New officers elected for 2021-2022

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IEEE Finland CSS/RAS/SMCS Joint Chapter held the officer election meeting via Zoom on 18.12.2020 at 10AM. New officers have been elected for the term 2021-2022. The new officers are:

Chair: Pasi Hurri,
Vice Chair: Roel Pieters,
Secretary: Yancho Todorov,
Treasurer: Simo Särkkä

We kindly thank Peter Jakubik and Kshitij Tiwari, the previous board members, who leave their current position at the end of 2020.

Ethics for autonomous robots in military and law enforcement – Future of Robotics in Finland Seminar 2020

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The Future of Robotics in Finland Seminar started in 2013 will be organized virtually this year on Friday 20.11.2020. To address the trends in Ethics and AI related to robotics, the theme this year is ”Ethics for autonomous robots in military and law enforcement”. The half-day seminar will have keynote presentations pitch talks and demonstrations from companies and researchers, as well as a panel discussion. The event serves to bring the Finnish community of researchers, professionals and students around robotics and its related fields, together, and typically attracts around 100 participants.

Attendance is free of charge for registered attendees and will be completely virtual.

Call for pitches, demos: Please submit your proposals for (short) pitch talks or technology demos to Sonja Pöyry (sonja@basen.net) by mid November.

Registration for attending  the seminar is mandatory and can now be done here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-future-of-robotics-in-finland-seminar-tickets-127432448885

The program of the seminar is as follows:

12:00 PM – 3:45 PM EET

12:00 – 12:15 – Pasi Hurri, BaseN / Dr. Roel Pieters, Tampere University – opening of the seminar

12:15 – 12:45 – Prof. Pekka Appelqvist (Ministry of Defence)

12:45 – 13:15 – Dr. Veikko Ikonen (Senior Scientist, VTT)

13:15 – 13:45 – Dr. Mart Noorma (Science and Development Director, Milrem Robotics)

13:45 – 14:00 – BREAK

14:00 – 14:30 – Dr. Kai Kimppa (Adjunct Professor, University Research Fellow, University of Turku)

14:30 – 15:15 – panel discussion:
General
Jarmo Lindberg
Dr. Veikko Ikonen
Dr. Mart Noorma
Dr. Kai Kimppa
Moderator: Pasi Hurri, BaseN

15:15 – 15:30 – pitch talk: Antti Syvänen (Researcher, Tampere University)

15:30 – 15:45 – Closing of the event, Dr. Roel Pieters, Tampere University

Organizers:
IEEE Finland Joint Chapter of Control System Society, Robotics and Automation Society and System, Man and Cybernetics Society (http://sites.ieee.org/finland-csrasmc/)
Officers: Prof. Roel Pieters, Pasi Hurri, Dr. Peter Jakubik, Prof. Simo Särkkä, Dr. Kshitij Tiwari
Contact: Prof. Roel Pieters, chair of the IEEE Finland Joint Chapter of CSS, RAS and SMCS;
Email: roel.pieters@tuni.fi
Local organizer: Sonja Pöyry; Email: sonja@basen.net

Future of Robotics in Finland Seminar 2019

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The 7th Future of Robotics in Finland Seminar was successfully held on Friday 22.11.2019 at Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland, organized by the IEEE Finland Joint Chapter of the Control System Society, Robotics and Automation Society and Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society and in combination with the European Robotics week. This year the main theme was on Economical and Ethical innovation and AI in robotics.

Start of the Seminar

Opening of the Seminar by Pasi Hurri (BaseN Oy)

The morning and afternoon session included six talks. Pasi Hurri and Prof. Roel Pieters hosted the seminar and introduced the IEEE, the chapter and standing officers, followed by three talks by Kim Nyberg from Trimble, Mikko Valtonen from WallRobotics and Harri Holpainen from Zen Robotics. Topics ranged from heavy mobile machine automation, high-rise robotic facade cleaning and robotic waste sorting, and their economical and ethical perspective. Followin a light lunch, three remaining talks were given by Dr. Tapio Taipalus from GIM ltd., Oscar Nissin from Metropolia and Dr. Caj Södergård from VTT. Topics rangerd from ethical automation of self-driving vehicles and artificial intelligence for economic competitiveness and societal progress.

