NSERC Canadian Robotics Network
Fifth Annual General Meeting (AGM)
June 15-16, 2023 at University of Toronto

Agenda

June 14: 7:00pm-10:00pm: Banquet at Faculty Club of University of Toronto ( https://www.facultyclub.utoronto.ca/). Address: 41 Willcocks St, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3 (PIs/DFs/Partners; students/DF students)

Day 1- June 15- BA 1130 - Bahen Centre for Information Technology, 40 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 2E4
Coffee/Tea

9:00am-9:30am: Welcome - Gregory Dudek (NCRN Scientific Director)

9:30am-10:25am: Theme Leaders' Presentations (20 min each theme leader, including questions)

• Michael Jenkin – Interactive Autonomy Theme
• Steven Waslander – Resilient Autonomy Theme 

10:25am-10:40am: Break- Bahen Centre for Information Technology 

10:40am-12:15pm: Partners‘ Updates-Part 1 (15 min each) 

• Clearpath Robotics- Ryan Gariepy (OTTO); Bryan Webb (Clearpath Robotics)
• FPInnovations – Heshan Fernando
• National Research Council (NRC)– Iraj Mantegh
• Huawei Technologies Canada – Eduardo Corral Soto
• MacLean Engineering– Lindsay Vanderbeck, Jeremy Roy
• Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC)– Jack Collier

12:15am-1:45pm: Lunch Break- Myhal 580

1:45pm-2:25pm: Distal Fellows presentations (10 min each) 

• Timothy Byles-Ho, on behalf of Amy Wu, Queen’s University
• Liam Paull, University of Montreal
• François Pomerleau, University of Laval
• Florian Shkurti, University of Toronto

2:30pm-3:30pm: Brainstorming sessions on Partners’ challenges (In parallel, register in advance: https://forms.gle/cZAq9qfyHZZvv3fYA )

Huawei Technologies: Eduardo Corral Soto (Bahen 1130)

• Perception for autonomous driving 

FPInnovations: Heshan Fernando (Myhal 570)

• Camera self-calibration in the field
• Log grasping detection
• Organized log placement in the trailer

MacLean Engineering:  Lindsay Vanderbeck, Jeremy Roy (Myhal 580)

• Multi-Robot Collaboration Opportunities in Underground Mining

3:30pm-3:45pm: Break

3:45pm-5:00pm: Speed dating - Opening by Gregory Dudek (Myhal  570/580)

• FPinnovations- Heshan Fernando
• Clearpath Robotics- Bryan Webb
• Huawei Technologies- Eduardo Corral Soto
• MacLean Engineering- Lindsay Vanderbeck, Jeremy Roy

5:00pm – 7:00pm: Social event with the University of Toronto Robotics Institute at Myhal building

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Day 2- June 16- Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 55 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 0C9

8:30am-9:00am: Welcome Coffee/tea- Poster setup

9:00am-9:30am: SSRC meeting (room 564)

9:50am-11:20am: NCRN Board Meeting (room 564)

9:00am- 12:00pm: Posters session (room 570 and 580)

11:30am-12:40pm: Lunch Break (Myhal 580)

12:40pm- 1:40pm: Birds of a Feather Sessions 1 and 2 in parallel (room 570 and 580)

• Large Language Models (LLMs) and their impact on Robotics – Prof. Greg Dudek
• Intersection of Reinforcement Learning (RL) and Classical Control  - Post doc Faraz Lotfi, Prof. David Meyer, Prof. Joshua Marshall

1:40pm-3:10pm: General Meeting

• Next year
• Plans for the future
• Other

3:10pm-3:20pm: Final remarks and closure of NCRN Annual Meeting