August 2021 - RoboCup-worldwide

[meetings] CfP: Oct 1, International Rescue Robotics Symposium
by Oskar von Stryk 28 Sep '21

28 Sep '21

The German Rescue Robotics Center (DRZ) invites participants to the International Symposium on the Current State and Challenges for Intelligent Robotic Assistance in Disaster Response When: 1 Oct 2021, 13:00-16:30 (CET) Where: Online and onsite in Dortmund, Germany What: Invited talks by leading researchers and practitioners and a round table discussion The symposium will highlight the current status and future challenges in intelligent ground and aerial robotic systems assisting in disaster response from the perspectives of research, development, training, and application. Confirmed speakers: * Emanuele Gissi, Italian Fire and Rescue Service * Adam Jacoff, NIST, USA * Jean-Paul Monet, Bouches-du-Rhone Fire Department, France * Robin Murphy, Texas A&M University, USA * Tomas Svoboda, Czech Technical University, Prague, Czech Republic * Satoshi Tadokoro, Tohoku University, Japan We welcome a broad audience, including first responders, industry, academia and general public. For more details and updates on the program and to register (free of charge) please visit the website: https://rettungsrobotik.de/en/symposium [1] The International Symposium Rescue Robotics is part of the Rescue Robotics Days 2021: https://rettungsrobotik.de/en/rettungsrobotiktage/ [2] Ivana Kruijff-Korbayova and Oskar von Stryk (Symposium Co-Chairs) Links: ------ [1] https://rettungsrobotik.de/en/symposium/ [2] https://rettungsrobotik.de/en/rettungsrobotiktage/

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RoboCup Asia-Pacific 2021: Call for Participation
by RCAP Office 31 Aug '21

31 Aug '21

Dear RoboCuppers, You are welcome to participate in the RoboCup Asia-Pacific 2021 (RCAP 2021). ============== Call for Participation =============== *RoboCup Asia-Pacific 2021 (RCAP 2021)* 25-29 November 2021 https://2021.robocupap.org/eng/participation.html RoboCup Asia-Pacific 2021 Aichi Japan (RCAP 2021) will be held at Aichi Sky Expo (Aichi International Convention & Exhibition Center), November 25-29, 2021. RCAP 2021 will be held in a hybrid ON-SITE and VIRTUAL format. Due to the current uncertainties of Covid-19, ON-SITE competitions will only open to participants from Japan. - ON-SITE Competitions: Participants from Japan. - VIRTUAL Competitions: Participants from all over the world. *LEAGUES:* Virtual Competitions are open to participants from all over the world, with most of the leagues of RoboCup 2021 Worldwide. For details of leagues, please refer to: https://2021.robocupap.org/eng/leagues.html *REGISTRATION:* All teams are required to pre-register through the online form: https://2021.robocupap.org/eng/registration.html *IMPORTANT DATES:* - Deadline for pre-registration (both on-line and virtual competitions): 30 September 2021 - Announcement of qualified teams: 14 October 2021 - Deadline for registration: 4 November 2021 *REGISTRATION FEES:* The registration fee is waived for all Japanese teams/members. The registration fee for teams to participate in virtual competitions (except teams from Japan): - Major Team Registration Fee: Waived - Major Staff/Students: USD60/person - Junior Team Registration Fee: Waived - Junior Students/Mentors: USD40/person *SYMPOSIUM:* https://2021.robocupap.org/eng/symposium.html *CONTACT:* For inquiries please contact us via the hereunder email addresses: - Aichi Local Organizing Committee (General Enquiries, On-site competitions): - rcap2021(a)intergroup.co.jp - RCAP Office (Registration fees and payments, Virtual competitions): - office(a)robocupap.org For more information please visit our official website at https://2021.robocupap.org/eng/index.html We look forward to welcoming you to RCAP 2021 Aichi Japan! Best Regards, RoboCup Asia-Pacific (RCAP) Office, RoboCup Asia-Pacific 2021 (RCAP 2021) Organizing Committee

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RoboCup Brazil Open 2021 - 2nd Call for Participation
by April Foster 25 Aug '21