Harri Holopainen (ZenRobotics)

The seminar ended with a panel discussion, featuring panelists Mikko Valtonen, Harri Holpainen, Tapio Taipalus, Oscar Nissin, Caj Södergård and Roel Pieters. Moderator Pasi Hurri engaged in an active discussion on various aspects of the ethical and economical impact of robotics, with passionate input and opinions from the attendees.

Panel discussion

The standing officers of IEEE Finland Joint Chapter of the Control System Society, Robotics and Automation Society and Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society organizing the event are Prof. Roel Pieters, chair, Pasi Hurri, vice chair, Dr. Peter Jakubik, treasurer, Kshitij Tiwari, secretary and Prof. Simo Särkkä, publicity chair. Prof. Roel Pieters and Pasi Hurri were responsible for the organization of the seminar in general, assisted by the other officers, and with great support from Sonja Schubert.

Reported by Roel Pieters, Email: roel.pieters@tuni.fi
Chair of IEEE Finland Joint Chapter of the Control System Society, Robotics and Automation Society and Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society

Economical and Ethical innovation and AI in robotics – Future of Robotics in Finland Seminar 2019

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The Future of Robotics in Finland Seminar started in 2013 will be organized again this year on Friday 22.11.2019. To address the trends in Ethics and AI related to robotics, the theme this year is Economical and Ethical innovation and AI in robotics. The full-day seminar will have keynote presentations, posters, pitch talks and demonstrations from companies and researchers, as well as a panel discussion. The event serves to bring the Finnish community of researchers, professionals and students around robotics and its related fields, together, and typically attracts around 100 participants.

Attendance is free of charge for registered attendees, and includes coffee and lunch. The seminar is each year held at a different location in Finland. In 2019, the location will be: Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki.

Call for pitches, demos, posters: Please submit your proposals for (short) pitch talks, technology demos, or posters to Sonja Schubert (sonja@basen.net) by mid November.

Registration for attending  the seminar is mandatory and can now be done here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/future-of-robotics-in-finland-seminar-tickets-79186024531

Deadline for registration is  Wednesday 20.11.2019.

Tentative program of the seminar is as follows:
Place, Hanken School of Economics, Auditorium A210

09:30 – 09:45 – welcome coffee / registration

09:45 – 10:00 – Pasi Hurri, BaseN / Dr. Roel Pieters, Tampere University – opening of the seminar

10:00 – 10:30 – Kim Nyberg, Trimble

10:30 – 11:00 – Mikko Valtonen, WallRobotics

11:00 – 11:30 – Harri Holopainen, Zen Robotics

11:30-12:30 LUNCH

12:30 – 13:00 – Dr. Tapio Taipalus GIMltd

13:00 – 13:30 – Oscar Nissin, Metropolia

13:30 – 14:00 – Dr. Caj Södergård, VTT

14:00 – 14:15 – Coffee break

14:15 – 14:45 – panel discussion

14:45 – 15:00 – pitch talks

15:00 – closing words Dr. Roel Pieters, Tampere University

Organizers:
IEEE Finland Joint Chapter of Control System Society, Robotics and Automation Society and System, Man and Cybernetics Society (http://sites.ieee.org/finland-csrasmc/)
Officers: Prof. Roel Pieters, Pasi Hurri, Dr. Peter Jakubik, Prof. Simo Särkkä, Dr. Kshitij Tiwari
Contact: Prof. Roel Pieters, chair of the IEEE Finland Joint Chapter of CSS, RAS and SMCS;
Email: roel.pieters@tuni.fi
Local organizer: Sonja schubert; Email: sonja@basen.net

New officers elected for 2019-2020

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IEEE Finland CSS/RAS/SMCS Joint Chapter held the officer election meeting on Thursday 20.12.2018 at 16:15-17:00 in Maarintie 8, Espoo, TUAS building, room 1023-1024 AS4. New officers have been elected for the year 2019-2020.

