- RoboCup-worldwide - lists.robocup.org

IROBOT'2023 - 12th International Thematic Track on Intelligent Robotics, Azores, Portugal
by Nuno Lau 17 Mar '23

17 Mar '23

(apologies for cross-posting) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ IROBOT'2023 CALL FOR PAPERS 12th International Thematic Track on Intelligent Robotics To be held at EPIA 2023, September 5-8, 2023 Faial Island, Azores, Portugal https://epia2023.inesctec.pt/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The EPIA Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a well-established European conference in the field of AI. The 22nd edition, EPIA 2023, will take place in Horta, Faial Island (Azores) between September 5th-8th, 2023. As in previous editions, this international conference is hosted with the patronage of the Portuguese Association for Artificial Intelligence (APPIA). The purpose of this conference is to promote research in all areas of AI, covering both theoretical/foundational issues and applications, and the scientific exchange among researchers, engineers, and practitioners in related disciplines. EPIA 2023 will feature a set of thematic tracks, covering a wide spectrum of AI topics. Accepted papers will be published in a Springer's Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence volume. ## Important Dates 16 Apr 2023: Paper Submission Deadline 9 May 2023: Author Notification/Registration Open 15 Jun 2023: Camera-Ready Deadline 5-8 Sep 2023: EPIA'2023 Conference ## IROBOT Description IROBOT'2023 poses itself as a follow-up on the previous nine International Thematic Tracks/Workshops on Intelligent Robotics held at EPIA since 2005. Its main purpose is to bring together researchers, engineers and other professionals interested in the application of AI techniques in real/simulated robotics to discuss current work and future directions. Robotics, from the point of view of AI, has been an important application field, from which AI has also gained. Namely, the dynamic and unforeseen nature of the environment, especially for mobile robots, has fostered research in these aspects of AI. Together with the developments in Robotics Research, the use of Robotics in industry and services has changed a lot in recent years. New paradigms and approaches for industrial robots and service robots have emerged, for example, on mobile robots learning, localization, mapping and navigation in unstructured environments. IROBOT 2023 will discuss will discuss these new developments on industrial and service robotics with focus on robotic assistive platforms/solutions and robotics application related to nature (ocean, florest, agriculture, etc.). ## Topics of Interest The Thematic Track will be structured around the following themes: - Adaptive and flexible industrial robotics - Agriculture robots - AI Planning for robotics - Autonomous vehicles - Cognitive robotics - Computer vision and object recognition - Coordination in robotics - Evolutionary robotics and reactive intelligence - Human-robots interface and interaction - Humanoid robotics - Intelligent buildings and warehouses - Intelligent transportation systems - Mobile robots localization and navigation - Modelling and simulating complex robots - Multi-Robot systems - Field Robots - Real-time reactivity - Robot behaviour engineering - Robot learning and adaptation - Robotic surveillance - Sensor fusion This topics' list is not exhaustive. Papers may address one or more of the topics, and authors should not feel limited by them. Unlisted but related topics are also acceptable, provided they fit in the thematic track main subject. ## Paper Submission Authors are invited to submit original research contributions or experience reports in English. Scientific or technical articles describing state-of-the-art techniques, algorithms, systems, environments, problems or applications relevant to the area of Intelligent Robotics may be submitted. Papers discussing application transfer from simulated to real robots and papers showing socially useful robotic applications generated by participations in robotic competitions are also welcome. Although the main focus is on robot learning, there will be space for reporting research in AI applied to other types of robots. Submissions must follow the guidelines specified in the EPIA'2023 site. The Springer LNCS format must be used (instructions in https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-gu…). Springer encourages authors to include their ORCIDs in their papers. The length of submitted full papers must not exceed 12 pages. Authors must remove their names from the submitted papers, and should take reasonable care not to indirectly disclose their identity. Paper submissions will be made in PDF format, through the submission page: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=epia2023 Three program committee members will be assigned to review each paper. Acceptance will be based on the paper's significance, technical quality, clarity, relevance and originality. Accepted papers, must be presented at the conference by one of the authors. Accepted papers will be scheduled for presentation, which requires that at least one of the authors should register at the Conference. All accepted papers will be published in the Conference Proceedings. ## IROBOT'2023 Organizing Committee Luís Paulo Reis, Universidade do Porto / LIACC, Portugal Nuno Lau, Universidade de Aveiro / IEETA, Portugal João Alberto Fabro, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Brazil

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Call for Interest - ERL – Smart City competition in 2023
by Pedro U. Lima 16 Mar '23

16 Mar '23

=============================================================================== Call for Interest ERL – Smart City competition in 2023 Milton Keynes, UK 18-21 September 2023 https://eu-robotics.net/erl-smart-city-competition-in-2023/ ================================================================================ In line with its aim to boost European Robotics Leagues (ERL) activity, euRobotics is pleased to announce that a SmartCity competition will take place during 18th – 21st September 2023 in Milton Keynes, UK. The ERL Smart City Robotics Competition follows a series of successful competitions which were organised under the SciRoc project, including a competition in Milton Keynes in 2019 and another in Bologna, Italy, in 2021. At the present time, the competition episodes include: Episode 1 – Deliver coffee shop orders Episode 2 – Through the Door Episode 3 – Take the elevator Episode 4 – Shopping pick and pack Episode 5 – Socially Acceptable Item Delivery Full details about the competition can be found on the following website: https://eu-robotics.net/erl-smart-city-competition-in-2023/ If you are interested in participating, please fill the registration form at ERL website by April 17th. Form link: https://forms.gle/XVwTT1o2MaBUbeLj9 ############## Important dates: ############## Call for interest deadline: April 17th 2023 Application deadline: May 31st 2023 ERL Smart City competition: 18th-21st September 2023

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2023 RoboCup Newsletter #1
by Ornella-Roxane Owoundi Bilounga 13 Mar '23

13 Mar '23

Dear RoboCuper, Please find attached the first RoboCup Newsletter. We wish you and your team a successful preparations for RoboCup 2023, and we hope to see you all in Bordeaux. Best regards, The Executive Working Committee [ https://www.u-bordeaux.fr/ ] Ornella OWOUNDI Cheffe de projet RoboCup 2023 RoboCup 2023 project manager Direction de la planification stratégique (DiPSi) Pôle Pilotage et aide à la stratégie (PAS) T. 05 40 00 61 36 P. 07 77 25 41 82 [ https://www.u-bordeaux.fr/ | https://www.u-bordeaux.fr ]

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[meetings][CFP] EXTENDED DEADLINE - RO-MAN 2023 - Special Session "To err is robotic: Understanding, preventing and resolving robots' failures in HRI"
by Alessandra Rossi 10 Mar '23

10 Mar '23

*Apologies for any cross-posting* Dear colleagues, Apologies for any cross-posting, the *deadline for Special Sessions has been EXTENDED to 31st March 2023.* We are very pleased to invite you to the Special Session called *To err is robotic: Understanding, preventing and resolving robots' failures in HRI *( code u3f1h)*.* This special session welcomes works: 1) focusing on how people from perceive robot's failures in short- and long-term interactions, and highlight how different failures influence their perceptions and emotions toward the robots, and 2) exploring different techniques (e.g. inner speech, predictability and transparency of robotic behaviours, Theory of Mind, robot etiquette, Verification Methods, explanations) can foster a natural human-robot communication to reduce the perception of failures and/or help people understand the implications, risks, and goals of robot behaviour. This Special Session is organised within the 32nd IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (IEEE RO-MAN 2023) will be held at Paradise Hotel in Busan, South Korea from August 28 to 31, 2023. Please find attached the full call for papers for the Special Session "*To err is robotic: Understanding, preventing and resolving robots' failures in HRI*". Kindest regards Alessandra Rossi, Kheng Lee Koay, Kerstin S. Haring *Dr. Alessandra Rossi* Postdoctoral researcher PRISCA research lab University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy Fellow of the Higher Education Academy Adaptive Systems Research Group University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom ------------------------------------------------------ SPECIAL SESSION To err is robotic: Understanding, preventing and resolving robots' failures in HRI Code u3f1h Robots placed in human-oriented dynamic environments, such as private homes, shopping malls, healthcare facilities, are likely to exhibit occasional behaviours which are perceived by people as unexpected, failures, or actual errors. Robots' errors can negatively affect people's perception of the robotic behaviours, in terms of usefulness, functionalities and capabilities, trustworthiness and acceptability. Robotics errors and how these are perceived by people do not only depend on robot self, but they are also a consequence of other factors. For example, they may be a consequence of human errors, or an unclear and non-transparent communication, or they may depend on a misunderstanding and miscommunication of the social, psychological and cognitive conventions expected by people. Moreover, there are also some cases in which these behaviours may be perceived as if robots intentionally deceive or cheat people. As a consequence, these may result in people wrongly interpreting and predicting the robots’ intents and behaviours, and negatively affecting Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). This session will focus on examine how people from perceive robot's failures in short- and long-term interactions, and highlight how different failures influence their perceptions and emotions toward the robots. This will help with subject related to classifying of robot errors from the aspect of human (e.g. intentional, voluntarily, perceived vs. real errors -- recklessness, forgetfulness, poor motivation --) and robot dimensions (e.g. actual error - algorithms, sensors, actuators). Moreover, while dealing with robotic failures, it is fundamental to consider two different strategies. The first one is oriented to prevent robots from exhibiting unintended behaviours, which in some extreme cases may even endanger people’s, pets’ safety, or break objects. Some examples are meant to enable robots to adapt and recover from any erroneous behaviour, such as the use of Software Verification Methods, Theory of Mind, robot etiquette. Others are focused on mitigating the effects of robot errors with apologies, promises or creating transparent robotic behaviours. This session will explore how different techniques can be used to enhancing natural human-robot communication (such as inner speech, legibility, predictability and transparency of robotic behaviours, explicit and non-explicit strategies) can be used to help people understand the implications, risks, and goals of robots' behaviours and to mitigate the perception of the failures. In this session, we also want to explore strategies both to prevent robots from exhibiting unintended behaviours, and to mitigate the effects of robot errors on human-robot interaction. The topics covered in this special session are in line with the main theme of the conference (i.e., “Design New Bridge for H-R-I”). In particular, we want to start by fostering the [R] Robotic Recovery and Reconnection to allow [I] Intelligent Interface and Interaction for the [H] Human Health, Happiness and Hope. Notably, accepted topics include, but are not limited to: - Explainable AI (XAI) in HRI - Multi-modal situation awareness and spatial cognition - Social intelligence for robots in interactive and non-interactive tasks - Verifications Methods for autonomous agents - Legibility, Predictability and Transparency in HRI - Cognitive robotics - Deception in HRI - Robot cheating in HRI - Theory of Mind, Mental models in HRI - Robot etiquette - Modelling Trust and Acceptance in HRI Important Dates All dates are in UTC Time Standard Initial Paper Submission Deadline: March 17, 2023 March 31, 2023 Notification of Acceptance: May 26, 2023 Final Paper Submission: June 30, 2023 How to submit Authors should submit their papers electronically in PDF format via the Papercept <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/J7oDCwEQYFRkjN9S93A0b?domain=ras.papercep…> submission site. For the initial submission, a manuscript can be of 6-8 pages including references. For the final submission, a manuscript should be of 6 pages, With 2 additional pages allowed with an extra charge (TBA). All papers are reviewed using a single-blind review process. All papers are reviewed using a single-blind review process: authors declare their names and affiliations in the manuscript for the reviewers to see, but reviewers do not know each other's identities, nor do the authors receive information about who has reviewed their manuscript. Authors should use the templates provided by the electronic submission system. The templates for US Letter format paper should be used. Please use the following templates: Templates: LaTeX <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/zDWRCxVRZhQDlXwtw2vE2?domain=ras.papercep…> or MSWord <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/-Aj0Cy6V1syK14ktNA3jc?domain=ras.papercep…> Papers should be submitted on http://ras.papercept.net/ <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/J7oDCwEQYFRkjN9S93A0b?domain=ras.papercep…> under the "Submit a contribution to RO-MAN 2023", by selecting special session paper, and use the code: u3f1h Do not forget the code and to select the special session paper. Organisers Dr. Alessandra Rossi - University of Naples Federico II, Italy - alessandra.rossi(a)unina.it Kheng Lee Koay - University of Hertfordshire, UK - k.l.koay(a)herts.ac.uk Kerstin Sophie Haring - University of Denver, USA - b.d.researcher(a)ieee.org For further information, please do not hesitate to contact us!

