NEWS

Tidying Robotics on German public TV presented by University of Bonn

April 25th, 2018

Researchers of the University of Bonn presented a tidying up robot based on SQUIRREL technologies at a kindergarten in Bonn Friesdorf and were filmed by a team of the German public TV station WDR. Professor Maren Bennewitz further explains the research and potential applications in a studio interview at the Lokalzeit Bonn show.

https://uni-bonn.sciebo.de/s/SFW3MKMBOdMhAXJ

https://www1.wdr.de/mediathek/video/sendungen/lokalzeit-bonn/video-roboter-raeumt-kinderzimmer-auf-100.html (link expires 25.04.2019)

Austrian national newspaper "Heute" reports on Kenny's visit to IKEA

March 5th, 2018

March 1st Kenny was tested in a "kids room" in the children secion of an IKEA store in Vienna. IKEA shoppers could throw toys to Kenny and watch it pick them up and drop them in the matching box (animals or cars), and chat with scientists from TU Vienna.

http://epaper.heute.at/#/documents/180305_HEU/6

Kenny cleaning up the kids room Kenny grasps a giraffe

SQUIRREL on JeugdJournaal Dutch TV news programme for children

February 5th, 2018

Vanessa Evers (University of Twente) gave an interview for the Dutch TV news programme for children (JeugdJournaal) broadcasted by Dutch public service speaking about the Squirrel project and Cristina Zaga showed the Squirrel robot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LoGCckPpfc

Cristina Zaga and Vanessa Evers on Dutch TV JeugdJournaal Vanessa Evers interviewed for Dutch TV JeugdJournaal

Planning Talk at AI Congress

January 31st, 2018

King's College London lecturers gave a talk on Planning for Autonomous Systems at the AI Congress at O2 for an audience of industry, academia and business representatives.

SQUIRREL parent workshop: interviews for exploitation in Vienna

January 30th, 2018

SQUIRREL partners Verein Pädagogische Initiative (VPI) and TU Vienna (TUW) will conduct some short interviews with the parents of the children who participated in the different kindergarten actions that happened during the project.

Maren Bennewitz and Philipp Karkowski present their research at the community college Bonn

December 5th, 2017

Maren Bennewitz and Philipp Karkowski give a presentation and demonstration about their research in the context of planning for mobile manipulation in a lecture at the community college of the city of Bonn.

SQUIRREL mentioned in TV report on Austrian TV station "Servus TV"

December 4th, 2017

TV report "Im Kontext – Die Reportage: SOS Sozialstaat – Ist er noch zu retten?" ("In context - the report: SOS wellware state - can it be saved?") on Austrian national TV "Servus TV" addressed the topic of digitalisation with its potential problems as well as solutions. SQUIRREL robot Kenny was presented within the report.

https://www.servus.com/at/p/SOS-Sozialstaat/AA-1T9QD5XD12112/?t=1360.102035&videoId=

Talk on AI, Robotics and Law at the Robotiuris Congress

November 24th, 2017

King's College London provided a talk on AI, Robotics and Law to lawyers and businessmen at the Robotiuris Congress on the legal aspects of robotics in Madrid.

OpenLab and InDay Students during European Robotics Week 2017 at University of Innsbruck

November 23rd, 2017

University of Innbruck will be welcoming interested visitors and students to see their laboratories and research in robotics at November 23rd.

Presentation on service robot applications and technologies broadcasted as web seminar

November 20th, 2017

Fraunhofer IPA presented service robot applications and technologies broadcasted in a web seminar by adult education center VHS Böblingen to recipients in Germany and Austria.

SQUIRREL mentioned in interview in Austrian national newspaper "Der Standard"

November 13th, 2017

In an interview in Austrian national newspaper "Der Standard" Prof. Sabine Köszegi, head of the Austrian Robotics Council, mentions SQUIRREL robot Kenny and his skills.

http://derstandard.at/2000067362916/Sabine-Koeszegi-Maschinen-koennen-Emotionen-nur-vortaeuschen

M. Zillich (TUW) on Austrian FM4 radio broadcast "Auf Laut"

October 31th, 2017

On October 31st Michael Zillich was invited to national Radio station FM4 broadcast "Auf Laut" to discuss the future of robotics together with moderators and robot psychologist Martina Mara. Also listeners could phone in and discuss especially societal changes and the expections and fears - some justified, some unrealistic - going along with this topic.

http://fm4.orf.at/player/20171031/AL

Public exhibition of SQUIRREL robot at ICRESS 2017

October 20th-21st, 2017

IDMIND exhibited the SQUIRREL robot in the scope of the International Conference on Robot Ethics and Safety Standards (ICRESS) 2017 under the motto "Designing Social Robots-Challenges".

