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<> RobotoKAUST (49)

RobotoKAUST: Short Robotics Story and Video Contest 2022: Deadline Extended

Prof. Eric Feron, Electrical and Computer Engineering

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KAUST

Submission deadline has been extended to January 16th. Notification: February 28, 2022. Following on from last year’s success, the KAUST RISC Lab is back with a brand new story contest, the RobotoKAUST: Short Robotics Story and Video Contest 2022. The contest is open to children, teenagers (TKS G1- G12 level) and adults.

Human Robot Interaction with Natural Language Logic: a Step Closer

Emmanuel Roche, PhD, CEO of Clover.AI

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KAUST

Featured Sessions
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Distributed AI: Optimal algorithms for distributed stochastic non-convex optimization

Usman A. Khan, Associate Professor, Tufts University

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KAUST

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Safe learning and control with L1 adaptation

Naira Hovakimyan, Professor, Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois

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KAUST

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Dynamic Explorations of a TiltWing Aircraft Transitioning from Conventional to Hovering Flight

John Hauser, Professor, University of Colorado Boulder

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KAUST

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Trajectory planning in uncertain transient currents: a stochastic optimization approach

Ricardo M. Lima, Research Scientist, CEMSE, KAUST

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KAUST

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The challenging path to creating fully autonomous and controllable microrobots

Prof. Néstor O. Pérez-Arancibia, Autonomous Microrobotic Systems Laboratory, University of Southern California (USC)

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KAUST

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Core Challenges in Navigation in Human Environments

Jean Oh, Senior Systems Scientist, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University

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KAUST

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Enhancing visibility for reliable underwater visual SLAM

Ayoung Kim, Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)

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KAUST

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From one to many, coordination problems of multiple mobile robots

Lucia Pallottino, Associate Professor, University of Pisa

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KAUST

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Levering AI for Unmanned Aerial Systems: Deployment Strategies

Anis Koubaa, Professor, Prince Sultan University

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KAUST

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Using drones, fluid lensing, and network analysis to get a more comprehensive view of coral reef mapping in the Red Sea

Colleen Campbell, PhD Student, Red Sea Research Center, KAUST

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KAUST

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Autonomous Vision-Based Navigation and Control for Robotic Space Objects

Hesham Shageer, Assistant Professor, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology KACST

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KAUST

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Multi-Robot Task Allocation Games in Dynamically Changing Environments with Application to Trash Collection

Shinkyu Park, Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, KAUST

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KAUST

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Safe, Interaction-Aware Decision Making and Control for Robot Autonomy

Marco Pavone, Associate Professor, Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University

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KAUST

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The Robots are Coming – to your Farm

Girish Chowdhary, Associate Professor, UIUC

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KAUST

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Swarms for People

Sabine Hauert, Associate Professor, Bristol Robotics Laboratory, University of Bristol

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KAUST

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An Egocentric Wearable Camera for Assistive Technologies

Mohammed Kutbi, Assistant Professor, Saudi Electronic University

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KAUST

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Xwing: the journey to deploying autonomous cargo aircraft

Maxime Gariel, Chief Technology Officer, Xwing

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KAUST

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Optimization-Based Control of Autonomous Aerospace Systems

Behcet Acikmese, Professor, William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, University of Washington, USA

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KAUST

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Safe autonomy with imperfect information

Necmiye Ozay, Associate Professor, University of Michigan

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KAUST

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Efficient Reachability for Safe Autonomous Systems: A Mixed Monotone Approach

Sam Coogan, Assistant Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology

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KAUST

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On the Fundamental Challenges for Self-Driving Cars

Emilio Frazzoli, Professor, Dynamic Systems and Control, ETH Zürich

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KAUST

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Certification of Autonomous Vehicles: A Regulator-Oriented Approach

Huan Xu, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland

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KAUST

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Designing And Modelling Soft Active Artificial Muscles “Geometric and Material Nonlinearities”

Marwa Eldiwiny, PhD Student, IEEE RAS Org

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KAUST

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Recordings of the talks are available!

