Purchase your exposition pass, and attend the following special programs:

Consumer & Entertainment Seminar Program

Emerging Robotics Technology Theater

RoboNexus Center Stage Demos

Special Events & Competitions click on photo for more information

In the past, the majority of robots were used in a manufacturing capacity, but a recent trend has seen robots used in a variety of applications including space and underwater exploration, medicine and a wide range of service industries.  These service robots, semi or fully autonomous mobile robots that assist humans, service equipment and perform other autonomous functions, have applications in almost every industry – anywhere where work is repetitive, requires continuously high levels of concentration, is physically demanding or takes place in dangerous environments.  While the industrial and service robotics markets are sizable and growing, they will soon be dwarfed by the fastest growing of all robotics markets – Consumer Robotics. 

Consumer Robotics are robots or robotic technology purchased by individual buyers (consumers) which educate, entertain or assist in the home.  These products serve the consumer market in many diverse segments and is typified by products such as home automation/domestic service robots (robotic vacuum cleaners and home security robots, for example), hobbyist/education robots and entertainment robots (Lego’s Mindstorms and Sony’s Aibo robot dog serve as examples, respectively). Intelligent mobile toys from vendors such as Hasbro and Bandi, along with those robots that assist the disabled and elderly in the home, also fall into the personal robotics category.

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SPEAKERS & SEMINARS:

Art With Robots
Max Chandler, Artist

This lively, family friendly session features a multimedia presentation and exhibition, Bay Area artist Max Chandler will describe a novel use for robots and robotic technology – creating art! See how robots and the creative minds of humans can work together to create works of art neither could create alone.

Originally trained as an artist in the Far East, Max Chandler worked in Bay Area software companies for many years. In 2004, he began exhibiting art made with robots, with critical acclaim and press and television coverage.

Consumer Robots - the Next Decade
David Calkins
President of the Robotics Society of America, Founder of ROBOlympics

Where's Rosie the Robot and B-9? Everyone's wanted a robot butler - no one likes doing laundry or the dishes - but why aren't they for sale yet? And what is for sale? Walking robots are already coming out, so what can we expect next year, in 2010, and 2015? In this lively session, designed for both children and adults alike, attendees will be provided with an overview of what is currently available in consumer robots, ranging from Aibo's that recognize your face and Roomba's that vacuum your carpet, to the consumer robots of the future. Join David Calkins for a sneak peek at what's in stores and what's in store for you.

David Calkins is the president of the Robotics Society of America and Founder of ROBOlympics, the international robot competition. He teaches robotics at San Francisco State University and has been profiled in a variety of media outlets including the Discovery Channel, CNN.com, the New York Times, the History Channel, Tech TV and Time Magazine. Teaming with NASA's Robotics Education Project, he helps involve kids in building robots and competing them. He also judges robot competitions around the country, and is widely sought speaker and commentator on the robotics industry. He recently co-founded a company to build both competition robots and home-based consumer robots.

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Beyond 'Cool Idea': Supporting the Robotics Community and Building an Industry
Dan Danknick
Technical Editor, SERVO and Nuts & Volts Magazines

Linux shocked the engineering world, not because it is a revolutionary computer operating system, but because Finnish teenagers stayed up late at night to work on it. For free. This allegiance to a Cool Idea is not relegated simply to programming, but also applies to robotics. In this session, attendees will learn how the robotics community is coming together to overcome a number of challenges including sensing, manipulation, and real-time control, so that robotics can rise to the level of Cool Idea, and attract those will-work-all-night-for-free people in even larger numbers. In this manner robotics will move beyond 'Cool Idea' and propel robotics into the next decade in a way that exceeds the effort of any single company or project.

Dan Danknick is the technical editor of both SERVO and Nuts & Volts Magazines. Previously, he worked for 13 years as an embedded systems engineer, writing low-level communication drivers and animatronics control code for Walt Disney Imagineering. He holds 10 patents for his work in industry and holds a degree in applied physics.

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Robots, Robots Everywhere
Dan Kara, Conference Chair, President, Robotics Trends

In this highly visual and exciting presentation, suitable for all age groups, Dan Kara, President of Robotics Trends, will describe the role of robots in society. Beginning with the ancient Greeks and continuing up until our own time, robots as tools, helpmates, heroes and villains will be reviewed. Attendees will also hear how robots are being utilized across the globe in many interesting and unexpected ways, now and in the future. Those attending the presentation will agree that we have truly entered the era where there will be robots, robots everywhere.

For bio, click here.