Panel discussion on Explainable Planning

October 17th, 2017

King's College London is involved in a panel discussion with TV broadcast on Explainable Planning at the IET Festival of Engineering.

King's College London won in the Robotics for Humanity Competition

October 7th, 2017

King's College London participated in the IEEE Robotics Open Day for Humanity Showcase and won the prize in the robot competition.

Drongo Language Festival Exhibition: A Computer that Listens to Your Emotions

September 29th-30th, 2017

Jaebok Kim (University of Twente) demonstrated speech emotion recognition technology during the lanuage Drongo festival Festival in Utrecht, NL, and collaborated with EU horizon 2020 project Cobotnity.

https://www.drongotalenfestival.nl/

Jaebok Kim (UT) presents at the Drongo Language Festival 2017

SQUIRREL robot exhibited at European Researchers’ Night (ERN) 2017 by IDMIND

September 29th, 2017

IDMIND participated in the "Challenges faced by autonomous robots in public spaces" exhibition during the European Researchers’ Night (ERN) 2017 at the Pavilion of Knowledge Ciencia Viva, Lisbon, Portugal. The SQUIRREL robot was used to exemplify some of the challenges faced by autonomous robots in public spaces.

Interactive lecture on robots and technologies at Fraunhofer IPA

September 26th, 2017

As part of the "Wissenschaftscampus" event Fraunhofer IPA provided an interactive lecture on robots and technologies to high-skilled female students.

Peter Regier gives a podcast interview at radio station WDR3

August 30th, 2017

Sommertechnikum MINT at University of Innsbruck

July 27th, 2017

University of Innbruck invites interested high-school students to visit the robotic labs during the Sommertechnikum MINT event.

Interactive lecture on robots and technologies at Fraunhofer IPA

July 21th, 2017

In the scope of cooperation with Hegel high-school, Stuttgart, Germany, Fraunhofer IPA provided an interactive lecture on robots and technologies to a special class of high-skilled high-school students.

Peter Regier presented his vision about robotics to the general public within the lecture series "geeks@cologne"

July 10th, 2017

Peter Regier presented his vision about robotics and his research within the Squirrel project to the general public.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qIIN3Nc-bE

Kenny becomes a star on stage

July 7th-8th, 2017

A robot doing drama! Recently our Robotino had its very first appearance in a futuristic theater play addressing the ever-growing need for more time in our fast-paced world. Clearly, our robot is in no hustle thus being the only one able to take care of a plant it fell in love with. If you're curious about its acting, check out more at: http://www.maerchenfestival.at !

Kenny at Märchenfestival 2017 Kenny at Märchenfestival 2017 Kenny at Märchenfestival 2017 Kenny at Märchenfestival 2017 Kenny at Märchenfestival 2017 Kenny at Märchenfestival 2017

SQUIRREL researcher interviewed in Newspaper Evening Standard

July 2017

J. Konstantinova from Queen Mary University London was interviewed about tactile sensing developed for SQUIRREL by the daily newspaper Evening Standard.

SQUIRREL tactile technologies at the ARQ–Robotics Taster Day

July 2017

K. Althoefer presented the tactile technologies devloped in SQUIRREL at the Queen Mary University London ARQ–Robotics Taster Day.

Queen Mary University London exhibits tactile technologies at the UK Robotics Showcase

June 30th, 2017

Queen Mary University London exhibited tactile technologies at the UK robotics showcase.

King's College London exhibits the Metamorphic Hand at the UK Robotics Showcase

June 30th, 2017

King's College London exhibited the metamorphic hand at the UK robotics showcase which attracted the attention from academia, industry and media.

Discussion panel on current capabilities of robots in the Research Files series in Pakhuis de Zwijger

June 29th, 2017

Together with 3 other researchers Khiet Truong engaged in the Research Files series in Pakhuis de Zwijger on a discussion about "Robots - towards everyone's best friend. Are robots socially intelligent, can we already have a robot as a buddy? (Dutch: Robots: van ijskoning naar allemansvriend Deel 2/3. Zijn robots al sociale wezens te noemen? De robot als zorgbuddy, leermeester of kroegmaatje.)". The discussion informed the audience at Pakhuis de Zwijger, Amsterdam, NL, about state of the art of robots and questions like are they already socially intelligent, can we already have a robot as a friend or buddy?

https://dezwijger.nl/programma/robots-van-ijskoning-naar-allemansvriend

Queen Mary University London demonstrates tactile technologies UK Robotics Week

June 25th, 2017

Queen Mary University London demonstrated tactile technologies at the ARQ inaugaural event as part of the UK Robotics Week.

