Chairman's Introduction
Already we have reached the fourth in the annual series of conferences on Mechatronics and Machine Vision in Practice. Last year the conference joined Mechatronics '96 and ViCAM in Guimaraes, Portugal, while in 1995 it was held at City University, Hong Kong. Of course the first conference in the series was held here in Toowoomba in 1994.
The conference has a strong international flavour, well over half the papers coming from overseas. The United Kingdom is represented strongly, as is Japan, but there are also papers from Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Spain and Russia. Refereeing by the international panel of judges was strict and a third of the submissions were rejected. Those papers which survived are of a high standard, but have also had to pass the test of relevance and of their ability to grasp the interest of the delegates.
The topics range from the teaching of mechatronics - becoming ever more accepted and widespread - to mobile robots, vision and sensors, underlying control theory and a range of fascinating applications.
Biological and medical applications include abbatoirs, surgery and endoscopy with touch sensing (guaranteed to make the audience squirm) and the use of robotics to assist in plant propagation.
Mobile and legged robots appear in force, including wall-climbers, robots for submerging in sewers, bipeds and running robots for teaching. Manufacturing is also considered in many papers, although it does not dominate the topics as might have been the case in years gone by.
Vision systems are covered both in their principles and in their applications. Shaped light is used in mining, while vision is presented for assistance in spraying tunnel walls, for guiding aircraft and in other mobile robots.
In the modern world, an industry with a skyrocketing budget is sport. A special session on mechatronics in sport has been put together by Paul Strickland. Mechatronic testing of golf-club shafts might come as no surprise, but the inclusion of force sensors in rugby football clothing and temperature sensors in footwear should give some fascinating insights.
Next year's conference is to be organised once again by the team in Hong Kong and will be held in Hong Kong or Nanjing. With the hand over very fresh in the memory, will a year see many changes? I look forward to seeing for myself.
John Billingsley
Conference Chairman
Dr Memis Acar, Loughborough University, UK
Helder Araujo, University of Coimbra, Portugal
Mark Atherton, South Bank University, UK
A/Prof Robin Bradbeer, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Professor David Bradley, University of Wales, Wales
Professor Alan Bradshaw, Lancaster University, UK
Dr P N Brett, University of Bristol, UK
Dr Roberto Cipolla, University of Cambridge, UK
Professor A A Collie, University of Portsmouth, UK
Professor Chris Cook, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australa
Professor E.R Davies, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK
Professor Jack Dinsdale, University of Abertay Dundee, UK
Dr G R Dunlop, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Prof. Takashi Emura, Tohoku University, Japan
Dr. Abdulkadir ERDEN, Middle East Technical University, TURKEY
Prof. Toshio Fukuda, Nagoya University, Japan
Dr Duncan B Gilmore, Gilmore Engineers, QLD, Australia
Dr Paula Gomes, University of Minho, Portugal
Professor Roger Goodall, Loughborough University of Technology, UK
Dr. Saman K Halgamuge, University of Melbourne, VIC Australia
Professor Chris J Harris, University of Southampton, UK
Dr. D.C. Hodgson, University of Birmingham, UK
Professor Yoshimi Ito, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
Professor R A Jarvis, Monash University, VIC, Australia
Michael Kassler, Michael Kassler and Associates Pty Ltd, NSW Australia
Professor Masaji Kawahara, Tsukuba College of Technology, Japan
Prof K Khodabandehloo, University of Bristol, UK
Prof Tim King, The University of Birmingham, UK
A/Prof Mario Lima, University of Minho, Portugal
Gordon Mair, University of Strathclyde, Scotland
Clive Maynard, Curtin University of Technology, W Australia
Prof.Dr. Paulo E Miyagi, University of Sao Paulo, Escola Politecnica, Brazil
Prof. Joao L Monteiro, University of Minho, Portugal
Professor Philip Moore, De Montfort University, UK
A/Professor Fazel Naghdy, University of Wollongong, NSW Australia
Dr. Saeid Nahavandi, Massey University, New Zealand
Dr Eduardo Nebot, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia
Prof Marcio Luiz de Andrade Netto, State University of Campinas, Brazil
Dr L Norton-Wayne, De Montfort University, UK
Professor Graham Parker, University of Surrey, UK
Professor Rob Parkin, Loughborough University, UK
Dr. Goran D Putnik, Universidade do Minho, Portugal
Professor Ewald von Puttkamer, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany
David Pycock, The University of Birmingham, UK
A/Prof Kameni P Rao, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Dr Geoff Roberts, University of Wales College, Newport, Wales
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hubert Roth, Technology Transfer Center for Applied Computer
and Software Engineering, Germany
A/Prof Andy Russell, Monash University, Victoria, Australia.
