- RoboCup-athome - lists.robocup.org

Updated Rulebook 2024 Release
by Johannes Kummert 04 May '24

04 May '24

Hello everybody, we just released an update to the Rulebook for Eindhoven with feedback collected at the German Open: https://github.com/RoboCupAtHome/RuleBook/releases/tag/2024.2 These changes are mainly: - scoring item adjustments - penalty item adjustments to accurately match scoring items - clarifications on procedure for some tests - clarifications on how certain scores are achieved For details, reference the pull requests linked in the release. Kind Regards, Johannes

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[meetings] [CFP] First Call for Participation - DIS 2024 RoboCare Design Workshop
by LAURA STEGNER 24 Apr '24

24 Apr '24

** Apologies for cross-postings ** CALL FOR PAPERS: * What: RoboCare Design Workshop at DIS 2024 on “Understanding, Translating, Operationalizing, and Scaling Up Design Knowledge Regarding Robotic Systems for Care Assistance” * When: July 2, 2024 * Where: IT University, Copenhagen-DK (at the DIS 2024 conference) * Web: https://sites.google.com/wisc.edu/robocaredesign — IMPORTANT DATES: All dates are Fridays and times are Anywhere on Earth (AoE) unless specified otherwise. * May 15, 2024: Submission site opens * May 24, 2024: Early-bird paper deadline * May 29, 2024: Early-bird notification deadline * Jun. 3, 2024: General submission paper deadline * Jun. 19, 2024: General submission notification deadline * Jun. 27, 2024: Camera-ready deadline * July 2, 2024: Workshop (full-day) — OVERVIEW: Robots and other autonomous agents are well-positioned in the research discourse to support the care of people with challenges such as physical and/or cognitive disabilities. However, designing these robots can be complex as it involves considering a wide range of factors (e.g., individual needs, physical environment, technology capabilities, digital literacy), stakeholders (e.g., care recipients, formal and informal caregivers, technology developers), and contexts (e.g., hospitals, nursing homes, outpatient care facilities, private homes). The challenges are in gaining design insights for this unique use case and translating this knowledge into actionable, generalizable guidelines for other designers. This one-day workshop seeks to bring together researchers with diverse expertise and experience across academia, healthcare, and industry, spanning perspectives from multiple disciplines, including design, robotics, and human-computer interaction, with the primary goal being a consensus on best practices for generating and operationalizing design knowledge for robotic systems for care settings. The workshop structure will include keynote speakers, author presentations, a panel, and small/large group discussions. Our primary goal is to encourage interaction and discussion among interdisciplinary researchers. Keynote speakers will include Dr. Selma Šabanović, who will share expertise on design and evaluation of socially interactive and assistive robots, and Dr. Christopher Frauenberger, who will share expertise on working with a wide range of stakeholders for robot design. With our panel, we aim to capitalize on Denmark's many initiatives for robots in healthcare to bring a variety of experts from the industry to help enrich and guide our discussions and takeaways. The workshop will be in-person only, held at DIS’24 in Copenhagen, Denmark. — TARGET AUDIENCE: Our workshop welcomes participants from various sectors, with a primary focus on: * Core research community members surrounding robotic systems for care settings. * Members of related fields, e.g., the broader accessibility and aging research communities. * Members from the industry seeking to deploy/market robotic systems for care. * Researchers or community members who may have an active personal interest in the topic. — THEMES: Participation in our workshop is open to all, and while submissions are not required, they are highly encouraged. We invite contributions in the following areas: * Design Outcomes: We invite contributions that scrutinize the multifaceted design aspects of robotic care systems. Discussions should revolve around the efficacy of various design outcomes, exploring the potential to standardize these for broader applicability. Submissions may address questions such as: What constitutes a meaningful outcome of a design study? How can we extend these findings to benefit the wider research and design community? * Stakeholder Involvement: Care assistance is a collective effort, engaging numerous participants from care recipients to caregivers and beyond. We seek insights into effective stakeholder integration within the design process. Queries might include: How do we strategically involve stakeholders? What are the advantages of multi-stakeholder vs. single-stakeholder sessions in the design process? * Design Methodologies: This theme encourages a critical examination of the methodologies employed in designing robotic care systems. We welcome debates on the merits and drawbacks of various approaches, such as surveys, participatory design, and lab studies. Contributions should consider: Which methodologies are suited for which contexts? How can we address common critiques of these methods? * Reflections on Design Experiences: The practical experiences of researchers offer invaluable lessons. This theme is dedicated to sharing those lessons that fall outside the conventional academic narrative but are crucial for informing future design studies. We invite reflections on: What strategies have proven successful? Which aspects of the design process could be improved? — SUBMISSIONS: Authors are invited to submit short papers of 2-4 pages describing extended abstracts, work in progress, preliminary findings, position papers, methodology papers, blue skies papers, etc. related to any of the topics above. Submissions should be made using the ACM template<https://www.acm.org/publications/proceedings-template>; Overleaf provides an appropriate template<https://www.overleaf.com/latex/templates/acm-conference-proceedings-primary…> that may be used. The submission link can be found on the workshop website. — MORE INFO: For more information, please visit our website (https://sites.google.com/wisc.edu/robocaredesign) or contact Laura Stegner (stegner(a)wisc.edu<mailto:stegner@wisc.edu>). — ORGANIZERS: * Laura Stegner (University of Wisconsin-Madison) * Richard Paluch (University of Siegen) * Long-Jing Hsu (Indiana University Bloomington) * Sawyer Collins (Indiana University Bloomington) * Yaxin Hu (University of Wisconsin-Madison) * Marius Greuèl (Pflegewerk Managementgesellschaft mbH) * Naonori Kodate (University College Dublin) * Claudia Müller (University of Siegen) * Bilge Mutlu (University of Wisconsin-Madison) * Selma Šabanović (Indiana University Bloomington)

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ICRA 2024 Forum “Enhancing Service Robots for Future Homes”
by Katarzyna Pasternak 11 Apr '24

11 Apr '24

Dear RoboCuppers, We are pleased to extend our invitation for the Forum "Enhancing Service Robots for Future Homes: Insights and Learnings Forum" scheduled to take place at ICRA 2024 on May 16th, 2024. This forum will provide a venue to discuss the current state and future of research and advancement of domestic service robots, spanning from human-robot interaction and scene understanding to navigation and object manipulation. We believe that by exploring these areas, we can pave the way for the creation of at-home service robots that seamlessly integrate into human environments. Our distinguished panel of speakers, comprising six experts in the field of robotics, will offer invaluable insights into the topics such as explainable robots, safety, trustworthiness, perception, planning, and learning for service robots. Through their expertise, we aim to foster a deeper understanding of recent technological advancements and their implications for the development of service robots. Furthermore, we will provide context by discussing the role of RoboCup and other competition environments in shaping the future of robotics. We cordially invite you to join us for this forum, where you'll have the opportunity to engage with fellow experts, researchers, and enthusiasts in the field. Your presence and insights will contribute to the success of our discussions. Event Details: Date: May 16th, 2024 Time: 13:30 - 18:00 Location: Pacific Convention Plaza Yokohama(PACIFICO Yokohama), North G1 room Website: sites.google.com/view/fma-home-icra24 and 2024.ieee-icra.org/program/forums/ Should you have any questions or require further information, please do not hesitate to reach out to the forum organizers at kwp(a)cs.miami.edu. We look forward to welcoming you to the "Enhancing Service Robots for Future Homes" forum and to the enriching discussions that lie ahead. Warm regards, Forum Organizers Justin Hart, Matteo Leonetti, Katarzyna Pasternak, Komei Sugiura, Ubbo Visser, Sven Wachsmuth

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Rulebook 2024 Release
by Johannes Kummert 08 Apr '24

08 Apr '24

Hi everybody, The final Rulebook version for the 2024 competitions is released now: https://github.com/RoboCupAtHome/RuleBook/releases/tag/2024.1 Final version means no more major changes. However wording changes and clarifications might still be made. With Eindhoven fast approaching I'd like to, again, offer a session where teams can ask any questions regarding the new rulebook and competition. This is mainly aimed at newer teams but of course open to everybody. Note, that it is also not exclusively for qualified teams, but teams participating in one the opens or planning to participate next year are also invited to sit in and ask questions. Please keep in mind that we cannot answer questions or make any promises about the specific conditions in Eindhoven. The session will be held on Friday the 15th at 14:00 GMT+1. I will send a zoom link then. If demand is high I would be willing to do a second session. If you cannot make it on Friday at that time, please message me with your time zone and I try to find a more convenient 2nd time for hopefully everybody. Regards Johannes

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Rulebook 2024 Q&A
by Johannes Kummert 15 Mar '24

15 Mar '24

Hello everybody, Rulebook Q&A document (Zoom link for later inside): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Y_MfWs0nnnhYtIzp5qAV9wxTDLQhbmKomlAL4ft… Regards Johannes

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ternational Symposium on Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS '24), 16-18 September 2024, Austin, Texas
by Justin W Hart 06 Mar '24