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KAUST

#RobotoKAUST21. The recordings of the talks from the KAUST Research Conference on Robotics and Autonomy 2021 are available! Please check our website https://cemse.kaust.edu.sa/risc/robotokaust21. To subscribe to RISC Lab YouTube Channel, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/c/KAUSTRISCLab

RobotoKAUST 2022 Call for Poster Abstracts

Prof. Eric Feron, Electrical and Computer Engineering

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KAUST

We are excited to announce the KAUST Research Conference on Robotics and Autonomy 2022, which will be held on Feb 28 - March 2, 2022 (#RobotoKAUST). The conference will address the most recent trends of robotics application in a range of disciplines. The conference will give space for presentations and discussions of systems, items, and methods related to robotics and autonomy. As part of this event, we are accepting poster abstract submissions.

Abdellatif: Robotic Systems for Oil & Gas Applications

Fadl Abdellatif, Saudi Aramco, KSA

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B19 H1

Featured Sessions
Robotic Systems for Oil & Gas Applications Abstract Robotic systems have been gaining increased traction in the oil and gas industry over the last few years. They are especially popular in applications that involve performing tasks that are repetitive, hazardous or laborious. Robotic systems spanning the land, sea and air domains have been proven useful in oil and gas applications including underwater robots, unmanned aerial vehicles, magnetic crawlers and legged robots. Applications cover routine rounds, inspection jobs, light maintenance, exploration, and surveillance. Such systems reduce

Ian Bernstein: Robotics Startup Opportunities: Lessons from Misty II and the Sphero Star Wars BB-8

Ian Bernstein: Misty Robotics

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B19 H1

Featured Sessions
Robotics Startup Opportunities: Lessons from Misty II and the Sphero Star Wars BB-8 Abstract Many of the systems, sensors, and software frameworks in robotics today have originated from academia. But, what happens when you want to commercialize an idea and turn it into a viable business. Sphero was founded in 2010 and has shipped over 4 million robots around the world. Misty Robotics (acquired in January 2022 by Furhat Robotics) has shipped thousands of robots to both companies and researchers. In this session, I share both lessons learned from these two companies in going from an idea to

Prof. Abdelhedi: Optimized and stable F2 -based motion planning approach for mobile robots

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B19 H1

Featured Sessions
Optimized and stable F2 -based motion planning approach for mobile robots Abstract Mobile robotics has contributed significantly to the intelligent development of human society, where motion planning is an essential requirement that refers to the ability of a mobile robot to automatically plan its motions. OSF2 is a motion planning strategy based on the Dynamic Variable Speed Force Field method to control mobile robot movements. It ensures motion planning effectiveness against collision risks and instability mainly in dynamic environments. The flexibility of the mobile robot motion is provided

Prof. Acikmese: Optimization Based Control - An Aerospace Perspective

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B19 H1

Featured Sessions
Optimization Based Control - An Aerospace Perspective Abstract Many future aerospace engineering applications will require dramatic increases in our existing autonomous control capabilities. These include robotic sample return missions to planets, comets, and asteroids, formation flying spacecraft, swarms of autonomous spacecraft, unmanned aerial, ground, and underwater vehicles, and autonomous commercial robotic applications. A key control challenge for many autonomous systems is to achieve the performance goals safely with minimal resource use in the presence of mission constraints and

Prof. Tsiotras: Recent Advances in Optimal Motion Planning for Autonomous Systems

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B19 H1

Featured Sessions
Recent Advances in Optimal Motion Planning for Autonomous Systems Abstract Computing efficiently a feasible or optimal trajectory between two given states lies at the core of all autonomous systems. Traditional techniques, based on optimal control and trajectory optimization, or utilizing suitable discrete abstractions of the problem, have been used for many years with great success to solve a variety of problems, especially in aerospace applications. However, most of these methods are best suited for off-line computations and their usefulness diminishes very quickly when one wants to plan