King's College London will exhibit the Metamorphic Hand during UK Robotics Open Day

June 24th, 2017

King's College London will exhibit the metamorphic hand to the interested public during the UK Robotics Open Day (June 24th) as an event of the UK robotics week.

Borough Mayer von Hietzing visits day care center Verein Pädagogische Initiative (VPI)

June 13th, 2017

The borough mayor Ms. von Hietzing of Vienna's 13th borough visited the day care center of VPI and was informed about the SQUIRREL project.

Discussion panel Nemo Kennislink Live on our future together with robots

June 6th, 2017

Khiet Truong participated in a discussion evening with 3 other researchers about how robots enter our society and the worries of people associated with this development. The discussion panel was organized by Nemo Science Museum, Amsterdam, NL, under the name Nemo Kennislink Live: Hand in hand with robots - do we need to worry about rise of robots in our society? (Dutch: Hand in hand met een robot - Moeten we ons zorgen maken om de robotisering van de samenleving?)

https://www.nemokennislink.nl/publicaties/hand-in-hand-met-een-robot/

Khiet Truong (UT) presents at Nemo Kennislink Live 2017

Verein Pädagogische Initiative (VPI) presents SQUIRREL to Viennas Kindergarten managers

May 23rd, 2017

SQUIRREL partner Verein Pädagogische Initiative (VPI) presented the project to the consortium of kindergarten companies in Vienna.

Girls' Day event at Fraunhofer IPA

April 27th, 2017

Fraunhofer IPA interactively demonstrated various robot platforms and technologies from the robot labs to interested female high-school students.

14. Aktionstag Junge Uni at University of Innsbruck

April 21st, 2017

University of Innbruck invites interested high-school students to visit the robotic labs during the 14. Aktionstag Junge Uni event.

Keynote at European Robotics Forum 2017 ELS Workshop

March 24th, 2017

Vicky Charisi gave a keynote talk on "The technology we design designs us back: ethical considerations for social human-robot interaction" at the European Robotics Forum (ERF 2017) Workshop: Ethical, Legal, and Social Aspects of Healthcare Robotics, Edinburgh, 24 March 2107.

Vicky Charisi presents at ERF 2017

Planning Workshop at European Robotics Forum 2017

March 22nd-24th, 2017

Daniele Magazzeni (KCL) is the organiser, together with Alberto Finzi, Michael Hofbaur and Andrea Orlandini, of the workshop "Towards Fully Autonomous Robots: Challenges for AI Planning in Robotics", that will be part of the European Robotics Forum (ERF 2017), Edinburgh, 22-24 March 2107.

Bosch Girls Campus interactive lecture on robots and technologies at Fraunhofer IPA

February 18th, 2017

In the scope of the Bosch Girls Campus cooperation Fraunhofer IPA provided an interactive lecture on robots and technologies to three groups of high-skilled female high-school students.

Televised Lecture: Can Robots Recognize Emotions in Speech?

January 25th, 2017

Khiet Truong (UT) gave a lecture titled "Can robots recognize emotions in speech?" at the TV series Universiteit van Nederland.

Children Engage in Design of Kenny

January 24th, 2017

Who would want a boring robot ...? The children in the nursery at partner VPI tell us how they want Kenny's shell to be painted.

Shell Design for Kenny

Care-O-bot 4 and other IPA robots on KiKa TV

January 21st, 2017

The TV broadcast "Erde an Zukunft" from the public TV channel KiKa has featured a documentary on Care-O-bot 4 and other IPA robots for children.

http://www.kika.de/erde-an-zukunft/sendungen/sendung97674.html

University of Bonn presents SQUIRREL research at Pupils' Day

January 16th, 2017

The University of Bonn gives a presentation about robots and the SQUIRREL project, especially on how to teach a robot to tidy up toys, at the Pupils' Day at Clara-Schumann-Gymnasium, Bonn.

