Vision for Robotics and Autonomous Systems (VRAS)
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Open positions
We are opening several PhD and PostDoc positions. Join us on two exciting international research ventures!
In the EU Horizon project XSCAVE (4 years), you’ll work on cutting-edge algorithms and software to research high-performance, safe, and explainable perception-to-action models. These models will enable mobile machines to master challenging terrain during excavation, forwarding, and navigation tasks.
The 5-year Kolibriq project focuses on groundbreaking neuro-symbolic deep learning methods for controlling autonomous, agile aircraft navigating at low altitudes near obstacles.
These two new projects complement the large project Roboprox that has started in 2023/2024 and also still offers a few unfilled positions.
Requirements
For PhD students: We expect xcellent grades, experience in the relevant fields, good programming skills.
For PostDoc positions: We seek highly motivated applicants with a PhD in robotics, AI, or related fields and a proven track record relevant to the topic – publications in top journals or conferences (e.g. computer vision (CVPR/ICCV/ECCV), machine learning (NeurIPS/ICML), or robotics (ICRA, IROS, RSS, CoRL).
Accepted PostDoc researchers will receive initial appointment for 1 year (with an extension of up to 3 years, based on annual performance evaluation). Gross salary of about 3,200 EUR monthly; check the Numbeo database for the cost of living in Prague
Full social and health insurance and 30 days of paid annual leave
Successfull PhD candidates will get a full tuition waiver and a monthly compensation equivalent to about 1850 EUR of gross income (the Czech Republic’s cost of living is at 59% of the US price level, according to OECD statistics).
About the workplace
The group has a strong track record in machine perception and computer vision. More recently, there has been substantial development in robotics, with groups focusing on search and rescue robotics. The group, together with roboticists from the Department of Computer Science and the group Multi Robotic Systems, form the Center for Robotics and Autonomous Systems. The robotics teams have recently succeeded in numerous competitions: the CTU team ranked 3rd overall and 1st among self-funded teams in the Tunnel Circuit round (2019) and the Urban Circuit (2020) of the DARPA SubTerranean challenge and was 2nd overall in the Final Event (2021) in the Virtual challenge.
Hardware infrastructure at the Department includes wheeled, tracked, and legged robots (including 2 Spots and 2 Spots with arm) for search and rescue operation, industrial as well as collaborative or lightweight manipulators (KUKA LBR iiwa, UR10e with Airskin, Kinova Gen3), flying robots – fleets of UAVs, and humanoid robots (iCub, Pepper, 2x Nao). The Department has access to a high-performance computational cluster dedicated to artificial intelligence research and developments using traditional multi-CPU systems, as well as GPUs.
How to apply
Please send your application or inquiries to Ms. Petra Ivaničová (ivanipet@fel.cvut.cz) with “VRAS – Open positions” in the subject and include the following, preferably in a single pdf file:
- CV
- Full publication list
- Motivation letter
- List of at least two referees, PostDoc applicants, add at least one recommendation letter to the package
- PhD applicants: your most interesting research paper and your master thesis (if applicable)
- PhD applicants: transcript of grades of master/bachelor
The positions are open until filled.
Prague
There is currently a very lively international ecosystem in the areas of robotics and AI – at the Department and in Prague in general. See, for example, prg.ai and the Practical Guide
Prague was TripAdvisor’s #7,#8, and #11 world’s top destinations in the years 2017-19. Beautiful mountain landscapes and historic cities are within reach. Owing to Czechia’s Schengen-area membership, numerous exquisite European destinations can be reached from Prague with no border restrictions or delays.
We are interested in machine learning for robot perception. We research algorithms that map RGB, depth, Lidar, and thermal data onto robot behavior. We work with outdoor tracked robots, humanoid robots and also collaborate with automotive – autonomous cars.
We are always looking for strongly motivated Ph.D. students as well as undergraduate students. We often have an opening for post-doc positions. If you are interested in what we are doing and want to join us, send us your resume to Tomas Svoboda.