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[jobs] One open position for Marie Skłodowska–Curie Doctoral Candidate Researcher (PhD student) in human-robot interaction - TRAIL project
by Alessandra Rossi 09 Mar '23

09 Mar '23

------- * Apologies for any cross-posting* ------- At the University of Naples Federico II (Italy), we are looking for one Marie Skłodowska–Curie Doctoral Candidate Researcher (PhD student) in human-robot interaction. Project: TRAIL: TRAnsparent InterpretabLe robots (Doctoral Network, EU MSCA Project) Start date: 1 September 2023, for 3 years Salary level: salary in accordance with the attractive EU MSCA Doctoral Network regulations for doctoral candidates Application deadline: 30 April 2023 The Doctoral Network TRAIL consists of 15 institutions including universities, research institutions and industry partners. The research area of TRAIL is neural network technology, intelligent robotics and transparency in artificial intelligence. The successful candidate will receive an attractive salary (around 3K) in accordance with the MSCA regulations for Early-Stage Researchers. The exact (net) salary will be confirmed upon appointment and is dependent on local tax regulations and on the country correction factor (to allow for the difference in cost of living in different EU Member States). The salary includes a living allowance, a mobility allowance and a family allowance (if applicable). Furthermore, TRAIL will offer to take advantage of joint scientific research trainings, transferable skills workshops, and international conferences. For more information about the project and consortium contact us (email below). The researcher will focus on the following topics: Researcher position: Using movements and emotions to express hidden intention The focus of the project is to investigate how body movements and emotions can be used as a natural mechanism to express the robot’s intentions, beliefs and understanding of the situational context (i.e., theory of mind), and how such effective behavioural cues can be learned through the interaction. The resulting behavioural and emotional model should be able to adapt with respect to the user preferences, making the approach platform-independent and in a domain including both interaction and autonomous task. Requirements: MSc or equivalent in Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science or Engineering with a focus on Intelligent Systems, Intelligent Robotics, Machine Learning and Human-Robot Interaction is required. Excellent programming skills (Python, C++, Machine Learning Frameworks, ROS etc.) are needed. The posts involve substantial travelling within Europe. Each PhD student will be expected to spend secondments at other partner sites and travel to international conferences. According to EU mobility rules, the doctoral researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Italy for longer than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to their recruitment. Applicants who already have a doctoral degree are not eligible. Excellent English communication skills are an important requirement. Application: Send your complete application documents to silvia.rossi(a)unina.it : - A 2-page motivation letter including a description of previous research experience (1page) and current research interest, outlining the fit to the desired ESR (1 page), - A full curriculum vitae with details about where you resided or carried out your main activity [work, studies, etc.], - Copies of degree certificate[s], including transcripts of grades obtained for B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees. In case, MSc is to be completed before the starting of this position, please provide expected final grade and completion date, - Names and email contacts for two referees who would be willing to write a letter of support for your application, - List of publications (if any), - Any English language and other relevant certificates. Shortlisted candidate will be invited for an interview in May. The successful candidate will be working in Naples, Italy. Naples (Italian: Napoli) is the third-largest city in Italy and is the capital of the Campania region. World-known for its rich history, art, culture, architecture, music, and gastronomy, Naples is a lively, exciting and bustling city situated on the southwest coast in a gorgeous gulf, and is surrounded by attractive tourist and archaeological sites such as Capri, Ischia, Amalfi Coast, Pompei, Ercolano, Mount Vesuvius. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naples for further information. For more details on how to apply, please email Prof. Silvia Rossi at silvia.rossi(a)unina.it.

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[meetings] [news] 2nd CfP: 2nd Benchmark for Autonomous Robot Navigation (BARN) Challenge -- ICRA 2023 Competition
by Xuesu Xiao 07 Mar '23

07 Mar '23

IROS deadline is behind us, so it’s time to start your submission to the 2nd BARN Challenge at ICRA 2023! Submission Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScYKxIZ2HYSDMLx3BxlYkxugmpy1OrrewY… Competition Website: https://cs.gmu.edu/~xiao/Research/BARN_Challenge/BARN_Challenge23.html Participation Instructions: https://github.com/Daffan/nav-competition-icra2022 Lessons Learned from The BARN Challenge 2022 Last Year: https://cs.gmu.edu/~xiao/papers/barn22_report.pdf Dear roboticists, are you interested in agile robot navigation in highly constrained spaces with a lot of obstacles around, e.g., cluttered households or after-disaster scenarios? Do you think mobile robot navigation is mostly a solved problem? Are you looking for a hands-on project for your robotics class, but may not have (sufficient) robot platforms for your students? If your answer is yes to any of the above questions, we sincerely invite you to participate in our (2nd) ICRA 2023 BARN Challenge (https://cs.gmu.edu/~xiao/Research/BARN_Challenge/BARN_Challenge23.html)! The BARN Challenge aims at evaluating state-of-the-art autonomous navigation systems to move robots through highly constrained environments in a safe and efficient manner. The task is to navigate a standardized Clearpath Jackal robot from a predefined start to a goal location as quickly as possible without any collision. The challenge will take place both in the simulated BARN dataset and in physical obstacle courses at ICRA2023. 1. The competition task is designing ground navigation systems to navigate through all 300 BARN environments (https://cs.gmu.edu/~xiao/Research/BARN/BARN.html) and physical obstacle courses constructed at ICRA2023 as fast as possible without collision. 2. The 300 BARN environments can be the training set for learning-based methods, or to design classical approaches in. During the simulation competition, we will generate another 50 unseen environments unavailable to the participants before the competition. 3. We will standardize a Jackal robot in the Gazebo simulation, including a Hokuyo 2D LiDAR, motor controller of 2m/s max speed, etc. 4. Participants can use any approaches to tackle the navigation problem, such as using classical sampling-based or optimization-based planners, end-to-end learning, or hybrid approaches. We will provide baselines for reference. 5. A standardized scoring system is provided on the website. 6. We will invite the top teams in simulation to compete in the real world. The team who achieves the fastest collision-free navigation in the physical obstacle courses wins. If you are interested in participating, please submit your navigation system at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScYKxIZ2HYSDMLx3BxlYkxugmpy1OrrewY… Co-Organizers: Xuesu Xiao (George Mason University / Everyday Robots) Zifan Xu (UT Austin) Garrett Warnell (US Army Research Lab / UT Austin) Peter Stone (UT Austin / Sony AI) Sponsor: Clearpath Robotics, https://clearpathrobotics.com/ Thanks Xuesu ----------------------- Xuesu Xiao, Ph.D. -- Assistant Professor Department of Computer Science George Mason University xiao(a)gmu.edu<mailto:xiao@gmu.edu> https://cs.gmu.edu/~xiao/

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[robotics-worldwide] RoboCup 2023 Virtual Robot Competition - Call for Participation
by AMIRREZA KABIRI 03 Mar '23

03 Mar '23

*RoboCup Rescue Simulation Virtual Robot Competitions 2023* *Bordeaux * *, France**July 04-10, 2023* https://robocup-rsvrl.github.io/ <https://www.robocup.org/leagues/27>https://2023.robocup.org *IMPORTANT DATES* Team Qualification Materials Submission Deadline..: March 20, 2023 (23:55 GMT) Qualified Teams Announcement…………....................…: March 31, 2023 Team registration deadline…….………….......................…: May 31, 2023 Camera-ready TDP submission………....................….….: June 9, 2023 If you are interested or considering participating please take the time to fill the RoboCup 2023 Virtual Robot Competition - intent letter form <https://forms.gle/f5wispMSi5VnfnYUA> as soon as possible, so that we can inform you about the latest developments and updates. *(1) RoboCup Rescue Simulation League and Virtual Robot Competition* ——————— The RoboCup Rescue Simulation League is a socially relevant part of the RoboCup event. Its main purpose is to provide emergency decision support by integration of disaster information, prediction, planning, and human interface. A generic urban disaster simulation environment is constructed on network computers. Heterogeneous intelligent agents such as firefighters, commanders, victims, volunteers, etc. conduct search and rescue activities in this virtual disaster world. Agents can sense their environment and make decisions on the basis of the perceived data. Mission-critical human interfaces support disaster managers, disaster relief brigades, residents, and volunteers to decide their actions to minimize the disaster damage. Addressing this problem involves advanced and interdisciplinary research themes. AI/robotics research, for example, behavior strategy (e.g., multi-agent planning, real-time/anytime planning, heterogeneity of agents, robust planning, mixed-initiative planning) is a challenging problem. For disaster researchers, RoboCup Rescue works as a standard basis in order to develop practical comprehensive simulators adding necessary disaster modules. The Virtual Robot Competition is based on ROS/Gazebo, an advanced robot simulator in which users can simulate multiple agents whose capabilities closely mirror those of real robots. ROS/Gazebo currently features several ground and air robots, as well as a wide range of sensors and actuators. Moreover, by exploiting ROS, users can easily develop their robot systems integrating standard modules. Currently addressed research topics include but are not limited to - Human-robot interfaces - Autonomous navigation - Sensor fusion - Image processing - Speech processing - 2D and 3D mapping - Distributed planning - Distributed learning *(2) Major changes to this year (2023)* ——————- Last year, we had a server migration to ROS2 bringing a great opportunity for roboticists to learn ROS2 in a tested environment via challenges. This new server could be accessed on "The Construct sim <https://www.theconstructsim.com/>" as this league will provide the remote participation option. *(3) Intention of participation* ——————- If you are interested or considering participating please take the time to fill the RoboCup 2023 Virtual Robot Competition - intent letter form <https://forms.gle/f5wispMSi5VnfnYUA> as soon as possible, so that we can inform you about the latest developments and updates. *(4) Qualification material* ————————- Besides sending the intention of participation, please prepare before Mar 20, 2023, a Team Description Paper describing the most innovative contributions or scientific results your team is intended to provide. The TDP is limited to 8 pages and must be formatted according to the LNCS format: http://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-gui… <https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/ln…> And the tex template file of the TDP can be found on the overleaf: https://www.overleaf.com/read/nrcfnpygskyx <https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.overleaf.com/read/nrcfnpygskyx&sa=…> The Team Description Paper is an overview of the methodologies you use or intend to use to control your robots inside the Virtual Robot Competition. If applicable, include a reference to your latest publications. The qualification material should be placed on a dedicated web page on the team’s home page. Please include the link to the qualification material on the intention of participation information. *(5) Useful links* ———– - Virtual Robot Competition 2023 Rule (draft) <https://docs.google.com/document/d/13an-jYeI0ybWrIkIHKim3FOXokRhgAZ3l1ZOVh2…> - Virtual Robot Competition Wiki <https://robocup-rsvrl.github.io/> - Virtual Robot Competition 2022 Server <https://github.com/RoboCup-RSVRL/RoboCup2022RVRL_Demo> - Official RoboCup Rescue Simulation website <https://rescuesim.robocup.org/> Kind regards, Amirreza Kabiri on behalf of RoboCup Rescue Simulation Executive, Technical, and Organizing Committees

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[meetings] LAST CALL - ROS Mobile Manipulators In-Person Training in Barcelona
by Yuhong Lin 01 Mar '23

