The inaugural International Conference on Robotics and Automation for Humanitarian Applications (RAHA) provides a platform for researchers, engineers, industry professionals, and humanitarian workers to share knowledge about technological tools, methodologies, and applied robotics and automation solutions for humanitarian applications. The conference on robotics for humanitarian causes will bring together technological innovators and humanitarian field workers to identify gaps and initiate a dialog to alleviate the suffering of those less fortunate thereby increasing the effectiveness of humanitarian efforts on the ground. Emphasis will be placed on important factors that need to be taken into consideration such as environmental, cultural, structural, political and socio-economic and resource constraints while developing robotics and automation solutions that can be developed, deployed, and sustained.

AREAS OF INTEREST INCLUDE TOPICS RELATING TO ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN:
Disaster prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery efforts
Nuclear site monitoring, decommissioning, and hazardous waste cleanup
Applications of unmanned ground, aerial, and marine vehicles
Collaborative and cooperative robotics
Search and rescue
Firefighting
Casualty assessment, care, and extraction
Agriculture
Locomotion, load carrying, and manipulation
Demining
Inspection and structural assessment of critical infrastructure
Floods, landslides, and earthquakes
Robotics and haptics for education and learning
Rehabilitation and assistive robotics
Medical and surgical robotics
Wearable assistive devices
Telemedicine
Robotics for automotive safety
Role of NGOs/NPOs and funding agencies in identifying deployment needs and benefits and sustainability

CONTRIBUTED PAPERS
Papers on applied research in robotics and automation lending to humanitarian applications are invited. All papers will be reviewed using a single-blind review process. Prospective authors should submit pdf versions of their paper. Six pages in standard IEEE format are allowed for each paper, including figures and references. A maximum of two additional pages can be purchased. Authors are invited to submit a video to complement their submission. Accepted papers will be published as conference proceedings and indexed (pending approval).

TUTORIALS AND WORKSHOPS
Proposals for half-day or full-day tutorials are invited. Tutorials will be held as a parallel track with the main technical sessions. Tutorials target more established research areas and provide insights into the state of the art presented by recognized researchers in the field. RAHA workshops will offer attendees multiple opportunities for intensive learning experiences through lectures, group discussions, and Q&A.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
Detailed instructions for submission are available on the conference website. Please visit the PaperPlaza Conference/Journal Review Management System and scroll down to the RAHA 2016 banner to submit a contribution.

website: http://raha2016.org/