IEEE RAS Technical Committee on Networked Robots

Although Networked Robots were formally represented in only two sessions at the recent IROS conference in St. Louis, a large body of work in the conference (more than 45 papers) related more or less strongly to our field. This is a non-comprehensive overview over larger thrusts, new directions and novel ideas presented at the conference.

According to the National Weather Service, 438 fatalities, close to
3000 injuries, and $11.2 billion in damages were incurred due to severe
weather in the United States in 2003. These losses could be
dramatically reduced with effective advanced prediction and warning
systems. Tornadoes are especially violent members of the severe storm family and thus the study of tornado formation and evolution is a
public safety necessity. There was an immediate improvement in tornado
warning capabilities with the introduction of Doppler radar. However,

CONE (standards for collaborative observation of natural environments) team announce the CONE-Welder site for the networked robots community. We combine standard techniques of field biology with a new class of telerobotic "observatories" to intensively study relevant bird species at Welder Wildlife Foundation in South Texas. We construct a feeding station and capture and color-band birds for individual recognition. We will apply standard techniques such as color-marking, nest location, and specimen collection.