Networked Robot Art
Ken Goldberg, Artist and Professor, Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of California at Berkeley

In this illuminating session, Ken Goldberg will describe how he has combined his passion for art and robotics to deliver compelling and innovative artistic projects. During the presentation, he will describe a series of such artworks including the Telegarden, a robot that allows users to view, plant and grow plants in a living garden, Tele-Twister, a cyber version of the ’60s party game, a project that allow users to interact with a live Ouija board and other projects based on state-of-the-art in robotic Web cameras.

Ken Goldberg is an artist and professor of engineering at UC Berkeley. His work has been exhibited at the Walker Art Center, Ars Electronica (Linz Austria), ZKM (Karlsruhe), Venice Biennale, Pompidou Center (Paris), ICC Biennale (Tokyo), Kwangju Biennale (Seoul), Artists Space, The Kitchen, and the Whitney Biennial. He has also held visiting positions at MIT Media Lab, Art Center College of Design, and the San Francisco Art Institute. Goldberg is Founding Director of UC Berkeley's popular Art, Technology, and Culture Colloquium, now in its eighth year. Goldberg was awarded the National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award in 1994, the NSF Presidential Faculty Fellowship in 1995, the Joseph Engelberger Robotics Award in 2000, and the IEEE Major Educational Innovation Award in 2001. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University.

Panel: To Build a Industry
Moderator: Lance Ulanoff, Executive Editor, PCMag.com
Panelists: Fred Nikgohar, CEO, RoboDynamics, Thomas Burick, President, White Box Robotics

The past few years have witnessed major breakthroughs in sensor systems, computing power, mobility and software with the result that there has been a dramatic increase in the use of robotics around the globe. The resounding success of the older industrial robotics market has been well documented, but less well known has been the emergence of a new robotics market composed of highly intelligent, mobile robots that interact with the world around them, and that will soon dwarf the industrial robotics market in size as new products find their way into the home, the community, the workplace and the battlefield. In this panel session, attendees will hear from representatives of emerging robotics companies, as well as more mature firms, on the mobile robotics market, where they see the marketing going and their secrets for success in the market.

Kids + Robots = Technological Literacy
Robin Shoop, Director of Educational Outreach, Robotics Academy, The National Robotics Engineering Consortium

In this informative session, Robin Shoop will describe how kid's natural affinity for robots and robotic technology can be leveraged to excite children about science and technology and to help create a more technologically literate society. He will also describe what approaches parents and children can take to introduce themselves to the exciting world of robots.

Robin Shoop is a career teacher that currently works at Carnegie Mellon University where he directs a multifaceted program that uses the motivational affects of robotics to inspire children to study and pursue careers in science and technology. His program, the Robotics Academy, offers robotics camp solutions, competitions, professional development activities, and teacher tested curriculum solutions. For more information visit: www.rec.ri.cmu.edu/education

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ROBOTICS SOCIETY OF AMERICA COMPETITIONS
See combat robots, sumo robots, Sony AiboTM robotics dogs playing soccer, and biped androids that do kung-fu! For video clips, click here.

 

SOZBOTS COMPETITIONS & DEMOS
	Sozbots, 1 pound fighting robots, bring all the fun of the robots weighing hundreds of pounds that you have seen on television, but with much more energy and excitement!

 

ROBOSUMO - BOOTH 807

The JavaNator is a Japan-class robot sumo. Robot sumo has been popular in Japan for many years, and has made significant headway in the US recently. Robot sumo follows rules resembling sumo wrestling. Two robots face each other in a circular arena, each attempting to force the other out of the ring. The audience can configure the JavaNator through Java-powered wireless phones, using Sun ONE Web services and wireless Ethernet. The audience can choose to emphasize speed or agility. These robots broadcast video from on-board cameras and  transmit over wireless Ethernet for display to the audience.

CENTIBOTS DEMO 11:00-11:30AM - Friday & Saturday
Centibots are large groups of Linux-based, coordinated mobile robots that can autonomously and effectively explore, map, and survey the interior of unknown building structures. In this demonstration, produced by SRI International, 10 Centibots will work as team, communicating with each other, mapping unexplored areas and navigating a complex maze while avoiding hazardous structures. See www.ai.sri.com/centibots for more information. For a demo, click here. Presented by Dr. Regis Vincent, Stanford Research Institute International Dr. Regis Vincent is a research scientist at SRI International. He is the integration manager for the Centibots project. He has worked on robots and Unmanned Air Vehicle for DARPA and ONR for several years. Regis has published over 20 papers in multi-agent systems and on robot collaboration.