01 Mar '23

(apologies for cross-posting) * Call for Participation* Last Call for Early Bird - Mastering Mobile Manipulators Hands-on Training March 22 - 24, 2023, Barcelona, Spain - Registration website: https://www.theconstructsim.com/ros-mobile-manipulators-training/ <https://www.theconstructsim.com/ros-mobile-manipulators-training/?utm_sourc…> - Only 15 spots - Early-bird registration deadline: March 8, 2023 =========================================================== This training is organized by The Construct <http://www.theconstructsim.com/> in cooperation with Robotnik <https://robotnik.eu/> We wanted to remind you that this is the last week to take advantage of our early bird discount for our upcoming Mastering Mobile Manipulators in-person training. This hands-on training will teach you how to create ROS applications for autonomous mobile manipulators. With our early bird discount, you can save 29% on your registration. At the training, you'll get hands-on experience with real robots, and you'll learn from industry experts who have years of experience in the field. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced programmer, you'll gain valuable skills that can help you advance your career. *Here's what you'll learn:* - Robot Navigation - Robot Perception: Object Detection - Motion Planning for Robotic Manipulators - Pick & Place Objects with MoveIt - Robot Behavior Design using FlexBe - Creating a Complete App that Integrates all Behaviors into a Single ROS App - Creating a Web Interface for End Users to Use Don't wait too long to sign up - our early bird discount ends on March 8, 2023. After that, the cost of the program will increase, so act fast to secure your spot and save money. <https://discourse.ros.org/t/ros-mobile-manipulators-in-person-training/2982…> Benefits - In-person instruction from industry professionals - Hands-on experience with real robots - Exercises with simulated robots, working along with the instructors - Complete a real-world project with a real RB-KAIROS+ mobile manipulator - Access to a supportive community of like-minded learners <https://discourse.ros.org/t/ros-mobile-manipulators-in-person-training/2982…>Robots Used RB-KAIROS+ Mobile Manipulator <https://robotnik.eu/products/mobile-manipulators/rb-kairos/> by Robotnik <https://robotnik.eu/> <https://discourse.ros.org/t/ros-mobile-manipulators-in-person-training/2982…>Training Curriculum <https://discourse.ros.org/t/ros-mobile-manipulators-in-person-training/2982…>Part 1 - Set Up the Navigation System for a Mobile Manipulator - Create a map of an environment - Robot Localization - Path planning with obstacle avoidance - Send a sequence of waypoints and execute those movements Hands-on challenge: Make an RB-KAIROS+ autonomously navigate in an indoor environment. <https://discourse.ros.org/t/ros-mobile-manipulators-in-person-training/2982…>Part 2 - Moving the Arm - Configure MoveIt for your robot - Program the moveit_commander to send trajectories to the robot arm Hands-on challenge: Program the arm to reach any location in its action space. <https://discourse.ros.org/t/ros-mobile-manipulators-in-person-training/2982…>Part 3 - Do Motion Planning Programmatically After completing this chapter, you can create a Python program that performs motion planning on your robot. <https://discourse.ros.org/t/ros-mobile-manipulators-in-person-training/2982…>Part 4 - Grasping the Object - Object detection - Pick an object - Add perception to avoid obstacles - Visualize the detections in RVIZ - Create a pick & place task Hands-on challenge: Make the arm grasp objects from the shelf while avoiding obstacles. <https://discourse.ros.org/t/ros-mobile-manipulators-in-person-training/2982…>Part 5 - Use FlexBe to Program the Robot Behavior - Create FlexBe states - Create an entire state machine that communicates with the robot Hands-on challenge: Define the behavior of the warehouse robot for a pick & place application. <https://discourse.ros.org/t/ros-mobile-manipulators-in-person-training/2982…>Part 6 - Design Web Interfaces for ROS robots - Set up the server in the robot - Create and run a web page that shows relevant robot information - HTML and CSS on the web page - Set up a JavaScript framework - Understand the lifecycle of the web page - Add an online Joystick to your web page - Show the robot’s cameras on the page - Show your custom map on the page Hands-on challenge: Create a web interface for non-experts to command the robot, and know its status. <https://discourse.ros.org/t/ros-mobile-manipulators-in-person-training/2982…>Part 7 - Real Robot Project: Make a Full Manipulator Application to Autonomously Clean a Space Throughout this training, you will build a complete robot app for mobile manipulators that look at and serve objects from shelves in a warehouse environment. The robot will to go to the shelf’s location, look for the object, grasp it, and bring it to the operator’s boxes. =========================================================== Enroll now to take advantage of our early bird discount and start your journey towards a career in robotics. If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to contact us at info(a)theconstructsim.com. The Construct team

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Call for Participation: RoboCup ARM Challenge
by Jose Avendano Arbelaez 27 Feb '23

27 Feb '23

Call for Participation: RoboCup ARM Challenge The RoboCup ARM Challenge will be hosted again for the 2023 RoboCup season. This year the finalists will have a chance to attend the RoboCup finals in Bordeaux, France to program a real Franka Emika robot as they compete for several prizes and learning certificates. Registrations are open until May 2023. The challenge is centered around autonomous robot manipulation and grasping and organized in two phases: 1) on-line for submitting solutions that will be tested in a simulated scenario, 2) during RoboCup 2023 in Bordeaux for the best teams to run the task in a real scenario. You can find more information on the challenge website below along with the registration form. https://arm.robocup.org/

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Second Call for Participation: RoboCup 2023 Soccer Simulation 3D competition
by Klaus Dorer 22 Feb '23

22 Feb '23

Hello all, please apologize if you receive multiple copies. This is a gentle reminder that the deadline for team qualification material submission is February 28th (next Tuesday). If you consider participation, but are not sure if you can come, you still have to submit qualification material by 28th. A later qualification will not be possible. We hope to see you in Bordeaux! Web version at https://ssim.robocup.org/ Greetings Marco, Hannes, Klaus OC 3D soccer simulation »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» Call for Participation RoboCup 2023 Soccer Simulation 3D League July 4 – July 9, 2023 Bordeaux (France) https://2023.robocup.org/ »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» The RoboCup Soccer Simulation 3D Competition provides a great opportunity to experiment with humanoid robots without the need for investing in robot hardware. It facilitates experimenting using different learning and optimization techniques by providing a simulated environment. Since the games are played with teams of 11 players, the league is also a very good environment for experimenting on multi-robot coordination methodologies. We would like to invite you to participate in the RoboCup 2023 Soccer Simulation League 3D competition in Bordeaux, France. If you are interested in participating, please register your team and follow the procedure as outlined below. »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» Important Dates »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» February 28, 2023 (23:59 AoE): Team Qualification Materials Submission Deadline March 20, 2023: Qualified Teams Announcement July 4 – 9 2023: Competition »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» Waiver of the team fee for NEW Teams »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» The RoboCup Federation is pleased to continue with a waiver of the team fee for the 2022 International RoboCup competition for NEW teams in the major leagues. A NEW team is defined as a team with a new name and all of whose team members have never participated in an annual international RoboCup competition. The waiver concerns only the team fee and does not imply any waiver of fees for team members. In addition, the 3D soccer simulation league will issue a certificate to the best NEW team in the 3D competition. »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» Qualification »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» Qualification is based on a team’s current performance, previous achievements in RoboCup, and scientific contributions in relevant areas in past years, cooperation in the 3D mailing list, and development of the simulator. Also, up to six slots will be assigned in priority to new teams. In RoboCup 2023, up to 24 teams will participate in the 3D Soccer Simulation Competition. The top three teams from RoboCup 2022 (FC Portugal, magmaOffenburg and UT Austin Villa) are automatically qualified after submitting an appropriate Team Description Paper (TDP). The other 21 teams will be selected through a qualification process. Qualification material consists of: 1. Team Description Paper (TDP) The TDP should describe your research focus and ideas implemented in the team. It should clearly describe your own work and your contributions in addition to explicitly specifying what you have used from others’ efforts (including, but not limited to, any source code released by other teams or their scientific work). In qualification, teams must be judged based on their own work, so failing to acknowledge the work of others could result in immediate disqualification. The length of the TDP must be at least four (4) pages and should not exceed twelve (12) pages in Springer LNCS Style. Please do not include TDPs that you submitted to RoboCup in previous years. Please submit the TDP only as a PDF document, with the name of your team in the filename, i.e. Teamname_TDP.pdf . 2. A List of Publications and Achievements on previous RoboCup Symposia and in other relevant international journals and conferences. Please also include your team’s achievements in RoboCup and related events of previous years. If you are new to the RoboCup 3D community, you may also include references to relevant research done by your team that shows its potential. Please submit the contribution list as a PDF document, with the name of your team in the filename, i.e. Teamname_list.pdf . 3. Binary All teams should submit a working binary of their team. The OC will use these binaries to play 11 vs 11 matches, under the rules and with the simulator used during the 2022 competitions. Submitted binaries should adhere to the following: – Two scripts should be included: a startup script, called start.sh, to run a full team of agents, and a kill script, called kill.sh, to fully kill all agents of the team. The requirements and examples of these scripts can be found on the rules page. – All necessary external libraries should be included and be used locally by the binary. The OC will not make an effort to install extra libraries on the qualification systems. A Java runtime can be assumed to be available. – The binaries should not create any output, be it through standard output or to files and no graphical (debugging) interface should be used. – The binary should be compiled for 64 bit systems and should work on a modern GNU/Linux distribution, such as Ubuntu 18.04. You may also send 32-bit binaries, but it is your responsibility to make sure that it runs correctly on 64-bit distributions. You can assume that basic 32-bit libraries (e.g. libc) are installed on the 64 bit OS. To summarize: the binary should run out of the box on a standard, clean, headless system in a restricted sandbox environment with the simulation server (possibly) running on a different machine. The OC will not try to fix errors. When a binary fails to run, the respective team will be notified and will have to resubmit their material, before the deadline. Please put all qualification material in a folder with your team name, create a tarball named teamname.tar.gz and upload it to the registration form. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd5EYsPI4wSnu2vNLQVqTZo6YhN1LI91Xi… You should upload only one file including all your qualification materials. If everything works fine, you will receive a confirmation. If you did not receive any confirmation within two (2) days, please contact the Organizing Committee. If you encounter any problem sending your qualification materials please don’t hesitate to contact the OC. Teams will be qualified based on the submitted materials as described in this CfP. The following general qualification limitations will also be considered: – One-Third-Rule: The so-called One-Third-Rule rule states that only up to 1/3 of the participants in a competition may be from the same country. – One-Team-Per-Institute-Rule: The One-Team-Per-Institute-Rule states that only one team from each university or research institute is allowed to participate in a competition. Note that it is okay for different teams from the same institute to participate in different competitions, e.g. 2D and 3D soccer. »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» 3D Soccer Simulation League Resources »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» https://ssim.robocup.org/ Resources with more information on 3D Simulation League and how to enter as new team using existing base codes. Best Regards, RoboCup 2023 3D Soccer Simulation Organizing Committee _______________________________________________ Sserver-three-d mailing list Sserver-three-d(a)lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/sserver-three-d

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[IEEE RO-MAN 2023] Call for Competitions
by info＠ro-man2023.org 22 Feb '23