The group is also a part of Center for Machine Perception, CMP, and involved in Center for robotics and autonomous systems, CRAS. Humanoid and cognitive robotics group also belongs to us.
github/ctu-vras, VRAS YouTube channel, VRASleaflet.pdf
Group members:
| Name | Team | Rank | Phone | Office | position | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agishev Ruslan MSc. | VRAS | Researcher and Internal PhD | +420 22435 5757 | E225B |  |
09 | |
| Bauerová Justýna | VRAS | External | |
20 | |||
| Ing. | Brož Bohumil | VRAS | External | |
20 | ||
| Cachová Johanka | VRAS | External | +420 775986645 | |
20 | ||
| Ing. | Cvrček Vojtěch | VRAS | External | +420 22435 5732 | G103 | |
20 |
| Ing. | Číhala Valentýn | VRAS | Researcher and Internal PhD | +420 22435 5757 | E227 | |
09 |
| D´Angelo Giulia Ph.D. | VRAS | Researcher | +420 22435 7576 | E208 | |
08 | |
| Bc. | Fiala Ondřej | VRAS | Bc/Mg. student | |
19 | ||
| Gama Filipe | VRAS | Researcher and Internal PhD | +420 22435 7609 | E209 | |
09 | |
| Ing. | Himmel Bedřich | VRAS | Researcher | +420 22435 7391
+420 602252337 |
E225B | |
08 |
| doc. Mgr. | Hoffmann Matěj Ph.D. | VRAS | Associate professor | +420 22435 7387 | E211 | |
06 |
| Hrynevich Yana | VRAS | External | |
20 | |||
| Bc. | Chalupníková Tereza | VRAS | External | |
20 | ||
| Chen Haofeng Ph.D. | VRAS | Researcher | E208 | |
08 | ||
| Khoury Jason MSc. | VRAS | Researcher and Internal PhD | +420 22435 7609 | E209 | |
09 | |
| Kolembusová Bianka | VRAS | External | +420 421948770108 | |
20 | ||
| Lehmann Hagen Ph.D. | VRAS | External | |
20 | |||
| Marcel Valentin Ph.D. | VRAS | Researcher | +420 22435 7576 | E220 | |
08 | |
| Mgr. | Moravec Jaroslav | VRAS | Researcher and Internal PhD | +420 22435 7344 | G103 | |
09 |
| Muzikář Matthew | VRAS | External | |
20 | |||
| Patni Shubhan Parag MSc. | VRAS | Researcher and Internal PhD | +420 22435 7583 | E209 | |
09 | |
| Mgr. | Pecka Martin Ph.D. | VRAS | Researcher | +420 22435 7269 | E225B | |
08 |
| Ing. | Rozlivek Jakub | VRAS | Internal PhD student | +420 22435 7576 | E220 | |
14 |
| Ing. | Rustler Lukáš | VRAS | Researcher and Internal PhD | +420 22435 7576 | E220 | |
09 |
| Ing. | Straka Zdeněk Ph.D. | VRAS | Researcher | +420 22435 7583 | E209 | |
08 |
| Prof. Ing. | Svoboda Tomáš Ph.D. | VRAS | Full Professor | +420 22435 7448 | E226 | |
02 |
| doc. Ing. | Šára Radim Dr. Tech. | VRAS | Associate professor | +420 22435 7203 | G103A | |
06 |
| Ing. | Šíp Roman | VRAS | Researcher | |
08 | ||
| Tcaci Popescu Sergiu Ph.D. | VRAS | Researcher | +420 22435 7576 | E220 | |
08 | |
| Ing. | Tichý Tomáš | VRAS | Researcher and Internal PhD | +420 22435 7391 | E225B | |
09 |
| Bc. | Walzová Lucie | VRAS | External | |
20 | ||
| doc. Ing. | Zimmermann Karel Ph.D. | VRAS | Associate professor | +420 22435 5733 | E226 | |
06 |
- KKT-Loss Novel loss for learning the shape of terrain from the robot trajectory.
- Publication lists: T. Svoboda, K. Zimmermann, M. Hoffmann, R. Sara.
- Research codes.