06 Mar '24

Call for Participation The Second International Symposium on Trustworthy Autonomous Systems 2024 (TAS ‘24), 16-18 September 2024, Austin, Texas https://symposium.tas.ac.uk/2024/ We invite submissions on research focused on trustworthy autonomous systems (TAS), responsible and ethical artificial intelligence, and human-machine interaction. Important dates 3 May 2024: submission of poster abstracts, full papers, and workshop proposals July 2024: notifications 16 September 2024: workshops day 17-18 September 2024: conference days Autonomous systems involve software applications and machines that can take actions with little or no human supervision. We are particularly interested in socio-technical systems involving both humans and machines working together, and automated decision-making processes and the ways in which they are employed by and impacting people. Trustworthy autonomous systems (TAS) generate positive outcomes and mitigate potentially harmful outcomes for people, societies, economies, and the environment. We invite full-paper submissions, poster abstracts, and workshop proposals on research that addresses the challenges of designing, building, and deploying Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS). Contributions may consider technical, social, legal, and ethical issues and their impacts on individuals, society, and the economy. Submissions may come from disciplines including, but not limited to, engineering, computer science, psychology, social sciences, law, and arts & humanities. Submissions will be selected for publication following peer review. Submission information will be released soon. The proceedings, including full papers and abstracts, will be published in the ACM Digital Library. Liz Dowthwaite, TAS Hub, University of Nottingham, UK Justin Hart, Good Systems, The University of Texas at Austin, US TAS ‘24 General Chairs

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Call for Participation RoboCup German Open 2024
by Sven Wachsmuth 29 Feb '24

29 Feb '24

*PLEASE NOTE THAT THE REGISTRATION DEADLINE IS FEB 29 2024!* * * * * *RoboCup German Open 2024 - Major Leagues* Call for Participation https://robocup.de/german-open April 17th – 21th, 2024 Messe Kassel, Germany The RoboCup German Open 2024 will be the 21st open RoboCup competition held in Germany. The event will take place in Kassel at Messe Kassel. Every regional and international Major team is cordially invited to take part in the event. --------------------- RoboCup Major Leagues (international teams) ------------------------- Competitions are from April 17 - 21 in the following Major leagues: RoboCup Soccer Standard Platform League RoboCup Soccer Humanoid League RoboCup Soccer Small Size League RoboCup Rescue Robot League RoboCup Logistics League RoboCup @Home League RoboCup @Work League The registration opens *** February 12th, 2024 ***. The registration deadline is *** February 29th, 2024 ***. Visit https://register.robocup.de to register your RoboCup Major League team. Details on the registration (fee, accommodation, rules) are available on the website. Booking of blocked accommodation with special rates is possible after your registration. The Major Leagues Organizing Committee: Patrick Göttsch (Standard Platform League) Maike Paetzel-Prüsmann (Humanoid League) Nicolai Ommer (Small Size League) Johannes Pellenz, Stefan May (Rescue Robot League) Sven Wachsmuth (@Home League) Alexander Ferrein (Logistics League) Christoph Steup (RoboCup @Work League) -------------------------- RoboCup Junior (regional teams) ------------------------------- From April 18-21 the final event of the German RoboCupJunior Championship will be held at RoboCup German Open 2024 in Kassel. The best teams that have qualified in the eight previous local tournaments will take part. The best German Junior teams will qualify for RoboCup 2024 in Eindhoven and for the European RoboCupJunior Competition 2024 in Hannover. -------------------------------- Important dates —————------------------------------------ 2024-02-12 Major teams registration starts 2024-02-29 Major teams registration deadline 2024-03-11 Invoices are sent to team leaders 2024-03-17 Registration deadline for team member updates 2024-03-31 Registration fee due 2024-04-17 Set-up day Major League teams (venue opens 9:00) 2024-04-18 Competition day (open to the public) 2024-04-19 Competition day (open to the public) 2024-04-20 Competition day, Major finals (open to the public) 2024-04-21 Competition day, Junior finals (open to the public) ----------------------------------- Contact --------------------------------------------- Please contact germanopen(a)robocup.de for any questions. See you all at the 21st RoboCup German Open 2024! Best regards, German RoboCup Committee ---------------------------------- Acknowledgement ———————————————————— The RoboCup German Open 2024 is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Research and Education (BMBF) under grant number 16ME0933. -- PD Dr.-Ing. Sven Wachsmuth CITEC CLF / COSY@Home-Lab Bielefeld University RoboCup German Open 2024 @Home LOC

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RoboCup@Home at RoboCup Portugal Open 2024 - Call for Participation
by Tiago Ribeiro 28 Feb '24

28 Feb '24

Dear RoboCup@Home Community, It is with great pleasure that we announce the 2nd edition of RoboCup@Home at RoboCup Portugal Open 2024. 🤖 The event will take place at Pavilhão Municipal in the city of Paredes de Coura, Portugal, from May 2nd to 5th, 2024. 🇵🇹 In this event we will only have OPL. However, robots from both DSPL and SSPL are welcome to participate in OPL. We will have one setup day (May 2nd) and three competition days (May 3rd -5th). For more information, visit the official event website: https://www.festivalnacionalrobotica.pt/2024-1/ . The link for registration can be accessed via website or here: https://forms.gle/fung9nuh1DtxpHMPA Important Dates: 12th of April – Registration (350€ for a team of five members + 25€ for every additional member – includes breakfast, lunch and dinner) 19th of April – Late Registration (400€ for a team of five members + 25€ for every additional member – includes breakfast, lunch and dinner) Parallel to the event, there is a scientific conference (ICARSC 2024) IEEE International Conference on Autonomous Systems and Competitions: https://www.icarsc.pt/2024/ Join the official Telegram group for participation guidelines and all information regarding to event: https://t.me/+Zb3x8rUmegBkNThk For any questions or help with the registration, feel free to send me an e-mail: tiagoribeiro80(a)gmail.com or send a message to the official Telegram group. Looking forward to seeing you in Portugal 🦾 Tiago Ribeiro PhD Student @ Laboratory of Automation and Robotics (LAR) <http://lar.dei.uminho.pt/> http://lar.dei.uminho.pt/ University of Minho

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[meetings] [CFP] [TAHRI] Technological Advances in Human-Robot Interaction
by TAHRI Organizers 28 Feb '24

