Tag Archives: Lincoln Centre for Autonomous Systems

Events, Human-Robot interaction, Research, School news, Staff

Prof Duckett to speak at Agri-Robotics event

Robotics, automation and associated technologies

As part of Arable Horizons hosted by Farmers Weekly, University of Lincoln Professors, Tom Duckett, School of Computer Science / lead for Lincoln Centre for Autonomous Systems and Simon Pearson, Founder of the Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology (LIAT), will be speaking at the National Space Centre, Leicester, on 26th April 2017.

Arable Horizons is a series of 5 interactive talks, hosted by Farmers Weekly and in partnership with Syngenta, which cover some of the most exciting and innovative agricultural research; from robot-assisted farming to gene-edited crops. Exploration into the development of higher yields and cheaper production are key themes, as well as bringing a greener and more stable future for British agriculture.

The topic, “Robotics, automation and associated technologies”, will discuss exactly how robots and other related technologies will make UK farming more efficient than ever, whilst reducing the cost of labour and pesticides.

Pictured is Thorvald, LIAT's Agri-Robot.
Pictured is Thorvald, LIAT’s Agri-Robot.

Editor of Farmers Weekly, Karl Schneider, is a keen supporter of British agriculture: “UK arable farmers face a variety of unprecedented challenges over the next 25 years, from pesticide resistance and soil degradation to climate change and feeding an increasing population. Farmers Weekly, in partnership with Syngenta, want to draw attention to some of the individuals and institutions working to ensure a more productive and sustainable future for UK agriculture. We want to highlight some of the incredibly exciting research projects currently underway in the sector, projects that could genuinely change the way we farm in 2040.”

UK agricultural researchers, scientists and agronomists will be in attendance, as well as the nation’s farmers. The event will be a fantastic opportunity to chat and network with agri-robotic professionals Weekly staff and guest speakers Prof Tom Duckett and Prof Simon Pearson.

You can register for the talks here.

The agenda for the event:

17.30 – 18.00

(30 mins)

Drinks and nibbles will be provided for guests on arrival, with the chance for delegates to network before the formal start of the evening.

18.00 – 18.10

(10 mins) Introduction from Farmers Weekly Editor, Karl Schneider

Karl Schneider will introduce the evening: the idea behind the project, the topic, speakers and guests, partnership with Syngenta, and opportunities for interactivity throughout the talk.

18.10 – 18.50

(40 mins) Prof Tom Duckett presents ‘Robotics, automation and associated technologies’ Arable Horizons talk.

University of Lincoln professor and Head of the Lincoln Centre for Autonomous Systems Tom Duckett presents an introductory overview of the current use of robotics and associated technologies in agriculture and what some of the recent/future advances could mean for UK farmers. Prof. Duckett will talk about some of his own research and how we can work with other industries to make the integration of new machinery and technology into the farmers’ everyday toolkit as simple and productive as possible.

 

18.50 – 19.15

(25 mins) Prof Simon Pearson presents a talk on the most exciting future agricultural technology projects.

University of Lincoln professor and Founding Director of the Lincoln Institute of Agri Food Technology Simon Pearson presents his talk on some of the specific projects focussed on novel robotics and machinery, their integration into the UK agriculture industry and what it could mean for the farmer on the ground.

19.15 – 20.00

(45 mins) Interactive session with Prof Tom Duckett, Prof Simon Pearson & Karl Schneider

Karl Schneider will chair the interactive session in which the panel will take questions on the topics of robotics and associated technologies from the audience, both from guests in the room and those watching online.

20.00 – 20.20

(20 mins) Presentation from Syngenta on their work in robotics and the potential for the future

A Syngenta expert will present on what they as an organisation are doing in the area of robotics and machinery and how their research could help farmers tackle some of their most common and costly issues.

20.20 Dinner

Human-Robot interaction, Students

Postdoc to give a talk at a world-leading AI lab in America

Leave a comment

A School of Computer Science STRANDS postdoc has been invited to give a presentation at a world-leading Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab in the USA.