The new officers are:

Chair: Roel Pieters,
Vice Chair: Pasi Hurri,
Secretary: Kshitij Tiwari,
Treasurer: Peter Jakubik,
Publicity Chair: Simo Särkkä

Excursion to Nokia

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The event took place on December 13, 2018 at the NOKIA Executive Experience Center in Espoo, at the Karakallio Campus. The center, said to be the biggest demo facility of Nokia, is an impressive demonstration theater of series of halls, exhibiting all current products, a stage, a server room as well as a lobby with a buffet. Passing by the wall of fame with the Bell Labs’ Nobel laureates, we were welcomed by dedicated experts of their own fields ready to gave presentations. The presentations were focused on the current and future Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence works at the Nokia. First, after round of introductions, we heard Jari Lehtonen’s long and thorough slide presentation on ML based AI in Cellular Radio Networks. The presentation was met with lively discourse on this topic between the presenter and the audience which apparently composed of several expert of the field. After detailed 5G infrastructure presentation Vilho Räisänen of Nokia Bell Labs introduced us to the soft side of 5G, the AI/ML in Network Management and Orchestration. Following, we had opportunities to freely discuss any questions of our interest at various interactive presentation stops on Analytics services powered by AVA and 5G industrial automation and cooperative robots. We got a very enthusiastic presentations, all with lively interactions, questions and expert answers from the top experts straight from the Nokia offices. We wrapped up our visit in the actually operating server room, integrated all the concepts we discussed before. If anything were more impressive than the products and the future systems what we have seen, than those were our hosts with their admiring expertise. Thank you!

Reported by Peter Jakubik

Nokia Executive Experience center. Source: Nokia

Future or Robotics in Finland Seminar 2018

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The 6th Future of Robotics in Finland Seminar was successfully held on Friday 23.11.2018 at Tampere University of Technology, Tampere, Finland, organized by the IEEE Finland Joint Chapter of the Control System Society, Robotics and Automation Society and Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society and in combination with the European Robotics week. This year the main theme was on Cognitive and Collaborative Robotics, which attracted near 100 participants from around 25 organizations and companies and key players such as VTT, Nokia, Ponsse, Epec, etc.

Opening of the seminar by prof. Roel Pieters

The morning session included keynote talks. Prof. Roel Pieters hosted the seminar and introduced the IEEE, the chapter and standing officers, followed by four keynote talks by Prof. Steve LaValle from the University of Oulu, Dr. Hamid Roozbahani from Lappeenranta University of Technology, Samuli Bergström from Omron Electronics, and Pravin Luthada from AddComposites Oy. on topics such as human perception engineering, tele-operated robots, collaborative robotics and additive manufacturing. There is a coffee break and a lunch break during the keynote talks, which are organized together with a poster session. The seminar is then followed by 3 pitch talks, one from industry and two from academia.

The seminar ended with a panel discussion, featuring panelists Prof. Steve Lavalle, Dr. Hamid Roozbahani, Pravin Luthada, Prof. Roel Pieters and moderator Mr. Pasi Hurri, on various aspects of the impact of collaborative and cognitve robotics. After the seminar a lab tour was organized demonstrating  ongoing activities in robotics in Tampere University of Technology and the TUTRobolab.

Panel discussion

The standing officers of IEEE Finland Joint Chapter of the Control System Society, Robotics and Automation Society and Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society organizing the event are Prof. Simo Särkkä, chair, Pasi Hurri, vice chair, Dr. Peter Jakubik, treasurer and Prof. Roel Pieters, secretary. Prof. Roel Pieters was responsible of the organization of the seminar in general, assisted by the other officers.

Reported by Roel Pieters, Email: roel.pieters@tut.fi
Secretary of IEEE Finland Joint Chapter of the Control System Society, Robotics and Automation Society and Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society

Cognitive and Collaborative Robotics – Future of Robotics in Finland Seminar 2018

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The Future of Robotics in Finland Seminar started in 2013 will be organized again this year on Friday 23.11.2018 in Kampusareena of Tampere University of Technology. To address the trends in robotics and human-robot interaction, the theme this year is Cognitive and Collaborative Robotics. The seminar will include keynote presentations, posters, and demonstrations from companies and researchers.

Registration for attending  the seminar is mandatory and can now be done here:

https://link.webropolsurveys.com/EP/9A82F49C55FBD55F
Deadline for registration is Friday 16.11.2018

Place, Tampere University of Technology, Kampusareena, Auditorium A223
A map can be found here (building: kampusareena).

