Australia is fast becoming a leader in international robotics innovation, with a team from CSIRO's Data61 having six papers accepted at this year's International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA).
Represented by Robotics and Autonomous Systems Group Leader Fred Pauling and Cyber Physical Systems Research Director Dr. Sue Keay, the studies detail a variety of solutions for commonly experienced robot-centric issues, including place recognition by mobile robotics in unstructured environments and walking posture in confined spaces.
A novel approach to 3D environment mapping in autonomous unmanned ground vehicle navigation was explored throughout the team's OVPC Mesh thesis, while real-time optimisation of terrain modelling and path planning in off-road and rough environments through the use of irregular, hierarchical and graph-like model was presented in another.
Following last year's Brisbane-based event, an Australian first, this year's summit included more than 1,300 papers and presentations by robotics researchers from around the world, with roughly 4,200 attendees being privy to the latest robotics trends, innovations, and research. A reoccurring theme throughout the 2019 event, based in Montreal, was how technology can perform repetitive, tedious and dangerous tasks that will allow a human workforce to concentrate on more creative operations.
More than 160 topics were covered in papers submitted to ICRA 2019, with Data61's contribution available below.
- Local descriptor for Robust Place Recognition using LIDAR intensity
- Quantifying the reality gap in robotic manipulation tasks
- Walking posture adaptation for legged robot navigation in confined spaces
- OVPC Mesh: 3D free-space representation for local ground vehicle navigation
- Optimisation-based terrain analysis and path planning in unstructured environments
- Dynamic manipulation of gear ratio and ride height for a novel compliant wheel using pneumatic actuators