25 Aug '21

======================================= Registrations are open for RoboCup Brazil Open 2021 The event will be virtual, with most of the categories of RoboCup Federation RoboCup Brazil launches the RoboCup Brazil Open, a virtual event with most of the categories of the Robocup WorldWide. Registrations are now open for teams from all over the world. All the categories have been adapted and will happen in a fully remote format, using simulators, challenges, and submission of articles written by the teams. Our goal is to disseminate the studies and technologies developed by universities in the field of robotics and AI. The event will happen on *October 11th-15th* and will be broadcast through lives on the RoboCup Brazil Youtube channel. In 2020, more than 700 students from Latin America attended the event. ============= Categories: ============= RoboCup Soccer Simulation 3D League RoboCup Soccer Simulation 2D League RoboCup Small Size Soccer League RoboCup Soccer Humanoid League RoboCup Soccer Standard Plataform League (SPL) RoboCup @Home RoboCup Open Flying Robot Trial League RoboCupJunior Soccer Open RoboCupJunior Rescue Maze Primary RoboCupJunior Rescue Maze RoboCupJunior Rescue Simulation Primary RoboCupJunior Rescue Simulation Open IEEE Humanoid Robot Racing (HRR) IEEE Open IEEE Standard Educational Kit (SEK) IEEE Very Small Size Soccer ================= Registration ================= To participate, you and your team must register *by August 30th*, on the website: www.cbrobotica.org . The registration fee is US$ 50 per team. *RoboCup Brasil is a non-profit civil association, organized by volunteer professors and researchers. The association holds the Brazilian Robotics Olympiad, the Brazilian Robotics Competition, and the National Robotics Show.* -- RoboCup Brazil http://www.robocup.org.br/

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[HRI][meetings][CFP] Special Issue on IJSR "GENDERING ROBOTS: Ongoing (Re)configurations of Gender in Robotics"
by Giulia Perugia 17 Aug '21

17 Aug '21

Dear colleagues, After the success of the GenR 2021 workshop at RO-MAN 2021 last week, I am pleased to announce that the homonym Special Issue “GENDERING ROBOTS: Ongoing (Re)configurations of Gender in Robotics” is now open for submissions on the International Journal of Social Robotics (IJSR)! The Special Issue opened on August 12th and will stay open until January 31st, 2022. All submitted papers will be reviewed as soon as they are received and the accepted papers will be published online first until the complete Special Issue is published. Please note that we welcome submissions from all disciplines addressing the topic of gender in robots and are open to submissions from Ethics, Social Sciences, Psychology, and Humanities, as well as more technical and traditional Social Robotics and HRI papers. You can find more information on the Special Issue below and on our website <https://sites.google.com/view/ro-man21-genr-workshop/special-issue?authuser…>. Please feel free to reach out for questions and details to our email addresses (see below). Kindest regards, Giulia Perugia ============================================================= *SPECIAL ISSUE GENDERING ROBOTS: ONGOING (RE)CONFIGURATIONS OF GENDER IN ROBOTICS* International Journal of Social Robotics (IJSR) - Impact Factor 5.126 (2020) [link to journal <https://www.springer.com/journal/12369/>][link to special issue <https://www.springer.com/journal/12369/updates/19292566>] The field of HRI is increasingly employing humanoid robots and anthropomorphic designs to aid social interactions between humans and robots. However, designing robots with human-like characteristics can have far-reaching implications. For instance, integrating identity markers such as gender into robotic systems can involuntarily transfer implicit biases into the human-robot interaction (HRI) and perpetuate harmful structural patterns and societal stereotypes. This Special Issue aims to *deepen the social, ethical, and psychological understanding of the attribution of gender to robots, addressing how the design and use of gendered robots might impact HRI and affect society at large*. We welcome original papers investigating the attribution of gender to social robots, the influence of robot’s gender on the perception of and interaction with robots (e.g., acceptance, trust), the design of gendered robots, and its ethical and societal implications. Through this special issue, we would like to inspire discussions about the mindful use of robots in society and promote the possibility of using robots to challenge harmful social practices (e.g., gender stereotypes, gender inequality). Our ultimate goal is to bridge the communication gap we observed between the different disciplines addressing the topic of gender in robotics and the lack of spaces to converse with and learn from one another. The Special Issue is based on the GenR workshop “GENDERING ROBOTS: Ongoing (Re)configurations of Gender in Robotics” which took place on August 12th, 2021 at the 30th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2021). The Special issue opened on August 12th, 2021 and will stay open until *January 31st, 2022*. All submitted papers will be reviewed as soon as they are received. Accepted papers are published Online First until the complete Special Issue is published. *Topics of interest* include, but are not limited to - Gendering practices in Social Robotics - Experimental studies on gendered robots - Feminist robotics - Robot’s gender design - Norm-critical design - Queer design in HRI - Sex Robots - Ethics of Gendered Robots - Normative deviance in relation to robot gender - Societal implications and applications of gendered robots - Performative arts encompassing a reflection on gender in robotics - Non-binary perspectives on robot gender *Instructions to submit your paper to the Special Issue:* When submitting your paper to the International Journal of Social Robotics via the Editorial Manager, you will be asked if your paper belongs to a special issue, please select YES as an answer. At this point, a *pull down menu* will appear and you will be able to select the title of the special issue, select "GENDERING ROBOTS (GenR): Ongoing (Re)configurations of Gender in Robotics". Besides selecting the Special Issue upon submission, you should also specify in your *cover letter* that you wish to submit your manuscript to the special issue "GENDERING ROBOTS (GenR): Ongoing (Re)configurations of Gender in Robotics". Please, feel free to contact us should you need further information about the special issue. The Guest Editors: - Dr. Giulia Perugia (Lead guest editor): giulia.perugia(a)it.uu.se - Dr. Katie Winkle: winkle(a)kth.se - Dominika Lisy: dominika.lisy(a)liu.se - Ryan Blake Jackson: rbjackso(a)mymail.mines.edu