Call for Submissions to HRI 2017: 3rd Workshop on Child-Robot Interaction

January 16th, 2017

Growing-Up Hand in Hand with Robots: Designing and Evaluating Child-Robot Interaction from a Developmental Perspective

This HRI workshop on Child-Robot Interaction will be hold on 06 March 2017 at HRI in Vienna, Austria. Please consider to contribute to this workshop. More information is available from here:

Website: https://childrobotinteraction.org/

Twitter: #workshopCRI

Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CRIresearch/

Please send your paper through the following submission link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=wpcri2017

Announcement: Dagstuhl Seminar on Planning And Robotics

January 15th – 20th, 2017

Malik Ghallab, Nick Hawes, Daniele Magazzeni (KCL), Brian Williams will organize a Dagstuhl Seminar on Planning And Robotics in January 2017.

Webpage: https://www.dagstuhl.de/en/program/calendar/semhp/?semnr=17031
Dagstuhl Seminar

Workshop: States of Flux - Soft Robotics in Arts and Engineering

December 1st-2nd, 2016

The two-day workshop States of Flux - Soft Robotics in Arts and Engineering was organised by ARQ (Advanced Robotics Centre at Queen Mary University of London) involving artists and scientists from the Universities of Cambridge, Imperial, KCL, QMUL, Surrey and The Royal College of Arts on the newest advancements in soft robotics in arts and engineering.

Webpage: https://eu-robotics.net/robotics_week/events/states-of-flux---soft-robotics-in-arts-and-engineering.html

QMUL develops Proximity Sensor with Color Calibration towards a product

November 28th, 2016

The Proximity Sensor with Color Calibration that was developed within the SQUIRREL project was filed as an initial patent application. Moreover, the Queen Mary University of London business development team (formerly KCL) pesented the novel sensor in China at Jiangsu Centre of International Technology Transfer, at the University in Suzhou, and in an innovation park in Shanghai, organised as exchange workshops.

Long Night of Robots at TUW and UIBK

November 25th, 2016

As part of the European Robotics Week, several Austrian Universities host the Long Night of Robots, showcasing cutting-edge research in robotics to the public. SQUIRREL partners TU Vienna and University of Innsbruck present the SQUIRREL project and explain how robot Kenny can help in cleaning up a children's room.

Webpages:
http://langenacht.acin.tuwien.ac.at/index.html
https://eu-robotics.net/robotics_week/events/openlab--inday-students.html
Long Night of RobotsLong Night of Robots
Long Night of RobotsLong Night of Robots

Talk at Gala of Science by Vanessa Evers

November 24th, 2016

Vanessa Evers gave a talk about robots at the Gala of Science.

Webpage: https://www.nemokennislink.nl/publicaties/wetenschap-in-black-tie-en-glitterjurk

First Part of Kenny's Shell is Mounted

November 24th, 2016

TUW has recevied and mounted the first part of the shell on Kenny. Still looks prototyp-y, but that can be sanded and painted.

Kenny's first shell

TUW brings Kenny to the Kids at VPI

November 21st, 2016

Kenny, the SQUIRREL robot, visited the children in the nursery at partner VPI. Here the children chose toys and laid them out for Kenny to explore the variety of objects Kenny can grasp with its arm and 3-finger hand. Not each attempt was successful at first try, but with help from the children almost all objects could be picked up in the end.

Object Grasping Games with Children at VPIObject Grasping Games with Children at VPI
Object Grasping Games with Children at VPIObject Grasping Games with Children at VPI
Object Grasping Games with Children at VPIObject Grasping Games with Children at VPI

Online Video at UNI Global Union

November 15th - 16th, 2016

UNI Global Union features a video on Vanessa Evers (UT) talking about robots and AI.

Webpage: http://www.uniglobalunion.org/news/uni-leadership-summit-future-world-work-experts-give-their-verdict

Webportal article about SQUIRREL at ITgirls.ba

November 6th, 2016

SQUIRREL researcher Senka Krivic (UIBK) was interviewed by the webportal ITgirls.ba. The article reports on the SQUIRREL project and its challenges. The article is available (in Bosnian) from: http://itgirls.ba/supergirls/senka-krivic-razvijam-robote-koji-ce-djeci-pomagati-u-pospremanju-igracaka/

Distinguished Lecture by Prof. Jian S. Dai: Robots of the future that are shaped by arts and nature

November 3rd, 2016

Prof. Jian S. Dai will give a distinguished lecture at the Great Hall of King's College London. This lecture will provide an overview of innovative robotics that is shaped by the arts. Professor Jian S.Dai will be presenting robots of the future that are moulded by innovation and artistic imagination. The talk will also explore the latest developments in Origami robots, metamorphic hands, and metamorphic parallel robots with their domestic, health and industrial applications.

