Through support from the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) the US National Robotics Roadmap was first created ten years ago by a group of 120 people from industry and academia. It has since been used by government agencies, universities and companies as a reference about where robotics is going. The first roadmap was published in 2009, then revised in 2013 and 2016. The objective is to publish the 4th version of the roadmap by summer 2020.
The objective is to engage about 150-200 people from academia and industry to ensure that the roadmap is representative of the community’s view of where robotics is going. The roadmap will cover manufacturing, service, medical, first-responder, and space robotics. The revised roadmap will also include considerations related to ethics and workforce. It will cover emerging applications, the key challenges to progress, and consideration of needed R&D to enable progress.
Three 1.5 day workshops will be organized for community input to the roadmap. The workshops will take place:
- Sept 11-12 in Chicago (organized by Nancy Amato)
- Oct 17-18 in LA (organized by Maja Mataric)
- Nov 15-16 in Lowell (organized by Holly Yanco)
Participation in the workshop will be by invitation only. For selection of participants we ask people to submit a max 1.5 page white paper / position statement. What are key use-cases for robotics in a 5-10 year perspective, what are key limitations, and what R&D is needed in a 5-10 year perspective? The white paper can address all three aspects or focus on one of them. The white paper much include:
- Name, Affiliation, Email address
- A (max) 1.5 page position statement
Please submit the white paper as regular text or as a PDF file. Too long white papers will be ignored. Position papers that only focus on current research are not appropriate. A white paper should present a future vision and not merely discuss state of the art.
White papers should be submitted by end of the day August 15 to roadmapping@robotics-vo.org. Late submissions may not be considered. We will evaluate submitted white papers by 18 August and select people for the workshops by 19 August.
The workshop reports will be used as the basis for a synthesis of a new roadmap. The nominal timeline is
- August 2019 – Call for white papers
- Sep – Nov 2019 – Workshops
- Dec 2019 – Workshops reports finalized
- Jan 2020 – Synthesis meeting @ UC San Diego
- Feb 2020 – Publish draft roadmap for community feedback
- Apr 2020 – Revision of roadmap based on community feedback
- May 2020 – Finalize roadmap with graphics design, …
- July 2020 – Publish roadmap
If you have any questions about the process, the scope, etc please send email to Henrik I Christensen – hichristensen@eng.ucsd.edu