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KBS Special Issue on Deep Learning (IF: 8.038) Deadline: August 31, 2021
by Pub Conference 11 Aug '21

11 Aug '21

Robust, Explainable, and Privacy-Preserving Deep Learning https://www.journals.elsevier.com/knowledge-based-systems/call-for-papers/r… <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.journals.elsevier.com/knowledge-bas…> *Aim and Scope* The exponentially growing availability of data such as images, videos and speech from myriad sources, including social media and the Internet of Things, is driving the demand for high-performance data analysis algorithms. Deep learning is currently an extremely active research area in machine learning and pattern recognition. It provides computational models of multiple nonlinear processing neural network layers to learn and represent data with increasing levels of abstraction. Deep neural networks are able to implicitly capture intricate structures of large-scale data and deploy in cloud computing and high-performance computing platforms. The deep learning approach has demonstrated remarkable performances across a range of applications, including computer vision, image classification, face/speech recognition, natural language processing, and medical communications. However, deep neural networks yield ‘black-box’ input-output mappings that can be challenging to explain to users. Especially in the healthcare, cybersecurity, and legal fields, black-box machine learning techniques are unacceptable, since decisions may have a profound impact on peoples’ lives due to the lack of interpretability. In addition, many other open problems and challenges still exist, such as computational and time costs, repeatability of the results, convergence, and the ability to learn from a very small amount of data and to evolve dynamically. Further, despite their enormous societal benefits, deep learning can pose real threats to personal privacy. For example, deep neural networks and other machine learning models are built based on patients' personal and highly sensitive data such as clinical records or tracked health data in the domain of healthcare. Moreover, they can be vulnerable to attackers trying to infer the sensitive data that was used to build the model. This raises important research questions about how to develop deep learning models that protect private data against inference attacks while still being accurate and useful predictive models. This Special Issue will present robust, explainable, and efficient next-generation deep learning algorithms with data privacy and theoretical guarantees for solving challenging artificial intelligence problems. This Special Issue aims to: 1) improve the understanding and explainability of deep neural networks; 2) improve the accuracy of deep learning leveraging new stochastic optimization and neural architecture search; 3) enhance the mathematical foundation of deep neural networks; 4) design new data privacy mechanisms to optimally tradeoff between utility and privacy; and 5) increase the computational efficiency and stability of the deep learning training process with new algorithms that will scale. Potential topics include but are not limited to the following: · Novel theoretical insights on the deep neural networks · Exploration of post-hoc interpretation methods which can shed light on how deep learning models produce a specific prediction and generate a representation · Investigation of interpretable models which aim to construct self-explanatory models and incorporate interpretability directly into the structure of a deep learning model · Quantifying or visualizing the interpretability of deep neural networks · Stability improvement of deep neural network optimization · Optimization methods for deep learning · Privacy preserving machine learning (e.g., federated machine learning, learning over encrypted data) · Novel deep learning approaches in the applications of image/signal processing, business intelligence, games, healthcare, bioinformatics, and security *Important Dates* · Submission Deadline: August 31, 2021 · First Review Decision: September 30, 2021 · Revisions Due: October 31, 2021 · Final Decision: November 30, 2021 · Final Manuscript: December 31, 2021 *Review Procedures* This special issue will run as per the timeline given from submission to publication, while maintaining the rigorous peer review and high standards of the journal. All manuscripts submitted must be original, not under consideration elsewhere, and not previously published. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts are available on the Guide for Authors’ page. Authors can expect their manuscripts to be reviewed fairly, and in a skilled, conscientious manner. To enhance objectivity, and to guarantee high scientific quality and relevance to the subject, three peer reviewers will be selected to evaluate a manuscript. The peer review process shall be designed to avoid bias and conflict of interest on the part of reviewers and shall be composed of experts in the relevant field of research. A key criterion in publication decisions will be the manuscript’s fit for the special issue and the readership of KBS. Papers will be published online as soon as accepted in continuous flow. *Submission Instructions* The submission system will be open around one week before the first paper comes in. When submitting your manuscript please select the article type “*VSI: Deep Learning*”. Please submit your manuscript before the submission deadline. All submissions deemed suitable to be sent for peer review will be reviewed by at least two independent reviewers. Once your manuscript is accepted, it will go into production, and will be simultaneously published in the current regular issue and pulled into the online Special Issue. Articles from this Special Issue will appear in different regular issues of the journal, though they will be clearly marked and branded as Special Issue articles. Please see an example here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/science-of-the-total-environment/spec… <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/science-o…> Please ensure you read the Guide for Authors before writing your manuscript. The Guide for Authors and the link to submit your manuscript is available on the Journal’s homepage.

