Date: This workshop (FW04) will be held on 2nd June 2023.

Location: South Gallery Room 27, London ExCel Centre

Introduction

This workshop aims to bring together experts in robotics with those who handle hazardous material to identify critical challenges and future opportunities to reduce the risk to personnel of processing hazardous samples. These tasks can involve dangerous pathogens (up to Containment Level 4) chemicals and explosives; therefore the challenges are far more complex compared to robotic manipulation of stable objects in other environments eg factories. We aim to identify specific challenges in unimanual and bi-manual manipulation, real-time multimodal (i.e. haptic, visual, odor, etc.) perception, human-robot interaction and human augmentation, and semi-autonomous telemanipulation. We will bring in defence experts to provide further detail on the risk associated with different classes of samples, the diversity of mechanical and chemical properties of typical hazardous materials processed in a defence lab and future needs and challenges that can be addressed by the robotics community. The multidisciplinary approach to this workshop will help to build a better understanding leading to fruitful collaborations that are currently limited.

Multiple streams in robotics such as grasping, bimanual object manipulation, real-time multimodal perception, and semi-autonomous human robot interaction have made important advances in diverse areas from factories, to agriculture, and medicine. However still there are still existing challenges to overcome including uncertainty in the samples being manipulated. These range from dangerous pathogens to toxic chemicals and explosive materials, all with differing issues and risks. In some instances, the properties of the sample are not completely known until analysis is completed. Therefore, the demand for real-time decision making is higher than normal. The robotics community will benefit from understanding the context from defence experts who have experience in these areas handling hazardous materials often within limited and restricted environments The interactive sessions will open up opportunities to draw principles from multiple areas of robotics and automation to solve future grand challenges to improve safety and efficiency for this application domain.

Technical sponsors

• IEEE Technical Committee on Soft Robotics
• IEEE Technical Committee on Robotic Hands, Grasping & Manipulation

Organisers

• Professor Thrishantha Nanayakkara, Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College London, UK, (Corresponding organiser, Email: t.nanayakkara@imperial.ac.uk )
• Associate Professor Sarah Harding, Microbiology and Aerosol Sciences Group, CBR Division, DSTL Porton Down, Salisbury, UK
• Professor Antonio Bicchi, University of Pisa, Italy
• Associate Professor Perla Maiolino, Oxford Robotics Institute, University of Oxford, UK
• Professor Kaspar Althoefer, School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, UK
• Edward Johns, Imperial College London, UK

Agenda

Session-1: Presentations describing the challenges and technologies being developed

9:00 - 9:10: Sarah Harding, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) – How to work safely with robots in high containment

9:10 - 9:20: Chris Timperley, DSTL - How to ensure reliability of an automated process with toxic chemicals so that it can be trusted

9:20 - 9:30: Jemima Coates, DSTL - Remote radiation protection challenges – Keeping the Health Physicist healthy!

9:30 - 9:40: David Groves, DSTL - Robot Assistance for Safe Manipulation of Energetic Materials

9:40 - 9:50: Abdenour Benkrid, IFE -  Hazard-aware digitalization and robotics in Nuclear and other domains

9:50 - 10:00: Ferdinando Rodriguez Beana, Imperial College London (ICL) - Robotics in Surgery: Inspiration for Work in Hazardous Environments

10:00 - 10:10: Etienne Burdet, ICL - Augmentation and VR training for manipulation in hazardous environments

10:10 - 10:20: Ad Spiers, ICL  - In-Hand-Manipulation for Enhanced Tactile Object Feature Extraction

10:20 - 10:30: Sungmoon Joo, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute - Telerobotic Manipulation Frameworks for Hazardous Material Handling in Nuclear Decommissioning

10:30 - 11:30 - Breakout 1  – Challenges and solutions

Attendees join the speakers to discuss the challenges posed by the DSTL experts in 4 breakout ideation groups under a) Explosives, b) Chemical, c) Bio, and d) Radiation related hazardous material handling. Each group can choose one or several challenges and try to see it from different angles to come up with a. solutions by combining existing technologies, b. broad research questions for the next 2-5 years.

11:30 - 11:50 - Each group pitches their challenge(s), short term solutions, and research questions for the next 2-5 years.

11:50 - 12:00 - General discussion and Q&A from the audience

12:00 - 13:00 – Lunch

13:00 - 13:10: Erwin Lopez Pulgarin, University of Manchester -  Haptic Digital Twins with Dynamic Point Clouds for robotic nuclear decommissioning tasks

13:10 - 13:20: Edward Johns, ICL - Safe and efficient learning of tasks from human demonstrations

13:20 - 13:30: Perla Maiolino, University of Oxford - Exploiting Softness and Tactile sensing For Robotic Manipulation

13:30 - 13:40: Antonio Bicchi and Manuel Catalano, University of Pisa - Semiautonomous avatars for manipulation in hazardous environments

13:40 - 13:50: Ian Walker, Clemsen University - Adaptive manipulation with compliant continuum robots

13:50 - 14:00: Peter Biggins and Robbie Murray, ICL - Nature Inspired Approaches: an aid to detection

14:00 - 14:10: Shinichi Hirai, Ritzumeikan University - Soft Hands Grasping and Manipulating Living Organisms

14:10 - 14:20: William G. Proud and Connor Myant, ICL - Energetic Materials: Sensitivity and Output

14:20 - 15:20 - Breakout 2  – Challenges and solutions

Attendees join the speakers to discuss the challenges posed by the DSTL experts in 4 breakout ideation groups under a) Explosives, b) Chemical, c) Bio, and d) Radiation related hazardous material handling. Each group can choose one or several challenges and try to see it from different angles to come up with a. solutions by combining existing technologies, b. broad research questions for the next 2-5 years.

15:20 - 15:35 - Each group pitches their challenge(s), short term solutions, and research questions for the next 2-5 years.

15:35 – 16.15 - Open discussion on challenges, solutions, and next steps

Some useful logistics information

Getting to ExCeL London:

ICRA 2023 will be held in the International Convention Centre (ICC) of ExCeL London (best access via DLR station Prince Regent).

ExCeL London has two main entrances, each of which is served by a different train station. Custom House brings you to the West Entrance and Prince Regent the East Entrance (which is the closer station for ICRA 2023).

Please click here for an overview of the venue.

The venue is easily accessible by rail, road and air with rail links to all five of London's airports. Please click here to plan your journey.

 *Please note on Sunday 28th May, you will only be allowed access through the East Entrance (via DLR station Prince Regent) due to Comic Con.

Access:

Upon your arrival, please go to the registration area, located on the Boulevard on Level 0, outside the ICC Capital Hall to collect your badge. You will not be allowed access to your workshop room without a badge.