Preconference Workshop – Control, Estimation and Modelling Practice for Robotic Applications in Challenging Environments

May 17, 2022

RACE and University of Manchester are organising an international workshop focusing on Control, Estimation and Modelling Practice for Robotic Applications in Challenging Environments at the European Control Conference 2022 (ECC22). This hybrid workshop will run for a full day on 12th July 2022 at Imperial College, London, the UK.

The workshop welcomes attendees, including researchers and industrial representatives at all career stages, interested in the relevant application fields. We look forward to discussing with you about control technologies for future systems in extreme environments at the workshop.

Abstract

Robotic systems have been considered as adequate solutions for various challenging applications, e.g., manipulation in space, investigations of oceans, decommissioning of nuclear facilities, remote maintenance of fusion reactors, etc. In contrast to common robotic applications, robotic systems need to be specifically developed to tackle different specific practical issues caused by challenging environments. These challenging environments will significantly limit the choice of actuating mechanisms, the availability of sensing information and so on. Also, the environmental factors, such as radiation flux, extreme thermo-changes, etc., will strongly impact the system’s dynamics and, therefore, the control performance. Thus, it is necessary to develop advanced control algorithms, estimation methods and efficient modelling approaches, motivated for tackling various practical issues. 

This workshop focuses on the control, estimation, and modelling techniques developed for practical robotic applications in challenging environments. The workshop hosts expert speakers from various reputed institutions in Germany, Italy, France and the UK, leading the associated research fields across Europe. The talks will give a glance into solutions for practical control problems about remote operations in fusion engineering, robotics for nuclear-decommissioning, motion-control of orbital space robots, underwater localisation of marine robots, and aero-vehicles in extreme weather. 

The workshop welcomes attendees, including researchers and industrial representatives, interested in the relevant application fields. The workshop will allow control experts to disseminate their special experience in resolving real-world challenges. Thus, connections and collaborations can be established between researchers and practicing engineers to solve forthcoming and future challenges in deploying robotics under extreme environments, via advanced control techniques.

Programme

09.00-09.30	Registration begins
09.30-09.45	Workshop opening
09.45-10.30	Plenary session 1
09.45-10.30	Talk 1 – Intervention Robots for Complex, Hazardous and Challenging Environments Prof Darwin G. Caldwell Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), Italy
10.30 – 11.00	Coffee break
11.00-12.30	Session 2 – Control, Modelling and Estimation in Nuclear Sector
	Talk 2.1 – Modelling of Large-scale Robotic Systems for Remote Maintenance of Fusion Powerplants Dr Roger Powell UK Atomic Energy Authority, UK
	Talk 2.2 – Model Based Strategy for Grasp Synthesis in Nuclear Decommissioning Task Dr Alessandro Altobelli Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), Italy
	Talk 2.3 – ICON+: On wireless control communication in the nuclear sector Prof Guido Herrmann University of Manchester, UK
12.30 – 13.30	Lunch break
13.30 – 14.30	Session 2 – Control, Estimation and Modelling for Space Robots
	Talk 2.1 – Orbital Missions: Modelling and Controlling a Space Robot  Prof Mini C. Rai University of Lincoln, UK
	Talk 2.2 – Robotic manipulation in and from space: challenges and perspectives Dr. Maximo A. Roa German Aerospace Center (DLR), Germany
14.30-15.30	Session 3 – Control, Estimation and Modelling for Unmanned Vehicles in Extremes
	Talk 3.1 – Estimation and navigation of marine robots in underwater exploration applications Prof Luc Jaulin National Institute of Advanced Technologies of Brittany (ENSTA Bretagne, France)
	Talk 3.2 – Fault tolerant control of UAV for applications in challenging environments Dr Halim Alwi University of Exeter, UK
15.30 – end	Open discussions and Coffee break

Registration

Workshops will be held in a hybrid format, both at the conference venue and online (in live streaming), on the 12th of July 2022, the day before the official opening of the conference. Advanced registration for pre-conference workshops can be done online via the conference registration system. Please note that workshops are: (a) subject to cancellation for lack of registrants, and (b) allow a maximum number of in-person participants.

Main conference registration is a prerequisite for registering at an ECC workshop.

Important: please note that you can register for only 1 workshop because all workshops take place simultaneously. Recordings of workshops will not normally be made.

The cost of attending a pre-conference workshop is listed below.

Workshop registration category	Requires in-person conference registration	Fee (USD)
Full In-person	yes	120$
Student/Retiree In-person	yes	60$
Full virtual (live streaming)		60$
Student/Retiree virtual (live streaming)		30$