Note: If you tried to email info@responserobotics.org prior to December 12, 2023, and received an error, please try again – we just fixed a server issue. Sorry about that!
We have added new details about costs and travel support! Click here for the details!
Reminder, the normal registration deadline is the 1st of February! We may continue to accept some late registrations depending on space but the room block will not be available after the 1st.
A Hands-On Academic Seasonal School and Workshop
for Undergraduate Research Students, Graduate Students, and Early Career researchers, and Mentors of high school robotics research teams, on the Challenges and Best-in-Class Solutions for Response Robots.
The Response Robotics Seasonal School and Workshop (RRSS+W) follows from a long line of academic events dating back to 2004.
Join our mailing list and Discord server to be kept up to date! Any questions? Please contact info@responserobotics.org .
The agenda is now available!
Co-located with the 2024 Texas Public Safety Robotics Summit
March 4-7 2024.
Reveille Proving Grounds, Burnet, TX, USA.
Attendees of the RRSS+W will have a unique opportunity to engage with and learn from the end users about how their technologies might be used, manufacturers on the challenges of transitioning technologies from the lab into the real world, and various regulatory bodies on the risk management and legal landscape within which these technologies must operate.
Interested in joining us but not a student or mentor? Please instead apply to attend the Texas Public Safety Robotics Summit and then contact us so we know you’re planning on joining our activities!
Sponsored by the IEEE-RAS
Supported by a grant from the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Robotics and Automation Society (RAS), Technical Education Program, primarily to support the travel of IEEE-RAS student members, particularly from outside the USA.
Endorsed by the IEEE-RAS Aerial Robotics and Unmanned Vehicles Technical Committee and the IEEE-RAS Technical Committee for RoboCup.
Integration with the RoboCupRescue Robot League
The RRSS+W forms part of the RoboCupRescue Robot League (RRL), which brings together researchers from all over the world to tackle the challenges of response robotics.
This event provides an ideal forum for RRL teams to bring their robots and evaluate them in more open-ended, real-world scenarios, discuss with other teams, manufacturers, and responders, and to discuss implementation of the League roadmap.
The RRSS+W will also host a roadmap discussion for the RoboCupRescue Robot League, with a focus on engaging with the end user community. We invite past, present, and prospective competitors to join us!
New Focus Topics
The RRSS+W seeks to drive development in all areas of response robotics. To this end, while we will be evaluating and demonstrating areas like mobility, manipulation, and autonomy, there are three new focus topics that are becoming increasingly topical in the response robotics field.
We are also encouraging students who are interested in broader response robotics topics to attend, bring their robots, and share their work. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- 3D mapping and indoor/outdoor navigation in unstructured environments.
- Mobility in challenging terrain and among 3D obstacles.
- Dexterous manipulation and inspection.
- Transition of technologies into real world unstructured environments.
- Novel sensors for response robotics.
- Human factors in the deployment of response robots.
Contact us if you’re not sure if your area of interest is a good fit!
Format
Lectures
In-person and online participants in the RRSS+W will have the opportunity to participate in lectures and panel discussions on topics ranging from theoretical techniques to real world applications.
In addition, in-person participants will have the opportunity to participate in:
Practicals
Hands-on multi-tracked practical sessions that give attendees an in-depth opportunity learn about a specific topic.
Demonstrations and Testing
Demonstration and test sessions that allow attendees to deploy their own robots within the test methods and scenarios, and observe other robots being tested.
Poster Session
A workshop poster session that allows attendees to present their work to other attendees as well as the attendees of the TXPS, including those who may have an interest in adopting these technologies.
Social Events
Social events that promote networking between RRSS+W attendees as well as the rest of the response robotics ecosystem.
Bring Your Robots!
Students are encouraged to bring their own ground, aerial, surface, or underwater response robots to test in the standard test methods and scenarios.
The Location
The 2024 RRSS+W will be held at the Reveille Proving Grounds in Burnet, Texas, USA.
The venue hosts both real world scenarios, complete with the uncertainty, weather, and communications challenges that it brings, as well as standard test methods that provide repeatable, reproducible, evaluations of robot capabilities that attendees can replicate in their own labs.
This facility is equipped with an extensive array of Standard and Prototypical Test Methods for Response Robots, developed by NIST and collaborators, across aerial, ground, and underwater modalities. Numerous realistic indoor and outdoor response robotics scenarios enable further testing systems. The facility is also equipped as a test site for mesh networking technologies.
Attendees will have a unique opportunity to observe robots of their interest performing in both the scenarios and the test methods, as well as bring their own robots to test and refine over the course of the event.
Transportation and accommodation information will be coming soon! Join our mailing list to be kept up to date.
Registration, Fees, and Travel Support
The registration fee for in-person attendance is $300. As space is limited, registration is capped and competitive, based on an application letter.
Registration will be decided on a rolling basis and closes February 1st, 2024, or when the event reaches capacity.
IEEE-RAS students may use the same letter to apply for travel support, which includes reimbursement of the fee and partial travel costs. Travel support applications will be decided on a rolling basis and closes December 31st, 2023. Update: We will be prioritizing applications for travel support that arrive by the original December 31st deadline, but to give folks a little more time over the holiday season, we will continue to consider applications for travel support that arrive until January 12th or until funds are allocated. We will update this page once all funds have been allocated.
Please click here for further details!
Remote attendance of the lectures will be free of charge, dependent on connectivity. The lectures will be recorded and made available in the case of technical difficulties. Further details for remote attendance will be made available shortly!
Latest Updates
- Email issue fixedWe just discovered and fixed a server config issue that caused emails being sent to info@responserobotics.org to bounce. If you sent an email to us previously and it bounced, please re-send it. Sorry about the inconvenience!
- Text-only Call for ParticipationWe now have a text-only call for participation, suitable for emailing! Please click here .
- We now have a Mailing List and Discord server!We have created a new Mailing List and Discord server for the Seasonal School! We will be sending updates, such as information about timelines, travel support, and logistics via the mailing list (actually a Google Group). We are also experimenting with a Discord server to allow prospective attendees to chat in realtime, direct message each … Continue reading “We now have a Mailing List and Discord server!”
- We’re Online!Welcome to the homepage for the 2024 IEEE-RAS Response Robotics Seasonal School and Workshop! This webpage is right now still very much a work in progress. Stay tuned for as we fill out the details!