Robotics

Seeing the robots at #ICRA2022 by the eyes of a robotic

November 6, 2022

Accessbility@ICRA2022 and OhmniLabs supplied three OhmniBots for the convention, permitting college students, college and business members to attend the expo and poster classes. The deployment of telepresence robots was enormously appreciated by everybody, from folks with medical situations or visa points stopping them from attending, to individuals who had been in a position to pattern just a little little bit of the convention as an introduction, together with future convention organizers.

There had been greater than 60 requests to “Tour ICRA 2022 via Telepresence Robots” from as far-off as Africa, India, Asia Pacific, Australia and Europe, in addition to throughout the USA. 24.6% of requests got here from business folks, with a further 1.8% from the funding neighborhood, 1.8% from the media and 5.3% was curiosity from most of the people.

ICRA 2022 General Chair George Pappas commented that “The telepresence robots were a big hit! It added a very nice innovation and was discussed very positively on social media, particularly from registrants that could not make it.”

Thuc Vu, the CEO of OhmniLabs, the corporate that supplied ICRA with telepresence robots, was delighted to see a convention that was taking a significant step for folks with accessibility points. OhmniLabs present telepresence robots for hospitals and colleges in addition to for manufacturing or office settings and have seen first hand the distinction that having a bodily ‘body’ and the power to maneuver round makes within the expertise, in comparison with a video name.

One ICRA researcher offered their poster session through robotic, and several other college who couldn’t attend in individual had been in a position to be there for his or her pupil’s poster classes. 12.5% of the requests for telepresence robots got here from individuals who had a paper or poster accepted at ICRA however couldn’t journey. PhD Student at The Sydney Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Systems (SIRIS) at Sydney University, Ahalya Ravendran mentioned,

“Did I tell y’all I bot-suit myself for my conference #ICRA2022 poster session? @RobotLaunch was kind enough to allocate a slot for me during my poster session and oh I had a lot of fun touring with the telepresence robot, via @OhmniLabs”

“Hi from Robotic Imaging Team ”

Sabine Hauert, Publicity Chair at ICRA, President of Robohub and Associate Professor of Swarm Engineering at Bristol University was unable to attend ICRA in individual resulting from being pregnant, however she nonetheless visited her pupil’s poster classes and explored the convention Expo, saying

“That was fun! The height of the telepresence robot is even accurate Thanks @OhmniLabs, @RobotLaunch and @ieee_ras_icra for making it possible for this very pregnant lady to attend #ICRA2022 remotely. Congrats on the nice work @m_alhafnawi.”

Sabine’s PhD pupil Merihan Alhafnawi was delighted,

“Such an amazing surprise having @sabinehauert visit my poster remotely at @ieee_ras_icra! I presented MOSAIX, a swarm of expressive robot Tiles that we designed & built. Work done with Sabine, @DrEdmundHunt, @skadge & Paul O’Dowd. Check out photos from both perspectives #ICRA2022”

Specially Appointed Assistant Professor at Tohoku University in Japan, Seyed Amir Tafrishi mentioned, “I was lucky to join #icra2022 physically by my avatar robot, where two of our papers will be presented. Thanks to #Ohmnilabs for the fantastic experience with the telepresence robot! It was a great experience to talk with different experts. P.S. Person on the robot’s screen is me! :))”

Many folks gave us further info to assist us perceive why they wished to entry ICRA through telepresence robots, starting from folks caught in conflict torn nations, to financial or visa difficulties touring from some elements of the world. Corporate coverage contributed to a number of folks’s incapability to attend in individual, as sustainably minded firms search to attenuate their carbon influence.

There was additionally curiosity from roboticists researching the telepresence expertise in addition to from future robotics convention organizers. And there have been a variety of medical causes underpinning the requests for telepresence. Some medical points are short-term situations however some roboticists have everlasting situations requiring accessibility help. As telepresence robots grow to be extra of the norm, we will likely be serving to to empower researchers who’re in any other case remoted from the remainder of the neighborhood.

Kavita Krishnaswamy is a Google Lime Scholar and Microsoft Research Fellow, with a Ford Foundation Predoctoral and National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. She is presently a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at University of Maryland working with Dr. Tim Oates. Kavita was one of many researchers who was solely in a position to attend ICRA by the usage of a telepresence robotic, resulting from her everlasting medical situations.

As an expert researcher with a bodily incapacity, Kavita is very motivated to develop robotics programs to supply help and enhance independence for folks with disabilities. She is creating prototype robotics programs to help transferring, repositioning and private care, with a deal with usable interfaces for folks with extreme disabilities.

Kavita was interviewed by Robohub attending ICRA 2015 through telepresence robotic and was excited to listen to that IEEE RAS and OhmniLabs are engaged on making telepresence a everlasting convention function.

https://robohub.org/robotic-assistive-devices-for-independent-living/

And after all, with out devoted volunteers managing the robots and serving to guests maneuver across the convention, we wouldn’t have been in a position to do something. Many because of everybody who volunteered, the guests who shared their experiences with us, and to the staff at OhmniLabs for his or her generosity and help.

Interested in getting an Ohmni your self? Reach out to Ohmni staff at gross sales@ohmnilabs.com.