Invited Lecture at the University of Amsterdam (NL)

November 1st, 2016

Vicky Charisi gave an invited lecture to over 300 students from the Department of Informatics, University of Amsterdam.

TV Lecture at the Universiteit van Nederland Series

October 21st, 2016

Vanessa Evers gave a lecture on television about social robots within the series of Universiteit van Nederland.

Webpage: http://www.npo.nl/de-universiteit-van-nederland/21-10-2016/VPWON_1265356

Vanessa Evers talks about Robots in 2050 at Dutch TV Show Zapp

October 17th, 2016

Vanessa Evers (UT) talks about the Netherlands in 2050 and robotics in 2050 at the TV show Zapp for Dutch kids.

Webpage: http://www.zapp.nl/nederlandin2050

University Meets Public Event with TU Vienna

October 10th, 2016

TU Vienna has showcased the SQUIRREL project at the University Meets Public event organized by adult education center VHS Vienna.

Webpage: https://www.wien.gv.at/rk/msg/2016/10/06013.html

Grand Gala of Research in NL

October 3rd, 2016

Cristina Zaga and Vanessa Evers were involved in presentations and discussions at the yearly event Nacht Van Wetenshap en Maatschapij, the grand gala of research in the NL.

Drongo Festival Exhibition: A Computer that Listens to Your Emotions

September 30th - October 1st, 2016

Jaebok Kim and Khiet Truong (University of Twente) demonstrated speech emotion detection technology during the lanuage festival Drongo Festival in Utrecht, NL.

Online Article at Sigma

September 8th, 2016

The online magazine Sigma published an article about: Robots will make our lives easier.

Webpage (in Dutch): http://www.sigmaonline.nl/2016/09/vanessa-evers-robots-gaan-leven-veraangenamen/

KCL provides a tutorial at ECAI-16

August 30th, 2016

Daniele Magazzeni from KCL features the tutorial "Planning for Hybrid Systems" at the European Conference on Artificial Intelligence 2016 in The Hague.

Online News Article on Kenny in Die Welt

July 27th, 2016

Kenny, the SQUIRREL robot, is featured in an online article of the German Newpaper "Die Welt" on robots in everyday life.

Webpage (in German): https://www.welt.de/wissenschaft/article157326720/So-koennen-Roboter-bald-unseren-Alltag-verbessern.html

Article in online magazine AGCONNECT

July 13, 2016

The online magazine AGCONNECT interviewed Vanessa Evers and published the article Robot Love: about human-machine interaction. Social Intelligence is crucial for robots.

Webpage: http://agconnect.nl/artikel/robot-love-over-interactie-mens-machine

Workshop with Children at the UT Design Lab

June 27, 2016

Vicky Charisi and Cristina Zaga organized a Child-Robot Interaction Workshop with children and teachers at the Design Lab (UT).

KCL presents the SQUIRREL project at the first UK Robotics Week

June 25th, 2016

The KCL Centre for Robotics Research has presented the SQUIRREL project as part of their open day event. The event was supported by UK-RAS society, and was part of the first UK robotics week. Invited interested researchers from the UK robotics community, as well as general public - school groups and people interested in robotics - could learn about the developments within the project.

KCL Open Day 1
KCL Open Day 2
KCL Open Day 3

Vanessa Evers talks at ProDemos cafe

June 14th, 2016

Vanessa Evers gave a talk about changes in society with robots at ProDemos café.

Webpage: https://www.prodemos.nl/agenda/robotisering/

ROSPlan tutorial at ICAPS 2016 Summer School

June 10th, 2016

Michael Cashmore from KCL provides a tutorial on ROSPlan at the ICAPS 2016 Summer School in London.

TV and radio report on child-like robot learning by ORF

April 21st, 2016

The Austrian TV and radio station ORF featured TV report (ORF Ö1 Wissen Aktuell) and a radio report (ORF 2 Tirol Heute) on child-like robot learning at the University of Innsbruck. The radio report is available from (in German): http://oe1.orf.at/programm/434380.

Article "Hier sind die Roboter" in the magazine News

April 16th, 2016

The magazine News reported on the SQUIRREL project. The article can be viewed here (in German): https://iis.uibk.ac.at/_media/public/16042016news_zech_lnf_full.pdf.

