04 November 2020
09:00 (UTC +4) Chairs: Jorge Dias, Fahad Almaskari

WELCOME to IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics (SSRR)


09:15 (UTC +4) Chairs: Majid Khonji, Jorge Dias

Technical Session W.1


Title

Learning Spatial Search using Submodular Inverse Reinforcement Learning.

Authors:

Ji-Jie Wu, Kuo-Shih Tseng, Mathematics Department, National, Central University, Taiwan.


Title

Autonomous UAV-based Target Search, Tracking and Following using Reinforcement Learning and YOLOFlow.

Authors:

Yug Ajmera, Surya Pratap Singh, Department of Mechanical Engineering, BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus, India.


Title

A Fast and Robust 2D LiDAR Alignment Method by Motion Decoupling.

Authors:

Jinhu Dong, Tongji University, Shanghai, China, Yinlong Liu, Artificial Intelligence and Rea l-time Systems, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany, Lixuan Tang, Tongji University, Shanghai, China Guang Chen, Tongji University, Shanghai, China and Artificial Intelligence and Rea l-time Systems, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany, Alois Knollm, Artificial Intelligence and Rea l-time Systems, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.


Title

Mapping with Reflection - Detection and Utilization of Reflection in 3D Lidar Scans.

Authors:

Xiting Zhao, Zhijie Yang, Soren Schwertfeger, School of Information Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, China.


Break 10:45 (UTC +4)


11:00 (UTC +4) Chairs: Jorge Dias, Majid Khonji

Invited Talk W.1


Title

ImPACT Tough Robotics Challenge and Use in Disasters

Speaker:

Satoshi Tadokoro


12:00 (UTC +4) Chairs: Jorge Dias, Majid Khonji

Technical Session W.2


Title

Visually Guided Balloon Popping with an Autonomous MAV at MBZIRC 2020.

Authors:

Marius Beul, Simon Bultmann, Andre Rochow, Radu Alexandru Rosu, Daniel Schleich, Malte Splietker, Sven Behnkem, Institute for Computer Science VI, Autonomous Intelligent Systems, University of Bonn, Endenicher.


Title

Trajectory Generation with Fast Lidar-based 3D Collision Avoidance for Agile MAVs.

Authors:

Marius Beul, Sven Behnke, Institute for Computer Science VI, Autonomous Intelligent Systems, University of Bonn, Germany,


Title

Pose Prediction for Mobile Ground Robots in Uneven Terrain Based on Difference of Heightmaps.

Authors:

Stefan Fabian, Stefan Kohlbrecher, Oskar von Stryk, Technical University of Darmstadt, Computer Science Department, Simulation, Systems Optimization and Robotics Group, Germany.


Title

Towards an Autonomous UAV-based System to Assist Search and Rescue Operations in Man Overboard Incidents.

Authors:

Valeria Alexandra Feraru, Section of Automation and Control, Department of Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark and Upteko, Denmark, Rasmus Eckholdt Andersen, Evangelos Boukas, Section of Automation and Control, Department of Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark.


Title

Towards Active Vision with UAVs in Marine Search and Rescue: Analyzing Human Detection at Variable Altitudes.

Authors:

Li Qingqing, Turku Intelligent Embedded and Robotic Systems Lab, University of Turku, Finland, Jussi Taipalmaa, Department of Computing Sciences, Tampere University, Finland, Jorge Pena Queralta, Tuan Nguyen Gia, Turku Intelligent Embedded and Robotic Systems Lab, University of Turku, Finland,

Moncef Gabbouj, Department of Computing Sciences, Tampere University, Finland, Hannu Tenhunen, Turku Intelligent Embedded and Robotic Systems Lab, University of Turku, Finland, Jenni Raitoharju, Programme for Environmental Information, Finnish Environment Institute, Jyvaskyla, Finland, Tomi Westerlund, Turku Intelligent Embedded and Robotic Systems Lab, University of Turku, Finland


Break 13:45 (UTC +4)


15:00 (UTC +4) Chairs: Rodrigo Ventura, Lino Marques

Technical Session W.3


Title

Towards UAS Surveillance using Event Cameras.