22 Feb '23

IEEE RO-MAN 2023 August 28-31, 2023, Paradise Hotel, Busan, Korea www.ro-man2023.org   Dear Esteemed Colleagues,   It is our great pleasure to cordially invite you to take part in 32nd IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (IEEE RO-MAN 2023), which will be held in Busan, Republic of Korea, from 28 to 31 August 2023. This conference is an annual event where state-of-the-art innovative results, the latest developments and future perspectives relating to robot and human interactive communication are presented and discussed.   The theme of the IEEE RO-MAN 2023 is  “Design a New Bridge for H-R-I”, with [H] for Human Health, Happiness and Hope, [R] for Robotic Recovery and Reconnection, and [I] for Intelligent Interface and Interaction.   Above all, RO-MAN 2023 Organizing Committee determined to run RO-MAN 2023 as Hybrid Conference. (In-Peron/Online) Therefore, participants can attend the conference through 'Online' as well as through 'In-Person'. We look forward to your active interest and participation. Competitions We are inviting submissions to the Robot Design Competition. Building upon this year’s conference theme of Designing a New Bridge for H-R-I, participating teams will develop interactive robotic objects that enhance any level of H (health, happiness, and hope), R (recovery and reconnection), and/or I (interface and interaction). We encourage participants to identify and focus on a particular interaction context, develop their own interactive robotic objects, and create scenarios that illustrate how their robots fit within the lives of the humans involved. Read more at: http://ro-man2023.org/program/competitions Important Dates Submission Deadline: June 10, 2023 Notification of Acceptance: June 20, 2023 Final versions Submission: June 30, 2023   Keynote Speakers Prof. Alessandra Sciutti (Italian Institute of Technology, Italy) / Title : Human-in-the-Core Cognitive Robotics Dr. Sangok Seok (NAVER LABS, Korea) / Title : New Connections between Humans, Spaces, and Information – Robotics, Autonomous Driving, AI, Digital Twin Prof. Tomohiro Shibata (Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan) / Title: [To Be Announced]   Call for Papers The conference covers a wide range of topics related to Robot and Human Interactive Communication, involving theories, methodologies, technologies, empirical and experimental studies. Papers related to the study of the robotic technology, psychology, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, human factors, ethics and policies, interaction-based robot design and other topics related to human-robot interaction are welcome.   Read more at http://ro-man2023.org/paperSubmission/callForPapers about Topics of interest.   Important Dates  [Full Papers (Regular)] Initial Paper Submission Deadline: March 17, 2023 Notification of Acceptance: May 26, 2023 Camera-Ready Deadline: June 30, 2023  [Full Papers (for proposed special sessions)] Initial Paper Submission Deadline: March 17, 2023 Notification of Acceptance: May 26, 2023 Camera-Ready Deadline: June 30, 2023 [IEEE RA-L Submission] To be eligible for RO-MAN 2023, your RA-L paper's final accepted manuscript must be submitted to RA-L for proofing between September 1, 2022 and May 31, 2023. Please use the RA-L submission page on PaperCept for IEEE RA-L submission and select submission for RA-L and RO-MAN 2023. Late Breaking Results RO-MAN 2023 brings the Late Breaking Results as the interactive sessions. The venue aims to provide a great opportunity for the researchers to present recent results and work-in-progress, be part of the conference, get visibility and still retain the copyrights of the work. Read more at: http://ro-man2023.org/paperSubmission/lateBreakingResults Important Dates LBR Submission Deadline: June 2, 2023 Notification of Acceptance: June 30, 2023 We are sure to say that this conference will be productive and very informative with new updates and features even more after the pandemic. We hope that our findings can be of practical use to you and you find this experience very rewarding. We look forward to welcoming you in Busan.   General Chair  JongSuk Choi Program Chairs  Ki-Uk Kyung  Kazuhiro Nakadai  Emilia Barakova   IEEE RO-MAN 2023 Secretariat Paper and General Inquiries  Tel. +82-2-2088-8979  Email. info(a)ro-man2023.org Exhibition and Sponsorship Inquiries  Tel. +82-2-2088-8849  Email. info(a)ro-man2023.org Registration and Tour Inquiries  Tel. +82-2-2038-6482  Email. reg(a)ro-man2023.org Website. www.ro-man2023.org 본메일은 2023-02-22 18:00:01 기준, 회원님의 수신동의 여부를 확인한 결과 회원님께서 수신동의를 하셨기에 발송되었습니다. 메일 수신을 원치 않으시면 [수신거부]를 클릭하세요.If you don't want this type of information or e-mail, please click the [unsubscription] Tess International#1005, 7, Beobwon-ro 8-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, Republic of KoreaTel. +82-2-3414-0205 / Fax. +82-2-6008-6695Email. info(a)tess-intl.com

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Call for Participation 2023 RoboCup Logistics League (RCLL)
by Wataru UEMURA 20 Feb '23

20 Feb '23

Dear RoboCuppers, Call for Participation 2023 RoboCup Logistics League (RCLL) Venue: Bordeaux, France Tuesday, July 4th through Monday, July 10th, 2023 https://2023.robocup.org https://ll.robocup.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Important Deadlines* * Pre-Registration: March 31, 2023 * TDP Submission: March 31, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT RCLL With both competitive and research aspects, the RoboCup Logistics League aims to demonstrate the possibilites of a future Smart Factory. With the concept of "Industry 4.0“ in mind, production steps have to be divided into actions executable by robots, thus making their automation possible. These actions have to be planned and coordinated fully autonomously by the robots. The RCLL strives to promote research and development on the intralogistic challenges of future production processes. For this purpose the competition is held in an exemplary factory setting where an abstract product consisting of bases, rings and caps can be produced. There are 3 separate competitions in the RCLL: * Main Track * Challenge Track * Open Challenge The Main Track is a competition similar to prior years, with games that replicate a full production scenario. The Challenge Track focuses on the individual skills that are required to succeed in the RCLL and thus is a great opportunity for newcomers to gradually progress in the domain. The Open Challenge is an invitation for teams to shine with their own innovative ideas on how to tackle the challenges arising in a Smart Factory. QUALIFICATION All interested teams must submit a Team description paper (TDP) in order to qualify. The TDP is limited to 8 pages and must be formatted according to the LNCS format: http://www.springer.com/computer/lncs?SGWID=0-164-6-793341-0 Deadline for Submission is March 31, 2023. Optional Qualification Materials include a Team Video and a Team Poster to encourage exchange between teams. SUBMISSION AND REGISTRATION Registration must be done via Email to: robocup-logistics-oc(a)lists.kbsg.rwth-aachen.de and must not include the Qualification Material, but a link to access the qualification material. The registration must include: 1. Team Name 2. Country 3. Affiliation 4. Team Leader Name 5. Team Contact Info (Email) 6. Team Website address The subject of the Email should be: /[RoboCupLogisticsLeague2023-Participation] (YourTeamName)/ We hope to see you around, the RoboCup Logistics League Organizing and Technical Committee Best Regards, Wataru. ==================== Wataru UEMURA, Dr. Eng. Associate Professor, Ryukoku University Executive Director, RoboCup Japanese Regional Committee http://friede.elec.ryukoku.ac.jp/~wataru ====================

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[meetings][CFP] RO-MAN 2023 - Special Session "To err is robotic: Understanding, preventing and resolving robots' failures in HRI"
by Alessandra Rossi 15 Feb '23

15 Feb '23

*Apologies for any cross-posting* Dear colleagues, We are very pleased to invite you to the Special Session called *To err is robotic: Understanding, preventing and resolving robots' failures in HRI *( code u3f1h)*.* This special session welcomes works: 1) focusing on how people from perceive robot's failures in short- and long-term interactions, and highlight how different failures influence their perceptions and emotions toward the robots, and 2) exploring different techniques (e.g. inner speech, predictability and transparency of robotic behaviours, Theory of Mind, robot etiquette, Verification Methods, explanations) can foster a natural human-robot communication to reduce the perception of failures and/or help people understand the implications, risks, and goals of robot behaviour. This Special Session is organised within the 32nd IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (IEEE RO-MAN 2023) will be held at Paradise Hotel in Busan, South Korea from August 28 to 31, 2023. Please find attached the full call for papers for the Special Session "*To err is robotic: Understanding, preventing and resolving robots' failures in HRI*". Kindest regards Alessandra Rossi, Kheng Lee Koay, Kerstin S. Haring ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPECIAL SESSION To err is robotic: Understanding, preventing and resolving robots' failures in HRI Code u3f1h Robots placed in human-oriented dynamic environments, such as private homes, shopping malls, healthcare facilities, are likely to exhibit occasional behaviours which are perceived by people as unexpected, failures, or actual errors. Robots' errors can negatively affect people's perception of the robotic behaviours, in terms of usefulness, functionalities and capabilities, trustworthiness and acceptability. Robotics errors and how these are perceived by people do not only depend on robot self, but they are also a consequence of other factors. For example, they may be a consequence of human errors, or an unclear and non-transparent communication, or they may depend on a misunderstanding and miscommunication of the social, psychological and cognitive conventions expected by people. Moreover, there are also some cases in which these behaviours may be perceived as if robots intentionally deceive or cheat people. As a consequence, these may result in people wrongly interpreting and predicting the robots’ intents and behaviours, and negatively affecting Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). This session will focus on examine how people from perceive robot's failures in short- and long-term interactions, and highlight how different failures influence their perceptions and emotions toward the robots. This will help with subject related to classifying of robot errors from the aspect of human (e.g. intentional, voluntarily, perceived vs. real errors -- recklessness, forgetfulness, poor motivation --) and robot dimensions (e.g. actual error - algorithms, sensors, actuators). Moreover, while dealing with robotic failures, it is fundamental to consider two different strategies. The first one is oriented to prevent robots from exhibiting unintended behaviours, which in some extreme cases may even endanger people’s, pets’ safety, or break objects. Some examples are meant to enable robots to adapt and recover from any erroneous behaviour, such as the use of Software Verification Methods, Theory of Mind, robot etiquette. Others are focused on mitigating the effects of robot errors with apologies, promises or creating transparent robotic behaviours. This session will explore how different techniques can be used to enhancing natural human-robot communication (such as inner speech, legibility, predictability and transparency of robotic behaviours, explicit and non-explicit strategies) to help people understand the implications, risks, and goals of robots' behaviours and to mitigate the perception of the failures. In this session, we also want to explore strategies both to prevent robots from exhibiting unintended behaviours, and to mitigate the effects of robot errors on human-robot interaction. The topics covered in this special session are in line with the main theme of the conference (i.e., “Design New Bridge for H-R-I”). In particular, we want to start by fostering the [R] Robotic Recovery and Reconnection to allow [I] Intelligent Interface and Interaction for the [H] Human Health, Happiness and Hope. Notably, accepted topics include, but are not limited to: - Explainable AI (XAI) in HRI - Multi-modal situation awareness and spatial cognition - Social intelligence for robots in interactive and non-interactive tasks - Verifications Methods for autonomous agents - Legibility, Predictability and Transparency in HRI - Cognitive robotics - Deception in HRI - Robot cheating in HRI - Theory of Mind, Mental models in HRI - Robot etiquette - Modelling Trust and Acceptance in HRI Important Dates All dates are in UTC Time Standard Initial Paper Submission Deadline: March 17, 2023 Notification of Acceptance: May 26, 2023 Final Paper Submission: June 30, 2023 How to submit Authors should submit their papers electronically in PDF format via the Papercept submission site. For the initial submission, a manuscript can be of 6-8 pages including references. For the final submission, a manuscript should be of 6 pages, With 2 additional pages allowed with an extra charge (TBA). All papers are reviewed using a single-blind review process. All papers are reviewed using a single-blind review process: authors declare their names and affiliations in the manuscript for the reviewers to see, but reviewers do not know each other's identities, nor do the authors receive information about who has reviewed their manuscript. Authors should use the templates provided by the electronic submission system. The templates for US Letter format paper should be used. Please use the following templates: Templates: LaTeX <https://ras.papercept.net/conferences/support/tex.php> or MSWord <https://ras.papercept.net/conferences/support/word.php> Papers should be submitted on http://ras.papercept.net/ under the "Submit a contribution to RO-MAN 2023", by selecting special session paper, and use the code: u3f1h Do not forget the code and to select the special session paper. Organisers Dr. Alessandra Rossi - University of Naples Federico II, Italy - alessandra.rossi(a)unina.it Kheng Lee Koay - University of Hertfordshire, UK - k.l.koay(a)herts.ac.uk Kerstin Sophie Haring - University of Denver, USA - b.d.researcher(a)ieee.org For further information, please do not hesitate to contact us!

