Registration has opened for two robot shows: the Robot Development Conference & Expo '08 (RoboDevelopment) and the Robot Gizmo and Gadget Show (RGG). RoboDevelopment will be held in Santa Clara, Calif. on November 18-19, and RGG is scheduled for June 18-20, 2009 in Las Vegas.

RoboDevelopment is described as a “multifaceted educational forum and trade show dedicated to addressing the technical issues involved with the design and development of commercial robotic products,” says EH Publishing's Robotics Trends magazine, which is organizing the event. Last year's event featured a number of Linux-powered robots, including Hanson Robotics's Zeno (pictured below, at right), a robotic boy with two brains, one of which ran Linux. Meanwhile, numerous other Linux-based robots have popped up in recent years, as showcased in our “Linux-powered Robots Quick Reference Guide”.

Zeno, the robot boy with two brains (Click for details)

Keynotes at the RoboDevelopment Event include:

• Making cars drive themselves — Sebastian Thrun, Director, Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Stanford University
• Robots among us? Inventing the future of socially assistive robotics — Maja Mataric, Director, USC Robotics Research Lab
• Opportunities at the uptick — Jeanne Dietsch, CEO, MobileRobots Inc

Session topics include Linux, open-source software, and Mini-ITX. The sessions will be divided into the following four tracks:

• Systems, design and development
  • Multi-robot systems
  • Tool, effector, and manipulator systems
  • Robot types and form factors
  • Power systems
  • Mobility systems
  • Control systems and control architectures and sensing systems
  • Robotics engineering design process
  • Prototyping, simulation, and testing
  • Human/Machine Interfaces
  • Standards for the development of robotic systems
  • Systems engineering
  • Manufacturing, fabrication, and outsourcing options and machine learning

  Tools & platforms

  • CAD/CAM tools for robotics development
  • Simulation and testing tools
  • Materials and frames
  • Software development kits and modeling tools
  • Bases, frames, and platforms for professional development
  • Operating systems: Linux, Windows, MTOS, VxWorks, QNX, others
  • Robotics kits and component suppliers
  • PC bots and Mini-ITX solutions
  • COTS solutions for robotics
  • Languages, libraries, and open source solutions

  Enabling technology

  • Actuators — motors, gears, hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders, muscle wire
  • Drive trains — DC motors, servo motors, and stepper motors
  • Locomotion — wheeled, tracked, and legged systems
  • Sensors and sensing solutions
  • Controllers and microcontrollers
  • Semiconductors and microcomputers
  • Batteries and power systems
  • Drive systems
  • Communication solutions
  • Manipulators and end effectors
  • Emerging technology

  Achieving autonomy

  • Localization, navigation and mapping
  • Data acquisition and sensor fusion
  • Robot learning
  • Robot telesupervision
  • Real-time image processing
  • Motion planning and scheduling
  • Obstacle avoidance and path planning
  • Map building
  • Power autonomy

Is it a robot, a gizmo, or a gadget — or a woman in a futuristic wheelchair?

Robot Gizmo and Gadget Show and World Electronics Expo

Previously held in Orlando, Florida, the Robot Gizmo and Gadget Show show is now collocating with the new World Electronics Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center. At the June 18-20 event, the RGG portion of the show will be open to the public, whereas the World Electronics Expo will be open to the trade only.

The new World Electronics Expo provides exhibits and sessions in gaming, audio, digital imaging, emerging technology, home theater, home networking, in-vehicle technology, and wireless, say the organizers. The RGG show, meanwhile, aims to give members of the public a chance “to know, to touch, and to feel what their future with machines will be and how will it affect their lives.” Exhibits are said to include futuristic cars, personal vehicles, computers, cell phones, and robots.

Availability

RoboDevelopment '08 costs $45 for an expo pass and $800 for the conference ($1,000 after October 24th). Registration is available here. Early registration for the RGG/World Electronics Expo is available at their website.

 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.