Videos
More at VRAS YT Channel, and group’s YT Playlist
Demos
Learning for Active 3D Mapping
Paper of authors K. Zimmermann, T. Petricek, V. Salansky, and T. Svoboda was accepted as oral presentation at ICCV 2017! We propose an active 3D mapping method for depth sensors, which allow individual control of depth-measuring rays, such as the newly emerging solid-state lidars. The method simultaneously (i) learns to reconstruct a dense 3D occupancy …read more
Non-rigid object detection with local interleaved sequential alignment
The successively evaluated features used in a sliding window detection process to decide about object presence/absence also contain knowledge about object deformation. We exploit these detection features to estimate the object deformation. Estimated deformation is then immediately applied to not yet evaluated features to align them with the observed image data. In our approach, the …read more
Data fusion for localization and mapping
We design and evaluate a data fusion system for localization of a mobile skid-steer robot intended for USAR missions. We exploit a rich sensor suite including both proprioceptive (inertial measurement unit and tracks odometry) and exteroceptive sensors (omnidirectional camera and rotating laser rangefinder). To cope with the specificities of each sensing modality (such as significantly …read more
Adaptive traversability
Adaptive traversability we understand by means of autonomous motion control adapting the robot morphology—configuration of articulated parts and their compliance—to traverse unknown complex terrain with obstacles in an optimal way. The robot measures its state (like: orientation angles, flipper mode, …) and the terrain (digital elevation model). We learn the optimal policy from loosely annotated …read more
- [ENDEAVOR] Event Driven Active Vision for Object Perception. Project funded by European Commission (Horizon Europe No. 101149664, call: Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions). Principal investigator: Giulia D´Angelo. 06/2024 – 05/2026
- [ROBOPROX] Robotics and advanced industrial production. Project funded by European Commission (Operační program Jan Amos Komenský No. CZ.02.01.01/00/22_008/0004590). Principal investigator: Zdeněk Hanzálek. 06/2023 – 06/2028. We are reponsible for RA09 – Resilient machines through continuous learning and sensing, PI Tomáš Svoboda.
- End-to-end differentiable physics-aware architectures for self-supervised learning in robotics. Project funded by Czech Science Foundation (Standard project GACR No. GA 24-12360S). Principal investigator: Karel Zimmermann. 01/2024 – 12/2026
- Czech Science Foundation by project 20-29531S – Autonomous time-critical exploration of communication and perception constrained environment by team of robots. (2020-2022). Karel Zimmermann.
- Whole-body awareness for safe and natural interaction: from brains to collaborative robots. “GAČR EXPRO” project for excellence in fundamental research from the Czech Science Foundation (2020-2024). PI: Matěj Hoffmann.
- IPALM Interactive Perception-Action-Learning for Modelling Objects. PI: Matěj Hoffmann.
- We lead the CTU-CRAS team into the DARPA SubTerranean Challenge (2019-2021). PI Tomáš Svoboda.
- Enable-S3 H2020 EU large integrated project, we are working in automotive field. (2016-2019), PI Tomáš Svoboda.
- Robot self-calibration and safe physical human-robot interaction inspired by body representations in primate brains Czech Science Foundation. (2017-2019), PI: Matěj Hoffmann.
The team from FEL CTU and Fly4Future will fight for the title in the “Champions League” of autonomous drones in Abu Dhabi
The team from the Multirobot Systems (MRS) group at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, CTU in Prague, and Fly4Future has made it to the final of the prestigious Autonomous Racing League (A2RL) in Abu Dhabi. This highly technological autonomous drone race, organized by ASPIRE and the Drone Champions League, is one of the largest events …read more
Czech scientists are working to improve robots
Czech scientists are working to improve robots – this was the title of a segment on the main Czech Television news program Události on December 11. The broadcast link is here, and the segment begins at 50:12. Matěj Hoffmann and Jakub Rozlivek discussed their experiment, which involves playing a board game with the humanoid robot …read more
Long term project collaboration with Lockheed Martin
The Czech Technical University will collaborate with Lockheed Martin on the research and development of a highly maneuverable unmanned vehicle. Researchers from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering (FEL) at the Czech Technical University (CTU) and experts from the Czech Aerospace Research Centre will work together with the global security and aerospace company Lockheed Martin to …read more
Patrik Vacek defended his Ph.D. thesis
Patrik Vacek successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis: Improving 3D perception from Unlabeled Data and was awarded the Ph.D. title in the Artificial Intelligence and Biocybernetics doctoral study program. Supervisor: prof. Ing. Tomáš Svoboda, Ph.D. Supervisor specialist: doc. Ing. Karel Zimmermann, Ph.D. Congratulations!