28 Feb '24

FINAL CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS AND PARTICIPATION - What: International Symposium on Technological Advances in Human-Robot Interaction (TAHRI) - When: March 9–10, 2024 - Where: Boulder, Colorado, USA - Web: https://tahri.org — Want to present <https://www.tahri.org/program#community-and-career-fair>? It’s not too late to contribute to TAHRI! Pitch a paper, project, or position you wish to share, then discuss it with the community in our Community and Career Fair <https://www.tahri.org/program#community-and-career-fair>. Want to promote a previously published or soon-to-be published paper from a different venue (e.g. HRI conference or workshop)? Want to show off some software or hardware you’re developing? Want to find a job or collaborators? Apply in as little as five minutes by March 1st! Want to attend <https://www.tahri.org/attendees>? Discounts are available for students and 2024 HRI conference attendees, and complimentary registration is available to volunteers or upon special request! Want to connect <https://www.tahri.org/#connect>? Follow us on social media or email us (info(a)tahri.org)! Want to learn more <https://tahri.org/>? Keep reading! — TAHRI: BY THE NUMBERS 1 GOAL <https://www.tahri.org/about> To “build bridges between builders” by gathering HRI researchers and practitioners from academia, industry, government, and other research groups who are developing the underlying technologies enabling interactions between robots and humans 2 KEYNOTES <https://www.tahri.org/people#speakers-and-panelists> - Andra Keay <https://www.tahri.org/people#andra-keay> (Silicon Valley Robotics) - Brian Scassellati <https://www.tahri.org/people#brian-scassellati> (Yale University) 20 PANELISTS <https://www.tahri.org/people#speakers-and-panelists> - Andra Keay <https://www.tahri.org/people#andra-keay> (Silicon Valley Robotics) - Andres Milioto <https://www.tahri.org/people#andres-milioto> (Embodied, Inc.) - Bahar Irfan <https://www.tahri.org/people#bahar-irfan> (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) - Brian Scassellati <https://www.tahri.org/people#brian-scassellati> (Yale University) - Carolina Parada <https://www.tahri.org/people#carolina-parada> (Google DeepMind Robotics) - Casey Kennington <https://www.tahri.org/people#casey-kennington> (Boise State University) - Cynthia Matuszek <https://www.tahri.org/people#cynthia-matuszek> (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) - Dan Grollman <https://www.tahri.org/people#dan-grollman> (Plus One Robotics) - Gabriel Skantze <https://www.tahri.org/people#gabriel-skantze> (KTH / Furhat Robotics) - Hae Won Park <https://www.tahri.org/people#hae-won-park> (MIT Media Lab / Amazon Lab126) - Ian Bernstein <https://www.tahri.org/people#ian-bernstein> (NewCo) - James Kennedy <https://www.tahri.org/people#james-kennedy> (Disney Research) - Katherine Tsui <https://www.tahri.org/people#katherine-tsui> (Toyota Research Institute) - Laura Hiatt <https://www.tahri.org/people#laura-hiatt> (U.S. Naval Research Laboratory) - Mark Yim <https://www.tahri.org/people#mark-yim> (University of Pennsylvania) - Matthias Scheutz <https://www.tahri.org/people#matthias-scheutz> (Tufts University) - Sean Andrist <https://www.tahri.org/people#sean-andrist> (Microsoft Research) - Séverin Lemaignan <https://www.tahri.org/people#severin-lemaignan> (PAL Robotics) - Tesca Fitzgerald <https://www.tahri.org/people#tesca-fitzgerald> (Yale University) - Tony Belpaeme <https://www.tahri.org/people#tony-belpaeme> (Universiteit Gent) 21 PAPERS <https://www.tahri.org/authors> Novel, high-quality, peer-reviewed technological HRI research papers presented orally and in poster sessions, with full papers indexed in archived ACM proceedings! 13 PARTNERS <https://www.tahri.org/partners> - CU Robotics <https://www.tahri.org/partners#cu-robotics> (Community) - Disney Research <https://www.tahri.org/partners#disney-research> (Silver) - Embodied, Inc. <https://www.tahri.org/partners#embodied> (Platinum) - Furhat Robotics <https://www.tahri.org/partners#furhat-robotics> (Platinum) - Futronics <https://www.tahri.org/partners#futronics> (Platinum) - Hello Robot <https://www.tahri.org/partners#hello-robot> (Platinum) - KISS Institute for Practical Robotics (KIPR) <https://www.tahri.org/partners#kipr> (Community) - Microsoft Research <https://www.tahri.org/partners#microsoft-research> (Community) - National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) <https://www.tahri.org/partners#nist> (Organizer) - Navel Robotics <https://www.tahri.org/partners#navel-robotics> (Platinum) - PAL Robotics <https://www.tahri.org/partners#pal-robotics> (Community) - Semio Community <https://www.tahri.org/partners#semio-community> (Organizer) - Toyota Research Institute <https://www.tahri.org/partners#toyota-research-institute> (Platinum) 8 ORGANIZERS <https://tahri.org/people#organizers> - Ross Mead <https://www.tahri.org/people#mead> (Semio) - Shelly Bagchi <https://www.tahri.org/people#bagchi> (NIST) - Willie Wilson <https://www.tahri.org/people#wilson> (Franklin & Marshall College) - Emmanuel Senft <https://www.tahri.org/people#senft> (Idiap Research Institute) - Reuth Mirsky <https://www.tahri.org/people#mirsky> (Bar-Ilan University) - Daniel Hernández García <https://www.tahri.org/people#hernandez-garcia> (Heriot-Watt University) - Jeremy Marvel <https://www.tahri.org/people#marvel> (NIST) - Megan Zimmerman <https://www.tahri.org/people#zimmerman> (NIST) 1 PROGRAM <https://www.tahri.org/program> Coming soon! -- TAHRI Organizers <https://www.tahri.org/people#organizers> *organizers(a)tahri.org <organizers(a)tahri.org>* * <ross.mead(a)tahri.org>* * <https://tahri.org>*

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1st Call for Participation: WRS Future Convenience Store Challenge in CyberSpace (at ICRA2024)
by Tetsunari Inamura 20 Feb '24

20 Feb '24

######################################################## Call for Participation WRS Future Convenience Store Challenge in CyberSpace (ICRA 2024 Competition) May 13th - 15th, 2024 Yokohama, Japan ######################################################## The Future Convenience Store Challenge in CyberSpace, which is a new type of robot competition in cyberspace will be held at ICRA 2024, Yokohama Japan. Every regional and international Major team is cordially invited to take part in the event. Visit https://sites.google.com/view/fcsc-cyberspace/home for more detailed information. Details on the registration (rules, software systems) are available on the website. Organizers Tetsunari Inamura (Tamagawa University, Japan) Kazuyoshi Wada (Tokyo Metropolitan University, Japan) Yukiyasu Domae (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan) -------------- Future Convenience Store Challenge in Cyberspace ---------------- The aim of this competition is to enhance the quality of customer service provided by intelligent robots in environments such as retail stores and shopping malls, and to realize new forms of services. Specifically, the competition will assess the ability of robots to engage in natural and friendly communication in the context of customer service, as well as their capability for cooperative work with human staff. While conventional competitions have primarily evaluated physical functionalities such as object recognition, human behavior recognition, navigation, and object manipulation using real robots, there have been limitations in smoothly conducting competitions when focusing on intellectual interactions, such as intention recognition, natural language understanding, conversation control, and resolving ambiguity. Therefore, this competition aims to improve the quality of dialogue systems for service robots collaborating with humans in retail stores and to achieve new interactive service systems by focusing on tasks that emphasize dialogue intelligence rather than physical functionality. Furthermore, this competition features a unique structure where robots in cyber space engages in dialogue with humans in real-world environments. We also welcome proposals that contribute to the realization of new services through the integration of metaverses, digital twins, cyber-physical systems, and robotics. As such, the competition is designed based on the simulator "SIGVerse," which enables robots to engage in embodied and social interaction in virtual reality (VR) environments. Participants will benefit from focusing solely on software development without the need to develop physical robots. -------------------------------- Important dates ------------------------------------ 2024-02-15 Team registration starts 2024-02-29 1st Call: Participation declaration 2024-03-14 First on-line meeting (tentative schedule) 2024-03-31 2nd Call: Participation declaration deadline (detailed team information should be fixed) 2024-04-17 Second on-line meeting (tentative schedule) 2024-05-13 Set-up day 2024-05-14 Competition Day 1 2024-05-15 Competition Day 2 , Award Ceremony ------------------------------ Competition Tasks -------------------------------------- This competition focuses on realizing robots that provide customer service in a conversational format at convenience stores. The emphasis is on the interaction capabilities with customers. Task 1: Interactive Customer Service In this task, functionalities such as image recognition, human state recognition, and location identification, which involves recognizing the customer's location in the store, their gestures, and the placement of items, are not evaluated. Instead, the focus is on engaging in accurate dialogue with customers in response to ambiguous requests and delivering the desired products to them. Customers convey their desired purchases to the service robot and request them to be placed in the shopping basket, using both natural language expressions and image presentation. The participants should build software to realize such an intelligent dialogue system for customer service robots. The participants can use OpenAI API or related LLM tools; however, we cannot guarantee the Internet connection quality at the competition site. If you use such an external cloud calculator, you must manage the risk yourself. Please note that installing your own wireless router will not be allowed. Task 2: Future Convenience Store Visionary Design In this competition, instead of completing tasks according to predefined rules, participants will propose possibilities for customer service and intelligent human-robot collaboration systems in future convenience stores in a presentation format based on their own creative ideas. The novelty, feasibility, and technical challenges of their ideas will be evaluated. The evaluation will focus on intelligent systems, service systems, and other systems mainly involving human interaction, which are expected to be useful in future convenience stores. Tasks involving no interaction with humans, such as autonomously cleaning toilets, are not included. Teams are encouraged to demonstrate the latest research and development on new approaches and applications related to customer service and employee support systems in a cyber environment. Specific examples of systems/proposals subject to evaluation include but are not limited to: - Planning systems that dynamically change and optimize the roles of service robots and employees. - Interactive service robot systems that recognize customer intentions and provide accurate services. - Training systems that determine appropriate training menus based on the skill levels of new employees. - Algorithms that observe customer purchasing behavior/movement paths and determine the optimal display layout. - Planning systems that dynamically change tasks to be executed based on the congestion status inside the store. Participants can use various types of systems and devices, including actual robot systems, but the primary focus of the final demonstration is on utilizing virtual spaces or Cyber-Physical Systems for the realization of intelligent service robots. Examples include digital twin systems supporting customer service action planning by intelligent robots and information presentation systems using wearable devices for efficient employee tasks. ------------------------------ Awards --------------------------------------------- Based on the ranking, the top three teams will be awarded certificates and prize money as follows: 1st place: 100,000 JPY + certificate 2nd place: 50,000 JPY + certificate 3rd place: 30,000 JPY + certificate ------------------------------ How to apply -------------------------------------------- Please access the following form to input detailed information about your team and team leader. The first deadline is the end of February; however, a tentative declaration of participation is welcome. We would appreciate you deciding the details of the team members by the end of March. Required information - Team name - Name/Affiliation/Grade/Email address of the team leader - Optional information - Estimated number of team members - Past experience and achievements in AI/Robot competitions - Web page of the team Please input the above information in the Google form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1zkfZG-fcxOt_emXUkZRTylih8J45a70TcPnM2a7Amp… 1st participation declaration: 28th Feb. (Tentative application is welcome) 2nd participation declaration: 31st Mar. (Confirmation of detailed team information) ----------------------- Contact --------------------------------------- Please contact fcsc-info-ml(a)ml.tmu.ac.jp for any questions. See you all at ICRA 2024 in Yokohama! Best regards, ------------------------------------------------ Tetsunari Inamura Professor, Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, JAPAN TEL : +81-42-739-8679 URL : http://researchmap.jp/inamura/?lang=english Email : inamura(a)lab.tamagawa.ac.jp