Authors:

J.R. Martínez-de Dios, A. Gómez Egúiluz, J.P. Rodríguez-Gómez, R. Tapia , A. Ollero, GRVC Robotics laboratory, University of Seville, Spain.


Title

Autonomous Landing of a UAV on a Moving Ground Vehicle in a GPS Denied Environment

Authors:

Stephen M. Nogar, Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, USA.


Title

Collision-tolerant Autonomous Navigation through Manhole-sized Confined Environments

Authors:

Paolo De Petris, Huan Nguyen, Tung Dang, Frank Mascarich, Kostas Alexis, Autonomous Robots Lab, University of Nevada, Reno, Virginia, USA.


Title

Vision based real-time obstacle avoidance for drones using a time-to-collision estimation approach.

Authors:

Francisco Gomes, Institute for Systems and Robotics, Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal, Tiago Hormigo, Spin.Works, Lisboa, Portugal, Rodrigo Ventura, Institute for Systems and Robotics, Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal.


Title

A generalization of the CHOMP algorithm for UAV collision-freetrajectory generation in unknown dynamic environments.

Authors:

Jiayu Men, Jesús Requena Carrión, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London.


Break 16:45 (UTC +4)


17:00 (UTC +4) Chairs: Jorge Dias, Majid Khonji

Invited Talk W.2


Title

How Robots are Helping with COVID-19 and How They Can Do More in the Future

Speaker:

Robin Murphy


Break 18:00 (UTC +4)


19:00 (UTC +4) Chairs: Jorge Dias, Lino Marques

Technical Session W.4


Title

Wilderness Search and Rescue Missions using Deep Reinforcement Learning.

Authors:

Ashley Peake, Joe McCalmon, Yixin Zhang, Benjamin Raiford, Sarra Alqahtani, Computer Science Department, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.


Title

Multi-Robot Target Search using Probabilistic Consensus on Discrete Markov Chains.

Authors:

Aniket Shirsat, School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, Arizona State University, USA Karthik Elamvazhuthi, Department of Mathematics,, University of California, Los Angeles, USA Spring Berman, School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, Arizona State University, USA.


Title

Benchmarking Metric Ground Navigation.

Authors:

Daniel Perille, Abigail Truong, Xuesu Xiao, Peter Stone, Department of Computer Science, University of Texas at Austin, USA.


Title

DDP-based Parachute Landing Optimization for a Humanoid.

Authors:

Dongdong Liu, Yang Liu, Yifan Xing, Shramana Ghosh, Vikram Kapila, Mechatronics, Controls, and Robotics Lab, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY, USA.


Title

Bidirectional LSTM-based Network for Fall Prediction in a Humanoid.

Authors:

Dongdong Liu, Hoon Jeong, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY, USA, Aoxue Wei, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan,Vikram Kapila, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY, USA.


Title

Generation of Energy Optimal Speed Profiles for a Differential Drive Mobile Robot with Payload on Straight Trajectories.

Authors:

Mauricio F. Jaramillo-Morales, Universidad Aut´onoma – Manizales - Colombia, Sedat Dogru, Lino Marques, Institute of Systems and Robotics, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Coimbra, Portugal.


05 November 2020
09:00 (UTC +4) Chairs: Christopher J. Holder, Jorge Dias

Technical Session T.1


Title

A Hybrid, Encompassing, Three-Fingered Robotic Gripper Combining Pneumatic Telescopic Mechanisms and Rigid Claws.

Authors:

Lucas Gerez, Che-Ming Chang, Minas Liarokapis, New Dexterity research group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Auckland, New Zealand.


Title

Mono-Wheeled Flexible Track Capable of Climbing High Steps and Adapting to Rough Terrains.

Authors:

Yu Ozawa, Masahiro Watanabe, Kenjiro Tadakuma, Eri Takane, Satoshi Tadokoro, Graduate School of Information Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Aramaki Aza Aoba, Aobaku, Sendai-shi, Miyagi-ken, Japan.


Title

Decentralized Collision Avoidance and Motion Planning for Multi-Robot Deformable Payload Transport Systems.

Authors:

Yahnit Sirineni, Rahul Tallamraju, Abhay Rawat, Kamalakar Karlapalem, Agents and Applied Robotics Group, (AARG), Kohli Center on Intelligent Systems, International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H), India.


