2015 RSS Workshop on Principles of Multi-Robot Systems

I am co-organizing the workshop Principles of Multi-Robot Systems at the 2015 RSS, Robotics Science and Systems conference in July 16th, Rome, Italy.

You can visit the website http://mrs-rss2015.sciencesconf.org/ for more information on the list of speakers and the call for contribution.

Abstract: The objective of this workshop is to give in-depth overviews of several areas of interest related to the field of multi-robot systems. In particular, we aim at providing a set of methodologies that can define the common background for researchers involved in the several areas that constitute the multi-robot systems community. While many workshops are narrowly focused on highly specialized topics, the intent of this workshop is to provide insight on a broad range of topics within multi-robot systems so that ideas and approaches can be shared across the varied subfields. Researchers interested in multi-robot systems represent an inherently diverse community since several competences are needed in this field, ranging from control systems to mechanical design, estimation, perception, planning, and interaction, just to list a few. This causes, in general, a lack of a common background among multi-robot systems researchers, that represents an obstacle for dialogue and interchange, subsequently slowing down the development of the overall field. The main objective of this workshop is then in contributing to the definition of this common background. For this purpose, the workshop will be organized as a set of 30-minutes talks, each talk will represent a seminar that will aim at providing a comprehensive overview of a specific topic. The intended audience is constituted of researchers that work (or are starting to work) in the field of multi- robot systems, and that are not necessarily expert in the topics that will be touched by each talk.

TOPICS AND INVITED SPEAKERS

AI and Multi-Robot Coordination
Invited speaker: Daniele Nardi (Sapienza Univ. of Rome)

Motion Planning in Multi-Robot Systems
Invited speaker: Kostas Bekris (Rutgers Univ.)

Cooperative Decision Making for Multi-Robot Systems
Invited speaker: Geoffrey Hollinger (Oregon State Univ.)

Control of the Physical Interaction in/with Multi-Robot Systems
Invited speaker: Dongjun Lee (Seoul National Univ.)

Task Planning and Allocation in Multi-Robot Systems
Invited speaker: Dylan Shell (Texas A&M Univ.)

Distributed Perception and Estimation in Multi-Robot Systems
Invited speaker: Vadim Indelman (Technion - Israel Institute of Technology)

Optimal Control and Optimization Methods for Multi-Robot Systems
Invited speaker: tbd ( )

24/7 Multi-Robot Systems operating in real world
Invited speaker: tbd ( )
CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS FOR THE POSTER SESSION

We invite contributions, to be presented during the Poster Sessions. Authors are required to submit Extended Abstracts (1-2 pages) in PDF format, using this link.

Contributions in any area related to multi-robot systems are welcome.

Important dates:

Extended abstract submission deadline: May 1st, 2015

Notification of acceptance: May 10th, 2015

PROGRAM

To be defined

ORGANIZERS

The organizers are the four co-chairs of the newly established IEEE RAS Technical Committee on Multi-Robot Systems

Nora Ayanian
Department of Computer Science
University of Southern California, USA
E-mail: ayanian@usc.edu
web: http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~ayanian/

Robert Fitch
Australian Centre for Field Robotics
The University of Sydney, Australia
E-mail: robert.fitch@sydney.edu.au
web: http://sydney.edu.au/engineering/people/robert.fitch.php

Antonio Franchi
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Laboratoire d’Analyse et d’Architecture des Systèmes (LAAS), France
E-mail: afranchi@laas.fr
web:http://homepages.laas.fr/afranchi/robotics/

Lorenzo Sabattini
Department of Sciences and Methods for Engineering (DISMI)
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy
E-mail: lorenzo.sabattini@unimore.it
web: http://www.arscontrol.org/lorenzo-sabattini