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[jobs] One full-time PhD position in Interpretable AI and robotics @Chalmers
by Karinne Ramirez-Amaro 08 Feb '24

08 Feb '24

Dear Colleagues, We are pleased to announce one PhD research position at the Chalmers Institute of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. The application deadline is March 10, 2024. We are looking for a highly motivated researcher who would like to pursue a PhD in the areas of Interpretable AI (IAI) and Autonomous Decision-Making to study and make significant contributions to the emerging field of Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC). HRC studies the most effective algorithms to enable robots to work safely and efficiently alongside with humans in shared spaces. Join our multidisciplinary team to further investigate and propose innovative solutions to empower robots with the ability to make informed decisions in collaborative environments. If you are passionate about Interpretable AI, autonomous decision-making, and the future of human-robot collaboration, we strongly encourage you to apply! More information about the position: https://www.chalmers.se/en/about-chalmers/work-with-us/vacancies/?rmpage=jo… **Application deadline: March 10, 2024** Please, do not hesitate to contact me for further information. Best regards, Karinne --------------------- Karinne Ramirez Amaro Associate Professor Chalmers University of Technology Department of Electrical Engineering Systems and Control Division SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden Member of IEEE-RAS Administratite Committee (AdCom) IEEE-RAS Associate Vice Presidents of the Member Activity Board (MAB) E-mail:karinne@chalmers.se Website: https://sites.google.com/view/craft-laboratory/home Office Room: Edit, 5437 Office telephone: +46-31-772-1074 www.chalmers.se<http://www.chalmers.se>

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[Meetings] Second Call for Participation | RoboCup@Home 2024 (DSPL · OPL · SSPL)
by Sven Wachsmuth 05 Feb '24

05 Feb '24

Second Call for Participation RoboCup@Home 2024 (DSPL · OPL · SSPL) July 15 to 21, 2024 (Eindhoven, Netherlands) https://2024.robocup.org https://athome.robocup.org/ https://athome.robocup.org/2024-cfp2-all/ https://github.com/RoboCupAtHome/RuleBook RoboCup is an international scientific initiative with the goal to advance the state of the art of intelligent robots through competitions (RoboCup@Home, RoboCup Soccer, RoboCup Rescue, RoboCup@Work and RoboCup Junior). The RoboCup@Home league aims to develop service and assistive robot technology with high relevance for future personal domestic applications. It is the largest international annual competition for autonomous service robots and is part of the RoboCup initiative. A set of benchmark tests is used to evaluate the robots’ abilities and performance in a realistic home environment setting. Focus lies on the following domains but is not limited to: Human-Robot-Interaction and Cooperation, Navigation and Mapping in dynamic environments, Computer Vision and Object Recognition under natural light conditions, Object Manipulation, Adaptive Behaviors, Behavior Integration, Ambient Intelligence, Standardization and System Integration. Important dates: Jan. 09, 2024 Publication of the 2nd Call for Participation Feb. 12, 2024 Deadline for submission of qualification material (Team Description Paper, Team Video, Team Website). Feb. 29, 2024 Qualification announcement Mar. 12, 2024 Deadline for Participation Confirmation Further information is published in the Call for Participation: https://athome.robocup.org/2024-cfp2-all/ With kind regards, and looking forward to see your team in Eindhoven, The 2024 RoboCup@Home Organizing and Technical Committees

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Call for Participation RoboCup German Open 2024
by Sven Wachsmuth 02 Feb '24

02 Feb '24

*RoboCup German Open 2024 - Major Leagues* Call for Participation https://robocup.de/german-open April 17th – 20th, 2024 Messe Kassel, Germany The RoboCup German Open 2024 will be the 21st open RoboCup competition held in Germany. The event will take place in Kassel at Messe Kassel. Every regional and international Major team is cordially invited to take part in the event. --------------------- RoboCup Major Leagues (international teams) ------------------------- Competitions are from April 17 - 20 in the following Major leagues: RoboCup Soccer Standard Platform League RoboCup Soccer Humanoid League RoboCup Soccer Small Size League RoboCup Rescue Robot League RoboCup Logistics League RoboCup @Home League RoboCup @Work League The registration opens *** February 12th, 2024 ***. The registration deadline is *** February 29th, 2024 ***. Visit https://register.robocup.de to register your RoboCup Major League team. Details on the registration (fee, accommodation, rules) are available on the website. Booking of blocked accommodation with special rates is possible after your registration. The Major Leagues Organizing Committee: Patrick Göttsch (Standard Platform League) Maike Paetzel-Prüsmann (Humanoid League) Nicolai Ommer (Small Size League) Johannes Pellenz, Stefan May (Rescue Robot League) Sven Wachsmuth (@Home League) Alexander Ferrein (Logistics League) Christoph Steup (RoboCup @Work League) -------------------------- RoboCup Junior (regional teams) ------------------------------- From April 18-21 the final event of the German RoboCupJunior Championship will be held at RoboCup German Open 2024 in Kassel. The best teams that have qualified in the eight previous local tournaments will take part. The best German Junior teams will qualify for RoboCup 2024 in Eindhoven and for the European RoboCupJunior Competition 2024 in Hannover. -------------------------------- Important dates —————------------------------------------ 2024-02-12 Major teams registration starts 2024-02-29 Major teams registration deadline 2024-03-11 Invoices are sent to team leaders 2024-03-17 Registration deadline for team member updates 2024-03-31 Registration fee due 2024-04-17 Set-up day Major League teams (venue opens 9:00) 2024-04-18 Competition day (open to the public) 2024-04-19 Competition day (open to the public) 2024-04-20 Competition day, Major finals (open to the public) 2024-04-21 Competition day, Junior finals (open to the public) ----------------------------------- Contact --------------------------------------------- Please contact germanopen(a)robocup.de for any questions. See you all at the 21st RoboCup German Open 2024! Best regards, German RoboCup Committee ---------------------------------- Acknowledgement ———————————————————— The RoboCup German Open 2024 is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Research and Education (BMBF) under grant number 16ME0933. -- PD Dr.-Ing. Sven Wachsmuth CITEC CLF / COSY@Home-Lab Bielefeld University RoboCup German Open 2024 @Home LOC

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[meetings] [CFP] [EUD4HRI] Extended Deadline for HRI 2024 Workshop on “End-User Development for Human-Robot Interaction”
by DAVID PORFIRIO 01 Feb '24

01 Feb '24

** Apologies for cross-posting ** Dear colleagues, we have extended the deadline for the EUD4HRI workshop to Feb. 9, 2024. CALL FOR PAPERS: * What: HRI 2024 Workshop on “End-User Development for Human-Robot Interaction” (EUD4HRI) * When: March 15, 2024 * Where: Boulder, CO, USA (at the HRI 2024 conference) * Web: https://sites.google.com/wisc.edu/eud4hri — IMPORTANT DATES: All dates are Fridays and times are Anywhere on Earth (AoE) unless specified otherwise. * Jan. 15, 2024: Submission site opens * Feb. 09 2024: Paper deadline ***EXTENDED from Feb 2*** * Feb. 23, 2024: Notification deadline * Mar. 01, 2024: Camera-ready deadline * Mar. 15, 2024: Workshop (half-day) — OVERVIEW: End-User Development (EUD) is an exciting and growing field within Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), and represents a key step towards making robotics accessible for novice robot users. Within academia, researchers investigate novel ways that EUD tools can capture, represent, visualize, analyze, and test developer intent. At the same time, industry researchers increasingly build and ship programming tools that enable customers to interface with their robots. Despite this increasing interest, the role of EUD within HRI is not well defined. EUD struggles to situate itself within a growing array of alternate approaches to application development, such as learning from demonstration (LfD), planning, teleoperation, and personalization. EUD further poses the question, “Who is the end-user?” Novice end-users might include consumers using a robot in their home, caregivers, factory employees, bystanders in public spaces, or even hobbyists, to name a few examples. Key questions remain, such as how EUD is justified over alternate approaches to application development, which contexts EUD is most suited for, who the target end-users of an EUD system are, and where does the interaction between a human and a robot take place, amongst many, many other questions. We seek to address these questions and challenges at the “End-User Development for Human-Robot Interaction” (EUD4HRI) half-day workshop at the 2024 International Conference of Human-Robot Interaction. The workshop aims to bring together researchers with a wide range of expertise across academia and industry, spanning perspectives from multiple subfields of robotics, with the primary goal being a more clearly defined scope for EUD and recommendations for the standardization of EUD use cases, target users, and terminology. The workshop will be hybrid format, including both in-person and remote attendees. — TOPICS: We invite submissions related, but not limited, to the following topics: * novel approaches the application development, including the integration of learning and planning * interfaces for robot programming, learning, and personalization * formal methods in HRI * programming languages, representations, and paradigms for HRI * programming libraries and toolkits for HRI * open source initiatives * standardization of terminology, use cases, target users, etc. * the role of industry and academia within HRI end-user development * the role of related subfields of HRI (e.g., LfD) within EUD — SUBMISSIONS: Authors are invited to submit short papers of 2-4 pages describing HRI work, blue-sky papers, position papers, etc. related to any of the topics above. Submissions should be made using the ACM template<https://www.acm.org/publications/proceedings-template>; Overleaf provides an appropriate template<https://www.overleaf.com/latex/templates/acm-conference-proceedings-primary…> that may be used. The submission link can be found on the symposium website. Optionally (but appreciated), if you intend to submit a paper, please email co-organizer Laura Stegner (stegner(a)wisc.edu<mailto:stegner@wisc.edu>) with the subject line “[EUD4HRI] Intent to Submit”, and include the following in the body of the message: (1) a tentative title, (2) a tentative author list, and (3) tentative keywords. — MORE INFO: For more information, please visit our website (https://sites.google.com/wisc.edu/eud4hri) or contact Laura Stegner (stegner(a)wisc.edu<mailto:stegner@wisc.edu>). — ORGANIZERS: * Laura Stegner (UW Madison) * David Porfirio (US Naval Research Laboratory) * Ross Mead (Semio) * Severin Lemaignan (PAL Robotics) * Laura M. Hiatt (US Naval Research Laboratory) * Bilge Mutlu (UW Madison)

