Largest-ever gathering of robots and their creators

The robots came in all shapes and sizes to crawl, swim and fly at University of Toronto's Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) and York University. The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council held its Canadian Field Robotics Network (NCFRN) field trials at U of'T and York April 17-23. The event featured talks and presentations, workshops, networking events and opportunities for collaborative fieldwork and demonstrations. Experts in sensory perception, artificial intelligence, mechatronics, autonomous robots and advanced control systems technology came from across the country for the trials, said Professor Tim Barfoot of UTIAS. A NCFRN researcher and Canada Research Chair in Autonomous Space Robotics, Barfoot said 11 research labs based in eight Canadian universities took part, along with representatives from 11 industrial partners and three government partners. It was the first time all the significant field robotics capabilities in Canada (universities, companies and government organizations) were brought together in one place, he said. "It showed researchers the common problems we are working on and sets the stage for much greater collaborations over the next five years," Barfoot said.