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RoboCup@Work 2023 Pre-registration Extended!
by Asad Norouzi 15 Feb '23

15 Feb '23

Hi RoboCuppers, The pre-registration for RoboCup 2023 - RoboCup@Work has been extended to February 22nd! More information here: https://atwork.robocup.org/2023/01/27/robocup-2023-call-for-participation/ Best Regards, Asad

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AI100 Essay Contest
by Peter Stone 29 Jan '23

29 Jan '23

AI100 Prize: Early Career Essay Competition The One Hundred Year Study on Artificial Intelligence (AI100) is a longitudinal study of progress in AI and its impacts on society. A key feature of the 2021 AI100 report was its commentary on what had changed since the first report published in 2016. As a way of laying the groundwork for the next report, planned for 2026, the AI100 Standing Committee invites original essay submissions that react directly to one or both of the AI100 reports. Essay application is now open and will close on March 31, 2023. Apply here: https://ai100.stanford.edu/prize-competition ___ Professor Peter Stone Truchard Foundation Chair in Computer Science University Distinguished Teaching Professor Director, Texas Robotics Associate Chair, Department of Computer Science office: 512-471-9796 The University of Texas at Austin mobile: 512-810-3373 2317 Speedway, Stop D9500 pstone(a)cs.utexas.edu Austin, Texas 78712-1757 USA http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~pstone

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Call for Participation - RoboCup 2023 Humanoid Research Demonstration
by Reinaldo A. C. Bianchi 16 Jan '23

16 Jan '23

* Call for Participation * RoboCup 2023 Humanoid Research Demonstration https://humanoid.robocup.org/ July 06 - 09, 2023, Bordeaux, France =========================================================== The RoboCup Humanoid League invites the research community to apply for showcasing the latest research and development results that are relevant for humanoid robots. Researchers are invited to submit their demonstrations independently of whether they participate in the RoboCup competitions, symposium or have a RoboCup team. Contributions will be evaluated for scientific and technical excellence. Topics of Interest --------------------------------------- We welcome demonstrations containing new ideas, concepts, practical studies, and experiment demonstrations relevant to the field of Humanoid Robotics. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: * Components, joints and mechanics; * Soft robotics; * Anthropomorphic vs. non-anthropomorphic; * Walking, running, jumping and other humanoid locomotion; * Adaptability and scalability; * Sensors and perception; * Control and stability; * Dealing with falling; * Reflexes and learning; * Energy supply and efficiency; * Robot design and robotic kits; * Virtual robots and simulation; * Benchmarking; * Bipedal robots applied to real problems; * Education with and for humanoid robots. Procedure --------------------------------------- The Humanoid Research Demonstration will take place in one or several sessions and participating teams are asked to show a demonstration of the system live in Bordeaux or stream their demonstration from their lab during the session. As a back-up solution, each team needs to provide a video demonstration prior to the beginning of the tournament. If the demonstration is performed in Bordeaux, the Humanoid League will provide a humanoid league soccer playing field for the demonstration. However, the members of the Technical Committee of the Humanoid League understand that for some demonstrations this setup may not be ideal and will try to accommodate all teams. If a team requires other arrangements for the demonstration, it must submit a request to the Technical Committee at least 3 months before the competition to allow sufficient time for alternative arrangements. Application --------------------------------------- We invite teams to apply to participate in the Humanoid Research Demonstration by submitting the following material: Demonstration Data * Demonstration title; * URL of the group’s home page; * Name of the contact person; * E-mail address of the contact person; * Postal address of the contact person. Demonstration Video The first part of the material is a video of your robot or robotic part demonstrating its skills or a brief overview of the software demonstration if your demonstration does not involve a physical embodiment. The video must be supplied as a link to it via YouTube. The maximum duration of the video is 3 minutes. The proponent is responsible to ensure that the video adheres to YouTube’s TOS (especially in regard to music copyright) to prevent the video from being blocked for the reviewers. Hardware Specification If the demonstration includes any type of hardware to be showcased, a one-page specification (PDF) for each different type of humanoid type robot/mechanism used that includes the following: * Robot/mechanism picture; * Robot/mechanism name; * Size of the humanoid type robot/mechanism; * Weight of the robot/mechanism; * Robots/mechanisms joint specification; * Type of sensors used (incl. type of camera(s)); * Computing unit(s); * Other specifications Short paper A short paper describing the robot, robot part of software and its task and required environment, limited to four (4) pages including text, references, tables, and figures. The short paper must follow the LNCS format which can be downloaded fromhttp://www.springer.com/computer/lncs?SGWID=0-164-6-793341-0. Please pay special attention to the “Author guidelines” that you’ll be able to find there. Plagiarism ======================================= Plagiarism, loosely the unattributed use of other peoples' words, code, and ideas is not tolerated in the RoboCup community. See the point “Publishing Ethics” at https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-gu… for a more detailed description. The teams and team members that plagiarize other peoples' work and present it as their own will be disqualified. For a first offense, the team and team members will be banned from RoboCup competition for two years (usually the current and next year). Harsher penalties will be applied to repeat offenders or extremely serious cases of plagiarism. A team may be disqualified at any time for plagiarism, even after the competition has started. RoboCup will not reimburse teams for any expenses related to their disqualification. Online Submission ======================================= All qualification material must be submitted online at https://submission.robocuphumanoid.com<https://submission.robocuphumanoid.com/> Important Dates ======================================= Humanoid Research Demonstration * Submission system open: November 20th, 2022 * Submission deadline: April 2nd, 2023 Publication ======================================= Please note that after the announcement of the qualified teams the qualified teams submitted material will be made publicly available on the Humanoid League website. Teams applying for participation, therefore, implicitly grant the right of publication of their qualification material to the Humanoid League. Visa Process ======================================= If you are a citizen of a country that needs a Visa for traveling to France, please start the VISA process as soon as you receive your notification of qualification. If you are not sure if you're eligible for a VISA-exempt, please consult the official website of the France government for information, at https://france-visas.gouv.fr/en/web/france-visas/welcome-page. With best regards, Technical Committee of RoboCup Humanoid League 2022 Esta mensagem, juntamente com qualquer outra informação anexada, é confidencial e protegida por lei. Somente os seus destinatários estão autorizados a usá-la. Se você não for o destinatário, por favor, informe o remetente e, em seguida, apague a mensagem, observando que não há autorização para usar, copiar, armazenar, encaminhar, imprimir ou tomar qualquer ação baseada no seu conteúdo.

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AI100 Essay Contest
by Peter Stone 09 Dec '22

09 Dec '22

Colleagues, Please help me spread the word about this! Thanks, Peter Essay Contest: The One Hundred Year Study on Artificial Intelligence (AI100) is opening up an early career essay competition for Ph.D. students, postdocs, and early-career research scientists and faculty to help us better understand and anticipate how artificial intelligence will affect our lives, work, and society at large. Visit https://ai100.stanford.edu/prize-competition to learn more. Applications will go live on January 17, but now is a great time for those of you leading graduate courses on AI technology and/or AI policy to think about assigning this task as part of a class, and to work with your students to polish and submit particularly strong essays. Email Christine Raval (cbolas(a)stanford.edu) for more details.

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REMINDER: Call for proposals: RCF and MathWorks Support for Research Projects 2023
by Gerald Steinbauer-Wagner 24 Nov '22

24 Nov '22

Call for proposals: RCF and MathWorks Support for Research Projects 2023 The RoboCup Federation (RCF) and MathWorks, a Global Sponsor of RoboCup, are pleased to announce this call for proposals to support research projects in RoboCup. RCF-MathWorks Support for Research Projects 2023 aims at funding robotics research projects that use MATLAB and Simulink software. The goal is to enable collaboration between RoboCup researchers and MathWorks engineers to foster progress of RoboCup and its leagues. The RoboCup Federation and MathWorks hosted a webinar to discuss the details of the call, describe expected results and MathWorks tools, showcase previously sponsored projects, and answer questions. Link to the webinar: https://youtu.be/znZSFBWAWhg For more info or clarification on the details of this call, please contact info(a)robocup.org Proposal Requirements Proposals in this category must meet *ALL* of the following requirements: 1. Work must be associated with one or more of the research topics listed below. 2. Work must primarily utilize MathWorks software such as MATLAB, Simulink, Stateflow, and other add-on products. Preference may be given if using one or more of the development methods listed below. 3. Project team will be assigned MathWorks contacts, and must arrange and participate in at least 3 progress check-in meetings with them during the course of the project. The team is encouraged to reach out to their MathWorks contacts whenever they have questions. 4. Final deliverables shall be posted publicly after review by MathWorks contacts. Research Topics 1. Navigation and Planning a. Motion planning and collidion avoidance for manipulators and mobile Robots b. Motion planning and collision avoidance for humanoid robots 2. Perception and Sensor Fusion a. Object detection and tracking b. Lidar and vision-based SLAM c. Point cloud processing d. Sensor fusion for pose estimation and localization 3. Control Systems a. Control of humanoid robots b. Hybrid systems and behavior c. Multi-agent systems d. Robot manipulation and grasping 4. Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) a. Natural language processing b. Signal and audio processing 5. Applied Learning-Based Techniques • For any of the above topics (Navigation, Perception, Controls, HRI) Development Methods 1. Development tools a. User interfaces and Web applications b. Hardware initialization and calibration tools 2. Modeling and simulation a. Model-based design of software components b. Physical system simulation and design c. Behavior modeling: finite-state machines, behavior trees, etc. d. Multi-agent simulation 3. Embedded systems a. Implementation to reduce memory, power consumption, etc. b. Targeting microcontrollers, FPGAs, and GPUs c. Real-time and hardware-in-the-loop simulation 4. Interfaces to standard platforms a. Robots, e.g., Toyota, SoftBank, FESTO b. Software frameworks, e.g., ROS Support Support will be given as a gift between 5,000 and 10,000 USD depending on quantity and quality of accepted proposals in this category. Teams will be notified of the exact amount awarded upon their proposal being accepted. Funding will be provided directly by RCF after the RoboCup Symposium 2023 if the research and deliverables are completed in a satisfactory manner. Submission A single PDF file should be submitted through the easychair system https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=rcfsupport2023 under the Category: RCF and MathWorks Support for Research Projects 2023 The proposal (MAX 6 pages) must include: 1. description of the project, 2. motivations and goals, 3. intended use of MATLAB and/or Simulink software, 4. benefits for RoboCup and for the RoboCup League (not for a single or a few teams), 5. implementation plan and budget. Evaluation Application materials will be evaluated by a committee of RoboCup Trustees and MathWorks engineers. The evaluation of the proposals will be based on (i) the quality of the proposed research; (ii) the research contributions of the applicants, particularly in relation to RoboCup; (iii) the usage of MATLAB and/or Simulink software; and (iv) the impact of the proposed plan on the advancement and visibility of RoboCup. A limited number of awards is expected to be assigned. Deadlines Submission Deadline: November 30th, 2022 Notification: December 18th, 2022 Completion of the action: Preliminary work expected to be presented during the RoboCup 2023 Research Symposium, and official content publication by October 2023 Exceptions to this rule must be submitted for approval to the evaluation committee. ** For more information about the call for projects, please contact: info [at] robocup.org **

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REMINDER: Call for proposals: RCF Project Support 2023
by Gerald Steinbauer-Wagner 24 Nov '22