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[HRI][meetings] Program / registration GenR 2021 Workshop "GENDERING ROBOTS: Ongoing (Re)configurations of Gender in Robotics" @RO-MAN 2021
by Giulia Perugia 09 Aug '21

09 Aug '21

Dear colleagues, It is with great pleasure that we announce that the schedule <https://sites.google.com/view/ro-man21-genr-workshop/schedule?authuser=0> of the GenR 2021 workshop "GENDERING ROBOTS: Ongoing (Re)configurations of Gender in Robotics'' is online and the registration <https://sites.google.com/view/ro-man21-genr-workshop/registration?authuser=0> to the workshop is open! The GenR 2021 workshop will take place on August 12th from 15:00 to 19:00 (CEST time) as part of the 30th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2021). Please, find below the schedule of the workshop. Kindest regards, Giulia Perugia =============================== *IEEE RO-MAN 2021 GenR WORKSHOP * Workshop Date: August 12th, 2021 (15:00 - 19:00 CEST) Attendees wishing to attend the workshop should register for the workshop via our website ( https://sites.google.com/view/ro-man21-genr-workshop/registration?authuser=0). We will then email the joining link to all registered participants ahead of the event. Alternatively, the link to the workshop will be available to all registered attendees of RO-MAN 2021. *WORKSHOP PROGRAM* *15:00 - 15:10 - INTRODUCTION* *15:10 - 15:55 - KEYNOTE TALK #1 - PROF. ROBERT SPARROW - Title: TBA* *15:55 - 16:30 - PAPER PRESENTATIONS #1 * - Tatsuya Nomura - *Relationships between Gender Conception, Generations, and Negative Attitudes toward Robots in Japan* - Laetitia Tanqueray, Ginevra Castellano, and Stefan Larsson - *A Preliminary Case Study on Gender Norms in Robot-Assisted Diagnosis of Perinatal Depression: A Socio-Legal HRI Perspective* - Hanna Pelikan, Sofia Thunberg, and Erika Johnson - *Gender Studies and Robotics – A Dialogue * - Katie Winkle, Gaspar Melsion, Iolanda Leite, Madeline Balaam, Donald McMillan, Maria Arnelid, Katherine Harrison, and Ericka Johnson - *Feminism x Social Robotics* - Juana Valeria Hurtado and Valentina Mejia - *Feminist Perspective on Robot Learning Processes* *16:30 - 17:05 - PANEL DISCUSSION #1 * Themes: Diversity in Research Participation, Cross cultural differences, ‘Effectiveness vs ethics’ when it comes to (stereotypically) gendered robots Panelists: Prof. Ericka Johnson, Dr. Katherine Harrison, Prof. Verena Reiser, Dr. Megan Strait, Prof. James E. Young *17:05 - 17:15 - COFFEE BREAK * *17:15 - 17:45 - PAPER PRESENTATIONS #2* - *Astrid Weiss and Katta Spiel - Should robots have a gender -- Should they be gendered?* - *Niklas Ellerich-Groppe, Merle Weßel, Frauke Koppelin and Mark Schweda - An Ethical Perspective on Gender Stereotyping and Queering in Care Robotics* - *Piercosma Bisconti Lucidi and Giulia Perugia - How Do We Gender Robots? Inquiring the Relationship Between Perceptual Cues and Context of Use * - *Ryan Blake Jackson and Tom Williams - Eugenicists Should Not Design Robots: On the Principle of Procreative Beneficence and Robot Gendering* *17:45 - 18:15 - PANEL DISCUSSION #2* Themes: Queering Robots and Genderless Robots, Gender Issues: from HRI to HHI to HRI Panelists: Prof. Ericka Johnson, Dr. Katherine Harrison, Prof. Verena Reiser, Dr. Megan Strait, Prof. James E. Young *18:15 - 19:00 - KEYNOTE TALK #2 - PROF. FRIEDERIKE EYSSEL - Title: Gender. Diversity and Social Robots: A Social Psychological Perspective* *19:00 - 19:05 - CONCLUDING REMARKS*

