It is a great pleasure to contact you again through this new issue. This time, we bring you new information about ICRA 2011
contests, activities being prepared for IROS 2011 and a selection of very interesting robotics news!
It is worth mentioning that we are still working to improve this newsletter. You will soon receive a small survey to
help us with your opinion. This will allow us to generate new and useful content for you all!
Finally, don't forget that you are always invited to be part of all activities promoted by the SAC committee.
Please visit our site to keep updated of SAC projects and get involved!
Keep in touch!
Marcelo
Cochair 2011/Newsletter Editor
Go to top
Student Photo Contest
The jury lead by Prof. Bruno Siciliano (junior past president of RAS)
selected the finalists of the student photos submitted after ICRA.
They are...
#10: "Better robots Better life": The ultimate aim of robotics: Reach out the common (wo)man.
From Krishna Kumar Narayanan |
#13: Top-down approach from the top of the tower
From Luca Gherardi |
#18: Huxingtin: Shanghai's most famous tea house
From Bipin Suresh |
You can see all submissions here.
The winners will be announced in the next issue!
ICRA Student Reporters
The finalists of this competition are Fausto Ferreira and Mark Whitty.
You can read their interesting report below.
Go to top
By Brian Walker
Microsoft recognizes hobbyists, bestows great gift... still waiting for the punchline
 |
Without a doubt, the most important thing to happen in the world of hobbyist robotics this month was
the release of the Kinect software development kit for windows. To be honest, there are other ways to connect a Kinect to your bot,
(try saying that out loud) but this kit allows your casual robotics enthusiast access to the Kinect's massive data stream without
much trouble. In the world of household robotics, the Kinect could be the only sensor you ever need. So if you have an old PC
and 150 bucks to shell out on a Kinect, you can build a robot that can interact with humans and navigate an environment.
Check out the official site here.
|
Blind people + Cars = good idea?
 |
If you are anything like me, the idea of putting the blind in front of a wheel is somewhat scary. We
rely on our vision so much while driving that it is almost impossible to think of driving without it, but what if the car
was almost like a robot, and was able to assist the driver? That is what Dennis Hong and his team set out to do, and the
results are pretty surprising. This video appeared as a TED talk, and you can check it out
here.
|
Getting ahead of the next big robotics challenge
Interested in finding that big robotics contest that can fund your team for a few years or launch your
robotics start up company? Worcester Polytechnic Institute might be the best place to look. They have a
website up!
|
 |
For a NASA centennial challenge sample return robot. The prize purse is... wait for it... 1.5 million dollars.
Here is a NASA press release on the matter.
The rules will be posted some time in the coming months, and the challenge will run next spring. It appears to be a prototyping project
for a robot that can act independently on an extraterrestrial sample mission. If I had to take an educated guess, they are looking f
or successful designs to send on a mission to mars if NASA solves the return mission problem.
|
Go to top
IROS 2011 is quickly approaching, so we want to call your attention! As you know,
when such a great number of IEEE RAS students are together, the SAC naturally has
to organize some events! Take a look at the following programs:
- FIBRS (Fostering Interaction Between Robotists and Students)
Student/Chair Mentorship Program
At this year's IROS, students can get involved in a fun way again! Get the
behind the scenes experience of a conference! This program will give you a chance to interact
with key researchers in your field. Students will be paired with a Session Chair, where you
will learn how to run a session. Students who are interested should first find out who they
would like to work with, by reading the session guide and selecting a chair that they would
like to be their mentor. Please email the name of the session, the date, and your relevant
contact information to fibrs@ieee.org.
Keep in mind that people are occasionally very busy, so you may also wish to provide
an alternative mentor name.
- Student Photo Contest
You are welcome to submit your photographs taken during the IROS2011 conference.
This is a seasonal amateur photography competition, which is open to IROS undergraduate and
graduate student attendees. The judging of the submitted photographs will be made by the IEEE
RAS SAC, involving independent judges. Three winners will be announced and awarded after the
conference. The submitted photos will be used for archival purposes.
- Student Reporters program
The chance is given to you to become famous with your writing skills: we
are calling for entertaining, yet professionally relevant reports on the different sessions
of IROS. The best reports will be awarded, and published in the Robotics and Automation Magazine's
upcoming issue.
- Lunch with Leaders
This mid-day event was initiated by the Student Activities Committee with
the aim to provide students the chance to sit and chat with the prominent professionals of our field. A unique
opportunity to get in contact with leaders and get advice and mentoring on their career and research.
The list of leaders, both from the industry and the academia, will be published here and at the IROS and SAC websites.
Stay tuned!
- GOLD lunch
The Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) lunch was initiated within the RAS Technical
Activities Board as a mean to let graduates be aware of what the society has to offer and to network
with each other. This lunch opportunity is also used to present the structure of the society and introduce
the various Technical Committees forming TAB. Don't miss the details in the next issue!
- Student break out programs
After long tehcnical sessions, we will need some relax! Pubs crawl, student parties,
and tourism will be part of the agenda being prepared by the SAC committee.
More detailed information about registrations and timetables will be included in next issues!
Make sure you stay updated!!
Go to top
Here we leave you a remainder with some upcoming conferences and deadlines:
Coming conferences:
- 8th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics (ICINCO 2011)
From July 28th to August 1st in Noordwijkerhout, Netherlands
- 20th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication e (RO-MAN 2011)
From August 1st to August 5th in Atlanta GA, United States
- 2011 IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE 2011)
From August 24th to August 27th in Trieste, Italy
Next deadlines:
- 25th IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS 2012)
From January 29th to February 3rd in Paris, France
Abstract Submission Deadline: 13 September 2011
- 2012 IEEE Haptics Symposium (HAPTICS 2012)
From March 1st to March 5th in Vancouver, Canada
Paper Submission:September 16, 2011 (Friday)
- 7th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI 2012)
From March 8th to March 13th in Boston, United States
Submission of full papers: 9 September 2011
- 2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2012)
From May 14th to May 19th in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Submission deadline: September 16, 2011
Don't forget that you can check the RAS Calendar for more events information.
Go to top
|