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[meetings][CFP] HRI Workshop on Human - Large Language Model Interaction
by Hernandez Garcia, Daniel 01 Feb '24

01 Feb '24

Call for Submissions to the "Human – Large Language Model Interaction: The dawn of a new era or the end of it all?" Workshop at HRI 2024 The Human - Large Language Model Interaction workshop aims at bringing together researchers and industry experts across all disciplines in the fields of Human-Robot Interaction and Artificial Intelligence for an interactive and interdisciplinary discussion around the enormous opportunities and challenges that emerge from integrating Large Language Models (including multimodal Vision-and-Language models) in the interactive, conversational and reasoning abilities of robots. The workshop aims to provide an important venue to encourage debate around issues concerning the deployment of Large Language Model / Large Multimodal Model empowered solutions for human-robot interaction. This will be an opportunity to share and discuss ideas, methods, worries, strategies, insights, and findings around the application of LLMs in interaction scenarios. Website: https://human-llm-interaction.github.io/workshop/hri24/call-for-papers Date: March 11, 2024 (Half-day workshop) Location: Boulder, Colorado (USA) during the 19th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI 2024) Manuscript submission site: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=hllmi24 IMPORTANT DATES Submission deadline: February 2, 2024 Notification of acceptance: February 23, 2024 Camera-ready deadline: March 1, 2024 Workshop: March 11, 2024 All deadlines are at 23:59 Anywhere on Earth time. ===================================================================================== TOPICS OF INTEREST Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: * Applications of LLMs in HRI * Multimodal social interaction research with LLMs * Planning and decision making with LLMs for HRI * Reasoning and knowledge representation using LLMs * Situated interactions and grounding using LLMs * Multiparty interactions using LLMs * Explainability of LLM-powered interactive robots * Reliability and Safety of LLM-powered interactive robots * Trustworthiness of LLM-powered interactive robots SUBMISSION GUIDELINES Participants are invited to submit 2-pages extended abstracts on research related to the topics described above using EasyChair<https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=hllmi24>. We explicitly encourage the submission of position papers to discuss with the community or papers describing work in progress, novel ideas or new approaches related to the use of LLMs in HRI. All manuscripts must be submitted in PDF format and will be peer-reviewed based on relevance to the workshop. Authors are asked to adhere to the submission guidelines outlined by HRI2024. Submissions should be made using the ACM template<https://www.acm.org/publications/proceedings-template>; Overleaf provides an appropriate template<https://www.overleaf.com/latex/templates/acm-conference-proceedings-primary…> that may be used. The authors of the accepted papers will present their work in the format of lightning talks or posters during the workshop. The accepted papers will be published on the workshop website. ORGANISERS * Daniel Hernández García (Heriot-Watt University, UK) * Marta Romeo (Heriot-Watt University, UK) * Christian Dondrup (Heriot-Watt University, UK) * Nancie Gunson (Heriot-Watt University, UK) * Angus Addlesee (Heriot-Watt University, UK) * Weronika Sieińska (Heriot-Watt University, UK) * Oliver Lemon (Heriot-Watt University, UK) * Alessandro Suglia (Heriot-Watt University, UK) * Matthew Aylett (Heriot-Watt University, UK) CONTACT All questions about submissions should be emailed to d.hernandez_garcia(a)hw.ac.uk<mailto:d.hernandez_garcia@hw.ac.uk> or M.Romeo(a)hw.ac.uk<mailto:M.Romeo@hw.ac.uk> ________________________________ Founded in 1821, Heriot-Watt is a leader in ideas and solutions. With campuses and students across the entire globe we span the world, delivering innovation and educational excellence in business, engineering, design and the physical, social and life sciences. This email is generated from the Heriot-Watt University Group, which includes: 1. Heriot-Watt University, a Scottish charity registered under number SC000278 2. Heriot- Watt Services Limited (Oriam), Scotland's national performance centre for sport. Heriot-Watt Services Limited is a private limited company registered is Scotland with registered number SC271030 and registered office at Research & Enterprise Services Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS. The contents (including any attachments) are confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of its contents is strictly prohibited, and you should please notify the sender immediately and then delete it (including any attachments) from your system.

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[meetings] [CFP] [Extension] HRI 2024 Workshop on “Scarecrows in Oz: LLMs in HRI” Deadline extended!
by Nick DePalma 31 Jan '24

31 Jan '24

CALL FOR PAPER - What: HRI 2024 Workshop on “Scarecrows in Oz: LLMs in HRI” - When: March 11, 2024 - Where: Boulder, CO, USA (at the HRI 2024 conference) - Web: https://scarecrows-hri.github.io — IMPORTANT DATES: All dates are Mondays and times are Anywhere on Earth (AoE) unless specified otherwise. - Jan. 15, 2024: Submission site opens - Jan. 29, 2024: Paper deadline - Feb. 05, 2024: Paper deadline DEADLINE EXTENDED - Feb. 19, 2024: Notification deadline - Mar. 04, 2024: Camera-ready deadline - Mar. 11, 2024: Workshop (half-day) — OVERVIEW: In recent years, Large Language Models (LLMs) have become the focus of intense interest in the AI community and their use in interactive robots for academic research and commercial products has had equal interest; however, there do not currently exist guidelines for or categorizations of their use in various application spaces in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). This workshop invites academic researchers and industry professionals who are actively using or are interested in using LLMs for HRI, and who can contribute to the development of high-level, community-wide guidelines for how LLMs can fit correctly and defensibly into the future of HRI research and development. Relevant topics to this workshop will include HRI studies that either directly or indirectly involve LLMs, as well as HRI studies that utilize the idea of “Scarecrows” [1] (i.e. using LLMs to provide placeholder functionality, similar to Wizard-of-Oz studies) within a larger HRI system; however, we also encourage broader questions and contributions regarding how these models should be conceptualized within frameworks for effective, responsible HRI. [1] Williams, T.; Matuszek, C; Mead, R.; & Depalma, N. (2023) “Scarecrows in Oz: The Use of Large Language Models in HRI”. To appear in ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction. 10.1145/3606261. — TOPICS: We invite research regarding contributions, commentary, and questions about (and combinations of) the following topics of interest: - the impact of “stubbing out” software modules as “Scarecrows” (traditionally done with humans in Wizard-of-Oz contexts) by using LLMs when building and testing HRI studies; - opportunities and applications of LLMs in HRI; - risks and perils of LLMs in interactive robots; - reporting guidelines, ethical considerations, or real-world implications of LLMs in HRI; - safety of LLM-driven interaction and fine-tuned LLMs during interactions with the world or users; and/or - position or framing papers on the general role of LLMs in HRI. — SUBMISSIONS: Authors are invited to submit short papers of 2-4 pages on the topic of the use of LLMs in HRI; submissions are due by February 05, 2024. Anonymized submissions should be made using the ACM template <https://www.acm.org/publications/proceedings-template>; Overleaf provides an appropriate template <https://www.overleaf.com/latex/templates/acm-conference-proceedings-primary…> that may be used. Submissions will be made through EasyChair <https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=sohri24>. — MORE INFO: For more information, please visit our website ( https://scarecrows-hri.github.io) or contact the organizers ( hri2024scarecrows(a)gmail.com). — ORGANIZERS: - Nick DePalma (Semio Community) - Cynthia Matuszek (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) - Ross Mead (Semio) - Tom Williams (Colorado School of Mines) - Ruchen (Puck) Wen (University of Maryland, Baltimore County)

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[meetings] [CFP] [TAHRI] Technological Advances in Human-Robot Interaction
by TAHRI Organizers 23 Jan '24

