VVV17
International Winter School on Humanoid Robot Programming

Course at a Glance

The course will be held on January 30th - February 8th, 2017 at the Metropole Hotel, Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy

Humanoid robots are complex machines, equipped with sensors for visual, touch, auditory and force sensing. Programming such robots requires expertise in different disciplines encompassing control system theory, computer vision, machine learning and software engineering.

The aim of this school is to provide students with a complete overview of the research problems related to humanoid robot programming, from perception to control. The school is organized as a set of theoretical lectures followed by hands-on sessions using simulators as well as real robots. A set of evening talks by renown researchers in robotics will complement the main school activities by exposing students to the latest results in the field.

This school will cover the following topics:

  • Software architectures for robot programming (i.e. ROS, YARP)
  • Robot kinematics, control in task and joint space
  • Direct and inverse dynamics for whole-body control
  • Robot vision
  • Neuromorphic sensors and event-driven vision
  • Machine Learning including Deep-learning
  • Methods and tools for software integration and concurrent development.

This school is an evolution of the Veni Vidi Vici (VVV) iCub summer school, which started in 2006 and has been held for ten editions. With respect to the original format, the program has been revised to dedicate more hours to frontal teaching and enriched by invited talks. Yet, students will be given sufficient time to build practical programming skills thanks to extensive hands-on sessions on software simulators and real humanoid robotic platforms. Two iCub humanoid robots will be available to the students, equipped with a cluster of computers and GPUs in a dedicated LAN.

Participants are expected to have a background in robotics and computer programming in C/C++. They should also bring their own laptop to attend hands-on sessions.

Basic Info

Venue

The school will take place at the hotel Metropole in the beautiful town of Santa Margherita Ligure, located about 35 Km southeast Genova, Italy.

Schedule

The school begins in the morning of Monday, January 30th 2017 (participants are expected to arrive Sunday, the 29th), and finishes in the evening of Wednesday, February 8th (participants are expected to leave on Thursday, the 9th). Sunday, the 5th, will be free (participants are encouraged to visit Santa Margherita or the riviera nearby).

Accommodation and Food

Accomodation, lunch and dinner will be served at the Hotel Metropole and are included in the school fee (with the only exception of the lunch on Sunday which will NOT be included).

Subscription and Fees

The school is open to PhD students and Post-Docs. Applicants will be selected competitively based on their CV and support letters. To apply send your CV and one letter of support from your supervisor to: vvv-admin _AT_ iit.it.

The fee includes the school, food (full board, with the exception of Sunday 5/2 in which only dinner will be provided) and accomodation at the Hotel Metropole for 11 nights (from Sunday to Wednesday night):
1850 euro, single room (depending on availability)
1350 euro, double shared room
1150 euro, triple shared room (depending on availability)

For any inquiries, please write to lorenzo.natale _AT_ iit.it

Notification of acceptance: 21/11 23/11


Registration is open: please register online here.


Registration deadline: 5/12


Attendants from IIT do not need to register online, but should contact their department secretariat.

School resources website

School's wiki, instructions for participants, robot booking etc.:
https://vvv-school.github.io/vvv17

All material (slides and code) is in the school's wiki:
https://github.com/vvv-school/vvv17/wiki/School-material

