[socios-spr] FW: Field Robotics Hackathon Challenge

[Nuno Lau]

From: Jonathan Aitken <jonathan.aitken  sheffield.ac.uk>
Date: Tue, Mar 22, 2016 at 2:51 PM
Subject: Field Robotics Hackathon Challenge

Dear all,

Please see the announcement of our field robotics hackathon, below,
and circulate to anyone you think may be interested; this event is
especially relevant for Masters and PhD students!

Best wishes,
Jonathan

As part of UK Robotics Week, and in conjunction with the TAROS
(Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems) conference, Sheffield Robotics
and the UK-RAS network are hosting an agricultural field robotics
hackathon challenge.

Date: 26-27 June
Venue: High Bradfield, Sheffield, UK
Website: http://www.sheffieldrobotics.ac.uk/event/field-robotics-challenge-2016/

Format:
The challenge will run from the 26th-27th June 2016, in the two days
preceding the TAROS conference
(http://www.sheffieldrobotics.ac.uk/conferences/taros-2016/), at the
Sheffield Robotics High Bradfield outdoor robotics proving ground in
the Peak District national park*. Successful applicants will be
arranged into teams of 6/7 for the two days, and will compete against
each other to complete a series of incremental robotics challenges.

The competition will reflect an agricultural scenario, played out on
real world, challenging terrain*. Teams will develop software to
control, as well as collect and process data from, air and ground
robots provided by the organisers. Tasks will include high- and low-
level surveying by fixed- and rotary-wing unmanned aerial systems, and
ground-based sampling and intervention by wheeled rovers.

Participants will be encouraged to present their challenge solutions
during a special session of the TAROS conference, with prizes awarded
to the best teams.

Participation:
The event is designed to bring together young researchers and
developers working in robotics and agri-tech. It is well-suited to
good final-year masters students, PhD students, early-career
researchers, and anyone with similar relevant experience in areas
including:

- Robotics and autonomous systems
- Control systems
- Computer vision
- Signal processing
- Data acquisition
- Co-operative or multi-robot systems
- Unmanned Aerial Systems
- Field Robotics
- Agri-tech
- Remote sensing

Registration:
To register your interest in the event, please fill out the
application form (http://goo.gl/forms/bw5lV1Af8B). The number of
places is limited, and the organisers will shortlist candidates based
on the information provided. Applications will close at midnight (GMT)
on the 18th April, with notification given by 2nd May. Successful
applicants will be expected to attend the event, and pay a nominal
registration fee of £30 to cover lunches. Accommodation will not be
provided, but we will provide assistance with booking. Some bursaries
may also be available.

Details:
Date – 26-27 June
Venue – High Bradfield, Sheffield
Fee – £30 per successful applicant
Registration – http://goo.gl/forms/bw5lV1Af8B
Application deadline – 18th April 2016
Notification – 2nd May 2016


Sheffield Robotics Organisers:
James Law – j.law  sheffield.ac.uk
Jonathan Aitken – jonathan.aitken  sheffield.ac.uk
Owen McAree
Felix Dawes

*In the event of bad weather, some or all of the challenge will
re-locate to the Sheffield Robotics Indoor Field Robotics Facility
(where the terrain will be slightly less realistic, but challenges
will be comparable).


--
Dr Jonathan M. Aitken
Senior Research Fellow
Department of Automatic Control & Systems Engineering
Rm B05, Sheffield Robotics, Pam Liversidge Building
University of Sheffield
Sheffield
S1 3JD
Tel: (+44) (0)114 222 5660