Current Events
Susumu Tachi, professor emeritus of The University of Tokyo and pioneer in human-controlled robotics and humanoid robots, presented his vision of "telexistence," a future where employees could work in virtual reality from anywhere to control robots that perform real-time tasks, such as manufacturing. "There would be no need for immigration," he told attendees in his Sept. 20 keynote address.
International Robotics Symposium September 19-21, 2019
The International Measurement Confederation (IMEKO) Technical Committee 17 brought the International Symposium on Measurement and Control in Robotics to University of Houston-Clear Lake on Sept. 19-21.
Despite a rained-out reception and campus closure due to flooding from Tropical Storm Imelda, scientists and engineers from around the world met in the Bayou Building to discuss research, applications, trends and innovations in robotics, telerobotics, simulator platforms and mobile work machines, as well as virtual reality/augmented reality and 3-D modeling and simulation.
Because the storm had closed Houston's airports, a few attendees were not able to make the conference to present their papers. Organizers adjusted accordingly.
Original Program Schedule
- 4-5:30 p.m.: Registration.
- 5:30-6:30 p.m.: Reception: light refreshments, drinks and cash bar.
- 6:30-8 p.m.: STEM 1203 (conference room)
- Welcome by General Chair ISMCR 2019 Dr. Zafar Taqvi.
- Welcome by Conference Host President Ira. K. Blake, Ph.D.
- Presentation: "Global Space Exploration: Our Adventure into the Unknown," by Kam Lulla, director University Research and Partnership Office, NASA Johnson Space Center.
- 7-8 a.m.: Continental breakfast and Late Registration (Forest Room).
- 8:30-9:30 a.m.: Keynote 1: "Telexistence: Virtual Human Teleportation and Empowered Existence," by Professor Emeritus Susumu Tachi - University of Tokyo, Japan (Forest Room).
- 10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.: Session A1: "Robotics for Human Performance and Rehabilitation and Medical Applications I" with Chair/Co-Chair: Susumu Tachi / Zafar Taqvi (Room 1435)
- Paper A1-1: "Master-Slave Robot Hand Control Method based on Congruence of Vectors for Telexistence Hand Manipulation" by Yasuyuki Inoue, Fumihiro Kato and Susumu Tachi - The University of Tokyo, Japan.
- Paper A1-2: "High-Level Parametric Gait Modeling for Assistive Robotics" by Rodrigo Ramon and Ou Bai - Florida International University, Miami, USA
- Paper A1-3: "Hotcell Worker Assistive Robotic Exoskeleton Design and Control" by Rodrigo Ramon, Chris Nataros, Tong Yi, Leonel Lagos, Aparna Aravelli and Ou Bai - Florida International University, Miami, USA
- Paper A1-4: "Deep Learning Approach to Control of Prosthetic Hands with Electromyography Signal" by Mohsen Jafarzadeh, Daniel Curtiss Hussey and Yonas Tadesse - University of Texas at Dallas, USA
- Paper A1-5: "A Robotic Laparoscope Holder Operated by Jaw Movements and Triaxial Head Rotations," by Masato Arai, Takato Ohmori, Shunji Moromugi, Tomohiko Adachi, Taiichiro Kosaka, Shinichiro Ono and Susumu Eguchi - Nagasaki University, Japan
- 10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.: Session A2: "Methods of Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Intelligence and VR in Robotics" with Chair/Co-Chair: Simone Keller Fuchter / Thomas Harman (Room 1437)
- Paper A2-1: "Applications of Deep Learning to Road Sign Detection in DVR Images" by Yong-Lin Kuo and Shih-Hsun Lin - National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan
- Paper A2-2: "Autonomous Navigation via a Q Network with One Hot Image Encoding" by Will Anderson, Kevin Carey, Eric Sturzinger and Christopher Lowrance - U. S. Military Academy, West Point, New York, USA
- Paper A2-3: "Low Cost Autonomous Amphibious Bird Chasing Robot" by Hoo Kim, Emily McCloy, Garrett Williamson and Tommy Vandermolen - Letourneau University, Texas, USA
- Paper A2-4: "Innovative Applications of VR: Flash-Flood Control and Monitoring," by Victor Luis Padilha, Francisco Henrique De Oliveira, David Proverbs and Simone Keller Fuchter - State University of Santa Catarina, Brazil
- Paper A2-5: "Pain Mitigation Through Virtual Reality Applications," by Miles Mcfarland, Nathan Zelaya, Gahangir Hossain, David Hicks and Lifford McLauchlan - Texas A and M University, Kingsville, USA
