Democratizing Robotics - Build your own virtual agent

Name: Democratizing Robotics - Build your own virtual agent
Start: 2013-08-01T18:30:00-07:00
End: 2013-08-01T21:30:00-07:00
Location: Microsoft

Hosted By

Bruno T. and Michael L.

Democratizing Robotics - Build your own virtual agent

Details

http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/2/3/2/event_263460562.jpeg

http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/2/5/0/event_266460592.jpegDemocratizing Robotics - Build your own virtual agent

The ability to conceive and build your own robot has never been closer to reality. The convergence of multiple technologies has made it possible for virtually any engineer to build their own virtual agent.

Inexpensive sensors, 3-D printing, dedicated operating systems, machine learning, artificial intelligence has paved the way to making science fiction reality.

We have some amazing speakers in store for you on August 1 at Microsoft San Francisco. There will be some special emphasis on robotics in the bay area and how you can get engaged. Learn about local companies who are performing leading edge research.

Learn about how the Microsoft Kinect team is taking their device to the next level in a special sneak preview of upcoming technology.

The speakers include Tully Foote (Robotics Open Source Operating System Manager), Rich Mahoney, PhD (Director of Robotics, SRI International President, Silicon Valley Robotics), John Dulchino (Board of Directors for the Robotics Technology Consortium), and more....

Space is limited so act now!

Due to the extraordinary demand, and due to the limited staff we have on hand for the event, seating will take place on a first-come, first-serve basis. That means we encourage people to get there early to secure a seat. The Golden gate rooms on the seventh floor can hold up to 210 people. The event will be recorded so that those who cannot make it will still be able to enjoy it later.

Check out more info including the video after the event at http://robotics.softwarebase.org/

Bruno Terkaly

From 6:30 PM to 6:40 PM

Rich Mahoney

From 6:40 PM to 7:05 PM

Tully Foote

From 7:05 PM to 7:30 PM

Break

From 7:30 PM to 7:45 PM

Eddy Escardo Raffo

From 7:45 PM to 8:10 PM

John Dulchinos

From 8:10 PM to 8:35 PM

Ian Sherman

From 8:35 PM to 9:00 PM

Panel Discussion

From 9:00 PM to 9:30 PM

Name
Rich Mahoney, PhD

Title
Director of Robotics, SRI International, President, Silicon Valley Robotics

Abstract
Rich will review the lay of the land in the emerging service robotics market in the Bay Area, including an overview of companies and R&D trends in leading edge robotics.

Bio
Rich is the Director of Robotics at SRI International in the Engineering R&D Division, best known to date as the origin of Intuitive Surgical. His group today performs research at the cutting edge of robotics for DARPA and commercial companies seeking to establish a market position in robotics. In the last year, both Redwood Robotics (JV with Willow Garage and Meka) and Grabit have spun out of his group. Before joining SRI, Rich spent 11 years developing robotics products in the rehabilitation and personal care markets. Most recently, he was the GM for Motorika USA, Ltd, a venture-backed company focused on robotic stroke therapy devices. Rich received hs PhD in Engineering from Cambridge University, while attending on a Fulbright Scholarship, and his BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Name
Tully Foote

Title
ROS Platform Manager

Abstract
Robotic development is flourishing leveraging the open source model. One of the primary drivers is the ROS (Robot Operating System) project. Find out where ROS came from, what's going on in at the moment and how you can get involved.

Bio
Tully Foote is the ROS Platform Manager at the Open Source Robotics Foundation. His work at the Open Source Robotics Foundation is a continuation of his work at Willow Garage where he focused on ROS development, building core tools and libraries to support the ROS community. Prior to Willow Garage he worked on all three DARPA Grand Challenges, twice on the Caltech team and in the Urban Challenge on the University of Pennsylvania team. He is also the co-creator of the TurtleBot, a platform designed to expand the availability of robotics to new communities.

Name
Eddy Escardo Raffo

Title
SENIOR SDE, Kinect for Windows DEV

Abstract
This session is PowerPoint free and will focus on hands-on examples with the Kinect device. The talk will kick off with a high level view of the Kinect sensor, using the KinectExplorer sample, showcasing the color stream, captured video, audio properties (beam angle, source angle, and confidence) and more. In addition, the depth, skeleton, and accelerometer settings are explored. The next sample, InteractionGallery, will illustrate how Kinect users can navigate through a slideshow and how a semi-transparent body shape can be overlaid on top of the background. Such things as button pushing, and grip actions to control the picture viewer, playing or pausing video, or scrolling page contents will be demoed. The KinectFusion sample illustrates the new color integration abilities and provides 3D object scanning and model creation. This allows the user paint a scene with the Kinect camera and simultaneously see, and interact with, a detailed 3D model of the scene.

Bio
I’ve been a developer in the Kinect for Windows team for over 2 years, when we delivered the first beta. I’ve tended the forums, the audio API layer, many samples and, more recently, the interaction stream we released this spring and an HTML5 adaptation layer that will be released soon.

Name
John Dulchinos

Title
President and CEO, Adept Technology
Board of Directors for the Robotics Technology Consortium

Bio
Hands-on C-level executive with over 25 years experience building, leading and inspiring successful teams and global high-tech organizations in private and public companies ranging in size from $10 million to $100M in revenues with career focus on robotics and automation. Strong communicator and respected thought leader recently appearing on 60 Minutes and in the New York Times on the role of robotics in re-shoring of manufacturing.

Abstract
Learn from an expert in the field about what it’s like to play a hands-on role launching products in to the mobile robot market. Get some insight about the trends in the industry and how to define strategies for successful R&D and product launches. Discover how robots are automating manufacturing and how re-shoring of manufacturing requires some special approaches. Entrepreneurs are entering the robotics space. Learn how to navigate in this exciting, growing world of automation.

Name
Ian Sherman

Title
Lead Engineer, Bot & Dolly

Bio
Ian Sherman is the lead engineer at Bot & Dolly, a design and engineering studio in San Francisco working to advance motion control and automation as a creative medium. For the past two years Ian has led the software development effort at Bot & Dolly, building tools to make modern robotics accessible in industries such as film, stage, and architecture.

Abstract
Robots don't just inhabit the future - they're already here, many of them deployed on factory floors around the world. But a combination of impenetrable user interfaces and market fragmentation still leaves them accessible to only a small, specialized audience. Hear how Bot & Dolly is working to change this, and what we've learned from working with industrial robots in novel domains.

Bruno Terkaly From 6:30 PM to 6:40 PM Rich Mahoney From 6:40 PM to 7:05 PM Tully Foote From 7:05 PM to 7:30 PM Break From 7:30 PM to 7:45 PM Eddy Escardo Raffo From 7:45 PM to 8:10 PM John Dulchinos From 8:10 PM to 8:35 PM Ian Sherman From 8:35 PM to 9:00 PM Panel Discussion From 9:00 PM to 9:30 PM

Special Kinect Offer to committed developers,

As you may know, BASE is planning a Robotics meet up at the beginning of August. Several notable Robotics experts will be present. The Microsoft Kinect team will also be presenting.

They will be discussing the brand-new as yet unreleased Kinect device and an exclusive invitation to apply for the "Kinect for Windows Developer Kit Program."

This program allows developers to get the new device and the SDK before everybody else. The Kinect team is looking for committed developers who are pushing the boundaries and have great ideas for touch free applications, and even robotics. The program fee is $399 and offers unprecedented benefits: