Robotics weekly meetings

Purpose

1. Community. Keep everyone updated as to what other work is going on in the lab
2. Research. Cross germination. Get feedback. Get help on problems. Get ideas.
3. Admin. Lab administration.

Format

1. Presentation (15 - 30 mins)
   • Work you have been doing
   • Reading you have been doing in the context of your work
   • Other reading on something you are passionate about
2. Discussion (15 - 30 mins)
3. Administration (0 - 30 mins)

Try and make your session as involving as possible for everyone:

• Send round material to be read beforehand.
• Ask people before the meeting what aspects of your work / reading they would like to know about or discuss.
• Think about implications of what you are presenting for the research direction of the lab as a whole - methodologies, technologies etc.

Timing & Attendance

The weekly meetings ALWAYS take place on

Wednesdays at 14.30

Unless:

• A given Wednesday is a public holiday, or
• Something very important (like a Ph.D. defense) is overlapping.

If either should happen the meeting is postponed to the next day.

Please indicate on this wiki page if you are not going to be able to attend a meeting (no later than the Friday before).

If you forget to note your absence in advance you will be severely punished and will be forced to buy a nice, big cake for the following meeting.

Wednesday 19th October - Alexandre

Presentation / Discussion Topics

The main topic is optimal multi-foraging in swarm robotics.

• I will present my latest developments and results
• Go again through goals, motivations and bibliography (renewed).
• Discussion about the context of this work, possible applications ?
• I might present, if there is time left, my next experiment.

You can take a look at this very quick summary of my current research : http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~acampo/various/alex_research.pdf

Administration Issues

• Coffee machines
• Format of these meetings
• Standard programatic interface for simulators / real sbots.

People who will be absent

Rodi

Results

You can download a copy of Alex's presentation

• The optimization group will have their own weekly presentations, but the will invite robotics people to participate, just like the swarm-bots presentations are open to optimization people. Seminars will continue as always and presentations might be given both at weekly meetings and at seminars.
• Anders brings his coffee machine to test it. In case it pass the Italian test, we will buy one while the super-machine is being fixed.
• Simulators and a standard interface for simulators:
  • Rehan and Alex are going to talk to Vito and make a plan
  • Rehan proposed Halva's interface, which he is going to send to Ciro and Anders for discussion on the next meeting

Wednesday 26th October - Anders

Presentation / Discussion Topics

Dependability and fault-tolerance in Robotics:

• What is fault-tolerance and dependability?
• What has been done in robotics?
• How could fault tolerance be implemented in a swarm robotics context?

Adminstration Issues

• Coffee machine
• The new e-pucks
• Simulators and swarm-bot interfaces

People who will be absent

Elio, Rodi, Christos

We are not going to pay the cakes ;-)

Wednesday 2nd November - Rehan

Presentation / Discussion Topics

Adminstration Issues

People who will be absent

Elio, Marco

Wednesday 9th November - Federico

Presentation / Discussion Topics

Adminstration Issues

People who will be absent

N/A

Wednesday 16th November - Elio

Presentation / Discussion Topics

Adminstration Issues

People who will be absent

Marco

Wednesday 23rd November - Christos

Presentation / Discussion Topics

Adminstration Issues

People who will be absent

Ciro (holiday --> no cake, but maybe a havana cigar...)

Wednesday 23rd November - Shervin

Presentation / Discussion Topics

Adminstration Issues

People who will be absent

Ciro (holiday --> no talk!!!)