23 Jan '24

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS: COMMUNITY AND CAREER FAIR - What: International Symposium on Technological Advances in Human-Robot Interaction (TAHRI) - When: March 9–10, 2024 - Where: Boulder, Colorado, USA - Web: https://tahri.org — COMMUNITY AND CAREER FAIR: - Do you want to bring attention to a technological HRI paper you published at a different conference (e.g., HRI, ICRA, IROS, RO-MAN, RSS, etc.), journal (e.g., THRI), symposium (e.g., AAAI Fall/Spring Series), workshop, or other venue? - Would you like people to learn about some software, hardware, or other artifact you developed or use? - Do you want feedback on a thesis topic, experimental design, startup, or other project idea? - Are you searching for collaborators, co-founders, or other like-minded individuals? - Are you hiring or looking for a job? - Do you have a question or topic you’d like to discuss? The TAHRI Community and Career Fair provides new and exciting opportunities for community engagement and networking! In this interactive session, participants will be provided with a short time slot to pitch a project/topic they wish to share, and then the community will gather in a room for open discussions and mingling. Posters and/or other artifacts are encouraged but optional. If you’d like to participate, please fill out the short form (< 5 minutes!) by March 1, 2024 to reserve your spot! https://www.tahri.org/program#community-and-career-fair — ANNOUNCEMENTS: - Thanks to all authors who submitted papers! This inaugural year, only 25% of standard review papers were accepted without revisions; however, we offered for a select few papers to be revised and resubmitted for further consideration, so the acceptance rate might be higher for the final TAHRI 2024 proceedings (archived with ACM). https://www.tahri.org/authors - Want to hear from other technological HRI researchers and practitioners? We are finalizing an amazing lineup of ~20 speakers and panelists spanning academia, industry, government, and other research groups, including Andra Keay (Silicon Valley Robotics), Andres Milioto (Embodied, Inc.), Carolina Parada (Google DeepMind Robotics), Casey Kennington (Boise State University), Cynthia Matuszek (University of Maryland, Baltimore County), Dan Grollman (Plus One Robotics), Gabriel Skantze (KTH / Furhat Robotics), James Kennedy (Disney Research), Katherine Tsui (Toyota Research Institute), Laura Hiatt (U.S. Naval Research Laboratory), Mark Yim (University of Pennsylvania), Matthew Marge (DARPA), Matthias Scheutz (Tufts University), Sean Andrist (Microsoft Research), Séverin Lemaignan (PAL Robotics), Tesca Fitzgerald (Yale University), and Tony Belpaeme (Universiteit Gent). More will be announced soon! https://www.tahri.org/people - Want to attend TAHRI? Our registration site is now open, and discounts are available for students and 2024 HRI conference attendees! https://tahri.org/attendees - Want to sponsor TAHRI? Review our partnership opportunities, including discounts for supported organizations and 2024 HRI conference sponsors! https://tahri.org/partners — Dear colleagues, Paper submissions are now closed for the 2024 International Symposium on Technological Advances in Human-Robot Interaction (TAHRI)! Thanks to all authors who submitted papers! However, it’s not too late to contribute to the inaugural TAHRI! Apply for the TAHRI Community and Career Fair to discuss relevant topics of your choice: https://www.tahri.org/program#community-and-career-fair OVERVIEW: TAHRI aims to be the premiere symposium for HRI research focused on the advancement of the underlying technology enabling the interaction between a robot and a human. The inaugural event will be held on March 9–10, 2024, in Boulder, Colorado, USA, two days before and co-located with the 2024 HRI conference! THEME: The theme for the inaugural TAHRI is “Building Bridges Between Builders”, gathering HRI researchers and practitioners from academia, industry, government, and other research groups who are focused on the development of HRI technologies. TOPICS: TAHRI seeks technological HRI contributions from a broad range of perspectives, including, but not limited to, robots, platforms, hardware, software, sensors, actuators, perception, control, algorithms, models, mechanisms, methods, interfaces, architectures, frameworks, benchmarks, datasets, tools, techniques, or other technologies that, with reasonable effort, can be incorporated into the design, development, or deployment of an HRI system. PAPERS: TAHRI is an inclusive, community-focused venue that invites novel, high-quality technological HRI papers that will be peer-reviewed in a flexible process, presented live at the symposium, and indexed in archived ACM proceedings. SPEAKERS AND PANELISTS: We are in the process of finalizing an amazing lineup of speakers and panelists spanning academia, industry, government, and other research groups. A list of confirmed speakers is below with more to be announced soon! - Andra Keay (Silicon Valley Robotics) - Andres Milioto (Embodied, Inc.) - Carolina Parada (Google DeepMind Robotics) - Casey Kennington (Boise State University) - Cynthia Matuszek (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) - Dan Grollman (Plus One Robotics) - Gabriel Skantze (KTH / Furhat Robotics) - James Kennedy (Disney Research) - Katherine Tsui (Toyota Research Institute) - Laura Hiatt (U.S. Naval Research Laboratory) - Mark Yim (University of Pennsylvania) - Matthew Marge (DARPA) - Matthias Scheutz (Tufts University) - Sean Andrist (Microsoft Research) - Séverin Lemaignan (PAL Robotics) - Tesca Fitzgerald (Yale University) - Tony Belpaeme (Universiteit Gent) CONNECT: For more information or to stay up-to-date on TAHRI, please visit the website (https://tahri.org), email us (info(a)tahri.org), or follow us on social media: - X / Twitter: https://twitter.com/TAHRIorg - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/TAHRIorg - Medium: https://medium.com/@TAHRIorg - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TAHRIorg ORGANIZERS: - Ross Mead (Semio) - Shelly Bagchi (NIST) - Jason R. Wilson (Franklin & Marshall College) - Emmanuel Senft (Idiap Research Institute) - Reuth Mirsky (Bar-Ilan University) - Daniel Hernández García (Heriot-Watt University) - Jeremy Marvel (NIST) - Megan Zimmerman (NIST) - Justin Hart (University of Texas Austin) -- TAHRI Organizers <https://www.tahri.org/people#organizers> *organizers(a)tahri.org <organizers(a)tahri.org>* * <ross.mead(a)tahri.org>* * <ross.mead(a)tahri.org>*

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RoboCup Early Visa Invitation Letters
by 2024＠robocup.org 22 Jan '24

22 Jan '24

Dear RoboCuppers, We are very much looking forward to inviting all of you to Eindhoven, The Netherlands for RoboCup 2024! To allow more teams to join RoboCup 2024, we offer early visa invitation letters. Participants that require a visa to join RoboCup in The Netherlands may apply for an early visa invitation letter. This letter allows for making an earlier appointment at an embassy to request a visa, rather than only after completing registration. There are some constraints on who can receive a visa invitation letter. You can find the details, as well as the request form, on the RoboCup 2024 website: https://2024.robocup.org/?page_id=2998 We hope to see you at RoboCup 2024! Best regards, RoboCup 2024 Organisation 2024(a)robocup.org <mailto:2024@robocup.org>

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[@Home2024-Qualification] Team Embelias
by PIYUSH KHANNA 22 Jan '24

22 Jan '24

Team Name: Team Embelias League: OPL Country: India Affiliation: KIET Group of Institutions Team Leader Name: Piyush Khanna Contact information (E-mail): piyushkhannavb(a)gmail.com Rank in local tournaments: 1 Link to a team video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr9J3uTD1_A Link to a team web site devoted to their efforts: https://anushkathehumanoid.com/ Respected organising team, We have provided all the content as stated in the Rules and Regulations documentation.*Please provide an acknowledgement whether the content provided is enough *or is something missing which needs to be attached as well. Thanking you, Yours sincerely, Piyush Khanna

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[meetings] [CFP] [EUD4HRI] HRI 2024 Workshop on “End-User Development for Human-Robot Interaction”
by DAVID PORFIRIO 18 Jan '24