Program

>
Sun 29/1TIMESUBJECTTEACHERFILES
18:00 - 19:30Check your installation (follow instructions at https://vvv-school.github.io/vvv17). Optional for those who are already at the hotel and would like to check their laptop and software installation.ALL
Mon 30/1TIMESUBJECTTEACHERFILES
9:00 - 9:15Welcome and introductionLorenzo Natale
9:15 - 13:00Introducing the tools for sharing code at the school. Git and Github. Git basics hands-on session.Ugo PattaciniMaterial
13:00 - 14:00Lunch
14:00 - 18:00Software middleware for robotics: the YARP middlewareLorenzo NataleMaterial
18:00 - 19:00Students presentationsLink to students slides
20:00 - Dinner
Tue 31/1TIMESUBJECTTEACHERFILES
9:00 - 13:00Hands on: the YARP middlewareAli PaikanMaterial
13:00 - 14:00Lunch
14:00 - 18:00ROS tutorial with the Nao robotNatalia LyubovaSlides and Material
18:00 - 19:00Evening Talk: Acting and interacting in a real worldDanica KragicSlides
20:00 - Dinner
Wed 1/2TIMESUBJECTTEACHERFILES
9:00 - 13:00Robot kinematicsUgo PattaciniMaterial
13:00 - 14:00Lunch
14:00 - 18:30Hands on: robot kinematics, control in Cartesian spaceUgo PattaciniMaterial
20:00 - Dinner
Thu 2/2 TIMESUBJECTTEACHERFILES
9:00 - 10:30Robot DynamicsFrancesco NoriMaterial
11:00 - 13:00Introduction to floating base systems & non linear control Daniele PucciMaterial
14:00 - 18:00Hands on: whole-body control of a humanoid robotFrancesco Romano & Silvio TraversaroMaterial
18:00 - 19:00Evening Talk: Introduction to the Stack Of Tasks - A framework for flexible whole-body control of humanoid robots Olivier StasseMaterial
20:00 - Dinner
Fri 3/2TIMESUBJECTTEACHERFILES
9:00 - 13:00Computer VisionFrancesca OdoneMaterial
13:00 - 14:00Lunch
14:00 - 18:30Hands on: robot vision with OpenCVVadim TikhanoffMaterial
20:00 - Dinner
Sat 4/2TIMESUBJECTTEACHERFILES
9:00 - 13:00Neuromorphic sensors and Event-driven visionChiara BartolozziMaterial
13:00 - 14:00Lunch
14:00 - 18:00Hands on: Event Driven VisionArren GloverMaterial
18:00 - 19:00Evening Talk: Engineering humanoids that grasp, learn from human and experience, and perceive timeTamim AsfourSlides
20:00 - Dinner
Sun 5/2TIMESUBJECTTEACHERFILES
9:00 - 19:00Day off. Notice that Lunch today is NOT included in the fee. Dinner will be served at the hotel as usual.
Mon 6/2TIMESUBJECTTEACHERFILES
9:00 - 13:00Machine LearningLorenzo RosascoMaterial
13:00 - 14:00Lunch
14:00 - 18:00Hands on: Machine LearningRaffaello CamorianoMaterial
18:00 - 19:00Evening Talk: Sim-To-Real Robot Learning with Progressive Nets Andrei A. RusuSlides
20:00 - Dinner
Tue 7/2TIMESUBJECTTEACHERFILES
9:00 - 13:00Deep LearningLorenzo RosascoMaterial
13:00 - 14:00Lunch
14:00 - 18:30Hands On: Object recognition with Deep LearningGiulia PasqualeMaterial and slides
20:00 - Dinner
Wed 8/2TIMESUBJECTTEACHERFILES
9:00 - 13:00Putting it all together: bulding complex behaviors. Group projects.ALL
13:00 - 14:00Lunch
14:00 - 17:30Putting it all together: bulding complex behaviors. Group projects.ALL
20:00 - Social dinner: Goodbye and farewellALL


Evening Talks

Invited Speakers

Prof. Tamim Asfour

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Andrei A. Rusu

Google Deepmind

Prof. Danica Kragic

School of Computer Science and Communication Royal Institute of Technology

Teachers

Chiara Bartolozzi

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

Natalia Lyubova

R&D, Aldebaran Robotics

Lorenzo Natale

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

Francesco Nori

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

Francesca Odone

University of Genova

Ugo Pattacini

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

Daniele Pucci

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

Lorenzo Rosasco


University of Genova, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia and Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Vadim Tikhanoff

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

Teaching Assistants

Raffaello Camoriano

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

Arren Glover

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

AlĂ­ Paikan

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

Giulia Pasquale

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

Francesco Romano

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

Silvio Traversaro

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

Organizers

Lorenzo Natale

istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

lorenzo.natale _AT_ iit.it

Chiara Bartolozzi

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

chiara.bartolozzi _AT_ iit.it

Francesco Nori

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

francesco.nori _AT_ iit.it

Giorgio Metta

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

giorgio.metta _AT_ iit.it