Dr Tomas Krajnik, in L-CAS will give a talk next week at MIT: Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in Cambridge, USA on ‘FreMEn: Frequency Map Enhancement for Long-Term Autonomy of Mobile Robots’.

Tom is a research fellow at the Lincoln Center of Autonomous Systems. He has a PhD degree in Artificial Intelligence and Biocybernetics from the Czech Technical University, Prague, Czech Republic, in 2012. His research interests include long-term autonomy, robot vision and aerial robotics.

This is an amazing opportunity for him to present the work of the STRANDS project to an American audience and we will keep you informed on how the talk goes.

Abstract:

While robotic mapping of static environments has been widely studied,life-long mapping in non-stationary environments is still an open problem. We present an approach for long-term representation of natural environments, where many of the observed changes are caused by pseudo-periodic factors, such as seasonal variations, or humans performing their daily chores.

Rather than using a fixed probability value, our method models the uncertainty of the elementary environment states by their frequency spectra. This allows to integrate sparse and irregular observations obtained during long-term deployments of mobile robots into memory-efficient models that reflect the recurring patterns of activity in the environment.

The frequency-enhanced spatio-temporal models allow to predict the future environment states, which improves the efficiency of mobile robot operation in changing environments. In a series of
experiments performed over periods of weeks to years, we demonstrate that the proposed approach improves mobile robot localization, path and task planning, activity recognition and allows for life-long spatio-temporal exploration.

STRANDS

Events, School news, Uncategorized

Research Seminar 15/02/16 2pm, in MB1020: Dr Michael Mangan

Leave a comment

After Dr Cuayahuitl and Dr Baxter, who gave research presentations recently, we are now happy to announce a research seminar by the third colleague to join the Lincoln Centre for Autonomous Systems soon as a Senior Lecturer.

M_Mangan_2_small
Dr Michael Mangan

On 15/02/16, at 2pm, in room MB1020 (1st floor, Minerva Building), Dr Michael Mangan, currently still at the University of Edinburgh, will be presenting his exciting research. Everybody is invited to join in.

 

 

Title

What can self-driving cars learn from the humble desert ant?  And how are those lessons learned?

Abstract

Desert ants are amongst the most impressive of the animal navigators: expertly piloting through complex environments despite possessing low-resolution eyes and tiny brains. As such they are an ideal model system for bio-roboticists that seek to understand these amazing animals, as well as those seeking novel solutions for engineering goals such as autonomous navigation.  In this talk I shall firstly introduce the animal of interest (the desert ant) describing their amazing navigational capabilities.  I will then briefly describe some recent examples for which our bio-robotic approach has lead to advances in understanding of the biological system and novel applications in autonomous systems (such as self-driving cars).  I shall close by looking ahead to the research I shall be pursuing after joining the University of Lincoln this spring.

 

Events, Research

SoCS Research Seminar 12/2/16 2pm MB1020: From Autonomous Robots to Autonomous Cars

Leave a comment
Dr Frederic Siepmann

Frederic Siepmann, a development specialist at BMW R&D will present in our School of Computer Science research seminar series on 12/02/16 at 2pm. His talk will take place in seminar room MB1020 (1st floor Minerva Building). Frederic will share his journey from being an academic working on autonomous robots to eventually become a developer in car autonomy and assistance, providing some insights into this career path and the latest development in the field at BMW.

BMW 7er
RoboCup Logo

Title: From Autonomous Robots to Autonomous Cars – How My RoboCup Experience helped me build Software for the new BMW 7 Series

 

Abstract:

Coming from the research area of autonomous robots and now working in the automotive industry, my talk covers some of the technological challenges as well as software engineering challenges when developing highly complex and software-intensive systems.

I will give you a short overview about lessons learned from the development of autonomous robots and how the iterative development process as e.g. performed during the RoboCup@HOME tournament helped me find my way in the automotive industry.

Also, I will show some of the current technologies in driver assistance, point out similarities and differences and dare to give a short glimpse into the future.