Title

An Agile, Coaxial, Omnidirectional Rotor Module: On the Development of Hybrid, All Terrain Robotic Rotorcrafts.

Authors:

Joao Buzzatto, Minas Liarokapis, New Dexterity research group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Auckland, New Zealand.


Title

Reconfigurable, Adaptive, Lightweight Grasping Mechanisms for Aerial Robotic Platforms.

Authors:

Lydia Hingston, Jonathan Mace, Joao Buzzatto, Minas Liarokapis, New Dexterity research group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Auckland, New Zealand


Title

Camera Orientation Estimation in Leaking Indoor Environment via Vanishing Point of Water Drops.

Authors:

Hao Xu, Ren Komatsu, Hanwool Woo, Angela Faragasso, Atsushi Yamashita Hajime Asama, Department of Precision Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Japan.


Break 10:45 (UTC +4)


11:00 (UTC +4) Chairs: Lakmal Seneviratne, Jorge Dias

Invited Talk T.1


Title

Robots that see and navigate outdoors

Speaker:

Peter Corke


12:00 (UTC +4) Chairs: Jorge Dias

Technical Session T.2


Title

Towards UAV-Based Absolute Hierarchical Localization in Confined Spaces.

Authors:

Rune Y. Brogaard, Section of Automation and Control, Department of Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark, FORCE Technology, Brøndby, Denmark, Marcin Zajaczkowsk, Luka Kovac, Ole Ravn, Evangelos Boukas, Section of Automation and Control, Department of Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark.


Title

Autonomous Wall Building with a UGV-UAV Team at MBZIRC 2020.

Authors:

Christian Lenz, Max Schwarz, Andre Rochow, Jan Razlaw, Arul Selvam Periyasamy, Michael Schreiber, Sven Behnke, Institute for Computer Science VI, Autonomous Intelligent Systems, University of Bonn, Germany.


Title

Investigating Deep Learning Architectures towards Autonomous Inspection for Marine Classification.

Authors:

Rasmus Andersen, Lazaros Nalpantidis, Ole Ravn, Evangelos Boukas, Automation and Control, Department of Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.


Title

LOCATOR - Lightweight and Low-Cost Autonomous Drone System for Overhead Cable Detection and Soft Grasping.

Authors:

Nicolai Iversen, Oscar Bowen Schofield, Emad Ebeid, SDU UAS Centre, The Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Institute, University of Southern Denmark.


Title

Cooperative and load-balancing auctions for heterogeneous multi-robot teams dealing with spatial and non-atomic tasks.

Authors:

Ishaq Ansari, Abubakr Mohamed, Eduardo Feo Flushing, Saquib Razak, Department of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University Qatar, Doha, Qatar.


Break 13:45 (UTC +4)


14:00 (UTC +4) Chair: Lakmal Seneviratne

MBZIRC 2023 - Challenges Presentation and Intention to Participate


15:00 (UTC +4) Chair: Jorge Dias, Christopher J. Holder

Technical Session T.3


Title

Autonomous Physical Interaction of Exhaust Shafts and Smokestacks Using a Fully-Actuated UAV.

Authors:

Abbaraju Praveen, Xin Ma, Yuanmeng Huang, Richard M. Voyles, Polytechnic Institute, Purdue University, USA.


Title

2D thermal wind sensor for mobile robot anemotaxis: Design and validation.

Authors:

Rui Baptista, Hugo Magalhães, Institute of Systems and Robotics, University of Coimbra, Portugal, João Macedo, Institute of Systems and Robotics, University of Coimbra, Portugal, and Centre for Informatics and Systems of the University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal, Lino Marques, Institute of Systems and Robotics, University of Coimbra, Portugal.


Title

Cooperative Aerial Search and Localization Using Lissajous Patterns.

Authors:

J. Josiah Steckenrider, Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, United States Military Academy, West Point NY, USA, Spencer Leamy, Corvus Labs, LLC, Blacksburg VA, USA, Tomonari Furukawa, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA.


Title

Experimental Validation of a Robotic Stretcher for Casualty Evacuation in a Man-Made Disaster Exercise.