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[meetings] [On-site Training] Get ROS2 Industrial Ready: ROS2 Basics + ROS2 Nav2 + Manipulation with Movelt2
by Yuhong Lin 06 Aug '21

06 Aug '21

Get ROS2 Industrial Ready: ROS2 Basics + ROS2 Nav2 + Manipulation with Movelt2 - Where: Barcelona, Spain - When: September 20, 2021 → September 24, 2021 - Registration website: https://www.theconstructsim.com/ros2-onsite-training/ - Limited to 20 Spots Dear Roboticists, Understanding how ROS2 works is becoming a MUST. ROS2 is expected to fully replace ROS1 by 2023. The Galactic distribution released in May 2021 shows ROS2 is very mature and ready for real-world applications. In this five-day ROS2 training, learn how to program robots with ROS 2 Galactic, including navigation and grasping. Participants will practice with robot simulations and then with real robots to test their programs live. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN - Creation of ROS2 packages - Management of the new Colcon universal building system - Topic publishers and subscribers in ROS2 Python - Nodes management: life cycle, executors and callback groups - Services and actions - Hybrid application with ROS1 and ROS2 - Use of debugging tools in ROS2 - ROS2 Mapping - ROS2 Localization - ROS2 Path Planning - ROS2 + DDS - Create and configure a MoveIt2 package for a robotic arm - Perform ROS2 Motion Planning & Grasping AT A GLANCE Prerequisites - Knowledge of Python Programming language - Basic understanding of Linux Ubuntu Operating System - Knowledge of ROS1 (recommended but not required) Language: English Programming Language: Python REAL ROBOTS USED - RB-1 BASE mobile robot (provided by Robotnik <https://robotnik.eu/>) - UR3e robot arm WHO IS THIS WORKSHOP FOR? - ROS developers that want to transition to ROS2 - Researchers focusing their research on ROS2 - Engineers or CTOs who want to build scalable robotics products, faster. TRAINING DETAILSDay 1 - ROS2 Fundamentals Topic 1 Understanding Basic ROS2 Concepts - Structure and launch ROS2 programs (packages and launch files) - Create basic ROS2 programs (Python-based) - Understand basic ROS2 concepts: Nodes, Client Libraries, etc. Topic 2 ROS2 Topics - Topic Subscribers - Topic Publishers - Interfaces - Management of nodes Topic 3 ROS2 Debugging Tools - Use logs in ROS2 - RViz2 debugging tool - ROS2 doctor Day 2: ROS2 Advanced Topics - ROS2 DDS - ROS2 Services - ROS2 Actions - ROS1_Bridge Day 3: ROS2 Nav2 - ROS2 Mapping - ROS2 Localization - ROS2 Path Planning and Obstacle Avoidance Day 4: ROS2 Nav2 Advanced Features & Manipulation Topic 1 ROS2 Nav2 Galactic Functionality - Waypoint Task Executors - Speed Limited Zones - Keep out zones Topic 2 Arm Navigation with MoveIt2 - Configure a Moveit2 package for a robotic arm - Programatically perform motion planning Day 5: Grasping - Use perception to detect object location - Grasp object This course created by The Construct (http://theconstructsim.com/), in cooperation with Robotnik (https://www.robotnik.eu/). *Yuhong Lin* VP of Marketing at The Construct ylin(a)theconstructsim.com www.theconstructsim.com [image: https://app.theconstructsim.com/#/Profile/ylin2] <https://app.theconstructsim.com/#/Profile/ylin2> [image: Facebook] <http://www.facebook.com/theconstructsim> [image: Twitter] <https://twitter.com/_TheConstruct_> [image: LinkedIn] <https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-construct>

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