IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - June 2015 - 97

Figure 3. The participants visited Camden, New South Wales, to view a demonstration of an
operational robotic rotary milking system. (Photo courtesy of The University of Sydney.)

operational robotic rotary milking system installation at the University of
Sydney's Camden campus (Figure 3).
On the final day of SSAR 2015, we
toured the ACFR's field lab and saw a
demonstration of the ACFR's Ladybird
robot designed for operation in vegetable crops (Figure 4).
Social events played an important
part in the success of the school. On the
first day, participants introduced themselves via a lightning round that consisted of a rapid sequence of single-slide,
60-s presentations. A participant poster
session followed, promoting informal
discussion in a semistructured environment. This introductory session set the
stage for further discussion throughout
the week during coffee breaks, a group
dinner, and the closing reception.
The 40 student participants came
from a mix of backgrounds and countries. In addition to robotics graduate
students and researchers, there were
many participants new to the IEEE. A
group photo is shown in Figure 5.
One of the main goals of the school,
aside from technical education, was to
create a new feeling of community
among the variety of participants. There
is now a clear desire to meet again
through future summer schools and
potentially new specialized conferences
and workshops.
The school received considerable attention from Australian and international media. Several journalists attended

engineering in an agricultural context. Participants
also heard about major
projects in the United
States, United Kingdom,
Europe, Australia, and Pakistan. Government and industry leaders spoke about
industry-specific challenges, including a presentation
by Daniel Schmoldt from
the U.S. Department of
Figure 4. The Ladybird robot, designed for operation in
Agriculture.
vegetable crops, shown here at a field trial in Cowra, New
The hands-on activities
South Wales. (Photo courtesy of ACFR, The University of
Sydney.)
consisted of lab-based
exercises in estimation
and navigation (using data
SSAR 2015 was endorsed by the from a corn field) and in perception
RAS Technical Committee on Agricul- algorithms for plant detection and
tural Robotics and Automation and classification from camera images
was conceived as an educational event (Figure 2). Participants also visited an
that would both collect and disseminate technical information and help to
foster a cohesive and collaborative
research community. The program
consisted of presentations, hands-on
activities, a farm visit, a robot demonstration, and social events. The school
was officially opened by New South
Wales Minister for Primary Industries
Katrina Hodgkinson.
There were 18 presentations given by
speakers spanning six different countries. The backgrounds of the speakers
were diverse, ranging from roboticists to
government and industry leaders
(Figure 1). The technical lectures
covered topics in sensing and perception, planning and control, manipulation and grasping, and systems Figure 5. The SSAR 2015 participants. (Photo courtesy of The University of Sydney.)
JUNE 2015

IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - June 2015