24 Nov '22

Call for proposals: RCF Project Support 2023 The RoboCup Federation (RCF) is pleased to announce this call for proposals to support activities for promoting the development of RoboCup Leagues. RCF Project Support aims at funding activities for the development of the RoboCup Leagues or the promotion of RoboCup in general. The main goal of these projects is to research and develop activities that support significant advancements of the RoboCup leagues and/or the RoboCup community which are difficult to achieve otherwise. This includes support for short-term visits for a collaboration between teams (e.g. joint team development, integration of research agendas) and/or RoboCup camps on special or novel topics. This year the RCF particularly encourages proposals in the following areas: ● Human-Robot-Interaction (HRI), any type interaction of a human with a robot within one of the RoboCup leagues ● Low-Cost Standard Robots, any ideas to lower the entry bar to a RoboCup league or to allow to scale the number of robots in a team ● Unified Game Controllers, development of game controllers that can be shared between RoboCup leagues easily and with minor re-configuration ● Data Sets from Competitions, any concept for automated collecting and annotating data (i.e. ground truth) from competitions in order to support statistical analysis or machine learning Support Support will be provided in the form of reimbursement upon receipts of direct expenses (e.g., hardware devices or costs for organization of events) or of a grant for the applicants. In case of hardware acquisition, it must be specified how the league (e.g. other teams) will benefit from this hardware. A detailed list of expenses must be described in the proposal. Funds from RCF are limited, partial funding may be also considered. Submission A single PDF file should be submitted through the easychair system https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=rcfsupport2023 under the Category: Projects for League Developments The proposal (MAX 4 pages) must include: 1. description of the project, 2. motivations and goals, 3. benefits for RoboCup and RoboCup leagues (not for a single or a few teams), 4. implementation plan and budget. Evaluation Application materials will be evaluated by a committee of RoboCup Trustees or RoboCup Exec members. The evaluation of the proposals will be based on (i) the quality of the proposed research; (ii) the research contributions of the applicants, particularly in relation to RoboCup; and (iii) the impact of the proposed plan on the advancement and visibility of RoboCup (e.g. high ranked publications). A limited number of awards is expected to be assigned. Deadlines Submission Deadline: November 30th, 2022 Notification: December 18th, 2022 Completion of the project: Preliminary work expected to be presented during the RoboCup Symposium 2023, the project needs to be finished by end of 2023 and a final report submitted by January 2024. Exceptions to this rule must be submitted for approval to the evaluation committee.

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Call for Participation - RoboCup 2023 Soccer Simulation 2D League - France
by MROA 01 Nov '22

01 Nov '22

Call for Participation RoboCup 2023 Soccer Simulation 2D League July 4 – July 10, 2023 Bordeaux, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France https://2023.robocup.org/ ===================================== Greetings, We invite you to participate in the RoboCup 2022 Soccer Simulation League 2D competition, which will take place July 4- 10, 2023, in Bordeaux, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. ===================================== To view the full Call for Participation document, please visit: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13-VFRA1dDpzZlPVcHX42XT6_82X4hR0BmNqlRQ4… ===================================== If you are interested in participating, please pre-register your team and submit qualification materials. Pre-registration Deadline: *February 1st – 23:59 UTC* - Submit information via *the online form* - https://forms.gle/tKyVA2YXQGLZgt1T7 . Qualification Materials Submission Deadline: *February 28th – 23:59 UTC* - Submit* TDP, Log* *files *via the online form - https://forms.gle/iKaMDVXemxZZiope9 Qualification Notification: *March 14th – 23:59 UTC* ===================================== If you have any questions, please send an email to the email address in the documentation. Best Regards, Omid Amini, Hidehisa Akiyama RoboCup2023 Soccer Simulation 2D League Organizing Committee

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Call for Participation - RoboCup 2023 Humanoid Soccer Competition (corrected)
by Reinaldo A. C. Bianchi 25 Oct '22

25 Oct '22

* Call for Participation * RoboCup 2023 Humanoid Soccer Competition https://humanoid.robocup.org/ July 06 - 09, 2023, Bordeaux, France =========================================================== The RoboCup Humanoid League invites teams to apply for participation at the RoboCup 2023 Humanoid Soccer Competition and the Humanoid Research Demonstration in Bordeaux, France. The Humanoid League will host competitions in the following categories: * Humanoid Soccer Competition * KidSize: 40 - 100cm robot height (FIFA size 1 ball) * AdultSize: 130 - 200cm robot height (FIFA size 5 ball) * Humanoid Research Demonstration In addition, we may organize a Humanoid Open Competition with a CfP following later this year. For more detailed class definitions and more information about the humanoid league, please refer to the humanoid league home page at https://humanoid.robocup.org/ and join the humanoid league mailing list at: https://lists.robocup.org/listinfo/robocup-humanoid Teams are also encouraged to form and apply as joint teams. Joint proposals will be judged on their combined merit. Teams must provide the following qualification material: 1) Humanoid Soccer Competition ======================================= You do not need to provide a full robot team to apply for competing in the Humanoid Soccer Competition. The qualifying round of Drop-In games will be played with only one robot per team. Teams that cannot provide a full team of robots (four robots in KidSize and two in AdultSize) will be grouped to form a playable team for the main tournament games. In case of a sufficient number of qualified teams, the sub-leagues (KidSize and/or AdultSize) will be divided into League A and League B. Teams are seeded into the leagues based on the results of an initial round of Drop-In games. Each application to the Humanoid Soccer Competition will be reviewed by two members of the Technical Committee and two other teams applying to the Humanoid Soccer Competition. The combined reviewing score will decide whether a team qualifies for participation. Reviewing other team's material is mandatory for teams that want to participate in the Humanoid Soccer Competition. Failing to provide an adequate review by the provided deadline will have consequences for the teams own qualification status. 1.1) Robot Video --------------------------------------- Teams need to provide a video of their robot demonstrating the robots' autonomous soccer playing skills. The recommended skills needed for qualification are: * localization of unknown ball position, * walking ability towards the ball, * robot positioning at the ball for kicking, * kicking the ball towards the goal, * ability of getting up autonomously from a fall (KidSize only) We encourage teams to include in the video more complex and intelligent behavior such as demonstrating localization, and robots playing in a game, recordings from actual soccer matches are admissible. If possible, please provide footage that demonstrates the robot behavior without wires attached. The qualification video must be supplied as a link via YouTube. The maximum duration of the video must not exceed 5 minutes. The qualifying team is responsible to ensure that the video adheres to YouTube's TOS (especially in regard to music copyright) to prevent the video from being blocked for the reviewers. Teams that do not provide a qualification video or a viewable video will not be qualified! 1.2) Software Description --------------------------------------- During the registration process, a form will be provided to submit details about the algorithms used or anticipated to be used for the participation in the 2023 competition. Algorithms shall be described in such detail that they can be reproduced by other teams. If software from other teams or standard algorithms are used, references need to be included. If the algorithm has been adapted to be used in the competition, those deviations need to be described in appropriate details. The form will include questions in the following areas: * Walking * Vision * Localization * Team Communication * Behavior * Contributions to the RoboCup community, e.g. software releases, paper publications, provision of league infrastructure or data sets Responses to the questions are expected to reflect the current or anticipated status of the software during the RoboCup 2023 competition. If the software has not changed or no changes are anticipated to be made until the competition, teams may copy & paste a response from previously submitted material. 1.3) Extended Abstract --------------------------------------- A two-page extended abstract must be submitted. For teams which have previously participated in the Humanoid League, the extended abstract needs to: * include lessons learned from the participation in previous RoboCup competitions * highlight major problems that the team is trying to solve for the upcoming competition * outline the plans for the major changes that the teams anticipate to have implemented by the RoboCup 2023 competition * describe the implementation status of the changes planned by the time of submitting the application For teams which have never participated in the RoboCup Humanoid League, the Extended Abstract needs to pitch the scientific aspects of their humanoid robotic system and highlight their research interests. The Extended Abstract is limited to 2 pages maximum and must be submitted in PDF format. Extended Abstracts are designed to highlight the changes and scientific developments since the last RoboCup. Thus, we expect the usage of material from previous TDPs or Extended Abstracts to be minimal. If used, they need to be cited appropriately. Submissions of last year's Extended Abstract will be desk-rejected. The Extended Abstract must follow the LNCS format which can be downloaded from https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-gu…. Teams that do to follow the LNCS formatting and style guidelines will not be qualified. No exceptions to this rule will be made. 1.4) Robot Specification --------------------------------------- Regardless of the kid or adult size competition, a one-page specification (PDF) must be provided for each different type of humanoid robot used by the team that includes the following: * Robot picture * Robot name * Height of the robot * Weight of the robot * Walking speed in cm/s * Number of degrees of freedom and type of motors on each kinematic chain of the robot * Type of sensors used (incl. type of camera(s) and specific manufacturer part number (e.g. “6-DoF IMU” is NOT an acceptable description)) * Computing unit(s) * Materials (e.g. Torso aluminum, legs and arms CFRP) * Electronics (e.g. CM730 for communicating with servos) * Battery (e.g. 3S1P 2200mAh LiPo) * Open Source link if applicable * Other specs 1.5) Rules --------------------------------------- The current version of the rules may be found here at the Humanoid League website: https://humanoid.robocup.org/materials/rules/. We expect the final version of the 2023 rules to be published in early spring 2023. 1.6) Registration --------------------------------------- The following information is required for registration: * Team name * URL of the team's home page * Name of team leader or team contact person * E-mail address of team leader or contact person * Postal address of the team, team leader or contact person * Competition category: Humanoid Soccer Competition KidSize or AdultSize Please note that teams applying for participation in several categories must submit individual application material for each class, and pay the appropriate registration fee for each category. At least one team member must register on each team. Furthermore, teams in different categories must be able to compete, and guarantee to have members acting as referees available independently and at the same time. 1.7) Letter of Commitment --------------------------------------- Regardless of the specific competition, a one-page letter addressed to the RoboCup Humanoid League Technical Committee including the following: * a statement committing to participate in the RoboCup 2023 Humanoid League competition, * a statement committing to make a person with sufficient knowledge of the rules available as referee during the competition. The letter must be printed, hand signed by the team leader, digitally scanned and submitted either as a JPG, PNG or PDF file. If the letter does not contain a hand-written signature, it is not considered valid. The TC may include the fulfillment of the statement of commitment of participation as well as the performance of the team's referee in previous RoboCup competitions into consideration for qualification. 2. Humanoid Research Demonstration (HRD) ======================================= The RoboCup Humanoid League invites the research community to apply for showcasing the latest research and development results that are relevant for humanoid robots. Researchers are invited to submit their demonstrations independently of whether they participate in the RoboCup competitions, symposium or have a RoboCup team. Contributions will be evaluated for scientific and technical excellence. 2.1. Topics of Interest --------------------------------------- We welcome demonstrations containing new ideas, concepts, practical studies, and experiment demonstrations relevant to the field of Humanoid Robotics. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: * Components, joints and mechanics; * Soft robotics; * Anthropomorphic vs. non-anthropomorphic; * Walking, running, jumping and other humanoid locomotion; * Adaptability and scalability; * Sensors and perception; * Control and stability; * Dealing with falling; * Reflexes and learning; * Energy supply and efficiency; * Robot design and robotic kits; * Virtual robots and simulation; * Benchmarking; * Bipedal robots applied to real problems; * Education with and for humanoid robots. 2.2. Procedure --------------------------------------- The Humanoid Research Demonstration will take place in one or several sessions and participating teams are asked to show a demonstration of the system live in Bordeaux or stream their demonstration from their lab during the session. As a back-up solution, each team needs to provide a video demonstration prior to the beginning of the tournament. If the demonstration is performed in Bordeaux, the Humanoid League will provide a humanoid league soccer playing field for the demonstration. However, the members of the Technical Committee of the Humanoid League understand that for some demonstrations this setup may not be ideal and will try to accommodate all teams. If a team requires other arrangements for the demonstration, it must submit a request to the Technical Committee at least 3 months before the competition to allow sufficient time for alternative arrangements. 2.3. Application --------------------------------------- We invite teams to apply to participate in the Humanoid Research Demonstration by submitting the following material: 2.3.1. Demonstration Data * Demonstration title; * URL of the group’s home page; * Name of the contact person; * E-mail address of the contact person; * Postal address of the contact person. 2.3.2. Demonstration Video The first part of the material is a video of your robot or robotic part demonstrating its skills or a brief overview of the software demonstration if your demonstration does not involve a physical embodiment. The video must be supplied as a link to it via YouTube. The maximum duration of the video is 3 minutes. The proponent is responsible to ensure that the video adheres to YouTube’s TOS (especially in regard to music copyright) to prevent the video from being blocked for the reviewers. 2.3.3. Hardware Specification If the demonstration includes any type of hardware to be showcased, a one-page specification (PDF) for each different type of humanoid type robot/mechanism used that includes the following: * Robot/mechanism picture; * Robot/mechanism name; * Size of the humanoid type robot/mechanism; * Weight of the robot/mechanism; * Robots/mechanisms joint specification; * Type of sensors used (incl. type of camera(s)); * Computing unit(s); * Other specifications 2.3.4. Short paper A short paper describing the robot, robot part of software and its task and required environment, limited to four (4) pages including text, references, tables, and figures. The short paper must follow the LNCS format which can be downloaded from http://www.springer.com/computer/lncs?SGWID=0-164-6-793341-0. Please pay special attention to the “Author guidelines” that you’ll be able to find there. 3) Plagiarism ======================================= Plagiarism, loosely the unattributed use of other peoples' words, code, and ideas is not tolerated in the RoboCup community. See the point “Publishing Ethics” at https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-gu… for a more detailed description. The teams and team members that plagiarize other peoples' work and present it as their own will be disqualified. For a first offense, the team and team members will be banned from RoboCup competition for two years (usually the current and next year). Harsher penalties will be applied to repeat offenders or extremely serious cases of plagiarism. A team may be disqualified at any time for plagiarism, even after the competition has started. RoboCup will not reimburse teams for any expenses related to their disqualification. 4) Online Submission ======================================= All qualification material must be submitted online at https://submission.robocuphumanoid.com<https://submission.robocuphumanoid.com/> 5) Important Dates ======================================= Humanoid Soccer Competition * Submission system open: November 20th, 2022 * Submission deadline: December 11th, 2022 * Team Review Period: December 12th - December 23rd * Announcement of qualified teams: January 23rd, 2023 Humanoid Research Demonstration * Submission system open: November 20th, 2022 * Submission deadline: April 2nd, 2023 6) Publication ======================================= Please note that after the announcement of the qualified teams the qualified teams submitted material will be made publicly available on the Humanoid League website. Teams applying for participation, therefore, implicitly grant the right of publication of their qualification material to the Humanoid League. 7) Visa Process ======================================= If you are a citizen of a country that needs a Visa for traveling to France, please start the VISA process as soon as you receive your notification of qualification. If you are not sure if you're eligible for a VISA-exempt, please consult the official website of the France government for information, at https://france-visas.gouv.fr/en/web/france-visas/welcome-page. With best regards, Technical Committee of RoboCup Humanoid League 2022 Esta mensagem, juntamente com qualquer outra informação anexada, é confidencial e protegida por lei. Somente os seus destinatários estão autorizados a usá-la. Se você não for o destinatário, por favor, informe o remetente e, em seguida, apague a mensagem, observando que não há autorização para usar, copiar, armazenar, encaminhar, imprimir ou tomar qualquer ação baseada no seu conteúdo.