Dr. Klaus Selke, University of Hull, UK
Dr Paul M Sharkey, University of Reading, UK
Dr Paul Strickland, University of Portsmouth, UK
Prof. Bertil Svensson, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
A/Professor James P Trevelyan, University of Western Australia, W Australia
Dr Sanja Vranes, The Mihailo Pupin Institute, Yugoslavia
Dr Richard Willgoss, The University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia
Professor Derek R Wilson, University of Southern Queensland, Australia
Brisbane is on the East Coast of Australia, four degrees or so south of the Tropic of Capricorn. A hundred and twenty kilometres inland, Toowoomba nestles on the edge of the Great Dividing Range. The last few kilometres of the road journey are a spectacular climb onto the plateau. While Brisbane can often be hot and humid, Toowoomba is almost always pleasant. Its two-thousand-feet altitude ensures a refreshing breeze of clear, dry air.
Arrive in style! We are arranging special flights from Brisbane to Toowoomba in 8-seater and 14-seater aeroplanes - with several flights at times to suit the delegates' arrival. The cost will be A$60 for the half-hour flight.
The small planes give a fantastic view of the Great Dividing Range.
At this late stage, you should phone (076) 341366 or (076) 346755 or fax (076) 345215 for the attention of Rob Chilcott to book seats.
There is a wide choice of direct flights into Brisbane from Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Honolulu, giving easy access from Europe, Japan and the United States.
Starting with a Welcome Barbecue on Monday evening, the full programme includes a dinner with guest speaker and a Banquet with live entertainment. There will be a 'farewell' spit-roast on Thursday evening - wild kookaburras are almost certain to fly in to join the garden party.
On the Saturday before the conference, delegates who arrive early in Toowoomba can see the Carnival of Flowers, which attracts visitors from all over Australia. Private gardens competing in the festival contest will be open to visitors throughout the week - and these are most impressive.
Toowoomba abounds with parks and gardens, with bush-walking for the energetic. A busy partners programme has been arranged, but the more independent might wish to visit nearby National Parks and rainforest, the Jondaryan Woolshed or the beaches of the Gold and Sunshine Coasts. The weather will be warm and sunny.
Visitors from Europe should consider spending a week or so beforehand visiting the Great Barrier Reef. Packages by air to island resorts such as Hamilton Island are really quite reasonable. Beware of believing that you can easily drive to see more of Australia - the distances are huge.
If you are bringing a partner please register your partner early so that we can organise seats for the events. Their $150 registration fee includes dinner and banquet tickets worth $100 and the two barbecues on top. The trips are being subsidised by the conference!
Tuesday 23rd: Drive to see the beauties of Toowoomba. This is Carnival of Flowers week and we will show off the parks and gardens, stopping to walk occasionally. There are also enthusiastic competitions for the best private gardens and we will see some wonderful entries.
The trip starts from the University at 10 a.m. after the main registration, so partners should take the mini-coach to the conference with their delegates in the morning. The trip will end in a central Toowoomba coffee place from which partners may wish to shop on their own or go to the Art gallery.
Wednesday 24th will start with a trip to Highfields, twenty minutes drive North from Toowoomba, to see the orchid gardens. We will stop at a small gallery and coffee shop. Then we will go on to Spring Bluff railway station. This halt on the line up through the woods of the escarpment is a historic beauty spot and is very beautiful in September.
Thursday 25th. The morning is free for shopping - you might like to find your way to 'Grand Central', Toowoomba's newest mall. In the afternoon, come to the University at 4 p.m. for the finals of the Micromouse Contest. In the evening there is the barbecue.
Monday 22nd, 6.30 for 7 pm. A spit-roast at 1 Boulton Street, home of Peter and Janice Swannell, the USQ vice-chancellor and his wife. They have a beautiful, classical old style Australian home, one of the first buildings in Toowoomba. (Unless you are registered, tickets are $20)
Tuesday 23rd, 7 pm. Dinner at our old Toowoomba railway station. No longer in regular use as a railway station, the heritage building has been decorated inside to create an attractive dining place. Erica leads an team who take great pride in presenting dinners using the ninety-year-old original silver service and settings from the old steam heyday. Their traditional cooking is very tasty indeed! A bush-band will entertain you - should be fun! (Additional tickets $40)
Wednesday 24th, 7 pm. Banquet at the Downs club. This is the country club of the leaders of Toowoomba. It is well known for its excellent cuisine. Professor Peter Swannell will speak - and he is an excellent, entertaining after-dinner speaker. (Tickets $60)
Thursday 25th, 6.30 for 7 pm. Barbecue at Ros and John Billingsley's home. This is a modern Queensland home with a lovely garden. We will have some relaxing music and please brush up your talents to give us a song. (Unless you are registered, tickets are $20)
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