Announcement: Robots: the next big technological revolution of this century

March 24th, 2016

In a cafe-style setting, Vanessa Evers will give a presentation about her research on social robotics.

Links (in Dutch):
http://www.newscientist.nl/blogs/robots-de-volgende-grote-technologische-revolutie-van-deze-eeuw/
https://dezwijger.nl/programma/vanessa-evers-david-abbink/

Dutch Royal Society of Engineers Award for Vanessa Evers (UT)

March 16th, 2016

Vanessa Evers from University of Twente receives the Dutch Royal Society of Engineers Award because of the appealing way in which she manages to make the connection between science and society.

Webpage: https://www.utwente.nl/ctit/archive/!/2016/2/73993/vanessa-evers-wins-academic-society-award

Maren Bennewitz presents at Kärcher Cleaning Systems

March 16th, 2016

Maren Bennewitz presents her research and in particular the Squirrel Project at the Kärcher Future Day.

3rdHand Winter School on Manipulation in Clutter

February 29th-March 4th, 2016

The SQUIRREL / 3rdHand Winter School on Manipulation in Clutter took place 29.2. - 4.3.2016 in Obergurgl, Austria. This second SQUIRREL school was jointly organised with the team from the 3rdHand project (http://3rdhandrobot.eu). 20 participants convened in the winter resort of Obergurl in Tirol, listening to a range of interesting talks from five lecturers: Robert Platt (Northeastern University), Giampiero Salvi (KTH), Manuel Lopes (INRIA), Peter Roth (Austrian Institute of Technology), Yasemin Bekiroglu (University of Birmingham). Next to talks and lively discussions, participants enjoyed the lovely winter landscape, hiking and skiing.

Winter School

Announcement: AAAI workshop on Planning for Hybrid Systems

February 13th, 2016

Daniele Magazzeni (KCL), Scott Sanner, Sylvie Thiebaux will organize the AAAI workshop on Planning for Hybrid Systems in Phoenix.

UIBK is interviewed on exploitation of ICT research at the Technology Transfer Center of Western Austria (WTZ West)

February 4th, 2016

Justus Piater from the University of Innsbruck has provided a public interview about potential for exploitation of ICT research at the Technology Transfer Center of Western Austria (WTZ West).

Talks and tutorials at the First GMAR Winter School on Robotics in Graz

January 21st-22nd, 2016

Researchers from the University of Innsbruck will be providing a contributed talk on grasp affordance learning, another contributed talk on non-prehensile pushing, as well as a tutorial on grasping and manipulation at the GMAR winter school in Graz.

Vanessa Evers presents at the World Economic Forum Davos

January 17th-20th, 2016

Vanessa Evers presented her research and ideas at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Videos can be seen here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvgH-p6-Dt0 (The rise of social robotics, ~5min) and here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV4fTOSpUxs (Issue Briefing: Infusing Emotional Intelligence into AI, ~40min).

Justus Piater invited speaker at ICCV workshop

December 17th, 2015

Justus Piater is an invited speaker at the 1st International Workshop on Recovering 6D Object Pose, at ICCV in December 2015.

SQUIRREL at the Lange Nacht der Technik (Long Night of Technology) at the TGM in Vienna

October 8th, 2015

The TGM, one of the top HTL (Höhere Technische Bundeslehranstalt) in Vienna, in cooperation with the Practical Robotics Institute Austria (PRIA), organises the Lange Nacht der Technik (Long Night of Technology) to bring scientists in direct contact with students. The event invites visitors of all ages to learn about teaching and research at the TGM, presenting research projects by TGM students, invited scientific talks, and offering workshops from biotechnology to robotics. Furthermore Universities and companies present latest research projects. SQUIRREL will be present with the Robotino and demonstrates controlling a mobile robot with gestures.

For more information see http://langenachtdertechnik.pria.at

Announcement: seminar at Dagstuhl

October 5th-10th, 2015

Justus Piater (UIBK) organizes Dagstuhl Seminar 15411 on Multimodal Manipulation Under Uncertainty.

Announcement: SQUIRREL project presentation booth at IROS in Hamburg

September 29th - October 1st, 2015

The SQUIRREL project proudly announces to feature an information booth at IROS 2015 in Hamburg. Visitors will be able to get in contact with the project people, watch current videos on the project, and see a demonstration of the metamorphic hand developed within SQUIRREL.