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Call for proposals: RCF and MathWorks Support for Research Projects 2023
by Gerald Steinbauer-Wagner 24 Oct '22

24 Oct '22

Call for proposals: RCF and MathWorks Support for Research Projects 2023 The RoboCup Federation (RCF) and MathWorks, a Global Sponsor of RoboCup, are pleased to announce this call for proposals to support research projects in RoboCup. RCF-MathWorks Support for Research Projects 2023 aims at funding robotics research projects that use MATLAB and Simulink software. The goal is to enable collaboration between RoboCup researchers and MathWorks engineers to foster progress of RoboCup and its leagues. The RoboCup Federation and MathWorks hosted a webinar to discuss the details of the call, describe expected results and MathWorks tools, showcase previously sponsored projects, and answer questions. Link to the webinar: https://youtu.be/znZSFBWAWhg For more info or clarification on the details of this call, please contact info(a)robocup.org Proposal Requirements Proposals in this category must meet *ALL* of the following requirements: 1. Work must be associated with one or more of the research topics listed below. 2. Work must primarily utilize MathWorks software such as MATLAB, Simulink, Stateflow, and other add-on products. Preference may be given if using one or more of the development methods listed below. 3. Project team will be assigned MathWorks contacts, and must arrange and participate in at least 3 progress check-in meetings with them during the course of the project. The team is encouraged to reach out to their MathWorks contacts whenever they have questions. 4. Final deliverables shall be posted publicly after review by MathWorks contacts. Research Topics 1. Navigation and Planning a. Motion planning and collidion avoidance for manipulators and mobile Robots b. Motion planning and collision avoidance for humanoid robots 2. Perception and Sensor Fusion a. Object detection and tracking b. Lidar and vision-based SLAM c. Point cloud processing d. Sensor fusion for pose estimation and localization 3. Control Systems a. Control of humanoid robots b. Hybrid systems and behavior c. Multi-agent systems d. Robot manipulation and grasping 4. Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) a. Natural language processing b. Signal and audio processing 5. Applied Learning-Based Techniques • For any of the above topics (Navigation, Perception, Controls, HRI) Development Methods 1. Development tools a. User interfaces and Web applications b. Hardware initialization and calibration tools 2. Modeling and simulation a. Model-based design of software components b. Physical system simulation and design c. Behavior modeling: finite-state machines, behavior trees, etc. d. Multi-agent simulation 3. Embedded systems a. Implementation to reduce memory, power consumption, etc. b. Targeting microcontrollers, FPGAs, and GPUs c. Real-time and hardware-in-the-loop simulation 4. Interfaces to standard platforms a. Robots, e.g., Toyota, SoftBank, FESTO b. Software frameworks, e.g., ROS Support Support will be given as a gift between 5,000 and 10,000 USD depending on quantity and quality of accepted proposals in this category. Teams will be notified of the exact amount awarded upon their proposal being accepted. Funding will be provided directly by RCF after the RoboCup Symposium 2023 if the research and deliverables are completed in a satisfactory manner. Submission A single PDF file should be submitted through the easychair system https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=rcfsupport2023 under the Category: RCF and MathWorks Support for Research Projects 2023 The proposal (MAX 6 pages) must include: 1. description of the project, 2. motivations and goals, 3. intended use of MATLAB and/or Simulink software, 4. benefits for RoboCup and for the RoboCup League (not for a single or a few teams), 5. implementation plan and budget. Evaluation Application materials will be evaluated by a committee of RoboCup Trustees and MathWorks engineers. The evaluation of the proposals will be based on (i) the quality of the proposed research; (ii) the research contributions of the applicants, particularly in relation to RoboCup; (iii) the usage of MATLAB and/or Simulink software; and (iv) the impact of the proposed plan on the advancement and visibility of RoboCup. A limited number of awards is expected to be assigned. Deadlines Submission Deadline: November 30th, 2022 Notification: December 18th, 2022 Completion of the action: Preliminary work expected to be presented during the RoboCup 2023 Research Symposium, and official content publication by October 2023 Exceptions to this rule must be submitted for approval to the evaluation committee. ** For more information about the call for projects, please contact: info [at] robocup.org **

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Call for proposals: RCF Project Support 2023
by Gerald Steinbauer-Wagner 22 Oct '22

22 Oct '22

Call for proposals: RCF Project Support 2023 The RoboCup Federation (RCF) is pleased to announce this call for proposals to support activities for promoting the development of RoboCup Leagues. RCF Project Support aims at funding activities for the development of the RoboCup Leagues or the promotion of RoboCup in general. The main goal of these projects is to research and develop activities that support significant advancements of the RoboCup leagues and/or the RoboCup community which are difficult to achieve otherwise. This includes support for short-term visits for a collaboration between teams (e.g. joint team development, integration of research agendas) and/or RoboCup camps on special or novel topics. This year the RCF particularly encourages proposals in the following areas: ● Human-Robot-Interaction (HRI), any type interaction of a human with a robot within one of the RoboCup leagues ● Low-Cost Standard Robots, any ideas to lower the entry bar to a RoboCup league or to allow to scale the number of robots in a team ● Unified Game Controllers, development of game controllers that can be shared between RoboCup leagues easily and with minor re-configuration ● Data Sets from Competitions, any concept for automated collecting and annotating data (i.e. ground truth) from competitions in order to support statistical analysis or machine learning Support Support will be provided in the form of reimbursement upon receipts of direct expenses (e.g., hardware devices or costs for organization of events) or of a grant for the applicants. In case of hardware acquisition, it must be specified how the league (e.g. other teams) will benefit from this hardware. A detailed list of expenses must be described in the proposal. Funds from RCF are limited, partial funding may be also considered. Submission A single PDF file should be submitted through the easychair system https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=rcfsupport2023 under the Category: Projects for League Developments The proposal (MAX 4 pages) must include: 1. description of the project, 2. motivations and goals, 3. benefits for RoboCup and RoboCup leagues (not for a single or a few teams), 4. implementation plan and budget. Evaluation Application materials will be evaluated by a committee of RoboCup Trustees or RoboCup Exec members. The evaluation of the proposals will be based on (i) the quality of the proposed research; (ii) the research contributions of the applicants, particularly in relation to RoboCup; and (iii) the impact of the proposed plan on the advancement and visibility of RoboCup (e.g. high ranked publications). A limited number of awards is expected to be assigned. Deadlines Submission Deadline: November 30th, 2022 Notification: December 18th, 2022 Completion of the project: Preliminary work expected to be presented during the RoboCup Symposium 2023, the project needs to be finished by end of 2023 and a final report submitted by January 2024. Exceptions to this rule must be submitted for approval to the evaluation committee.

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[jobs] Robotics Faculty Positions - The University of Texas at Austin
by Peter Stone 19 Oct '22

19 Oct '22

Colleagues, Texas Robotics at the University of Texas at Austin invites applications for tenure-track faculty positions. Outstanding candidates in all areas of Robotics will be considered. Tenure-track positions require a Ph.D. or equivalent degree in a relevant area at the time of employment. Successful candidates are expected to pursue an active research program, to teach both graduate and undergraduate courses, and to supervise students in research. The University is fully committed to building a diverse faculty and we are interested in candidates who will contribute to diversity and equal opportunity in higher education through their teaching, research, and service. The current robotics faculty includes representatives from several departments who work to advance fundamental scientific and engineering knowledge in areas such as intelligent navigation and manipulation, robot learning, and multi-robot systems, as well as on numerous applications including social, rehabilitation, surgery, autonomous vehicles, drilling, manufacturing, space, nuclear, and defense. Full detail on our program are available at http://robotics.utexas.edu. The group recently moved into a custom-renovated historic building at the center of campus. To be considered for a position, please apply to one or more of the following three departments: - Computer Science: https://www.cs.utexas.edu/faculty/recruiting - Electrical and Computer Engineering: https://www.ece.utexas.edu/jobs - Mechanical Engineering: http://apply.interfolio.com/113653 In addition, to ensure that your application is connected with the robotics search, please send your cover letter and CV to faculty_jobs_robotics(a)utlists.utexas.edu along with an indication of which department(s) you applied to. Complete applications to any of the above departments that meet the corresponding deadline will be considered. Robotics applications will be reviewed as they are received. Applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible for full consideration.

