ICRA2018 Workshop on Autonomous Robot Design

April 19th, 2018

Aims and Scope

This workshop focuses on technologies that allow robots to be designed by software. This workshop aims to generate discussion into the design of bespoke specialized robotic systems that are poised to provide superior performance compared to currently-available options. In such an approach, robots may optimize their hardware (morphologies, sensor/actuator configurations, and the materials they are made from), and software (controllers); in each case the onus is on techniques that automatically create robots, or robot components, with no (or minimal) human intervention. Such an approach is becoming increasingly feasible, due to the rapidly-advancing push in manufacturing technologies, including 3D printing & high-throughput materials characterization.

We seek participation from diverse fields, including robotics, mechatronics, materials characterization, structural design, and controller optimization, to overview the current state of the art, and to propose new directions.

Call for papers is now active!

Submit directly to david.howard@csiro.au by 13th April 2018 (timezone = AoE).

Invited Speakers

Gusz Eiben: The triangle of life and the evolution of things.

Josh Auerbach: How much complexity is enough for robot body design?

Dave Winkler: Discovering, characterizing, and synthesizing materials for robots.

Jean-Baptiste Mouret: Illuminating the design space of shapes and behaviors with quality diversity algorithms.

Kyrre Glette: Automatic design of bodies and behaviors for real-world robots

Stephane Doncieux: Towards creative robots

Jared Donovan: Design Robotics – using robots to design robots.

Location and Venue

This workshop will be held on the 21st May as part of ICRA, which runs from 21-25 May 2018, at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Brisbane, Australia.