18 Jan '24

** Apologies for cross-postings ** (SECOND) CALL FOR PAPERS: * What: HRI 2024 Workshop on “End-User Development for Human-Robot Interaction” (EUD4HRI) * When: March 15, 2024 * Where: Boulder, CO, USA (at the HRI 2024 conference) * Web: https://sites.google.com/wisc.edu/eud4hri — IMPORTANT DATES: All dates are Fridays and times are Anywhere on Earth (AoE) unless specified otherwise. * Jan. 15, 2024: Submission site opens * Feb. 02, 2024: Paper deadline * Feb. 23, 2024: Notification deadline * Mar. 01, 2024: Camera-ready deadline * Mar. 15, 2024: Workshop (half-day) — OVERVIEW: End-User Development (EUD) is an exciting and growing field within Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), and represents a key step towards making robotics accessible for novice robot users. Within academia, researchers investigate novel ways that EUD tools can capture, represent, visualize, analyze, and test developer intent. At the same time, industry researchers increasingly build and ship programming tools that enable customers to interface with their robots. Despite this increasing interest, the role of EUD within HRI is not well defined. EUD struggles to situate itself within a growing array of alternate approaches to application development, such as learning from demonstration (LfD), planning, teleoperation, and personalization. EUD further poses the question, “Who is the end-user?” Novice end-users might include consumers using a robot in their home, caregivers, factory employees, bystanders in public spaces, or even hobbyists, to name a few examples. Key questions remain, such as how EUD is justified over alternate approaches to application development, which contexts EUD is most suited for, who the target end-users of an EUD system are, and where does the interaction between a human and a robot take place, amongst many, many other questions. We seek to address these questions and challenges at the “End-User Development for Human-Robot Interaction” (EUD4HRI) half-day workshop at the 2024 International Conference of Human-Robot Interaction. The workshop aims to bring together researchers with a wide range of expertise across academia and industry, spanning perspectives from multiple subfields of robotics, with the primary goal being a more clearly defined scope for EUD and recommendations for the standardization of EUD use cases, target users, and terminology. The workshop will be hybrid format, including both in-person and remote attendees. — TOPICS: We invite submissions related, but not limited, to the following topics: * novel approaches the application development, including the integration of learning and planning * interfaces for robot programming, learning, and personalization * formal methods in HRI * programming languages, representations, and paradigms for HRI * programming libraries and toolkits for HRI * open source initiatives * standardization of terminology, use cases, target users, etc. * the role of industry and academia within HRI end-user development * the role of related subfields of HRI (e.g., LfD) within EUD — SUBMISSIONS: Authors are invited to submit short papers of 2-4 pages describing HRI work, blue-sky papers, position papers, etc. related to any of the topics above. Submissions should be made using the ACM template<https://www.acm.org/publications/proceedings-template>; Overleaf provides an appropriate template<https://www.overleaf.com/latex/templates/acm-conference-proceedings-primary…> that may be used. The submission link can be found on the symposium website. Optionally (but appreciated), if you intend to submit a paper, please email co-organizer Laura Stegner (stegner(a)wisc.edu<mailto:stegner@wisc.edu>) with the subject line “[EUD4HRI] Intent to Submit”, and include the following in the body of the message: (1) a tentative title, (2) a tentative author list, and (3) tentative keywords. — MORE INFO: For more information, please visit our website (https://sites.google.com/wisc.edu/eud4hri) or contact Laura Stegner (stegner(a)wisc.edu<mailto:stegner@wisc.edu>). — ORGANIZERS: * Laura Stegner (UW Madison) * David Porfirio (US Naval Research Laboratory) * Ross Mead (Semio) * Severin Lemaignan (PAL Robotics) * Laura M. Hiatt (US Naval Research Laboratory) * Bilge Mutlu (UW Madison)

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[Meetings] [CfP] HRI 2024 Workshop on “Scarecrows in Oz: LLMs in HRI”
by Nick DePalma 15 Jan '24

15 Jan '24

CALL FOR PAPERS - What: HRI 2024 Workshop on “Scarecrows in Oz: LLMs in HRI” - When: March 11, 2024 - Where: Boulder, CO, USA (at the HRI 2024 conference) - Web: https://scarecrows-hri.github.io — IMPORTANT DATES: All dates are Mondays and times are Anywhere on Earth (AoE) unless specified otherwise. - Jan. 15, 2024: Submission site opens - Jan. 29, 2024: Paper deadline - Feb. 19, 2024: Notification deadline - Mar. 04, 2024: Camera-ready deadline - Mar. 11, 2024: Workshop (half-day) — OVERVIEW: In recent years, Large Language Models (LLMs) have become the focus of intense interest in the AI community and their use in interactive robots for academic research and commercial products has had equal interest; however, there do not currently exist guidelines for or categorizations of their use in various application spaces in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). This workshop invites academic researchers and industry professionals who are actively using or are interested in using LLMs for HRI, and who can contribute to the development of high-level, community-wide guidelines for how LLMs can fit correctly and defensibly into the future of HRI research and development. Relevant topics to this workshop will include HRI studies that either directly or indirectly involve LLMs, as well as HRI studies that utilize the idea of “Scarecrows” [1] (i.e. using LLMs to provide placeholder functionality, similar to Wizard-of-Oz studies) within a larger HRI system; however, we also encourage broader questions and contributions regarding how these models should be conceptualized within frameworks for effective, responsible HRI. [1] Williams, T.; Matuszek, C; Mead, R.; & Depalma, N. (2023) “Scarecrows in Oz: The Use of Large Language Models in HRI”. To appear in ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction. 10.1145/3606261. — TOPICS: We invite research regarding contributions, commentary, and questions about (and combinations of) the following topics of interest: - the impact of “stubbing out” software modules as “Scarecrows” (traditionally done with humans in Wizard-of-Oz contexts) by using LLMs when building and testing HRI studies; - opportunities and applications of LLMs in HRI; - risks and perils of LLMs in interactive robots; - reporting guidelines, ethical considerations, or real-world implications of LLMs in HRI; - safety of LLM-driven interaction and fine-tuned LLMs during interactions with the world or users; and/or - position or framing papers on the general role of LLMs in HRI. — SUBMISSIONS: Authors are invited to submit short papers of 2-4 pages on the topic of the use of LLMs in HRI; submissions are due by January 29, 2024. Submissions should be made using the ACM template <https://www.acm.org/publications/proceedings-template>; Overleaf provides an appropriate template <https://www.overleaf.com/latex/templates/acm-conference-proceedings-primary…> that may be used. Submissions will be made through EasyChair <https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=sohri24>. — MORE INFO: For more information, please visit our website ( https://scarecrows-hri.github.io) or contact the organizers ( hri2024scarecrows(a)gmail.com). — ORGANIZERS: - Nick DePalma (Semio Community) - Cynthia Matuszek (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) - Ross Mead (Semio) - Tom Williams (Colorado School of Mines) - Ruchen (Puck) Wen (University of Maryland, Baltimore County)

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[Meetings] Second Call for Participation | RoboCup@Home 2024 (DSPL · OPL · SSPL)
by Sven Wachsmuth 09 Jan '24

09 Jan '24

Second Call for Participation RoboCup@Home 2024 (DSPL · OPL · SSPL) July 15 to 21, 2024 (Eindhoven, Netherlands) https://2024.robocup.org https://athome.robocup.org/ https://athome.robocup.org/2024-cfp2-all/ https://github.com/RoboCupAtHome/RuleBook RoboCup is an international scientific initiative with the goal to advance the state of the art of intelligent robots through competitions (RoboCup@Home, RoboCup Soccer, RoboCup Rescue, RoboCup@Work and RoboCup Junior). The RoboCup@Home league aims to develop service and assistive robot technology with high relevance for future personal domestic applications. It is the largest international annual competition for autonomous service robots and is part of the RoboCup initiative. A set of benchmark tests is used to evaluate the robots’ abilities and performance in a realistic home environment setting. Focus lies on the following domains but is not limited to: Human-Robot-Interaction and Cooperation, Navigation and Mapping in dynamic environments, Computer Vision and Object Recognition under natural light conditions, Object Manipulation, Adaptive Behaviors, Behavior Integration, Ambient Intelligence, Standardization and System Integration. Important dates: Jan. 09, 2024 Publication of the 2nd Call for Participation Feb. 12, 2024 Deadline for submission of qualification material (Team Description Paper, Team Video, Team Website). Feb. 29, 2024 Qualification announcement Mar. 12, 2024 Deadline for Participation Confirmation Further information is published in the Call for Participation: https://athome.robocup.org/2024-cfp2-all/ With kind regards, and looking forward to see your team in Eindhoven, The 2024 RoboCup@Home Organizing and Technical Committees

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Request for team qualification for Robocup '24
by PIYUSH KHANNA 05 Jan '24

05 Jan '24

Respected sir/mam, We, a team of 4, have successfully created a completely functional Social humanoid robot with NLP, CV as well as the support to be able to be controlled through BCI (Brain-control Interface), through thinking. This is to humbly inquire whether we can take part in the Robocup 24 now. We had our documents as well as video demonstrations ready, but couldn't get regular updates about the qualification process starting dates. We see that 7 slots are still empty in the RoboCup@Home league and we have prepared our robot accordingly. I would be really grateful if you could guide us with further details. Thanking you, Yours faithfully Piyush Khanna,

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[meetings] [CFP] [TAHRI] Technological Advances in Human-Robot Interaction
by TAHRI Organizers 02 Jan '24

