SCOPE:

Robotic 2019 will be a research training event with a global scope aiming at updating participants on the most recent advances in the critical and fast developing area of robotics, which covers a large spectrum of current exciting research and industrial innovation with an extraordinary potential for a huge impact on engineering, medicine, science, business models, and daily life. Renowned academics and industry pioneers will lecture and share their views with the audience.

Most robotics subareas will be displayed, namely the conception, design, manufacturing and operation of robots. This involves addressing their sensing capabilities, manipulation, locomotion, interaction with the environment, interaction with humans, control, etc. The field is multidisciplinary at the crossroads of artificial intelligence, engineering, electronics, mechatronics, bioengineering and nanotechnology. Major challenges of robotics will be identified through 2 keynote lectures, 24 five-hour courses, and 1 round table, which will tackle the most active and promising topics. The organizers are convinced that outstanding speakers will attract the brightest and most motivated students. Interaction will be a main component of the event.

An open session will give participants the opportunity to present their own work in progress in 5 minutes. Moreover, there will be two special sessions with industrial and recruitment profiles.

ADDRESSED TO:

Graduate students, PhD students, postdocs, and industry practitioners will be typical profiles of participants. However, there are no formal pre-requisites for attendance in terms of academic degrees. Since there will be a variety of levels, specific knowledge background may be assumed for some of the courses. Overall, Robotic 2019 is addressed to students, researchers and practitioners who want to keep themselves updated about recent developments and future trends. All will surely find it fruitful to listen and discuss with major researchers, industry leaders and innovators.

STRUCTURE:

3 courses will run in parallel during the whole event. Participants will be able to freely choose the courses they wish to attend as well as to move from one to another.

VENUE:

Robotic 2019 will take place in Bucharest, the centre of Romanian economy, culture, and art. The venue will be:

University Politehnica of Bucharest
Splaiul Independentei nr. 313
Sector 6, Bucharest

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: (to be completed)

Mohan M. Trivedi (University of California, San Diego), tba

PROFESSORS AND COURSES: (to be completed)

Jorge Angeles (McGill University), [intermediate], Kinematics of Multibody Systems

Sylvain Calinon (Idiap Research Institute), [intermediate], Statistical, Geometrical and Dynamical Representations of Movements in Robots

Raja Chatila (Pierre et Marie Curie University), [introductory], Ethics in Robotics and AI

Gamini Dissanayake (University of Technology Sydney), [introductory/intermediate], Robot Localisation, Mapping and SLAM

Andrew A. Goldenberg (University of Toronto), [intermediate/advanced] Bridging between AI and Robotics for Business & Product Development

Norbert Krüger (University of Southern Denmark), [introductory] The Human Visual System as a Model for a Deep Neural Net

Anthony A. Maciejewski (Colorado State University), [introductory/intermediate], Kinematically Redundant Robots: The Promise of Human-like Dexterity

Stefano Nolfi (Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies – CNR), [introductory/intermediate], Evolutionary Robotics

Jan Peters (Technical University of Darmstadt), [introductory/advanced] Robot Learning

José Santos-Victor (Instituto Superior Técnico), [introductory/advanced] Biological and Computational Vision

Richard Satava (University of Washington), [introductory/intermediate] Robotic Surgery and Beyond: Near and Far Future Technologies and Training

Dan Stoianovici (Johns Hopkins University), [introductory/intermediate] Medical Robotics

Garnette Sutherland (University of Calgary), [intermediate] Image Guided Robotic Surgery

Michael Y. Wang (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology), [intermediate/advanced] Soft Robotics

Simon Yang (University of Guelph), [introductory/advanced] Biologically Inspired Robotics

OPEN SESSION

An open session will collect 5-minute voluntary presentations of work in progress by participants. They should submit a half-page abstract containing title, authors, and summary of the research to david@irdta.eu by March 31, 2019.

INDUSTRIAL SESSION:

A session will be devoted to 10-minute demonstrations of practical developments in robotics. Companies interested in contributing are welcome to submit a 1-page abstract containing the program of the demonstration and the logistics needed. Expressions of interest have to be submitted to david@irdta.eu by March 31, 2019.

EMPLOYER SESSION:

Firms searching for personnel well skilled in robotics will have a space reserved for one-to-one contacts. It is recommended to produce a 1-page .pdf leaflet with a brief description of the company and the profiles looked for to be circulated among the participants prior to the event. Expressions of interest have to be submitted to david@irdta.eu by March 31, 2019.

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:

Corneliu Burileanu (Bucharest, co-chair)
Nicolae Georgian (Bucharest)
Sara Morales (Brussels)
Anna Neacsu (Bucharest)
Manuel J. Parra-Royón (Granada)
David Silva (London, co-chair)

REGISTRATION:

It has to be done at

http://robotic2019.irdta.eu/registration/

The selection of up to 8 courses requested in the registration template is only tentative and non-binding. For the sake of organization, it will be helpful to have an approximation of the respective demand for each course. During the event, participants will be free to attend the courses they wish.

Since the capacity of the venue is limited, registration requests will be processed on a first come first served basis. The registration period will be closed and the on-line registration facility disabled when the capacity of the venue is exhausted. It is highly recommended to register prior to the event.

FEES:

Fees comprise access to all courses and lunches. There are several early registration deadlines. Fees depend on the registration deadline.

ACCOMMODATION:

Suggestions for accommodation will be available on the event website.

CERTIFICATE:

A certificate of successful participation in the event will be delivered indicating the number of hours of lectures.

QUESTIONS AND FURTHER INFORMATION:

david@irdta.eu

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

University Politehnica of Bucharest

Institute for Research Development, Training and Advice (IRDTA) – Brussels/London