- 10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.: Session A3: "Mobile Robots and Applications I" with Chair/Co-Chair: Bálint Kiss / James Dabney (Room 1439)
- Paper A3-1: "Structure of Wall Climbing Robot Control System," by Valery Gradetsky, Maxim Knyazkov, Evgeniy Semenov and Artem Sukhanov - Ishlinsky Institute for Problems in Mechanics of the RAS, Moscow, RF
- Paper A3-2: "Optimized Distributed Scheduling for a Fleet of Heterogeneous Unmanned Maritime Systems," by Geert De Cubber and Rob Haelterman - Belgian Royal Military Academy, Brussels
- Paper A3-3: "Cellular Automata based Decentralized Cooperative Collision Avoidance Control for Multiple Mobile Robots," by Erick Rodriguez-Seda and Catalina Rico - United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, USA
- Paper A3-4: "Path Following of Autonomous Mobile Robot with Distance Measurement using RFID Tags," by Suvankar Barai, Manash Kumar Kundu, and Buddhadeb Sau - Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India
- Paper A3-5: "Vehicle-Terrain Parameter Estimation for Small-Scale Unmanned Tracked Vehicles," by Albert Espinoza, Jorge Torres-Filomeno, Karla Montañez-Sanchez and Angel Ortiz-Andujar - Universidad Ana G. Mendez, Turabo, Puerto Rico, USA
- 12:30-1:30 p.m.: Lunch: Special Presentation: "Aquanaut: The Innovation in Deepwater Robotics" by Reg Berka,
COO Houston Mechatronics
(Forest Room) - 1:30-3:30 p.m.: Session B1: "Flying and Swarm Robots" with Chair/Co-Chair: Luong Nguyen / Masahiko Inami (Room 1435)
- Paper B1-1: "Acoustic Flame Suppression in Various Gravitational Forces" by Joshua Rodriguez, Osvaldo Salinas, Riki Barron, Justin Tarwater, and Juan Giraldo - San Jacinto College, Houston, USA
- Paper B1-2: "Collaborative UAV Surveillance" by Winston Smith and Henry Hexmoor - Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, USA
- Paper B1-3: "Swarmathon: A Swarm Robotics Experiment For Future Space Exploration" by Luong Nguyen, Thomas Harman and Carol Fairchild - University of Houston-Clear Lake, USA
- 1:30-3:30 p.m.: Session B2: "Mobile Robots and Applications II" with Chair/Co-Chair: Ishaq Unwala/ Simone Keller Fuchter (Room 1437)
- Paper B2-1: "Super Twisting Sliding Mode Control of Spherical Robot," by Sansar Bastola and Hassan Zargarzadeh - Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas, USA
- Paper B2-2: "Rescue Boat Path Planning in Flooded Urban Environments," by Mehmet Ozkan, Luis Rodolfo Garcia Carrillo and Scott A. King - Texas A and M University, Corpus Christi, Texas, USA
- Paper B2-3: "Tracking of Targets in Mobile Robots Based on Camshift Algorithm," by Xin Zhang, Jiang Lu - UH-Clear Lake; Xingang Fu - Texas A and M Kingsville; Xiaokun Yang, Ishaq Unwala, UH-Clear Lake; and Ting Zhang, UH-Downtown
- 1:30-3 p.m.: Session B3: "Control and Sensors for Robots" with Chair/Co-Chair: Mohammad Safeer Khan / George Salazar (Room 1439)
- Paper B3-1: "Development Considerations for Implementing a Voice-Controlled Spacecraft System" by George Salazar - NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, USA
- Paper B3-2: "Bobble-Bot: An Educational Platform for Real-Time Control with ROS" by Mike Moore, Josh Sooknanan and James Holley - S.O. Engineering, Houston, Texas, USA
- Paper B3-3: "Robotics and Deep Learning Framework for Structural Health Monitoring of Utility Pipes" by Muhammad Safeer Khan, Kaimen Zeng, Nansong Wu - Arkansas Tech University, USA; and Ishaq Unwala - UH-Clear Lake, USA
- 3-3:30 p.m.: Break
- 3:30-5 p.m.: Session C1: "Inspection and Industrial Applications" with Chair/Co-Chair: Irfan Khan/ Bálint Kiss (R00m 1435)
- Paper C1-1: "Eliminating Residual Sway of Crane Loads Based on Laser Slot Sensor Information" by Bálint Kiss and Gábor Vámos - Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary
- Paper C1-2: "Fault Detection and Harmonics Mitigation in Diesel Electric Ships Using IIOT Edge Devices" by Kotesh Rao - ADAK Digital, Houston; Irfan Khan - Texas A and M University , Galveston; and Vidyasagar Asalapuram - KALYPSO, Houston, USA
- Paper C1-3: "A Novel Architecture for Condition Based Machinery Health Monitoring on Marine Vessels Using Deep Learning and Edge Computing" Vidyasagar Asalapuram - KALYPSO, Houston; Irfan Khan - TAMU, Galveston; and Kotesh Rao - ADAK Digital, Houston, USA
