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<font size="+1">CALL FOR PARTICIPATION<br>
IEEE Robotics & Automation Society Humanitarian Robotics and
Automation Technology Challenge (HRATC)<br>
ICRA'16, Stockholm, Sweden, May, 2016<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.isr.uc.pt/HRATC2016">http://www.isr.uc.pt/HRATC2016</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.icra2016.org/conference/challenges/">http://www.icra2016.org/conference/challenges/</a><br>
<br>
*Upcoming deadline: Description Papers due Dec. 14th*<br>
<br>
According to the UN Mine Action Service, landmines kill
15,000-20,000 people every year (mostly children) and maim
countless more across 78 countries. Demining efforts cost US$
300-1000 per mine, and, for every 5000 mines cleared, one person
is killed and two are injured. Thus, clearing post-combat regions
of landmines has proven to be a difficult, risky, dangerous and
expensive task with enormous social implications for civilians.
Motivated by these considerations, the IEEE Robotics &
Automation Society – Special Interest Group on Humanitarian
Technology (RAS–SIGHT) is inviting the academic and non-academic
community to participate in the third Humanitarian Robotics and
Automation Technology Challenge (HRATC) at the 2016 International
Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA’16). <br>
<br>
Following on the footsteps of the success of the HRATC Challenge
that was held at ICRA’14 in Hong Kong and ICRA’15 in Seattle, this
HRATC edition will continue to focus on promoting the development
of new strategies for autonomous landmine detection using a mobile
(ground) robot. The Challenge will take place in three phases: 1)
Simulation Phase, 2) Testing Phase, and 3) Challenge Phase. The
strategies developed by the participating teams will be
objectively and quantitatively evaluated according to the
following criteria: exploration time and environmental coverage;
detection and classification quality; and landmine avoidance.
Teams will be progressively eliminated after each phase and the
remaining teams would move on to the next phase culminating in the
Challenge (Finals) phase at ICRA’16. <br>
<br>
All teams will use the same robot, called FSR-Husky, that will be
available before (for remote practice runs) and during the
Challenge. Furthermore, participants will have access to a
ROS-based simulator to develop and test their code before testing
it remotely on the real robot.<br>
<br>
How To Participate in the Challenge<br>
All potential participants should submit a paper (1-2 pages) in
the standard IEEE format including figures that describes the
motivation and previous experiences/research (if any). The
organizers will then evaluate this paper and an acceptance
notification containing further steps would follow. All
submissions should be sent to <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:hratc2016@gmail.com"><hratc2016@gmail.com></a>. The
Challenge will take place remotely in Coimbra, Portugal, and
beamed in real time to the Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre
during ICRA’16. Necessary logistics and travel support will be
provided depending on the number of qualifying teams. <br>
<br>
More details on HRATC’14 and HRATC’15 can be found at
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.isr.uc.pt/HRATC2014/">http://www.isr.uc.pt/HRATC2014/</a> and
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.isr.uc.pt/HRATC2015/">http://www.isr.uc.pt/HRATC2015/</a>, respectively, and from following
summary published in the IEEE-RAS RAM: “2015 Humanitarian Robotics
and Automation Technology Challenge” by Madhavan, R.; Marques, L.;
Prestes, E.; Maffei, R.; Jorge, V.; Gil, B.; Dogru, S.; Cabrita,
G.; Neuland, R.; Dasgupta, P. IEEE-RAS Robotics and Automation
Magazine, Sept. 2015.<br>
<br>
About IEEE RAS-SIGHT <br>
The IEEE RAS–SIGHT is the first IEEE Society to have a SIGHT! The
mission of RAS-SIGHT is the application of robotics and automation
technologies for promoting humanitarian causes around the globe,
and to leverage existing and emerging technologies for the benefit
of humanity and towards increasing the quality of life in
underserved, underdeveloped areas in collaboration with existing
global communities and organizations. To engage the international
community in these causes, RAS-SIGHT has been organizing
Challenges and funding small projects centered on humanitarian
causes. <br>
See
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.ieee-ras.org/educational-resources-outreach/humanitarian-efforts">http://www.ieee-ras.org/educational-resources-outreach/humanitarian-efforts</a>
for more details.<br>
<br>
Acknowledgments <br>
The Challenge organizers thank the FP7-TIRAMISU project
(<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.fp7-tiramisu.eu/">http://www.fp7-tiramisu.eu/</a>) and Clearpath Robotics, Inc. for
their support and partnership in organizing HRATC’16.<br>
</font><br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
******************************************************************
Lino Marques
Institute of Systems and Robotics
Dep. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Coimbra
3030-290 Coimbra E-Mail: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:lino@isr.uc.pt">lino@isr.uc.pt</a>
PORTUGAL Fax: +(351) 239 406 672 Phone: +(351) 239 796 277
****************************************************************** </pre>
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