Matěj Hoffmann´s comments on the new model of Humanoid robot by Figure AI
The content of the news is only available in Czech at Seznam zprávy at this link
Succes in the Czech Science Foundation GAČR competition for three projects from our department
The Czech Science Foundation (GACR), the largest Czech grant funding provider for basic research, will fund 357 scientific projects being launched next year in the Standard Projects and POSTDOC INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIP grant schemes. These projects will receive CZK 2,75 billion over the next 3 years. The projects receiving funding cover a wide range of basic …read more
Valentin Marcel became two times world champion in Chessboxing
Congratulations to Valentin Marcel from the Humanoid group, who won his second consecutive world title in Chessboxing. After a very tied confrontation at the World Championship in Italy, Valentin won and defended his title of middleweight category champion (WCBO league). Chessboxing is a sport combining boxing rounds with a game of rapid chess, in alternate, …read more
Robot dogs and drones as part of a security camera system?
The Axis Demoshow meeting for about a hundred security managers and experts from major Czech companies and institutions took place on 21 September 2023 in the premises of the Všetice Farm near Benešov u Prahy. The programme included demonstrations of experimental systems assembled by teams led by Professor Tomáš Svoboda and Associate Professor Martin Saska …read more
Petr Švarný defended his Ph.D. Theses
Petr Švarný successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis Perirobot space representations for safe human-robot interaction Supervisor: doc. Mgr. Matěj Hoffmann, Ph.D. Congratulations!
News report in Nový Prostor about visit to the humanoid lab
Sorry, this entry is only available in Česky.
Discussion about autonomous cars on the Czech radio
Interesting discussion about the challenges of autonomous cars with prof. Tomáš Svoboda, David Hurych /valeo.ai/ and Vladimír Rybecký /Autoweek/ on the Czech radio. The whole record is only available in the Czech language.
Four-legged robot SPOT on a mission to explore the Prague underground
The latest addition to the robot team is the four-legged autonomous SPOT robot from Boston Dynamics with a robotic arm. The RBG camera and a depth sensor are integrated into the gripper, which enables the robot to gather more information and expand utilization. 3D mapping and data gathering in the Prague underground and cooperation with …read more
Vojtěch Šalanský defended his Ph.D. Thesis
Vojtěch Šalanský successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis Robot Learning and Perception in Sensory Deprived Environment Supervisor: doc. Ing. Karel Zimmermann, Ph.D. Congratulations!
(Česky) Robopsi SPOT provedou středoškolačky a středoškoláky technologiemi budoucnosti
Zájemci o studium elektrotechniky a informatiky na FEL ČVUT budou mít opět příležitost seznámit se s technologiemi, které výrazně ovlivní způsob, jakým budeme pracovat, odpočívat či cestovat v následujících desetiletích. Fakulta elektrotechnická (FEL) ČVUT zpřístupní v pátek 25. února 2022 během dne otevřených dveří svá pracoviště v Dejvicích a na Karlově náměstí. Od autonomně řízených …read more
Christmas Video Success 2021
The Christmas video “Happy Holidays from the Robot Nativity” was very popular in the last days of this year. – on YouTube – almost 17 500 views, 735 likes, 28 comments – on Facebook – more than 16,200 views, reach among 46,000 people, 1,100 positive reactions only (thumbs up, hearts, etc.), 192 shares, 65 comments …read more
Our robots wish everyone a Merry Christmas
An empty lecture hall bathed in blue evening light. Silence reigns, only on the blackboard we see a complex pattern over which is written “Merry Christmas”. Then a Scarab wrapped in Christmas lights walks across one of the tables, soon a robot emerges from behind the door, shrouded in darkness, and the slow strains of …read more
Rector of the CTU awarded medals for extraordinary performances during the coronavirus
Dne 30. listopadu 2021 se uskutečnilo v Betlémské kapli slavnostní předání Medailí k ocenění odborníků ČVUT za mimořádné výkony v době krize. Rektor ČVUT doc. Vojtěch Petráček udělil 106 medailí výzkumníkům a dalším osobnostem, kteří svými inovacemi a osobním či týmovým zapojením přispěli k řešení pandemické situace koronaviru v České republice i v zahraničí. Medaile …read more
Spot, Charlie and Daisy at the Crystal Loupe 2021
