Davide Scaramuzza
Title: Are We Ready for Autonomous Drones?
Biography
Davide Scaramuzza does research at the intersection of robotics and computer vision. He did his PhD in robotics and computer vision at ETH Zurich and a postdoc at the University of Pennsylvania. From 2009 to 2012, he led the European project sFly, which introduced the PX4 autopilot and pioneered visual-SLAM–based autonomous navigation of micro drones.
For his research contributions, he won several awards, like the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Early Career Award, Google, Qualcomm, Intel Research Awards, and several conference paper awards. In 2015, he cofounded Zurich-Eye, which later became Facebook-Oculus VR Zurich. Many aspects of his research have been prominently featured in the popular press, such as Discovery Channel, BBC, MIT Technology Review Magazine.
Sanjiv Singh
CEO of Near Earth Autonomy
Title: Field Robotics: Ready Now for Dull, Dirty and Dangerous?
Abstract: While hazard has been the historical justification for application of robotics outside the built environment, we are on the threshold of an era where economics serves as a larger motivation. In this talk I will discuss how we might use trends in related disciplines to understand the application of robotics to a broad set of use cases that affect our every day lives. I will particularly discuss the emergence of technology that has the potential to disrupt ground transportation and aviation.
Biography
Dr. Sanjiv Singh is an educator, innovator, and entrepreneur. He is currently a Research Professor at the Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University and the CEO of Near Earth Autonomy, a startup that develops autonomy for next generation aircraft that will inspect infrastructure, deliver cargo, and, transport people.
He started his career working on the earliest autonomous ground vehicles to operate outdoors in 1985. Since then, he has led research efforts with applications in aviation, agriculture, mining and construction. In 2010 he led a team that demonstrated the first autonomous, full-scale helicopter capable of take off, search for viable landing sites and safe descent. In 2011 he led the autonomy effort for Transformer, DARPA's flying car program. He is the founding editor of the Journal of Field Robotics and a co-founder of 4 companies.
Yoshiyuki Sankai
Title: Challenges for Social Implementation of Innovative Cybernic Systems
-Fusion of Humans, Robots and Information Systems-
Biography
Yoshiyuki Sankai received a PhD in engineering from University of Tsukuba in Japan in 1987. He was Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor at University of Tsukuba, and a Visiting Professor of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas in the United States.
Currently, he is professor of Faculty of Engineering, Information and Systems, Executive Research Director at the Center for Cybernics Research, University of Tsukuba and president /CEO of CYBERDYNE Inc. He is a fellow of the Robotics
Society of Japan and the Society of Instrument and Control Engineers. He is also a Center Partner of the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and a member of Global Future Council of Production of World Economic Forum.