IROS Booth IROS Booth IROS Booth

Justus Piater invited speaker IROS 2015 workshop

September 28th, 2015

Justus Piater is an invited speaker at the workshop on Learning Object Affordances: A fundamental step to allow prediction, planning and tool use in autonomous robots, at IROS in September 2015.

SQUIRREL TV broadcast on ORF

September 19th, 2015

SQUIRREL appeared in the TV documentary series "Newton" on ORF (Austrian national TV), about robotics and AI, on Sept 19.

Justus Piater invited speaker at ICAR 2015 workshop

July 31st, 2015

Justus Piater is an invited speaker at the workshop on Robot Learning, Bottom-up and top-down development of robot skills at ICAR in July 2015.

RSS 2015 workshop on Learning Reusable Concepts in Robotics

July 16th, 2015

Justus Piater is organizing, with Tamim Asfour (KIT), the workshop on Learning Reusable Concepts in Robotics at RSS in July 2015.

Justus Piater invited speaker at ICRA 2015 workshop

May 30th, 2015

Justus Piater is an invited speaker at the workshop on Robotic Hands, Grasping, and Manipulation May 30, 2015, at ICRA 2015 in Seattle.

SQUIRREL in Die Presse

May 15th, 2015

SQUIRREL appeared in the weekend edition of Die Presse, one of the major Austrian newspapers.

Link to the online article (German) http://diepresse.com/home/science/4732327/Mit-Kenny-macht-Aufraeumen-Spass?from=suche.intern.portal

SQUIRREL news item in NRC: I want a robot that understands me

April 25th, 2015

Vanessa Evers was interviewed by a major Dutch newspaper NRC about social robots and the Squirrel project, see link (in Dutch).

Link to the online article (in Dutch) http://www.nrc.nl/handelsblad/2015/04/25/ik-wil-een-robot-die-me-begrijpt-1487764

SQUIRREL news item in Stuttgarter Zeitung

April 13th, 2015

A news item on the SQUIRREL project and Care-O-bot 4 was published in the Stuttgarter Zeitung newspaper.

Link to the online article (German) http://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/inhalt.technik-ordnung-im-kinderzimmer.5654fec0-692d-4a9c-8887-73aafa08f31c.html

SQUIRREL news item at tagesschau.de

April 6th, 2015

The SQUIRREL project was thematized in the humorous column "Schlusslicht" at the website of Germany's premier public TV station ARD.

Link to the online article (German) http://www.tagesschau.de/schlusslicht/squirrel-kinderzimmer-101.html

SQUIRREL on radioeins.de

April 4th, 2015

Michael Zillich was interviewed about SQUIRREL by German radio station radioeins.de.

Link to the online program (German) http://www.radioeins.de/programm/sendungen/die_profis/archivierte_sendungen/beitraege/roboter-raeumt-kinderzimmer-auf.html

SQUIRREL in Salzburger Nachrichten

April 1st, 2015

The SQUIRREL project and its technical ambitions have been published in the Salzburger Nachrichten, a major Austrian newspaper.

Link to the online article (German) http://www.salzburg.com/nachrichten/rubriken/besteimmobilien/wohnen-leben/sn/artikel/dieser-roboter-raeumt-auf-144065

Best of the Best in the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2015 for Care-O-bot 4

March 30th, 2015

We’re glad to announce that this year’s RedDot judging panel awarded the product design of Care-O-bot 4 with the prize. As only 1,6 percent of all applications, Care-O-bot 4 received the recognition "Best of the Best”.

SQUIRREL news item at golem.de

March 25th, 2015

The SQUIRREL project and its technical ambitions have been published at golem.de, a popular webpage on latest technology news.

Link to the online article (German) http://www.golem.de/news/projekt-squirrel-der-roboter-soll-das-kinderzimmer-aufraeumen-1503-113167.html

SQUIRREL news item at computerwelt.at

March 24th, 2015

An online article about the SQUIRREL project and its technical ambitions has been posted at computerwelt.at.

Link to the online article (German) http://www.computerwelt.at/news/wirtschaft-politik/forschung-wissenschaft/detail/artikel/110363-roboter-raeumt-kinderzimmer-auf

SQUIRREL news item at TU Wien News

March 24th, 2015

An online article about the SQUIRREL project and its technical ambitions has been posted at TU Wien News.