The Crystal Loupe – Czech Internet Award is a regular voting of the public and an expert jury, in which the most popular and interesting projects and services of the Czech Internet are selected and awarded. This year’s 16th edition of the award ceremony was hosted also by Prof. Tomáš Svoboda and his robots Charlie, …read more
(Česky) Oslava jubilea. Sto let od vymyšlení robota chystají Češi pokročilé stroje budoucnosti
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Our robots in CT24 studio
All you wanted to know about robotics at our faculty in 15 minutes. https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/10101491767-studio-ct24/221411058031021/ starts around 4:30
SPOT appeared on CT 😀 in the new documentary series Futuro
In the new documentary series of Czech Television for children, Professor Tomas Svoboda introduced our SPOT. The report starts at 6:45 min
The CTU-CRAS-NORLAB team in Kentucky took silver in the virtual competition and finished sixth in the real robot competition
The results of the DARPA SubT Challenge finals were announced on Friday 24 September at a ceremony in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The CTU-CRAS-NORLAB team finished second among the top ten robotics teams in the world in the viral competition, earning a $500,000 prize. “We were mainly focused on the main competition with real robots, …read more
Czech Television reports on the DARPA SubT Challenge final
The final round of the DARPA Subterranean Challenge are held on 24 September 2021 at the MegaCavern underground complex in Kentucky, USA. Check out the report that begins at 13:25 min (premiere on 20. 9. 2021)
Let’s cheer together every day!
The hot days of DARPA Subterranean Challenge have started, let’s cheer together every day!
“Robot Olympics” begins next week in Kentucky
The final round of the DARPA Subterranean Challenge will take place from 21 to 24 September 2021 at the MegaCavern underground complex in Kentucky, USA. Our team travelled to the United States two weeks ago and has been working hard on preparations for the final round. “We are still tweaking and fixing things,” says Prof. …read more
The line-up of humanoid robots has been expanded by iCub
“This is the first robot that has the sense of touch on the whole body,” says Dr. Matěj Hoffmann, Head of the Humanoid robotics group. The iCub importantly extends the existing portfolio of humanoid robots available to the group (two Nao and one Pepper robot), as it is most anthropomorphic – most similar to humans. …read more
Matej Hoffmann and Filipe Gama on IEEE Spectrum
Matej Hoffmann and Filipe Gama presents their research Goal-directed tactile exploration for body model learning through self-touch on a humanoid robot on IEEE Spectrum Watch the video on Youtube
Four-legged SPOT back on Seznam Zprávy
Read another post about SPOT robot on Seznam-Zpravy from 19. 8. 2021
The best robots SPOT and DAISY trained rescue work in Bull Rock. In September they want to conquer America
Read the article and listen to the report with interviews with members of the CTU-CRAS-NORLAB teams from 29 June 2021 on ČRo Plus (radio.cz) Czech Radio Plus also broadcast live from the Bull Rock Cave on June 25 – beginning at 15:51:32, link https://program.rozhlas.cz/zaznamy/portal#/plus/2021-06-25 Watch the video on TV Adamov
Drones contrary to bats. How robots trained in the Bull Rock Cave
From 21 to 25 June 2021, the cave complex Býčí skála in the Moravian Karst hosted the preparation of our robotics team for the final round of the DARPA Subterranean Challenge, which will take place from 21 to 24 September 2021 in the United States of America. The purpose of the competition, which is a …read more
Teams of our employees and students best in this year’s Bike to Work Challenge
Employees and students of our department participated under the company profile “CTU in Prague” in this year’s national challenge, which took place from 1 to 31 May and motivated to travel by bike, scooter, on foot or at a trot. Teams of two to five employees and students recorded the kilometres they cycled, ran or …read more
Robots will train in the cave
Next week, a four-legged robot SPOT will step into the Bull Rock in the Moravian Karst for the first time, together with other robotic systems and drones from the team of roboticists from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering (FEL) of CTU. In the cave complex, which serves as one of the largest wintering grounds for …read more
Robot SPOT, doc. Zimmermann and Ing. Rouček appeared on Czech Television News
Children were intrigued by an Instagram post about SPOT the robot, so Czech Television filmed a report for Zprávičky 😀 Watch from 0:53
CT 24 set out to walk the four-legged robot SPOT