02 Jan '24

New Year, New News! Please carefully read the announcements below for important updates regarding TAHRI 2024! — CALL FOR PAPERS: - What: International Symposium on Technological Advances in Human-Robot Interaction (TAHRI) - When: March 9–10, 2024 - Where: Boulder, Colorado, USA - Web: https://tahri.org — IMPORTANT DATES: - Nov. 6, 2023: Paper submission site opens - Dec. 1, 2023: Standard review paper deadline / Registration site opens - Jan. 12, 2024: Rapid review paper pre-submission deadline - Jan. 19, 2024: Rapid review paper deadline / Short paper deadline / Standard review paper notification - ~3 weeks after submission: Rapid review paper notification - Jan. 26, 2024: Standard review paper revise-and-resubmit deadline - Feb. 2, 2024: Standard review paper revise-and-resubmit notification / Short paper notification - Feb. 9, 2024: Hotel special group rate booking deadline — ANNOUNCEMENTS: - Want to give a second chance to a previously reviewed paper? Revise and resubmit it as a TAHRI rapid review paper by Jan. 19, 2024! Submissions are limited, are reviewed in the order in which they are submitted, and pre-submissions are required! Complete the pre-submission form (it takes less than 5 minutes!) by Jan. 12, 2024 to reserve your spot in the queue and ensure that your paper is reviewed! https://tahri.org/authors - Want to share promising technological HRI work or useful HRI artifacts (e.g., software, hardware, or other systems)? Submit a short paper by Jan. 19, 2024! https://tahri.org/authors - Want to hear from other technological HRI researchers and practitioners? We are finalizing an amazing lineup of ~20 speakers and panelists spanning academia, industry, government, and other research groups, including Andres Milioto (Embodied, Inc.), Gabriel Skantze (KTH / Furhat Robotics), Katherine Tsui (Toyota Research Institute), Mark Yim (University of Pennsylvania), Matthias Scheutz (Tufts University), Sean Andrist (Microsoft Research), Séverin Lemaignan (PAL Robotics), Tesca Fitzgerald (Yale University), and Tony Belpaeme (Universiteit Gent, Belgium). More will be announced soon! https://www.tahri.org/people - Want to attend TAHRI? Our registration site is now open, and discounts are available for students and 2024 HRI conference attendees! https://tahri.org/attendees - Want to sponsor TAHRI? Review our partnership opportunities, including discounts for supported organizations and 2024 HRI conference sponsors! https://tahri.org/partners — Dear colleagues, The submission site is still open for the 2024 International Symposium on Technological Advances in Human-Robot Interaction (TAHRI)! If you want to give a second chance to a paper previously reviewed at another venue, we invite you to revise and resubmit it as a TAHRI rapid review paper! Submissions are limited and are reviewed in the order in which they are submitted, so pre-submit your paper by Jan. 12th, 2024 to reserve your spot in the queue! Also, if you want to share promising technological HRI work or useful HRI artifacts (e.g., software, hardware, or other systems), submit a short paper! https://www.tahri.org/authors OVERVIEW: TAHRI aims to be the premiere symposium for HRI research focused on the advancement of the underlying technology enabling the interaction between a robot and a human. The inaugural event will be held on March 9–10, 2024, in Boulder, Colorado, USA, two days before and co-located with the 2024 HRI conference! THEME: The theme for the inaugural TAHRI is “Building Bridges Between Builders”, gathering HRI researchers and practitioners from academia, industry, government, and other research groups who are focused on the development of HRI technologies. TOPICS: TAHRI seeks technological HRI contributions from a broad range of perspectives, including, but not limited to, robots, platforms, hardware, software, sensors, actuators, perception, control, algorithms, models, mechanisms, methods, interfaces, architectures, frameworks, benchmarks, datasets, tools, techniques, or other technologies that, with reasonable effort, can be incorporated into the design, development, or deployment of an HRI system. PAPERS: TAHRI is an inclusive, community-focused venue that invites novel, high-quality technological HRI papers that will be peer-reviewed in a flexible process, presented live at the symposium, and indexed in archived ACM proceedings. - [CLOSED] Standard review papers are for technological HRI work intended to go through a full peer-review process (including internal and external reviewers). - Rapid review papers are for technological HRI work that has been previously reviewed but was either not indexed or not published, that has been revised based on previous reviewer feedback, and for which a summary of reviews, rebuttals, and revisions can also be submitted. These papers are part of a new rolling review process (from Nov. 6th, 2023, to Jan. 19th, 2024), with a fast turnaround notification (~3 weeks) and a limited number of submissions! Pre-submissions are required by Jan. 12th, 2024, and take less than five (5) minutes to complete! See the website for important details. - Short papers are for recent, ongoing, or otherwise promising technological HRI work with preliminary results or details of accessible artifacts that are relevant to the HRI research community and show potential to promote discussions at TAHRI. These papers will not be indexed in archived proceedings. SPEAKERS AND PANELISTS: We are in the process of finalizing an amazing lineup of speakers and panelists spanning academia, industry, government, and other research groups. A list of confirmed speakers is below with more to be announced soon! - Andres Milioto (Embodied, Inc.) - Gabriel Skantze (KTH / Furhat Robotics) - Katherine Tsui (Toyota Research Institute) - Mark Yim (University of Pennsylvania) - Matthias Scheutz (Tufts University) - Sean Andrist (Microsoft Research) - Séverin Lemaignan (PAL Robotics) - Tesca Fitzgerald (Yale University) - Tony Belpaeme (Universiteit Gent, Belgium) - … and more! CONNECT: For more information or to stay up-to-date on TAHRI, please visit the website (https://tahri.org), email us (info(a)tahri.org), or follow us on social media: - X / Twitter: https://twitter.com/TAHRIorg - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/TAHRIorg - Medium: https://medium.com/@TAHRIorg - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TAHRIorg ORGANIZERS: - Ross Mead (Semio) - Shelly Bagchi (NIST) - Jason R. Wilson (Franklin & Marshall College) - Emmanuel Senft (Idiap Research Institute) - Reuth Mirsky (Bar-Ilan University) - Daniel Hernández García (Heriot-Watt University) - Jeremy Marvel (NIST) - Megan Zimmerman (NIST) - Justin Hart (University of Texas Austin) -- TAHRI Organizers <https://www.tahri.org/people#organizers> *organizers(a)tahri.org <organizers(a)tahri.org>* * <ross.mead(a)tahri.org>* * <ross.mead(a)tahri.org>*

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[meetings] [CFP] [EUD4HRI] HRI 2024 Workshop on “End-User Development for Human-Robot Interaction”
by DAVID PORFIRIO 22 Dec '23

22 Dec '23

- Apologies for cross posting - CALL FOR PAPERS: * What: HRI 2024 Workshop on “End-User Development for Human-Robot Interaction” (EUD4HRI) * When: March 15, 2024 * Where: Boulder, CO, USA (at the HRI 2024 conference) * Web: https://sites.google.com/wisc.edu/eud4hri — IMPORTANT DATES: All dates are Fridays and times are Anywhere on Earth (AoE) unless specified otherwise. * Jan. 15, 2024: Submission site opens * Feb. 02, 2024: Paper deadline * Feb. 23, 2024: Notification deadline * Mar. 01, 2024: Camera-ready deadline * Mar. 15, 2024: Workshop (half-day) — OVERVIEW: End-User Development (EUD) is an exciting and growing field within Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), and represents a key step towards making robotics accessible for novice robot users. Within academia, researchers investigate novel ways that EUD tools can capture, represent, visualize, analyze, and test developer intent. At the same time, industry researchers increasingly build and ship programming tools that enable customers to interface with their robots. Despite this increasing interest, the role of EUD within HRI is not well defined. EUD struggles to situate itself within a growing array of alternate approaches to application development, such as learning from demonstration (LfD), planning, teleoperation, and personalization. EUD further poses the question, “Who is the end-user?” Novice end-users might include consumers using a robot in their home, caregivers, factory employees, bystanders in public spaces, or even hobbyists, to name a few examples. Key questions remain, such as how EUD is justified over alternate approaches to application development, which contexts EUD is most suited for, who the target end-users of an EUD system are, and where does the interaction between a human and a robot take place, amongst many, many other questions. We seek to address these questions and challenges at the “End-User Development for Human-Robot Interaction” (EUD4HRI) half-day workshop at the 2024 International Conference of Human-Robot Interaction. The workshop aims to bring together researchers with a wide range of expertise across academia and industry, spanning perspectives from multiple subfields of robotics, with the primary goal being a more clearly defined scope for EUD and recommendations for the standardization of EUD use cases, target users, and terminology. The workshop will be hybrid format, including both in-person and remote attendees. — TOPICS: We invite submissions related, but not limited, to the following topics: * novel approaches the application development, including the integration of learning and planning * interfaces for robot programming, learning, and personalization * formal methods in HRI * programming languages, representations, and paradigms for HRI * programming libraries and toolkits for HRI * open source initiatives * standardization of terminology, use cases, target users, etc. * the role of industry and academia within HRI end-user development * the role of related subfields of HRI (e.g., LfD) within EUD — SUBMISSIONS: Authors are invited to submit short papers of 2-4 pages describing HRI work, blue-sky papers, position papers, etc. related to any of the topics above. Submissions should be made using the ACM template<https://www.acm.org/publications/proceedings-template>; Overleaf provides an appropriate template<https://www.overleaf.com/latex/templates/acm-conference-proceedings-primary…> that may be used. The submission link can be found on the symposium website. Optionally (but appreciated), if you intend to submit a paper, please email co-organizer Laura Stegner (stegner(a)wisc.edu<mailto:stegner@wisc.edu>) with the subject line “[EUD4HRI] Intent to Submit”, and include the following in the body of the message: (1) a tentative title, (2) a tentative author list, and (3) tentative keywords. — MORE INFO: For more information, please visit our website (https://sites.google.com/wisc.edu/eud4hri) or contact Laura Stegner (stegner(a)wisc.edu<mailto:stegner@wisc.edu>). — ORGANIZERS: * Laura Stegner (UW Madison) * David Porfirio (US Naval Research Laboratory) * Ross Mead (Semio) * Severin Lemaignan (PAL Robotics) * Laura M. Hiatt (US Naval Research Laboratory) * Bilge Mutlu (UW Madison)

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