The UC3M participates in the largest robotics event in the world
9/11/18
The press conference to present the biggest robotics event in the world, the 2018 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2018), took place today at the Madrid-Puerta de Toledo campus of the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M). In attendance were the UC3M’s Vice-Chancellor for Scientific Policy, Javier Prieto; the general director of Universities and Higher Level Artistic Education of the Community of Madrid, José Manuel Torralba; and the UC3M professor, Carlos Balaguer, chairperson of IROS 2018.
From left to right: José Manuel Torralba, the general director of Universities and Higher Level Artistic Education of the Community of Madrid; Javier Prieto, the UC3M’s Vice-Chancellor for Scientific Policy; and Carlos Balaguer, UC3M professor and chairperson of IROS 2018.
IROS 2018, of which the UC3M is one of the organisers, will take place from the 1st to the 5th of October at the Palacio Municipal de Congresos. This week-long event will bring together more than 3,500 participants from 62 countries around the world and will also host a robotics fair in which more than 150 exhibitors from companies in the sector will present the latest advances in smart robots, humanoids, self-driving cars, service robots in medical applications, care, agriculture, maintenance and inspection of infrastructures, rescue, aerial, terrestrial, submarine robotics, etc.
The event will feature more than 1,250 papers, three plenary presentations and 20 main talks by the most prominent researchers in the robotics field, including Professor Marc Raibert, CEO and founder of the Boston Dynamics company. In addition, IROS 2018 will host 48 workshops and 8 tutorials, as well as 10 international robotic competitions in the areas of autonomous cars and domestic robots among others.
This year’s slogan - Towards a Robotic Society - reflects the advance of robotic technologies and their impact on society. For this reason, in addition to the technical presentations, the conference will present the latest advances in the coexistence of robots with humans, personal and service robotics for people with disabilities and the elderly, human-robot interaction, the integration of automatic learning systems, smart robots, the use of cognitive systems, etc. According to Professor Carlos Balaguer, "we will likely begin to share our daily tasks with robots in much less time than we think, and while this interaction will initially feel 'strange', over time it will be increasingly fruitful."
IROS 2018 will be a forum for discussion of the latest issues in robotics. Professor Cecilia Laschi, president of the IROS 2018 Programme Committee, said that "interdisciplinarity and work on the frontier of knowledge is fundamental for modern robotics, which today is organised in multidisciplinary teams of engineers, physicists, sociologists and doctors." In that regard, the conference will be a place for meeting and discussion of the future of robotics for R & D policy makers, scientists, businessmen, sociologists, psychologists, economists and jurists who will discuss employment, roboethics, education and, in general, the social change this new robotic society will generate.
"IROS 2018 in Madrid will be a unique and privileged showcase for the promotion of Spain as a country involved in technological development, digitalisation and innovation," says Professor Balaguer.
IROS is sponsored by the two major robotic science societies in the world: the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) from the USA and the Japan Robotics Society (JRS). It is also supported by the European Union through its Directorate-General for Digitalisation (DGCONNECT). It is also sponsored by the main companies from the sector and related technologies.
The UC3M is an innovative public university which is committed to improving society through cutting-edge research and high-quality teaching, in accordance with the most stringent international guidelines. It is the highest ranking Spanish university and the 22nd worldwide in the QS ranking of the 50 best universities in the world which have been in existence for less than 50 years. It also features in the THE World University Rankings and places highly in the student mobility ranking of the Erasmus+ programme.
