IROS2010 Workshop

The workshop will be held on the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS2011) in San Francisco, California.

Abstract

In the past decades  huge progress in robotics have been achieved, with robots moving from the common manipulator, fixed on the factory floor to more flexible and autonomous devices, capable of operating in natural environments.

Nowadays, robots are becoming fundamental data gathering tools for scientists studying the planet. Some example applications include ocean floor sampling, tracking  water surface blooms and pollution spread, wide area monitoring of climate variables, and monitoring volcanoe activity.

Design and implementation of robotic systems for environmental research present significant challenges to  robotics researchers. New findings to make robots capable of perceiving, moving and actuating in natural environments are necessary. Further, robots in environmental applications require increased energy autonomy to allow for extended periods of operation. Low energy design and energy harvesting must be investigated. Additionally, the robots should be able to exchange information and cooperate with other agents which are necessary to cover large areas.

Motivation and objectives

This full-day Workshop on Robotics for Environmental Monitoring intends to bring together researchers with various backgrounds relevant to this new multidisciplinary field of research, namely researchers from field robotics, sensors for environmental variables, sensor networks, environmental data processing, low energy robot design, low energy algorithm design and energy harvesting.

List of topics

1. • Sensors for environmental monitoring
   

2. • Sensor networks
   

3. • Spatio-temporal data processing and environment modeling
   

4. • Robotic systems able to operate in natural environments, being them ground surfaces, air, water surface, underwater, or underground
   

5. • Mobile robot olfaction
   

6. • Low energy design
   

7. • Energy harvesting
   

8. • Other subjects relevant to robotics for environmental monitoring
   

Intended audience

Researchers with interests in field robotics, namely: outdoor robotics, water surface and underwater robotics, air vehicles for environmental monitoring, and supporting technologies for field robotics, and environmental scientists interested in the employment of robotics technologies to support their studies.

Submission procedure

Participants are invited to submit an extended abstract of maximum 4 pages using IEEE conference format. In contrast to the conference we encourage submission of preliminary results and half-baked ideas. Of particular interest is results from field deployments.

Accepted papers, together with the data and code will be available online at the workshop website.

In case of a sufficient number of high quality submissions, extended versions of the selected contributions will be considered for publication as a Special Issue in a robotics journal.

Submissions should be sent by email to any of the organizers (at the bottom of this page).

Program committee

P. Corke, Queensland University of Technology, Australia

T. Fukuda, Nagoya University, Japan

V. Kumar, University of Pennsylvania, USA

A. Lilienthal, Orebro University, Sweden

1. A.Talukder, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA, USA
   

A. de Almeida, University of Coimbra, Portugal