers on these topics, and is coauthor of the books "Principles of Robot Motion: Theory, Algorithms, and Implementations," published by MIT Press, and "Robot Modeling and Control," published by Wiley. Hutchinson is an Emeritus Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he was Professor
of ECE until 2018, serving as Associate Head for Undergraduate Affairs from 2001 to 2007. He received his Ph.D. from Purdue University in 1988. Hutchinson is a Fellow of the IEEE.

Seth Hutchinson will serve as RAS President Elect in 2018-2019. During the 6 October meeting in Madrid, Spain, the RAS Administrative Committee elected Hutchinson to serve as President Elect under President, Wolfram Burgard and to assume the Society presidency in January 2020. He is an IEEE Fellow and has served RAS on the Administrative Committee, as Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Robotics, as Editor-in-Chief of the ICRA Conference Editorial Board, and on numerous other RAS Committees and RAS Conferences.

Seth Hutchinson is Professor and KUKA Chair for Robotics in the School of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he also serves as Associate Director of the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines. His research in robotics spans the areas of planning, sensing, and control. He has published more than 200 papers on these topics, and is coauthor of the books "Principles of Robot Motion: Theory, Algorithms, and Implementations," published by MIT Press, and "Robot Modeling and Control," published by Wiley. Hutchinson is an Emeritus Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he was Professor
of ECE until 2018, serving as Associate Head for Undergraduate Affairs from 2001 to 2007. He received his Ph.D. from Purdue University in 1988. Hutchinson is a Fellow of the IEEE.

Congratualtions to Ayanna Howard and her Team at Zyrobotics, selected as the first grantee of MicroSoft's AI for Accessibility.  

In May 2018, Microsoft announced AI for Accessibility - a $25 million program that is aimed toward providing AI tools to developers in order to accelerate the creation of accessible solutions to benefit people with disabilities. The initiative is to be spanned over a period of five years.

Atlanta-based Zyrobotics has been cited by Microsoft as the first grantee of AI for Accessibility. The company develops science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) games and learning tools aimed towards education of young children, and it will be using Microsoft's help under the aforementioned program to develop AI solutions primarily centered around accessibility.

Zyrobotics' ambitions of creating technologies that would make reading easier for all students - regardless of whether they may or may not be facing learning disabilities.

Ayanna Howard is currently serving as Editor in Chief of the RAS ICRA Conference Editorial Board, is Professor and Chair of the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech, and Founder & CTO at Zyrobotics.

Congratualtions to Ayanna Howard and her Team at Zyrobotics, selected as the first grantee of MicroSoft's AI for Accessibility.  

In May 2018, Microsoft announced AI for Accessibility - a $25 million program that is aimed toward providing AI tools to developers in order to accelerate the creation of accessible solutions to benefit people with disabilities. The initiative is to be spanned over a period of five years.

Atlanta-based Zyrobotics has been cited by Microsoft as the first grantee of AI for Accessibility. The company develops science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) games and learning tools aimed towards education of young children, and it will be using Microsoft's help under the aforementioned program to develop AI solutions primarily centered around accessibility.

Zyrobotics' ambitions of creating technologies that would make reading easier for all students - regardless of whether they may or may not be facing learning disabilities.

Ayanna Howard is currently serving as Editor in Chief of the RAS ICRA Conference Editorial Board, is Professor and Chair of the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech, and Founder & CTO at Zyrobotics.

RAS Administrative Committee Member, Carme Torras, publishes a Novel based on an imagined future with robots. 

By Carme Torras
Translated by Josephine Swarbrick

A thirteen-year-old girl wakes up in a future where human emotions are extinct and people rely on personal-assistant robots to navigate daily life.

Imagine a future in which many human emotions are extinct, and “emotional masseuses” try to help people recover those lost sensations. Individuals rely on personal-assistant robots to navigate daily life. Students are taught not to think but to employ search programs. Companies protect their intellectual property by erasing the memory of their employees. And then imagine what it would feel like to be a sweet, smart thirteen-year-old girl from the twenty-first century who wakes from a cryogenically induced sleep into this strange world. This is the compelling story told by Carme Torras in this prize-winning science fiction novel. 

Carme Torras, a prominent roboticist, weaves provocative ethical issues into her story. What kind of robots do we want when robot companions become as common as personal computers are now? Is it the responsibility of researchers to design robots that make the human mind evolve in a certain way? An appendix provides readers with a list of ethics questions raised by the book.

The novel has been published together with some ancillary materials to teach a course on Ethics in Social Robotics and AI.
Please see additional information here.

RAS Administrative Committee Member, Carme Torras, publishes a Novel based on an imagined future with robots. 

By Carme Torras
Translated by Josephine Swarbrick

A thirteen-year-old girl wakes up in a future where human emotions are extinct and people rely on personal-assistant robots to navigate daily life.

Imagine a future in which many human emotions are extinct, and “emotional masseuses” try to help people recover those lost sensations. Individuals rely on personal-assistant robots to navigate daily life. Students are taught not to think but to employ search programs. Companies protect their intellectual property by erasing the memory of their employees. And then imagine what it would feel like to be a sweet, smart thirteen-year-old girl from the twenty-first century who wakes from a cryogenically induced sleep into this strange world. This is the compelling story told by Carme Torras in this prize-winning science fiction novel. 

Carme Torras, a prominent roboticist, weaves provocative ethical issues into her story. What kind of robots do we want when robot companions become as common as personal computers are now? Is it the responsibility of researchers to design robots that make the human mind evolve in a certain way? An appendix provides readers with a list of ethics questions raised by the book.

The novel has been published together with some ancillary materials to teach a course on Ethics in Social Robotics and AI.
Please see additional information here.

RAS Administrative Committee Member, Carmes Torres, publishes a Novel based on an imagined future with robots. 

By Carme Torras
Translated by Josephine Swarbrick

A thirteen-year-old girl wakes up in a future where human emotions are extinct and people rely on personal-assistant robots to navigate daily life.

Imagine a future in which many human emotions are extinct, and “emotional masseuses” try to help people recover those lost sensations. Individuals rely on personal-assistant robots to navigate daily life. Students are taught not to think but to employ search programs. Companies protect their intellectual property by erasing the memory of their employees. And then imagine what it would feel like to be a sweet, smart thirteen-year-old girl from the twenty-first century who wakes from a cryogenically induced sleep into this strange world. This is the compelling story told by Carme Torras in this prize-winning science fiction novel. 

Carme Torras, a prominent roboticist, weaves provocative ethical issues into her story. What kind of robots do we want when robot companions become as common as personal computers are now? Is it the responsibility of researchers to design robots that make the human mind evolve in a certain way? An appendix provides readers with a list of ethics questions raised by the book.