Raybot

So it’s the start of October and we’re about to round up a month-long international trip full of conferences!

First was the International Workshop on Standard Robotic Software Architecture for RoboCupRescue based on ROS, held in Koblenz, Germany. I represented the RoboCupRescue Robot League administration as well as the predominantly hardware based teams and presented the introduction to the league and the rules.

Next was a visit to the Drita Hotel in the resort city of Alanya on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, where we’re planning on hosting a summer school on Response and Rescue Robotics, in the same spirit as the Rescue Robotics Camps that were held in Rome from 2004 to 2007.

After a brief stop in Istanbul we were back in the US, where we headed to San Francisco for the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS). There I presented a paper on behavioural cloning, based on work done during my PhD.

Finally, we’re now in Half Moon Bay, just south of San Francisco, at the IEEE Workshop on Advanced Robotics and its Social Impacts (ARSO)! This small but (hopefully!) high impact workshop, chaired by my good friend Radu Bogdan Rusu, is intended to bring together people from research, academia and industry for big picture discussions on how robotics can make an impact on society and how to make sure it proceeds in the right direction. I presented a poster (the whole thing was invited talks and posters) on the RoboCupRescue Robot League, its current state and its future directions.

So … a month of travels! It is exhausting but it’s great catching up with old friends and great making new friends in the different areas of robotics from all around the world.

Photos to come!

Just a quick (and much belated) post – we’re solving problems in the United States! I’m currently employed by Robolit LLC and working with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, MD, on performance metrics for the evaluation of response robots, specifically in the area of manipulation. The plan is to stay for a bit over a year, see what the robotics research community and industry is like here and experience a bit of this part of the world.

Of course, being a problem solver I’m also working out solutions to related areas – robot vision testing, mobility and so-on.

Work on various Raybot activities is by necessity slowing down a little – I still hope to at least get the free initial version of SortDroid out soon but the timeline is getting a little stretched.

Another year, another RoboCup! This time the International RoboCup Competition was held in Istanbul, Turkey, and as usual I was there at the Rescue Robot League, this time as one of the administrators. Unfortunately I managed to pick up a cold on the last few days so my brain is rather quite a bit foggier than it usually is so in the meantime, enjoy some robot photos at http://rrl2011photos.raybot.com.au/!

I usually find solutions to problems by looking online and benefiting from the experience of others, described in their blog and forum posts.

Raybot’s Recommendations is my attempt at returning the favour by contributing my experiences, tips, tricks and solutions to problems I’ve encountered in all manner of areas. It is a random collection of things and I’m pretty certain most people will encounter them through deep links on search engines but if you want to have a browse of this (hopefully!) growing resource, please feel free!

Several years ago I published a photobook, “Watch for Robots: A Glimpse at the Early Childhood of Rescue Robots” and I’ve finally gotten around to playing with the Bookshow widget!

Head on over to my book’s new webpage, have a look at the preview and, if you like what you see, order your own copy!

My first Android app, SortDroid, has entered private beta!

This app was written to solve a severe problem I have – I have a pile of photos I’ve taken over the course of the last couple of years and I don’t have time to sit at a computer and sort through them!

This app allows you to load images in JPEG format as well as Sony ARW, Canon CR2 and Nikon NEF raw formats, assign ratings, keywords and descriptions to them and embed them (or for raw files, write XMP sidecars) so that once you want to actually use the photos, your photo sorting and editing programs (Adobe Lightroom/Bridge for instance) can read them.

Head on over to the SortDroid website for more info!

Welcome to the new home of Raybot! We’re still madly setting things up and will be ready for you soon!