- 3:30-5 p.m.: Session C2: "Navigation, Path Planning and Communication for Robots" with Chair/Co-Chair: James Dabney/ Michel Adamik (Room 1437)
- Paper C2-1: "Finger Motion Measurement System for Telexistence Hand Manipulation" by Yasuyuki Inoue, Fumihiro Kato and Susumu Tachi - The University of Tokyo, Japan
- Paper C2-2: "In-Tank Sensor Error Prediction and Modeling," by James Dabney - UH-Clear Lake; and Fathi Ghorbel - Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
- Paper C2-3: "Tool Path Generator for Artistic Drawing with Industrial Robot," by Michal Adamík, Andrej Babinec and Ľuboš Chovanec - Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava, Slovakia
- 3:30-5p.m.: Session C3: "Advances in Human-Robot Collaboration" with Chair/Co-Chair: Thomas Harman / Masahiko Inami (Room 1439)
- Paper C3-1: "Lessons Learned from the Development of an Affordable Open-Source Based Humanoid Socially Assistive Robot" by Pablo Rangel, Kimberly Brotherton, Erika Anderson, Adam Hennad, Aaron Vega and Matthew Plotkin - TAMU, Corpus Christi, Texas, USA
- Paper C3-2: "Progress in Human-Robot Collaboration for Object Handover" by Daniel Leal and Yimesker Yihun - Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas, USA
- Paper C3-3: "Identifying Variables that Improve Communication with Bots" by Schenita Floyd - College of Information, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA
- 6:30-9 p.m.: Dinner at Gilruth Center, NASA Johnson Space Center
Special presentation: "Robonaut 2: Technology for Earth and Space" by Kenneth J. Ruta - NASA JSC
- 7-8:30 a.m.: Continental breakfast (Forest Room)
- 8:30-9:30 a.m.: Keynote 2: "Robotic Assistance to Prevent, Detect, Measure, Protect and Manage CBRNE Risks," by Prof. Yvan Baudoin - EM Royal Military Academy, Belgium (Forest Room)
- 9:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.: Session D1: "Training and Education Applied to Robotics" with Chair/Co-Chair: Prof. Michal Tölgyessy/ Michelle Patrick-Krueger (Room 1435)
- Paper D1-1: "Free Response Evaluation via Neural Network for an IMathAS System" by Nathanial Wiggins and Milton Smith - Texas Tech University, USA
- Paper D1-2: "An Open Real-Time Audio Processing Platform on Zync FPGA" by Kevin Vaca, Mitchell Jefferies and Xiaokun Yang -UH-Clear Lake.
- Paper D1-3: "EDF Scheduling of Industrial Robotic Manufacturing Tasks" by Pallovi Romeroand Albert M.K.Chen - University of Houston, USA
- Paper D1-4: "Interactive Screen for Educational Purposes In Robotics," by Michal Tölgyessy, Martin Dekan and Peter Hubinsky - Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava, Slovakia
- 9:30-12 p.m.: Session D2: "Robotics for Human Performance and Rehabilitation and Medical Applications II" with Chair/Co-Chair: Yvan Baudoin/ Fumihiro Kato (Room 1437)
- Paper D2-1: "Analysis of Magnetoelectric Robot for Biological Cell Poration" by Shadeeb Hossain, Brandon Young, Amar Bhalla and Ruyan Guo - University of Texas at San Antonio, USA
- Paper D2-2: "Haptic Display Glove Capable of Force/Vibration/Temperature," by Fumihiro Kato, Yasuyuki Inoue and Susumu Tachi - The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- Paper D2-3: "Towards a Modular and Dexterous Transhumeral Prosthesis Based on Bio-Signals and Active Vision" by Duy Nguyen Phuong and Thanh Pham Chi - RMIT University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Paper D2-4: "Human-Centered Deep Learning Neural Network Trained Myoelectric Controller for a Powered Wheelchair," by Ashley Stroh and Jaydip Desai - Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas, USA
- Paper D2-5 : "Force Myography Controlled Intelligent Assistive Wheelchair-Mounted Robotic Exoskeleton for Arm Movements" by Jaydip Desai, Bridget Schabron and Yimesker Yihun - Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas, USA
- 9:30-12 p.m.: Session D3: "Robots and Various Topics" with Chair/Co-Chair: Prof. Yvan Baudoin/ Prof. Masahiko Inami (Room 1439)
- Paper D3-1: "Circadian Rhythm Light Watch" by Richard Castaneda - San Jacinto College, Houston, USA
- Paper D3-2: "A Deep Learning Technique for Modeling Fluid Moments of Swimming Robots" by Rozie Zangeneh and Sarhan M. Musa - TAMU Prairie View, Texas, USA