He overcomes obstacles in difficult terrain, climbs stairs, can wade through mud and water. The four-legged robot SPOT is now available to cyberneticists from the CTU. They plan to improve the American-made device and use it in the finals of a prestigious robotics competition. The Czech team was able to afford the robot thanks to …read more
SPOT on Czech TV
In today’s Studio 6 on CT 1, representatives of the DARPA team Prof. Tomáš Svoboda and Ing. Tomáš Rouček. You can watch the report here, starts at 1:26:30
Capek would be surprised – A robot from CTU will take part in a competition for millions of dollars
Forbes magazine published comprehensively and with great interest about our SPOT robot and participation in the DARPA Subterranean Challenge with this headline. The whole journalist article you can read here Photo Petr Neugebauer, FEE CTU
The four-legged SPOT will fortify the DARPA team
Approximately twenty-member team of robotics CTU-CRAS-NORLAB (Czech Technical University – Center for Robotics and Autonomous Systems – Northern Robotics Laboratory) will set off in the fall to the underground complex MegaCavern in Kentucky, USA to defend third place in the finals of the prestigious DARPA Subterranean (SubT) Challenge, which will take place from 21 to …read more
Robot Spot in media
About the success of our robotics under the leadership of prof. Tomas Svoboda and plans with Spot robot informed the server E 15 , E 15 lI, Seznam Zprávy, feedit.cz, Lupa.cz, Tyden.cz, Parlamentnilisty.cz, czpravy.cz, Barrandov.tv, ČT24, casopisczechindustry.cz, svetchytre.cz, Právo – Trhy a ekonomika, Technickytydenik.cz, vtmzive.cz, nejbussiness.cz, czechcrunch.cz, strojirenstvi.cz
Tomas Svoboda took over the diploma of professorship from the rector doc. Petracek
Prof. Ing. Tomáš Svoboda, Ph.D. took over the diploma of professorship from the rector doc. Vojtěch Petráček. Congratulations! The handover act is on the TV9P record: https://youtu.be/J7u9SHDxLkk?t=304.
Martin Pecka defended his PhD thesis
Martin Pecka successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis entitled Safe Autonomous Reinforcement Learning Supervisor: prof. Ing. Tomáš Svoboda, Ph.D. Supervisor-specialist: doc. Ing. Karel Zimmermann, Ph.D. Congratulations!
Call for Humanoids group PostDoc position
The group of Humanoid and Cognitive Robotics coordinated by Dr Matej Hoffmann opens a PostDoc position in the humanoid, cognitive, neuro-, and collaborative robotics research. The topics are in the context of the newly starting 5-year project entitled “Whole-body awareness for safe and natural interaction: from brains to collaborative robots” for excellence in fundamental research …read more
Call for Humanoids group PhD position
The group of Humanoid and Cognitive Robotics coordinated by Dr Matej Hoffmann opens a fully funded PhD position in the humanoid, cognitive, neuro-, and collaborative robotics research. The topics are in the context of the newly starting 5-year project entitled “Whole-body awareness for safe and natural interaction: from brains to collaborative robots” for excellence in …read more
(Česky) Naše drony a pozemní roboty budou zkoumat jeskynní komplex Býčí skála
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Call for Humanoids group PostDoc position
The group of Humanoid and Cognitive Robotics coordinated by Dr Matej Hoffmann opens a PostDoc position in the humanoid, cognitive, neuro-, and collaborative robotics research. The topics are in the context of the newly starting 5-year project entitled “Whole-body awareness for safe and natural interaction: from brains to collaborative robots” for excellence in fundamental research …read more
(Česky) Členové týmů MRS a VRAS naší katedry připravili spolu s CIIRC ČVUT pipetovací roboty pro testování vzorků na Covid-19
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(Česky) Matěj Hoffmann a Petr Švarný v podcastu Vše o průmyslu
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(Česky) Tým CTU-CRAS získal ceny v soutěži AI Awards za úspěch v mezinárodní robotické soutěži
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Our Roboticists won at the DARPA Subterranean Challenge Urban Circuit among self-funded teams and scored 3rd overall
In the second half of February 2020, ten robotic teams gathered at the nearly-built but unfinished nuclear power plant near Elma, Washington. The robots were sent into the underground maze of the huge concrete-steel in a quest to find and locate predetermined 20 artifacts. Researchers, graduate and undergraduate students of Departments of Cybernetics and Computer …read more
(Česky) DARPA 2020
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Interview with Matej Hoffmann in Control Engineering Czech Republic
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Call for Humanoids group PhD position
