Submission guidelines

All prospective workshop participants are invited to submit an extended abstract (up to 2 pages) to be presented at the workshop. The manuscripts should use the IEEE two-column conference format. Please submit a PDF copy of your manuscript through the EasyChair site (below) before September 15. Papers will be selected based on their originality, workshop relevance, contributions, clarity, and presentation. Accepted abstracts will be published online, and authors will be invited to submit an extended paper to a special issue of Frontiers in Robotics and AI. This workshop is an excellent opportunity to highlight your ongoing work and receive feedback from the participants. Authors will be requested to give a brief "spotlight" podium and poster presentation at the workshop. Hands-on demos are also highly encouraged.

Important Dates

• Paper/Video submission: September 08, 2020
• Notification of acceptance: September 15, 2020

Overview

Robotic manufacturing, assembly, and servicing utilizing in-situ resources will enable the construction and maintenance of large-scale assets at significantly reduced cost.  Examples include large, ground-based infrastructure (buildings, particle accelerators, solar farms), large in-space assemblies (space telescopes, commercial platforms, transportation hubs), and undersea structures (oil platforms, laboratories, habitats).  Achieving in-situ fabrication using cooperative, mobile robots is also a major goal of several terrestrial and orbital construction projects.  Major challenges include mobility, precise manipulation, localization/mapping, and adaptability to uncertainties in the environment.  The capacity to process raw materials in remote environments is also key for on-orbit, lunar, and planetary applications.  In general, large ground-based facilities built in inaccessible locales could benefit greatly from in-situ robotics for inspection and servicing, and likely would necessitate a multi-robot scalable solution.  The workshop will be highlighted by invited speakers covering a spectrum of topics as well as posters and spotlight presentations from selected contributions.  The organizers have also collaborated with “Frontiers in Robotics and AI” to develop a special issue devoted to this research topic and encourage contributions from workshop participants.

TOPICS OF INTEREST

• Robotic In-Space Manufacturing and Material Manipulation
• In-process inspection, repair, verification and validation
• In-situ sensing and relative navigation
• Dexterous robot manipulation and mobile platforms
• Robotic tools, tool drive system and mating mechanisms
• Modular/Cooperative servicing interfaces and systems
• Modular Mechanical, Power, and Data Interfaces
• Robotic Assembly Joining Technology
• Terrestrial and Lunar Surface Manipulator System
• Actuation for Long Reach In-Space Manipulation
• Multi-robot/multi-agent cooperative systems or operations

ORGANIZERS

• Craig Carignan, University of Maryland
• Joshua Vander Hook, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• Renaud Detry, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• Mini Saaj, University of Lincoln
• Giacomo Marani, West Virginia Robotic Technology Center

Endorsements

This workshop is supported by the following IEEE RAS Technical Committees:

• Space Robotics
• Mobile Manipulation
• Multi-Robot Systems
• Robotic Hands, Grasping and Manipulation

Contact

All questions about submissions should be emailed to:

• Craig Carignan craigc@ssl.umd.edu
• Giacomo Marani giacomo.marani@mail.wvu.edu