- Paper D3-3: "MFCC-based Houston Toad call Detection using RNN and CNN" by Abdullah Al Bashit and Damian Valles - - Abdullah Al Bashit and Damian Valles - Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas, USA
- Paper D3-4 : "Autonomous Color Based Object Tracking of a Hexapod with Efficient Intuitive Characteristics" by Shahriar Ahmad, Saeed Moazami and Hassan Zargarzadeh - Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas, USA
- 12-1:30 p.m.: Boxed Lunch ISMCR Concluding Remarks with Zafar Taqvi / Yvan Baudoin
/ Masahiko Inami / Susumu Tachi (Forest Room)
- 1:30-2:30 p.m.: UHCL Robotic Lab Visit (Delta Building)
IMEKO TC 17 is comprised of members of a 17-nation confederation, which is calling out to engineers and researchers worldwide to contribute to the symposium's workshops and panels. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is sponsored the event. All papers were peer reviewed and will be published with IMEKO and IEEE guidelines.
For more information visit the symposium website at ISMCR.org.
Past Events
Houston Robotics and AI Day 2018
Aug. 3, 2018
The third annual Houston Robotics and AI Day took place on Friday, August 3 in the UHCL Bayou building with over 50 people in attendance. Dr. Reg Berka of Houston Mechatronics kicked off the event with a keynote speech highlighting the breakthrough technology currently in development for Aquanaut, the underwater autonomous transforming robot. The morning continued with presentations from Houston-area robotics and AI students and faculty. A poster session followed with additional students highlighting and discussing the work in which they are currently involved.
This annual event provides a showcase of the current projects and research being done at Houston-area academic institutions including UHCL, the main and downtown campuses of the University of Houston, San Jacinto College, and Rice University. Anyone interested in robotics and AI is encouraged to attend.
NASA Swarmathon Competition
April 17, 18, 19, 2018
A combined team from UHCL and San Jacinto College returned from the NASA Swarmathon competition at Kennedy Space Center with the second place award for the Mission to Mars competition. The NASA Swarmathon is a multi-year competition with the challenge to develop cooperative robots for Mars exploration and resource gathering. For the physical robot competition, the UHCL-SJC team competed with 23 other Minority Serving Universities and Community Colleges to determine the optimum search algorithms for these robotic swarms. Pictured are the students and faculty from both schools as they receive the award from the NASA/University of New Mexico staff at the competition at KSC.
For more information on this competition and to see the final results, check out the NASA Swarmathon website.
Center for Robotics Software Robot Operating System
January – February 2018
The Center for Robotics Software hosted a 3-day seminar for engineers and programmers from the local company METECS. The seminar taught the fundamentals of the Robot Operating System (ROS). Instructors, Dr. Thomas Harman, Dr. Luong Nguyen and Carol Fairchild provided lectures, hands-on simulation exercises and robot demonstrations to the group. The METECS employees were very interested and engaged. All felt that the ROS workshop was successful and additional seminars are anticipated.
UHCL Swarmathon Team Pushing Robotics to New Frontiers
UH-Clear Lake Hosts Center for Robotic Software with Kickoff Event
Houston Robotics and AI Day showcases area research, technology
July 21, 2017
Area educators, engineers and students gathered at University of Houston-Clear Lake
for the Houston Robotics and AI Day on Friday, July 21 for presentations and demonstrations
of the latest research and applications of robotics and artificial-intelligence technology.
Robotics and AI Day provides a showcase of what is, what can be
August 14, 2017
Three wide-eyed middle-school students stood over Turtlebot 3 “Burger,” one of the
latest robots procured by University of Houston-Clear Lake’s Center for Robotics Software.
Under eight inches tall, it doesn’t look much like a robot. It doesn’t look anything
at all like a turtle, let alone a hamburger.