The group of Humanoid and Cognitive Robotics coordinated by Dr Matej Hoffmann opens a PhD position in the humanoid, cognitive, neuro-, and collaborative robotics research. The topics are in the context of the newly starting 5-year project entitled “Whole-body awareness for safe and natural interaction: from brains to collaborative robots” for excellence in fundamental research …read more
Call for Valeo.AI-sponsored PhD student/researcher
We open a PhD position in the university environment while being partially supervised by the top-tier researcher from Valeo.AI research group. Show your research to be meaningful by running your codes on the real self-driving car to improve human safety. The position is sponsored by Valeo.AI. WE SEEK CANDIDATES: who are excellent, self-motivated, and willing …read more
Call for Vision for Robotics and Autonomous Systems group´s Positions
Vision for Robotics and Autonomous Systems group (https://cyber.felk.cvut.cz/vras/) seeks one excellent PhD student and one PostDoc on the following fully-funded positions: DARPA Subterranenan Challenge: Cutting-edge research in the autonomous mapping (SLAM) for mobile robotics. We are expanding the team that just won the DARPA SubT challenge to help us to help us to win again! …read more
NEW GACR EXPRO Project
Matej Hoffmann has been awarded the “GAČR EXPRO” project for excellence in fundamental research from the Czech Science Foundation (https://gacr.cz/grantove-projekty-excelence-v-zakladnim-vyzkumu-expro/) for his proposal entitled “Whole-body awareness for safe and natural interaction: from brains to collaborative robots”. The grant will support him and his group for 5 years (2020-2024). As robots are leaving safety fences and …read more
Success of CTU-CRAS’ robots in US in Main evening news, Czech TV
It doesn’t happen every day that you appear in the main evening broadcasting at Czech TV (Česká televize). It does for example when you win DARPA SubT Challenge among self-funded teams. Amazing success of ČVUT FEL team CTU-CRAS formed by our teams Multi-robot Systems (Martin Saska) and Vision for Robotics and Autonomous Systems (Tomáš Svoboda) and colleagues …read more
Karel Zimmermann received Dean’s Award for Teaching
Doc. Ing. Karel Zimmermann, Ph.D., received the Dean’s Award for teaching in the academic year 2018/19 for the course Robotics Vision. Teachers are awarded for teaching results based on the recommendation of the Dean’s Committee. The committee decision is based on the results of the students´ verbal survey, suggestions of the heads of departments, and …read more
CTU-CRAS from the Department of Cybernetics Won the Darpa Subterranean Challenge Tunnel Circuit Among Non-Sponsored Teams and Took the Overall 3rd Place
The DARPA Subterranean Challenge Tunnel Circuit took place in Pittsburgh, USA on 15-22 August. A team of CTU-CRAS scientists and students from the Department of Cybernetics and Computer Department of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague demonstrated a multirobotic system for searching the areas affected by the disaster. CTU-CRAS …read more
Tracked vehicle simulation model for Gazebo
The VRAS group has successfully helped the global open-source robotics community by implementing the first plausible simulation model of tracked vehicles. The model has just been made available to everyone as part of the Gazebo simulator Among others, it will help the CRAS-CTU team in the global DARPA SubT challenge where a team of robots …read more
Dean’s Award for the Dissertation thesis was given to Ing. Vladimir Kubelka, Ph.D.
Dean’s Award for the Dissertation thesis was given to
Ing. Vladimír Kubelka defended his Ph.D. thesis
Ing. Vladimír Kubelka successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis entitled Improving perception and locomotion capabilities of mobile robots in urban search and rescue missions (supervisor: doc. Ing. Tomáš Svoboda, Ph.D., supervisor specialist: Ing. Michal Reinštein, Ph.D.). Congratulations!
Interactive Perception-Action-Learning for Modelling Objects
We are partners in a new European research project (CHIST-ERA call) IPALM – Interactive Perception-Action-Learning for Modelling Objects coordinated by Imperial College London. Matej Hoffmann is the PI for our part. The objective of the project is to develop methods for the automatic digitization of objects and their physical properties by exploratory manipulations. The methods …read more
BODIS – workshop at IROS2018
Matěj Hoffmann is co-organizing a workshop at IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems IROS2018. BODIS: The utility of body, interaction and self learning in robotics.
