Underwater ROS Workshop @ Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Workshop Announcement
Creating a Thriving Underwater ROS Community
Woods Hole, Massachusetts October 31 – November 1, 2018
www.whoi.edu/staff/ckaiser/ros-workshop

Abstract
Robot Operating System or ROS is rapidly becoming the de-facto standard in robotics middleware in academic circles. However, ROS is only now making significant in-roads into the Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) world among the less research oriented and more operational groups. There appears to be a rapidly growing critical mass that could allow for the formation of an underwater ROS community. This workshop will explore ways in which that community may be formed and nurtured. Significant questions include:
• Who is using ROS underwater and what are they using it for?
• Where people are evaluating ROS for underwater what is missing that would ease the decision?
• How is the underwater environment unique for ROS and what should we do about it?
• What are the high priority applications or tools that would ease adoption?
• What community structures can we set up to drive towards a common interface for UUVs? Can we drive towards a ROS/UUV working group?
• How can we enable the transfer of code between groups and into industry?
• If you are developing code for ROS, what stops you from releasing it?
• What will be the future of ROS in the DoD world? – optional depending on attendees
• What can we learn from and leverage from the ROS-I effort without going fully down that path?
Goals
• Spur growth and adoption of a robust ROS ecosystem for underwater robotics
• Encourage engagement between the existing UUV and ROS communities
• Address roadblocks to adopting common interfaces
• Address long term code sharing and hosting possibilities
• Address the need for better underwater simulation environments both real time and fast time
Format
This two day workshop will feature Jonathan Bohren as a key note speaker. He will discuss previous successes and failures in forming ROS communities. There will be lightning talk sessions for all interested participants, a variety of focused talks, and breakout sessions aimed at answering the questions and achieving the goals.
Registration
For questions, please e-mail ros-workshop-registration@whoi.edu To register please visit - https://goo.gl/forms/g2CItj3KC4hnRo8y2 Registration is free but space is limited so please make every effort to register by September 1, 2018. All participants are invited to give a lightning presentation and may submit a request for a longer full talk if interested.

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This sounds awesome - really looking forward to attending.

Is there a chance or possibility that this will be webcast or at least recorded?

There isn’t any current plan to do so. However, if there is a strong desire for that, we can investigate the possibility.

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I would be very much interested in a recording being made available.

I would argue strongly for it — there is a strong maritime ROS community in Europe that could benefit greatly from getting some materials remotely.

I’ve registered to attend. Are details available on where/when?

The slides from all presenters who agreed to share are now live and can be found at: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/un5ae4scdopfmb2/AACLBbrmz2sAAVxiQnTQ7ZeUa?dl=0

We hope to post a workshop report and some follow up actions soon.

Thank you to everyone who participated!

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