PERMIS/SSRR Robotics Conference

I flew out of Tallahassee on Sunday to go to Gaithersburg, VA for PERMIS (Performance Metrics for Intelligent Systems Workshop) and SSRR (International Workshop on Safety, Security and Rescue Robotics).

My plane was delayed for about 3 hours in FL, and I finally made it to Atlanta 10 minutes before my next plane was supposed to leave (it was also delayed). I ran my ass off, and was the last person on the plane. It pulled out from the gate about 5 minutes after I sat down. I arrived at BWI in Baltimore at 3:45 AM, got my rental car, and went to a nearby hotel to crash. Why didn't I go to where I'm actually staying? They had lost my luggage.

Anyways, after the craziness, I finally arrived at the conference. I am disappointed by the overall level of the papers/presentations here. There are several papers here that should have never been published (and perhaps mine as well, depending on who you talk to). The split tracks were kind of difficult - I never knew which one to attend, as I exist in both the SSR world as well as the intelligent systems world. Some of the presentations and the plenaries are spectacular though - Hugh Durrant-White, Mike from CMU (Go Stanley!) and the Japanese teams. There were some amazing mechanics displayed as well as some of the new robots and systems. A realtime XRay device that weighs 16 lbs, the NeoMover by IRobot (the big brother of the PackBot), the Boz1, a robot that can tear apart a car, and many others.

The robot testing part was very weak - the tests themselves are suspect, but a good start. My paper was one of the only ones on practical testing recommendations. I did meet quite a few people and have a few brainstorming sessions with folks from other schools.

That's the update. =P

Oh, and I feel better about life. =D