ROSCon DE 2023, took place for the first time on November 23-24 in Karlsruhe, Germany. The main ROSCon conference is held in English and takes place in different locations around the world. With the conference in Germany, a platform has been created where ROS developers and interested parties from the DACH region can exchange ideas and network in the field of robotics.
The AIT Austrian Institute of Technology plays an important role here: as a scientific institution, it actively contributes to the further development of open source technology with its expertise and innovation. As a sponsor of the conference, it supports the exchange within the ROS community that is so valuable for robotics. "Since 2007, dozens of researchers have been voluntarily contributing to the further development of the ROS open source project. ROS makes software development for our robots and autonomous systems much easier. This is all thanks to the great ROS community," says Tobias Glück, head of the Complex Dynamical Systems research group at AIT. In addition, Christoph Fröhlich, Research Engineer at AIT, has taken on the role of Program Chair and is a member of the Program Committee. In his presentation, he presented "ROS 2 as Backbone for Autonomous Outdoor Forklift Operations", co-authored by Johannes Huemer/ AIT. Fröhlich highlighted the role of ROS 2 in the efficient integration of various components in the development of an autonomous outdoor forklift. Supported by international research projects, the presentation was an inspiring example of collaborative innovation and practical problem solving.
Credit: ROSConDE 2023
Matthias Schörghuber/ AIT presented "PostgreSQL / PostGIS to ROS 2 Bridge for Spatial Data". Co-authors were Marco Wallner/ AIT and Markus Hofstätter/ AIT. While PostgreSQL with the PostGIS extension is widely used for storing, processing and managing spatial data, the three AIT scientists presented their latest development, the PostGIS to ROS2 Bridge. This bridge allows the seamless integration of information from a spatial database into the ROS2 environment and supports user-defined SQL queries as well as various ROS2 message types. The scientists demonstrated the practical use of the bridge with an impressive demo video at a gravel plant in Austria. It showed how different spatial data were merged and displayed for an autonomous wheel loader.
With about 140 participants, the first ROSCon DE was sold out. Its success underscores the need in the German-speaking robotics industry for a platform that enables the exchange of experiences and ideas, as well as networking in this dynamic industry. Looking ahead to ROSCon DE 2023, we are excited to see the event continue in 2024 when the ROS community will come together to present and discuss the latest developments and innovations in robotics.
View also AIT News (13.10.2023)
Contact
Dr. Christoph Fröhlich
Research Engineer
Complex Dynamical Systems
Center for Vision, automation & Control
AIT Austrian Institute of Technology
+43 664 78588003
christoph.froehlich@ait.ac.at