9:00 Opening of the seminar, prof. Roel Pieters

9:15 Distinguished lecturer, Prof. Steve LaValle, Huawei, Uni. of Oulu, Uni. of. Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Topic: ‘The Path to (Human) Perception Engineering’

10:00 Coffee break / poster session + demos

10:30 Keynote, Dr. Hamid Roozbahani, Lappeenranta Uni. of Tech., Wichita State University. Topic: ‘TIERA – Tele-Operated Mobile Robot Designed for Hazardous Area’

11:00 Keynote, Samuli Bergstrom, Omron Electronics Oy. Topic: ‘Cobots and the future of manufacturing’

11:30 lunch / poster session + demos

12:30 Keynote, Pravin Luthada, AddComposites Oy. Topic: ‘Cost-effective automation in Manufacturing’

13:00 Pitch talks

13:20 Panel discussion (moderator: Pasi Hurri, BaseN)

14:00 Closing + optional TUTRobolab tour

The attendance is free of charge for registered attendees, including coffee and lunch.

Organizers:

IEEE Finland Joint Chapter of Control System Society, Robotics and Automation Society and System, Man and Cybernetics Society (http://site.ieee.org/finland-csrasmc/)

Officers: Prof. Simo Särkkä, Pasi Hurri, Dr. Peter Jakubik, Prof. Roel Pieters

Contact: Prof. Roel Pieters, secretary of the IEEE Finland Joint Chapter of CSS, RAS and SMCS;
Email: roel.pieters@tut.fi

Excursion to Trimble Solutions

The excursion to Trimble Solutions Oy in Espoo was organized in 27.11.2017 at 13-16. The starting point of the journey was at the TUAS building of Aalto University which can be conveniently accessed with the brand new Länsimetro. As can be seen in the photos below, the metro was not overly crowded around 12:30 on the Monday.

 

At TUAS building we gathered our group and headed towards Trimble premises. On the left below you can see some excited people waiting for the departure. On the right you can see the Trimble premises as seen from the bridge over Kehä I.

Kim Nyberg from Trimble welcomed us to the premises and started with a short general presentation about the company. Then we saw interesting demonstrations of 3D structure design software, augmented reality (AR) solutions as well as other solutions that Trimble has. In the end we also had the chance to try the AR glasses ourselves. The visit ended around 16 o’clock and we headed back to Otaniemi and some continued via the Länsimetro all the way to Helsinki.

Future of Robotics in Finland Seminar 2017

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The 5th Future of Robotics in Finland Seminar was successfully held on Friday 24.11.2017 at Aalto University, Espoo, Finland, organized by the IEEE Finland Joint Chapter of the Control System Society, Robotics and Automation Society and Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society. This year the main theme was on AI and Robotics in Health and Medical Technology, which attracted near 100 participants from around 25 organizations and companies and key players such as VTT, Nokia, Finpro, RemoteA, etc..

Attendees seminar

The morning session is organized by keynote talks and pitch talks. Prof. Simo Särkkä started the seminar at 9:00 and introduced the IEEE, the chapter and standing officers, followed by four keynote talks by IEEE RAS distinguished lecturer Prof. Xiaolan Xie from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines, Saint-Etienne, France and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, P.R. China, Dr. Hanna Viertiö-Oja, GE Healthcare, Dr. Kalle Karhu, Planmeca, and Prof. Lauri Parkkonen, Aalto University on topics such as healthcare systems engineering, AI for effective interventions and optimal patient flow, AI in X-ray imaging and brain-computer interfaces. There is a coffee break and a lunch break during the keynote talks, which are organized together with the industry demonstration and poster sessions. The seminar is then followed by 3 pitch talks, one from industry and two from academia.

GE Healthcare keynote

The seminar ended with a panel discussion, featuring panelists Prof. Xiaolan Xie,  Dr. Hanna Viertiö-Oja, Dr. Kalle Karhu, Prof. Lauri Parkkonen and Prof. Simo Särkkä and moderator Mr. Pasi Hurri, on various aspects of the impact of AI on healthcare, robotics and automation.

Panel discussion

The standing officers of IEEE Finland Joint Chapter of the Control System Society, Robotics and Automation Society and Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society organizing the event are Prof. Simo Särkkä, chair, Pasi Hurri, vice chair, Dr. Peter Jakubik, treasurer and Prof. Roel Pieters, secretary. Prof. Simo Särkkä was responsible of the organization of the seminar in general, assisted by other officers.

Reported by Roel Pieters, Email: roel.pieters@tut.fi
Secretary of IEEE Finland Joint Chapter of the Control System Society, Robotics and Automation Society and Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society