Human-robot interaction at HRI 2018
Work in collaboration with IIT Genoa and Yale University on Compact real-time avoidance on a humanoid robot for human-robot interaction appeared at the HRI 2018 Conference held in Chicago. [pdf @ arxiv | youtube video]
The little android with a sense of touch
A typical feature of mammals lies in their ability to experience sensations, something that robots are beginning to imitate. With the help of artificial skins and algorithms, our researchers have managed to make a small humanoid robot aware of human contact and even notice if someone is invading his ‘living’ space. The little android with …read more
Ing. Tomáš Petříček defended his Ph.D. thesis
Ing. Tomáš Petříček successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis entitled Coupled Learning and Planning for Active 3D Mapping (supervisor: doc. Ing. Tomáš Svoboda, Ph.D.). Congratulations!
Kuka Innovation Award 2018
Matěj Hoffmann from the group Vision for Robotics Autonomous Systems (VRAS) was a member of the team who won the Kuka Innovation Award 2018, see the video.
The project RobotBodySchema has become a Partnering project of the Human Brain Project
The project RobotBodySchema (or “Robot self-calibration and safe physical human-robot interaction inspired by body representations in primate brains”), investigated by the team of Mgr. Matej Hoffmann, Ph.D., became a Partnering project of the Human Brain Project. Congratulations!
ICCV 2017 talk of Karel Zimmermann
Karel Zimmermann presents at ICCV 2017 paper K. Zimmermann, T. Petricek, V. Salansky, T. Svoboda. Learning for Active 3D Mapping.
Ing. Kubelka presented a rescue mobile robot Charlie in Czech TV
Ing. Vladimir Kubelka, a PhD. student of Artificial inteligence and biocybernetics, presented a rescue mobile robot Charlie, which is involved in project TRADR, and invited the viewers to the “Night of scientists“(in czech only) in Studio 6, a Czech TV morning show. Many thanks for the representation of our faculty!
ENNS Best Paper Award
Zdenek Straka and Matej Hoffmann were awarded ENNS Best Paper Award at 26th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks (ICANN17) for their paper Learning a Peripersonal Space Representation as a Visual-Tactile Prediction Task.
BMVC 2017 best science paper honourable mention for A. Mukundan, G. Tolias, O. Chum
Arun Mukundan, Giorgos Tolias and Ondrej Chum received the best science paper honourable mention at the British Machine Vision Conference (BMVC) 2017 for their article Multiple-kernel Local-patch Descriptor.
Karel Zimmermann has successfully defended his habilitation thesis
Karel Zimmermann has successfully defended his habilitation thesis Safe Adaptive Traversability with Incomplete Data. Congratulation!
Tomáš Svoboda guest on CT24 on the topic: USA: Shared Autonomous Transport in 13 Years?
Assoc. Prof. Tomáš Svoboda (Vision for Robotics and Autonomous Systems) was a guest on CT24 speaking on the topic: USA: Shared Autonomous Transport in 13 Years? (the interview in Czech language only starts at about 0:15:56).
Humanoid robots learn to sense their body
A 4-page cover story about humanoid robotics in Respekt (a major Czech weekly journal), 16/2017. Matej Hoffmann and Zdenek Straka interviewed and photographed with robots. More robots mentioned in the electronic version of the story. The printed version also available at ihned.cz.
Rescue robot goes to Italy
A rescue ground robot is going to Italy after earthquake. Real deployment event featured in Czech TV main news. Department is collaborating with CIIRC within TRADR project.
New EU project, Enable-S3
Enable-S3 is a large ECSEL-JU project called European Initiative to Enable Validation for Highly Automated Safe and Secure Systems. Tomas Svoboda is the PI of the CTU part. We will closely collaborate with ValeoCZ working on boosting rare data into the learning and testing in automatic driving.
Tomáš Svoboda in DVTV about Autonomous Vehicles
Tomáš Svoboda discussed on DVTV with Martin Veselovský the future of transportation systems and autonomous vehicles (in Czech). Many thanks for successful representation of our department!
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