Link to the online article (German) http://www.tuwien.ac.at/aktuelles/news_detail/article/9367

SQUIRREL news item in Badische Zeitung

March 21st, 2015

The newspaper Badische Zeitung has featured an article about the SQUIRREL project.

Link to the online article (German) http://www.badische-zeitung.de/ratgeber/bildungwissen/freiburger-forscher-basteln-an-haushaltshelfern-von-morgen

SQUIRREL at the Lange Nacht der Technik (Long Night of Technology) at the TGM in Vienna

January 29th, 2015

The TGM, one of the top HTL (Höhere Technische Bundeslehranstalt) in Vienna, in cooperation with the Practical Robotics Institute Austria (PRIA), organises the Lange Nacht der Technik (Long Night of Technology) to bring scientists in direct contact with students. The event invites visitors of all ages to learn about teaching and research at the TGM, presenting research projects by TGM students, invited scientific talks, and offering workshops from biotechnology to robotics. Furthermore Universities and companies present latest research projects. SQUIRREL will be present with the Robotino and demonstrates controlling a mobile robot with gestures.

For more information see http://langenachtdertechnik.pria.at

Care-O-bot 4 is out there

January 15th, 2015

Care-O-bot® is the product vision of a mobile robot assistant to actively support humans in domestic environments. The meanwhile fourth generation of this successful development series is more agile and modular than its predecessors and offers various ways of interaction. The enhanced agility of Care-O-bot 4 is owed to the patented spherical joints around discreet pivot points on its neck and hips. They extend the robot's working space and allow 360 degree rotations of head and torso.

Previous investigations have shown that social ways of interaction are essential for the acceptance of interactive service robots. As with previous generations, social role models were used as a guiding vision in developing the design and functionality. Using the display integrated in its head and based on the current situation, Care-O-bot 4 is able to display different atmospheres. While the concept for the Care-O-bot 3 was a more reserved, cautious butler, its successor is as courteous, friendly, and affable as a gentleman.

Within SQUIRREL we will port the intermediate results from the scientific work packages to our second demonstrator platform Care-O-bot 4 in order to assess reusability of the developed components.

For more information see http://www.care-o-bot-4.de

Care-O-bot 4 Care-O-bot 4

SQUIRREL at the Junge Uni Aktionstag 2014

November 7th, 2015

The Intelligent and Interactive Systems (IIS) group from UIBK will participate in the "Junge Uni Aktionstag 2014" ("Young University Open Day 2014") on November 7th, 2014 together with other research groups from this university. IIS will present the SQUIRREL Robotino robot to pupils from Innsbruck. The initiative "Junge Uni" wants to awake joy of science and research in children and adolescents. Seven to sixteen year olds will have the opportunity to see some small tasks and to interact playfully with the robot.

For more information see http://www.uibk.ac.at/jungeuni

Announcement: Workshop on Affordances 2.0: Visual Perception of Affordances and Functional Visual Primitives for Scene Analysis

ECCV 2014, Zurich, Switzerland; Sept. 7, 2014

The workshop will focus on vision related problems and applications of affordances, the visual primitives grounded in the "functionality" of objects. We extend you a warm invitation to attend and participate at the workshop.

Further details can be found at http://affordances.info/workshops/ECCV.html.

Announcement and call for papers: 3rd Workshop on Robots in Clutter - Perception and Interaction in Clutter

IROS 2014, Chicago, Illinois; Sept. 18, 2014

We are organising the 3rd Workshop on Robots in Clutter in conjunction with IROS 2014 in Chicago. Deadline for submission of papers and extended abstracts is July 25th (extended!).

Check the webpage http://workshops.acin.tuwien.ac.at/clutter2014 for more details.

July, 21 - 25, 2014: 1st SQUIRREL Summer School in Freiburg

July, 21 - 25, 2014 in Freiburg

This year's summer school feataures excellent invited lectures: Tamim Asfour, KIT; Tom Duckett, Univ. of Lincoln; Cyrill Stachniss, Univ. of Freiburg (now Bonn); and Paul Furgale, ETHZ). Guided by an initial workshop on software integration participants will then put their knowledge to use in hands-on work on our Robotino robots to solve an actual simplified clean-up task.

For more details see here

June 2014: The robots arrived!

June 2014

FESTO Robotino robots have been delivered to 3 partners. Now all that's missing is an arm ...

FESTO Robotino robot

February 24 - 25, 2014: SQUIRREL kick-off in Freiburg

February 24 - 25, 2014
SQUIRREL group photo