Authors:

Anthony Mandow, Javier Serón, Francisco Pastor, and Alfonso García-Cerezo, Universidad de Málaga, Robotics and Mechatronics Group, Andalucía, Málaga, Spain.


Title

FENet: Fast Real-time Semantic Edge Detection Network.

Authors:

Yang Zhou, Rundong Ge, New York University, Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, USA, Gary McGrath, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., San Diego, USA, Giuseppe Loianno, New York University, Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, USA.


Break 16:45 (UTC +4)


17:00 (UTC +4) Chairs: Jorge Dias, Lino Marques

Invited Talk T.2


Title

Desert Locust Control Management: Innovative Technology on the Front Lines in the Battle Against Locust

Speaker:

Mamoon Alsarai Al Alawi


Break 18:00 (UTC +4)


19:00 (UTC +4) Chairs: Tomonari Furukawa, Jorge Dias

Technical Session T.4


Title

Needs-driven Heterogeneous Multi-Robot Cooperation in Rescue Missions.

Authors:

Qin Yang, Ramviyas Parasuraman, HeRo Lab, Department of Computer Science, University of Georgia, Athens, USA.


Title

Augmenting Coverage Control with Agent-Environment Dependency for Multi-Robot Systems.

Authors:

Kong Yao Chee, M. Ani Hsieh, GRASP Laboratory, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA.


Title

Improving Bounds on Occluded Vehicle States for use in Safe Motion Planning.

Authors:

Garrison Neel, Srikanth Saripalli, Unmanned Systems Lab, Texas A&M University College Station, USA.


Title

Design and Map-based Teleoperation of a Robot for Disinfection of COVID-19 in Complex Indoor Environments.

Authors:

Dean Conte, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA,USA, Spencer Leamy, Corvus Labs, LLC Blacksburg, VA, USA, Tomonari Furukawa, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.


Title

A Generalized Bayesian Approach for Localizing Static Natural Obstacles on Unpaved Roads.

Authors:

Yoshito Kinoshita, Komatsu, Ltd., Japan, Josiah Steckenrider, Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, United States Military Academy, NY, USA, Ioannis Papakis, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA, Tomonari Furukawa, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Virginia, VA, USA.


Title

Impact of Heterogeneity in Multi-Robot Systems on Collective Behaviors Studied Using a Search and Rescue Problem.

Authors:

Sanjay Sarma O V, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, USA, Ramviyas Parasuraman, Department of Computer Science, The University of Georgia, Athens, USA, Ramana Pidaparti, School of Environmental, Civil, Agricultural and Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, The University of Georgia, Athens, USA.


06 November 2020
09:00 (UTC +4) Chairs: Christopher J. Holder, Jorge Dias

Technical Session F.1


Title

Input Optimisation Network for Semantic Segmentation of Underexposed Images.

Authors:

Christopher J. Holder, Khalifa University Centre for Autonomous Robotic Systems, Abu Dhabi, UAE, Majid Khonji, Jorge Dias, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE.


Title

A Modular, Accessible, Affordable Dexterity Test for Evaluating the Grasping and Manipulation Capabilities of Robotic Grippers and Hands.

Authors:

Nathan Elangovan, Geng Gao, Che-Ming Chang, Minas Liarokapis, New Dexterity research group, The University of Auckland, New Zealand.


Title

A Risk-Aware Architecture for Autonomous Vehicle Operation Under Uncertainty.

Authors:

Majid Khonji*, Jorge Dias, Rashid Alyassi, Fahad Almaskari, Lakmal Seneviratne, Khalifa University, UAE


Title

Configuration-Space Flipper Planning on 3D Terrain.

Authors:

Yijun Yuan, Qingwen Xu Soren Schwertfeger, School of Information Science and Technology, Shanghai Tech University, China.


Title

Autonomous Intruder Detection using a ROS-based Multi-Robot System equipped with 2D-LiDAR Sensors.

Authors:

Mashnoon Islam, Touhid Ahmed, Abu Tammam Bin Nuruddin, Mashuda Islam, Shahnewaz Siddique, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.


