| CARVIEW |
Noosphere: Tactile Sensing for General Purpose Robot Learning
Demonstrations with the PR2 Robots, and the low-cost Mobile ALOHA project project, might suggest that technologies for building general-purpose robots are on the verge of readiness, as these can be teleoperated to perform a wide range of daily tasks effectively. However, devoid of tactile sensing feedback, such robots have not yet been shown to possess the dexterous interactive learning capabilities that animals have — even before they develop language. With that, within the tactile sensing community, there is a growing discussion around the idea that touch is a fundamental capability for learning. After all, intelligent animals, including humans, are equipped with tactile sensing from a very early age.
With research on tactile sensing and robotic learning being at a peak point, Noosphere, like its namesake, is a timely and exciting workshop that brings together researchers from tactile sensing and sensors, simulation methods for Sim2Real learning, grasping and manipulation, and interactive perception.
Noosphere (noun): a postulated sphere or stage of evolutionary development dominated by consciousness, the mind, and interpersonal relationships.Invited Speakers
- Danica Kragic (KTH)
- Xiaolong Wang (UC San Diego)
- Pulkit Agrawal (MIT)
- Jia Pan (University of Hong Kong)
- Jingxi Xu (Columbia University)
- Wenzhen Yuan (UIUC)
- Nathan Lepora (University of Bristol)
- Shan Luo (King's College London)
- Nawid Jamali (Honda Research Institute USA)
Call for papers and posters
We invite you to submit already-accepted work or ongoing research in the format of extended abstracts. The papers are expected to be two-pages long and to follow the conference template. Authors with accepted submissions will be invited to exhibit their poster during the workshop coffee break.
Submissions are now open: HERE
Best Submission Award
— sponsored by Ocado Technology
The best submission will be awarded a prize of £300.
Eligibility
- The author must be the first author of the submission.
- The author must be a student or early-career researcher.
- The author must attend the workshop in person (not remotely).
- The author agrees to present their work during the workshop 'Award Spotlight' session and to participate in the panel discussion.
- Submission Deadline:
1st July, 202414th July, 2024 - Notification of acceptance:
5th July, 202416th July, 2024 - Camera-ready deadline:
12th July, 202418th July, 2024
- Tactile sensors (and skins)
- Simulation methods for Sim2Real learning
- Interactive perception
- Learning manipulation (grasping, folding, tossing, etc.)
- Tactile sensing for locomotion
Schedule
| Starts at | Session | Speakers |
|---|---|---|
| 1:25 PM (5 mins) |
Opening | Welcome message and introduction |
| 1:30 PM (80 mins) |
Talks I |
1:30 PM – Nawid Jamali, Honda Research Institute 1:45 PM – Shan Luo, King’s College London 2:00 PM – Jingxi Xu, Columbia Univ. 2:15 PM – Nathan Lepora, Univ. of Bristol 2:30 PM – Jia Pan, Univ. of Hong Kong |
| 3:15 PM (15 mins) |
Lightning Round | 2 mins presentations by poster authors (presentations order) |
| 3:30 PM (30 mins) |
Coffee Break Poster Session |
Posters displayed and presenters available for Q&A |
| 4:00 PM (80 mins) |
Talks II |
4:00 PM – Carmelo Sferrazza, UC Berkeley 4:15 PM – Danica Kragic, KTH 4:30 PM – Pulkit Agrawal, MIT 4:45 PM – Wenzhen Yuan, UIUC 5:00 PM – Xiaolong Wang, UC San Diego |
| 5:15 PM (10 mins) |
Award Spotlight | Technical presentation by Zilin Si (best paper submission) — DiffTactile: A Physics-based Differentiable Tactile Simulator for Contact-rich Manipulation |
| 5:30 PM (30 mins) |
Panel Discussion | The speakers and the author of the best submission engage in a technical discussion |
| 6:00 PM | Closing | Conclusion and farewell |
Attending
- When: Friday, July 19
- Where: Robotics Science and Systems (RSS) 2024, Delft, Netherlands
Organizers
- Carmelo (Carlo) Sferrazza (UC Berkeley)
- Daniel Fernandes Gomes (King's College London)
- Youcan Yan (CNRS - LIRMM)
- João Bimbo (Univesity of Lisbon)
- Henrique Ferrolho (Ocado Technology)
Sponsor
