IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - March 2017 - 96

IEEE RAS Student Activities Committee

Megan Emmons
Colorado State University
Fort Collins,
United States
RAS-SAC chair
mremmons@rams.colostate.edu

Jory Denny
Texas A&M University
College Station,
United States
RAS-SAC cochair
joryldenny@gmail.com

website (http://www.ieee-ras.org/
ras-sight), the mission of this pro-
gram is to apply robotics and auto-
mation technologies to promote
humanitarian
causes around
the globe. Any-
The SIGHT website
one interested in
describes our
furthering the
program's mis-
current projects,
sion is welcome
which range from
and encouraged
to participate.
developing robots
Students are
to teach English
especially en -
couraged to get
in rural Africa to
involved. Ac -
robotic solutions in
cording to Raj,
"[s]tudents are
firefighting.
critical to the
success of all
activities organized by RAS-SIGHT,
mainly because they are designed with
them in mind."
Most activities organized by RAS-
SIGHT fall under the category of proj-
ects and challenges. Currently, there are
eight active projects funded by RAS-
SIGHT, with another 10-12 anticipated
for 2017. Funded projects are primarily
student driven, though an advising pro-
fessor may serve as the project principal

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IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE

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Dénes Ákos Nagy
Antal Bejzcy Center for
Intelligent Robotics
Óbuda University
Budapest, Hungary
RAS-SAC cochair
denes.a.nagy@ieee.org

investigator, and are aimed at leveraging
robotics and automation technology to
increase the quality of life in under-
served, underdeveloped areas around
the globe. The SIGHT website describes
our current projects, which range from
developing robots to teach English
in rural Africa to robotic solutions in
firefighting.
Another very notable RAS-SIGHT
event is the Humanitarian Robotics
and Automation Technology Chal-
lenge (HRATC). So far, three HRATCs
have taken place; the next challenge is
scheduled for 30-31 May at the 2017
International Conference on Robotics
and Automation in Singapore. Videos
of past events are posted on the RAS-
SIGHT website at http://www.ieee-ras
.org/ras-sight/activities, including a
video in which students design algo-
rithms for autonomous landmine
detection using a mobile robot. The
challenge itself is broken into three
phases, with teams progressively elim-
inated after each phase. One great fea-
ture of the HRATC is the use of
remote practice runs, allowing teams
to develop code and obtain actual
results without having to purchase
a large-scale robot. Instead, partici-
pants have access to a robot operating

march 2017

Ye Zhao
University of Texas at
Austin,
United States
RAS-SAC cochair
yezhao@utexas.edu

system-based simulator in early
stages, and can submit their code
to be implemented on the final robot
for remote testing.
With all the activities overseen by
RAS-SIGHT, there are many opportuni-
ties for students to get involved. Raj fur-
ther emphasizes the benefits available
to students:
They have the satisfaction of
working on projects and activities
that are well intentioned and
directly relatable as they are
addressing a real need for a com-
munity, which, when successfully
solved, changes their quality of life
in a fundamental way. In addition,
it also provides them a way to
apply their skill sets that they have
been acquiring as part of their
curriculum to practical problems.
RAS-SIGHT projects also provide
them a platform to publish their
work in peer-reviewed publica-
tions, enable interactions with
their peers, and make them better
engineers, scientists, and citizens,
thereby making this world a better
place for all of us!
Now that is a summary fit for
an optibot!
http://www.ieee-ras.org/ http://www.ieee-ras
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