Break 10:45 (UTC +4)


11:00 (UTC +4) Chairs: Jorge Dias, Christopher J. Holder

Invited Talk F.1


Title

Mobile robot olfaction: Towards search and rescue robot dogs

Speaker:

Lino Marques


12:00 (UTC +4) Chairs: Jorge Dias, Lino Marques

Technical Session F.2


Title

Deep Learning Inference at the Edge for Mobile and Aerial Robotics.

Authors:

Efstathios Faniadis, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Xanthi, Greece, Angelos Amanatiadis, Department of Production and Management Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Xanthi, Greece.


Title

Probabilistic Calibration of a Manipulator and a 2D Laser Scanner for Recalibration of Mobile Manipulators on Site.

Authors:

Jan Alberts, Sebastian P. Kleinschmidt, Bernardo Wagner, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Hanover.


Title

Hardware in the Simulation Loop Framework For Reproducible Testing of Rescue Robot Communications in Constrained Environments.

Authors:

Manuel Patchou, Christian Arendt, Philipp Gorczak, Johannes Guldenring, Janis Tiemann, Christian Wietfeld, Communication Networks Institute, TU Dortmund University Dortmund,Germany.


Title

Multi-Modal Depth Estimation Using Convolutional Neural Networks.

Authors:

Sadique Adnan Siddiqui, Axel Vierling, Karsten Berns, Robotics Research Lab, Dep. of Computer Science, TU Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany.


Title

Signed Distance Based Reconstruction for Exploration and Change Detection in Underground Mining Disaster Prevention.

Authors:

Philipp Koch, Helmut Engelhardt, Stefan May, Michael Schmidpeter, Jasmin , Institue of Technology Georg-Simon-Ohm, Nuremberg, Andreas Nuchter, Informatics VII : Robotics and Telematics, W¨urzburg.


Break 13:45 (UTC +4)


15:00 (UTC +4) Chair: David Portugal, Jorge Dias

Technical Session F.3


Title

VFH+ based shared control for remotely operated mobile robots.

Authors:

Pantelis Pappas, Manolis Chiou, Georgios-Theofanis Epsimos, Extreme Robotics Lab (ERL) and National Center for Nuclear Robotics (NCNR), University of Birmingham, UK, Grigoris Nikolaou, University of West Attica, Greece, Rustam Stolkin, Extreme Robotics Lab (ERL) and National Center for Nuclear Robotics (NCNR), University of Birmingham, UK.


Title

A Reliable Localization Architecture for Mobile Surveillance Robots.

Authors:

David Portugal, Institute of Systems and Robotics, University of Coimbra , Portugal, André Araújo, Ingeniarius, Ltd., Coimbra, Portugal, Micael S. Couceiro, Institute of Systems and Robotics, University of Coimbra, Portugal and Ingeniarius, Ltd., Coimbra, Portugal.


Title

Object Detection from Thermal Infrared and Visible Light Cameras in Search and Rescue Scenes.

Authors:

Adrián Banuls, Anthony Mandow, Ricardo Vázquez-Martín, Jesús Morales, Alfonso García-Cerezo, Systems Engineering and Automation Group (Robotics and Mechatronics Lab), Universidad de Málaga, Spain.


Title

Improving CNN-based Planar Object Detection with Geometric Prior Knowledge.

Authors:

Jianxiong Cai, Jiawei Hou, Yiren Lu, Hongyu Chen, Laurent Kneip, Soren Schwertfeger, School of Information Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China.


Title

Staircase Negotiation Learning for Articulated Tracked Robots with Varying Degrees of Freedom.

Authors:

Andrei Mitriakov, Panagiotis Papadakis, Sao Mai Nguyen, Serge Garlatti, Lab-STICC, UMR 6285, F-29238, team RAMBO, IMT Atlantique Bretagne/ Pays de la Loire, Brest, France.


Break 16:45 (UTC +4)


17:00 (UTC +4) Chairs: Andreas Nuechter, Jorge Dias

Invited Talk F.2


Title

Agile and Resilient Autonomous Flight

Speaker:

Giuseppe Loianno


18:00 (UTC +4) Chairs: Jorge Dias, Andreas Nuechter

Proposal for IEEE SSRR 2021 and Closing Session


18:30 (UTC +4) Chairs: Fahad Almaskari, Majid Khonji

Awards Ceremony


Closing Session IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics (SSRR)