IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2020 - 18

Figure 1. An example of signage
reminding lab members to wear masks,
used during the reopening procedures
for the Tapia Lab at the University of New
Mexico. (Source: Iliana McCabe via Pixton
Software; https://www.cs.unm.edu/
tapialab/Resources/).

Figure 2. It is important to remember
safety measures in robotics labs,
especially those surrounding the use of
hardware. (Source: Iliana McCabe via
Pixton Software; https://www.cs.unm
.edu/tapialab/Resources/).

Balancing Work, Family,
and Friends
There was a clear consensus among the
committee that this is a time of imbalance, and their collective advice was to
accept the imbalance and know that
you are not alone. Hadas Kress-Gazit,
associate professor at Cornell University, says, "I can find time for meetings

IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE

and answering email but do not have
the mental space for thinking. Between
kids at home, interruptions, and needing to take care of food and the house, I
am unable to focus and be productive."
Prof. Chatila simply says, "It has not
been balanced." However, Bauernfeind
and another graduate student, Diane
Uwacu from Texas A&M University,
both agreed that "setting specific time
for family phone calls and friendly chat"
has been effective for creating some
semblance of work-life balance.
Safety Measures for
Lab Reopenings
There was clear consensus among the
faculty on the committee that strict
adherence to social distancing and
safety guidelines from your institution
are paramount to safely reopening labs
and resuming in person research.
Handwashing, masks, and disinfecting
high-touch surfaces must be diligently
practiced. The graphics in this column
(Figures 1 and 2) are from signage artwork used for the Tapia Lab reopening
at UNM. These images help emphasize
important sanitation practices in a
humorous and easy-to-remember way.
Allison Okamura, professor at Stanford
University, also stresses the importance
of "not pressuring students or postdocs
into going into the lab if they prefer to
work remotely." She also discussed the
procedure in her lab of "not allowing free
airflow from pneumatic systems used for
soft robots, since that could spread particulates." Many robotics labs rely on user
studies to test their research, pulling in
participants from outside the lab for
impartial feedback. Resuming these
studies in person is very difficult, if not
impossible, while restrictions for
COVID-19 are still in place. Prof. Okamura's lab has resumed haptics studies
using current lab members as participants. Here at UNM, we converted our
in-person user studies to online Android

SEPTEMBER 2020

applications where participants are
recruited by Amazon Mechanical Turk.
Maintaining Personal
Mental Health
Mental health is an important part of
your overall well-being and should not
be neglected. The effects of the closed
economy, extended isolation, and the
rapid transition to life at home are creating intense stress. According to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this stress is likely to manifest
as anxiety, depression, changes in sleep
or appetite, and difficulty concentrating.
Cara Nunez, a graduate student at Stanford University, and Bauernfeind both
responded that they have taken up daily
exercise, such as running, hiking, or
apartment-friendly workout videos as a
way to unwind and keep their minds off
the stress. Nunez says that "challenging
myself physically made me focus on the
physical activity instead of my insecurities and worries about my work." Additionally, Uwacu recommends "being
mindful about the quality and quantity
of media consumption." No matter what
form of stress relief you partake in, Prof.
Kress-Gazit reminds us that it is important to "realize that this past semester
and the summer are going to be unproductive, [and] probably the fall as well."
She emphasizes that "we will have to be
patient with ourselves and realize that
things take three times as long to
accomplish these days."
The WIE Committee of the Robotics
and Automation Society is excited to
share this personal advice. We realize
that stress is hard on everyone, especially workers with family concerns. We
encourage you, if you feel as though
stress over this pandemic and your situation is too intense, to utilize counseling
services or crisis hotlines. Please
remember to be patient with each other;
we are all in this together.

https://www.cs.unm.edu/tapialab/Resources/ https://www.cs.unm.edu/tapialab/Resources/ https://www.cs.unm.edu/tapialab/Resources/ https://www.cs.unm.edu/tapialab/Resources/

IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2020

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