Keynote Presentations
Keynote Presentations will take place on Tuesday, April 8 and Wednesday, April 9. For access to all of the Keynote Presentations, register for a Full Conference Pass. Expo attendees are invited to attend the 'Open Door' Keynote Presentations which will take place at 10:00am on both Tuesday and Wednesday. The Expo Hall will open immediately after the 'Open Door' Keynote Presentations.
Paolo Pirjanian
President and Chief Executive Officer, Evolution Robotics
Tuesday, April 8
8:00AM - Special Breakfast Keynote
The Growth of Robotics in the Consumer Market
Breakthrough technologies are coming to market that are being incorporated into the next generation of smarter products for the consumer market. From mobile phones and toys that recognize what they see, to vacuum cleaners that can intelligently navigate around your home, the number of such consumer products are growing rapidly. In this enlightening breakfast keynote Evolution Robotics CEO, Paolo Pirjanian, will speak to the major trends and market needs for consumer robotics and demonstrate the latest advances in visual pattern recognition and autonomous navigation as examples of technologies that are changing the landscape of products and services we experience in our everyday lives.
Kevin Fahey
Program Executive Officer, Ground Combat Systems, Department of the Army
Tuesday, April 8
9:00AM
Military Robotics Evolution... From Technology to Concept... From Concept to Saving Lives
Prior to the current Global War On Terrorism (GWOT), the military was struggling to specifically identify the role of robotics and how to integrate this technology into the current force. Most of the previous analysis on where this capability would fit and how would we conceptually utilize this capability was focused on the future force and the Future Combat System (FCS) Brigade Combat Team (BCT). Now with the current conflicts around the world and the maturation of this technology we have been able to quickly integrate this capability into our fighting forces. These robots are saving Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marine lives every day and the more we use this capability the more we find additional needs for this evolving technology. Robots are here to stay as a vital capability for our fighting forces and we have just scratched the surface on how valuable this capability will be for our future forces. The evolution of quickly integrating this capability has truly been a team effort between the Government, Industry and Academia. As the Department of Defense identified the growing need for this technology, industry quickly responded in delivering this capability to our fighting forces. The process of integrating this technology into our fighting forces is not easy. It requires training the units on how to use this capability and more importantly how do we sustain this equipment once fielded in a war zone. Though it has not been easy, it has been a tremendous success story.
COLIN ANGLE
Co-Founder and CEO of iRobot
Tuesday, April 8
10:00AM
The Business of Robots
'Open Door Keynote' - this session is open to ALL ATTENDEES
In this keynote session, Colin Angle, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of iRobot, will present a no bull, no holds barred look at robots and how they will be changing our lives in the future. From making sushi, to entertaining our parents, to helping firefighters – robots will scramble, roll, and hop into our lives. And the world will never be the same.
Tandy Trower
General Manager, Microsoft Robotics Group, Microsoft
Wednesday, April 9
8:00AM - Special Breakfast Keynote
Microsoft and Robotics – 2008 Update
At RoboBusiness 2006, Microsoft first entered the robotics market with the preview of Microsoft Robotics Studio, a platform and toolset designed to provide a common ground and catalyst for application development for wide variety of users and robot hardware. Released to the Web in December of that same year, Microsoft then followed with a new 1.5 release in July 2007 which included a number of new features and enhancements. With a user base of more than 200,000 users worldwide and over 50 supporting third party hardware and software vendors, Microsoft continues to improve its commitment to further address the growing needs of the emerging robotics community. Microsoft General Manager, Tandy Trower, will talk about what exciting new things are coming up.
TAKEO KANADE
U.A. Helen Whitaker University Professor of Computer Science and Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh
Wednesday, April 9
9:00AM
Quality of Life Technology
We define Quality of Life Technology (QoLT) as intelligent systems that augment body and mind for self-determination for older adults and people with disabilities. QoLT systems take many forms: they could be a device that a person carries, a mobile system that accompanies a person, or a technology-embedded environment in which a person lives. While QoLT R&D yields intelligent systems, it is a departure from traditional robotics research aimed at “more intelligent”, “more autonomous” systems for which reducing human involvement is an implicit goal. In contrast, QoLT systems work in the daily environment with a person and for the person; it is not just an artificial “system”, but person-system symbiosis in which the person and the artifact components are mutually dependent and work together. QoLT is the first serious attempt to make intelligent systems work with people in the most natural, unstructured, changing everyday-life environments. In addition to the techniques for robust perception, safe mobility and manipulation, and dynamic interface, we must develop understanding of how people act and behave in everyday life – or science of everyday living, a domain that science has not yet targeted. The presentation discusses the challenges, opportunities and progress of QoLT.
HUGH DURRANT-WHYTE
Research Director, Australian Centre for Field Robotics
Wednesday, April 9
10:00AM
Field Robotics in Australia
'Open Door Keynote' - this session is open to ALL ATTENDEES
'Field Robots' is concerned with the automation of vehicles and systems operating in unstructured outdoor environments. Field robotics is of major significance to Australian primary sector industries such as mining, cargo handling and agriculture. This talk will describe developments in field robotics in Australia including essential research in high-integrity navigation, sensor and system development, and successful commercial applications in autonomous cargo handling and in mining automation. This presentation will also highlight a number of technical and business challenges facing robotics in general, and field robotics in particular.