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Call for Participation - RoboCup 2023 Humanoid Soccer Competition
by Reinaldo A. C. Bianchi 18 Oct '22

18 Oct '22

* Call for Participation * RoboCup 2023 Humanoid Soccer Competition https://humanoid.robocup.org/ July 06 - 09, 2023, Bordeaux, France =========================================================== The RoboCup Humanoid League invites teams to apply for participation at the RoboCup 2023 Humanoid Soccer Competition and the Humanoid Research Demonstration in Bordeaux, France. The Humanoid League will host competitions in the following categories: * Humanoid Soccer Competition * KidSize: 40 - 100cm robot height (FIFA size 1 ball) * AdultSize: 100 - 200cm robot height (FIFA size 5 ball) * Humanoid Research Demonstration In addition, we may organize a Humanoid Open Competition with a CfP following later this year. For more detailed class definitions and more information about the humanoid league, please refer to the humanoid league home page at https://humanoid.robocup.org/ and join the humanoid league mailing list at: https://lists.robocup.org/listinfo/robocup-humanoid Teams are also encouraged to form and apply as joint teams. Joint proposals will be judged on their combined merit. Teams must provide the following qualification material: 1) Humanoid Soccer Competition ======================================= You do not need to provide a full robot team to apply for competing in the Humanoid Soccer Competition. The qualifying round of Drop-In games will be played with only one robot per team. Teams that cannot provide a full team of robots (four robots in KidSize and two in AdultSize) will be grouped to form a playable team for the main tournament games. In case of a sufficient number of qualified teams, the sub-leagues (KidSize and/or AdultSize) will be divided into League A and League B. Teams are seeded into the leagues based on the results of an initial round of Drop-In games. Each application to the Humanoid Soccer Competition will be reviewed by two members of the Technical Committee and two other teams applying to the Humanoid Soccer Competition. The combined reviewing score will decide whether a team qualifies for participation. Reviewing other team's material is mandatory for teams that want to participate in the Humanoid Soccer Competition. Failing to provide an adequate review by the provided deadline will have consequences for the teams own qualification status. 1.1) Robot Video --------------------------------------- Teams need to provide a video of their robot demonstrating the robots' autonomous soccer playing skills. The recommended skills needed for qualification are: * localization of unknown ball position, * walking ability towards the ball, * robot positioning at the ball for kicking, * kicking the ball towards the goal, * ability of getting up autonomously from a fall (KidSize only) We encourage teams to include in the video more complex and intelligent behavior such as demonstrating localization, and robots playing in a game, recordings from actual soccer matches are admissible. If possible, please provide footage that demonstrates the robot behavior without wires attached. The qualification video must be supplied as a link via YouTube. The maximum duration of the video must not exceed 5 minutes. The qualifying team is responsible to ensure that the video adheres to YouTube's TOS (especially in regard to music copyright) to prevent the video from being blocked for the reviewers. Teams that do not provide a qualification video or a viewable video will not be qualified! 1.2) Software Description --------------------------------------- During the registration process, a form will be provided to submit details about the algorithms used or anticipated to be used for the participation in the 2023 competition. Algorithms shall be described in such detail that they can be reproduced by other teams. If software from other teams or standard algorithms are used, references need to be included. If the algorithm has been adapted to be used in the competition, those deviations need to be described in appropriate details. The form will include questions in the following areas: * Walking * Vision * Localization * Team Communication * Behavior * Contributions to the RoboCup community, e.g. software releases, paper publications, provision of league infrastructure or data sets Responses to the questions are expected to reflect the current or anticipated status of the software during the RoboCup 2023 competition. If the software has not changed or no changes are anticipated to be made until the competition, teams may copy & paste a response from previously submitted material. 1.3) Extended Abstract --------------------------------------- A two-page extended abstract must be submitted. For teams which have previously participated in the Humanoid League, the extended abstract needs to: * include lessons learned from the participation in previous RoboCup competitions * highlight major problems that the team is trying to solve for the upcoming competition * outline the plans for the major changes that the teams anticipate to have implemented by the RoboCup 2023 competition * describe the implementation status of the changes planned by the time of submitting the application For teams which have never participated in the RoboCup Humanoid League, the Extended Abstract needs to pitch the scientific aspects of their humanoid robotic system and highlight their research interests. The Extended Abstract is limited to 2 pages maximum and must be submitted in PDF format. Extended Abstracts are designed to highlight the changes and scientific developments since the last RoboCup. Thus, we expect the usage of material from previous TDPs or Extended Abstracts to be minimal. If used, they need to be cited appropriately. Submissions of last year's Extended Abstract will be desk-rejected. The Extended Abstract must follow the LNCS format which can be downloaded from https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-gu…. Teams that do to follow the LNCS formatting and style guidelines will not be qualified. No exceptions to this rule will be made. 1.4) Robot Specification --------------------------------------- Regardless of the kid or adult size competition, a one-page specification (PDF) must be provided for each different type of humanoid robot used by the team that includes the following: * Robot picture * Robot name * Height of the robot * Weight of the robot * Walking speed in cm/s * Number of degrees of freedom and type of motors on each kinematic chain of the robot * Type of sensors used (incl. type of camera(s) and specific manufacturer part number (e.g. “6-DoF IMU” is NOT an acceptable description)) * Computing unit(s) * Materials (e.g. Torso aluminum, legs and arms CFRP) * Electronics (e.g. CM730 for communicating with servos) * Battery (e.g. 3S1P 2200mAh LiPo) * Open Source link if applicable * Other specs 1.5) Rules --------------------------------------- The current version of the rules may be found here at the Humanoid League website: https://humanoid.robocup.org/materials/rules/. We expect the final version of the 2023 rules to be published in early spring 2023. 1.6) Registration --------------------------------------- The following information is required for registration: * Team name * URL of the team's home page * Name of team leader or team contact person * E-mail address of team leader or contact person * Postal address of the team, team leader or contact person * Competition category: Humanoid Soccer Competition KidSize or AdultSize Please note that teams applying for participation in several categories must submit individual application material for each class, and pay the appropriate registration fee for each category. At least one team member must register on each team. Furthermore, teams in different categories must be able to compete, and guarantee to have members acting as referees available independently and at the same time. 1.7) Letter of Commitment --------------------------------------- Regardless of the specific competition, a one-page letter addressed to the RoboCup Humanoid League Technical Committee including the following: * a statement committing to participate in the RoboCup 2023 Humanoid League competition, * a statement committing to make a person with sufficient knowledge of the rules available as referee during the competition. The letter must be printed, hand signed by the team leader, digitally scanned and submitted either as a JPG, PNG or PDF file. If the letter does not contain a hand-written signature, it is not considered valid. The TC may include the fulfillment of the statement of commitment of participation as well as the performance of the team's referee in previous RoboCup competitions into consideration for qualification. 2. Humanoid Research Demonstration (HRD) ======================================= The RoboCup Humanoid League invites the research community to apply for showcasing the latest research and development results that are relevant for humanoid robots. Researchers are invited to submit their demonstrations independently of whether they participate in the RoboCup competitions, symposium or have a RoboCup team. Contributions will be evaluated for scientific and technical excellence. 2.1. Topics of Interest --------------------------------------- We welcome demonstrations containing new ideas, concepts, practical studies, and experiment demonstrations relevant to the field of Humanoid Robotics. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: * Components, joints and mechanics; * Soft robotics; * Anthropomorphic vs. non-anthropomorphic; * Walking, running, jumping and other humanoid locomotion; * Adaptability and scalability; * Sensors and perception; * Control and stability; * Dealing with falling; * Reflexes and learning; * Energy supply and efficiency; * Robot design and robotic kits; * Virtual robots and simulation; * Benchmarking; * Bipedal robots applied to real problems; * Education with and for humanoid robots. 2.2. Procedure --------------------------------------- The Humanoid Research Demonstration will take place in one or several sessions and participating teams are asked to show a demonstration of the system live in Bordeaux or stream their demonstration from their lab during the session. As a back-up solution, each team needs to provide a video demonstration prior to the beginning of the tournament. If the demonstration is performed in Bordeaux, the Humanoid League will provide a humanoid league soccer playing field for the demonstration. However, the members of the Technical Committee of the Humanoid League understand that for some demonstrations this setup may not be ideal and will try to accommodate all teams. If a team requires other arrangements for the demonstration, it must submit a request to the Technical Committee at least 3 months before the competition to allow sufficient time for alternative arrangements. 2.3. Application --------------------------------------- We invite teams to apply to participate in the Humanoid Research Demonstration by submitting the following material: 2.3.1. Demonstration Data * Demonstration title; * URL of the group’s home page; * Name of the contact person; * E-mail address of the contact person; * Postal address of the contact person. 2.3.2. Demonstration Video The first part of the material is a video of your robot or robotic part demonstrating its skills or a brief overview of the software demonstration if your demonstration does not involve a physical embodiment. The video must be supplied as a link to it via YouTube. The maximum duration of the video is 3 minutes. The proponent is responsible to ensure that the video adheres to YouTube’s TOS (especially in regard to music copyright) to prevent the video from being blocked for the reviewers. 2.3.3. Hardware Specification If the demonstration includes any type of hardware to be showcased, a one-page specification (PDF) for each different type of humanoid type robot/mechanism used that includes the following: * Robot/mechanism picture; * Robot/mechanism name; * Size of the humanoid type robot/mechanism; * Weight of the robot/mechanism; * Robots/mechanisms joint specification; * Type of sensors used (incl. type of camera(s)); * Computing unit(s); * Other specifications 2.3.4. Short paper A short paper describing the robot, robot part of software and its task and required environment, limited to four (4) pages including text, references, tables, and figures. The short paper must follow the LNCS format which can be downloaded from http://www.springer.com/computer/lncs?SGWID=0-164-6-793341-0<http://www.springer.com/computer/lncs?SGWID=0-164-6-793341-0>. Please pay special attention to the “Author guidelines” that you’ll be able to find there. 3) Plagiarism ======================================= Plagiarism, loosely the unattributed use of other peoples' words, code, and ideas is not tolerated in the RoboCup community. See the point “Publishing Ethics” at https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-gu… for a more detailed description. The teams and team members that plagiarize other peoples' work and present it as their own will be disqualified. For a first offense, the team and team members will be banned from RoboCup competition for two years (usually the current and next year). Harsher penalties will be applied to repeat offenders or extremely serious cases of plagiarism. A team may be disqualified at any time for plagiarism, even after the competition has started. RoboCup will not reimburse teams for any expenses related to their disqualification. 4) Online Submission ======================================= All qualification material must be submitted online at https://submission.robocuphumanoid.com<https://submission.robocuphumanoid.com/> 5) Important Dates ======================================= Humanoid Soccer Competition * Submission system open: November 20th, 2022 * Submission deadline: December 11th, 2022 * Team Review Period: December 12th - December 23rd * Announcement of qualified teams: January 23rd, 2023 Humanoid Research Demonstration * Submission system open: November 20th, 2022 * Submission deadline: April 2nd, 2023 6) Publication ======================================= Please note that after the announcement of the qualified teams the qualified teams submitted material will be made publicly available on the Humanoid League website. Teams applying for participation, therefore, implicitly grant the right of publication of their qualification material to the Humanoid League. 7) Visa Process ======================================= If you are a citizen of a country that needs a Visa for traveling to France, please start the VISA process as soon as you receive your notification of qualification. If you are not sure if you're eligible for a VISA-exempt, please consult the official website of the France government for information, at https://france-visas.gouv.fr/en/web/france-visas/welcome-page. With best regards, Technical Committee of RoboCup Humanoid League 2022 Esta mensagem, juntamente com qualquer outra informação anexada, é confidencial e protegida por lei. Somente os seus destinatários estão autorizados a usá-la. 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