Organizers
Robert Ghrist, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Steve LaValle, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
George J. Pappas, University of Pennsylvania
Motivation
Can we do more with less? Although obtaining reams of sensor data is cheaper than ever, unstructured environments are extremely complicated and unpredictable. Rather than trying to learn and utilize precise and complete models, this workshop explores the theme of achieving well-specified robotic and sensor network tasks with as little information as possible. The push toward minimalism offers greater robustness and simplicity, but also requires the development of powerful new mathematical techniques and algorithms. Basic tools from algebraic topology and other areas not typically associated with robotics come to the rescue. Problems approached from the miminalist perspective in this workshop include guaranteeing sensor network coverage, counting targets, time synchronization, target tracking, robot navigation, and topological map building.
Purpose
The purpose of this full day workshop is to provide a forum for state-of-the-art research on the formulation and solution of robotic and sensor network tasks using minimal information. In particular, the objectives of the workshop are:
- To present state-of-the-art results in the area of minimal planning and sensing, especially for very common tasks for robotic and sensor networks.
- Bring together some of the leading researchers in the field in order to promote cross fertilization of ideas, results, tools, and ideas in order to stimulate further progress in the area.
- Attract new researchers in the field by providing tutorials exposing them to modern topological methods and distributed algorithms.
- The workshop will conclude with a panel discussion on how existing methods and concepts may be applied to a broader range of problems of current interest.
Schedule
All speakers and presentations are confirmed. Presentations will be posted on the workshop website and be available to everyone after the workshop.
- 08:30-08:45 Welcome and Overview
- 08:45-09:45 Tutorial on information spaces and minimalism, Steve LaValle, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
- 09:45-10:15 Path reconstruction with beams and obstacles, Fred Cohen, University of Rochester
- 10:15-10:45 Localization with minimal sensing, Jason O' Kane, University of South Carolina
- 10:45-11:00 BREAK
- 11:00-11:30 Simple robots with minimal sensing: from local visibility to global geometry, Peter Widmayer, ETH Zurich
- 11:30-12:00 Using incomplete online metric maps for topological exploration with the gap navigation tree, Liz Murphy, University of Oxford
- 12:00-12:30 DISCUSSION: Open problems, modeling issues, engineering impact
- 12:30-14:00 LUNCH
- 14:00-15:00 Tutorial on Rips and Cech Complexes, Robert Ghrist, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- 15:00-15:30 Decentralized hole detection in sensor networks without localization, Ali Jadbabaie, University of Pennsylvania
- 15:30-16:00 Target enumeration using Euler characteristic integration, Yuliy Baryshnikov, Bell Labs
- 16:00-16:15 BREAK
- 16:15-16:45 DISCUSSION: Open problems, modeling issues, engineering impact
- 16:45-17:15 Boundary patrol using robotic networks without localization, Francesco Bullo, University of California at Santa Barbara
- 17:15-17:45 Topological complexity of consensus, George J. Pappas, University of Pennsylvania
- 17:45-18:15 DISCUSSION: Final discussions
Registration
You can register for the workshop through the main conference registration site.