All Robot Learning and Interactiong Group News

Intuitive robot programming to help the watch industry
tech — Mar 09, 2023

Luminous paints make it possible to tell the time on analogue timepieces even in the dark. These compounds are still applied manually, as conventional automation solutions are not suitable for this task. That’s why researchers from Idiap and Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH are developing a flexible robot system that can be programmed by showing it what to do.

Laterna Magica, the smart beamer
tech — last modified Dec 21, 2022

Along his team mates, Sylvain Calinon, head of the Robot Learning & Interaction research group, took part in Idiap Create Challenge 2022 edition. Laterna Magica, their smart beamer prototype won the first prize.

Idiap awards 2022
institute — Dec 21, 2022

Every year, the Institute nominates two students for its internal awards. In 2022, the Paper Award goes to Alexandre Bittar, and the Student Award goes to Teguh Lembono. Congratulations!

H2020 MEMMO project selected among the 12 best EU projects
research — last modified Dec 16, 2022

The H2020 MEMMO European project, coordinated by LAAS in France, in which Idiap participated as a project partner, has been selected among the 12 best EU projects of the year by the French Research Minister. The award is entitled the 12 stars of Europe 2022 (Les 12 Étoiles de l'Europe). It was selected among 70 selected candidates across all domains.

Fully customizable robot to develop new algorithms
research — Jun 14, 2022

The Robot Learning & Interaction research group at Idiap has recently acquired a new tool. A small quadruped robot named SOLO12, whose mission will be to allow the researchers and engineers of the institute to develop new robotic applications based on artificial intelligence.

Idiap is looking for its next director
institute — Jan 14, 2022

Idiap Research Institute and the School of Engineering at EPFL invite applications for the directorship of Idiap. The successful candidate will also hold a faculty position as full professor at EPFL School of Engineering.

Idiap awards 2021
institute — Dec 21, 2021

The Institute nominates every year two students for its internal awards. In 2021, the Best Paper Award goes to Suhan Shetty, and the Best Student Award goes to Parvaneh Janbakhshi. Congratulations!

Six papers accepted at IEEE ICRA 2021
research — last modified Mar 05, 2021

The Robot Learning & Interaction group will be presenting a total of six papers at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2021.

Robots and humans collaborate to play music together
research — Jan 22, 2020

Collaborative robots are the perfect tool to link art and science. Thanks to his visit at Idiap, a researcher from Goldsmiths University of London used this approach to demonstrate the concept with a piano.

"Deep neural networks remain for the most part black boxes"
research — May 08, 2019

Artificial deep neural networks are a powerful tool, able to extract information from large datasets and, using this acquired knowledge, make accurate predictions on previously unseen data. Due to the very large number of parameters required, they are also particularly difficult to understand.

Like humans, robots can learn to walk
research — Feb 06, 2019

Following a comparable path, robots could learn to move and walk as human being do. The goal of the MEMMO project is to develop a unified approach to motion generation for complex robots with arms and legs.

On February 2nd, 2018, Ajay Tanwani successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled 'Generative Models for Learning Robot Manipulation Skills from Humans'
education — Feb 07, 2018

The thesis presents generative mixture models for learning robot manipulation skills from a few human demonstrations, and providing assistance to a human operator in performing these skills at a distance under limited bandwidth and communication delays. The models are based on invariant task-parameterized representations of hidden semi-Markov models that allow segmentation and reproduction of manipulation skills, while generalizing effectively across different environmental situations such as size, position, and orientation of objects in the environment.

3 promotions to Senior Researcher at Idiap
institute — Jan 30, 2018

Following a very strict evaluation process – comprising the nomination by Idiap's management and a formal approval by the Scientific College - , Idiap is pleased to announce the promotion of three of its researchers to Senior Researchers:

Idiap of Martigny develops a new imaging system for research
research — Nov 06, 2017

The Idiap Research Institute develops a new imaging system for research. The precision instrument has been built together with the air base of Sion and could be used by companies and the Universities of Applied Science of the Canton.

"Combining Electromyography and Tactile Myography to Improve Hand and Wrist Activity Detection in Prostheses" paper posted on Technologies/ journal social media platform
research — Oct 16, 2017

The paper of Noémie Jaquier, Mathilde Connan, Claudio Castellini and Sylvain Calinon from Idiap Research Institute and DLR-German Aerospace Center, "Combining Electromyography and Tactile Myography to Improve Hand and Wrist Activity Detection in Prostheses", has been posted on /Technologies/ journal social media platform.

Best Paper Award for the Dr Sylvain Calinon
research — Jul 12, 2017

Dr Sylvain Calinon received the 2017 Best Paper Award of the Intelligent Service Robotics (ISR) journal for his article "A Tutorial on Task-Parameterized Movement Learning and Retrieval".

DexROV holds first official review with European Commission
research — Nov 21, 2016

Nineteen months after the undersea-operations project was launched, DexROV has successfully completed its first funding review as part of the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme.

Canal9 visits the Baxter robot at Idiap
research — Apr 14, 2016

Dr. Sylvain Calinon, head of Idiap’s Robot Learning & Interaction group, receives Romain Boisset, reporter for the Canap9 TV channel. They demonstrate how Idiap’s Baxter robot learns by demonstration.

Idiap's DexROV project featured in RTS's CQFD radio show today
research — Feb 24, 2016

DexROV is a robot of a special kind. This underwater robot is destined to take the place of human divers for tasks in very deep water (up to 1’300 meters under the sea). The Idiap Research Institute in Martigny is in charge of developing the algorithms that will help teleoperating the two arms of this robot.

Idiap Video amongst the 10 finalists of the Rethink Robotics Video Challenge
research — Dec 15, 2015

In the summer of 2015, Rethink Robotics, the worldwide leader in collaborative robotics research and education launched the Rethink Robotics Video Challenge. The Challenge was created to highlight the amazing work being done by the research and education community with the Baxter robot. The Challenge attracted more than 90 total entries from 19 countries around the globe. The video of Dr. Sylvain Calinon’s Robot Learning & Interaction group of the Idiap Research Institute in Martigny was selected amongst the 10 finalists.

Meet Baxter, Idiap’s new robot
research — Sep 04, 2014

Idiap pursues its development with new scientific research groups. Recently, the institute has acquired an American robot worth CHF 30’000.-. This investment opens new perspectives, in particular thanks to the interconnection between the different domains of competencies developed in Martigny.