Dr. Roche: CYBORG-NLP: Patching “Soft” deep learning methods with “Hard” symbolic processing in NLP

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B19 H1

Featured Sessions
CYBORG-NLP: Patching “Soft” deep learning methods with “Hard” symbolic processing in NLP Abstract In this talk, we will explore the apparent opposition, in the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP), between deep learning and symbolic processing as it relates to human-robot communication. Human-robot communication, because it is constrained by the physical world, provides a unique insight into what the word “understanding” means in the context of NLP, a concept that has been elusive to NLP since its inception. We will also discuss how, contrary to the famous assertion “symbolic processing

Prof. Kayacan: Future of Smaller, Faster, More Agile, Yet Safer Aerial Robots: Challenges & Opportunities

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B19 H1

Featured Sessions
Future of Smaller, Faster, More Agile, Yet Safer Aerial Robots: Challenges & Opportunities Abstract Request for increased, almost perfect, accuracy and efficiency of aerial robots pushes the operation to the boundaries of the performance envelope and, thus, induces a need for reliable operation at the very limits of attainable performance. The use of advanced learning algorithms, which can learn the operational dynamics online and adjust the operational parameters accordingly, might be a candidate solution to all the aforementioned problems. This talk will focus on both model-based and model

Dr. Watanabe: Safe path planning for UAV urban operation under GNSS signal occlusion risk

Dr. Yoko Watanabe, ONERA, France

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B19 H1

Featured Sessions
Safe path planning for UAV urban operation under GNSS signal occlusion risk Abstract Flying UAVs or drones in an urban or peri-urban environment is yet quite a challenge. This presentation introduces a concept of safe path planning for UAV's autonomous operation in an urban environment where GNSS-positioning may become unreliable or even unavailable. Given a geo-referenced environment model, it is possible to predict GNSS signal occlusions and hence to generate a map of local quality/availability of its positioning solution. Motivated from this, our main idea is to utilize such sensor

Prof. Hovakimyan: Safe Learning for Autonomous Systems

Prof. Naira Hovakimyan, UIUC, USA

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B19 H1

Featured Sessions
Safe Learning for Autonomous Systems Abstract Learning-based control paradigms have seen many success stories with various robots and co-robots in recent years. However, as these robots prepare to enter the real world, operating safely in the presence of imperfect model knowledge and external disturbances is going to be vital to ensure mission success. In the first part of the talk, we present an overview of L1 adaptive control, how it enables safety in autonomous robots, and discuss some of its success stories in the aerospace industry. In the second part of the talk, we present some of our

Prof. Lubineau: Super-sensitivity in resistive and capacitive strain sensing

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B19 H1

Featured Sessions
Super-sensitivity in resistive and capacitive strain sensing Abstract Advanced composite materials are a key enabling technology for new solutions in energy production, transportation and storage. It is critical to develop monitoring techniques that are viable for a large scale/distributed sensing, which can inform us about the critical condition of the structures, localize and identify their degradation mechanism. Capacitive sensors are usually preferred for local strain sensing. Yet, the sensitivity of such sensors is guided only by the geometrical change, with a gauge factor close to one

Eng. Sarhan: Technologies and Applications of Drone Autonomy

Eng. Sami I. Sarhan, KAUST Innovation, KSA

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B19 H1

Featured Sessions
Technologies and Applications of Drone Autonomy Abstract Fifteen years ago drone started as toy, it developed to become one of the most sophisticated flaying machine. The development in drone technologies went ahead in every direction, the advancement in the industry helped the drone to become a tools for every professional. Drones have three main parts: the hardware, the software and the payload. However, a fourth part is being introduced, in my opinion, is the autotomy. Self-flying is moving from nice-to-have to must-to-have; the applications of autonomous flights are growing every day

Prof. Prorok: Multi-Robot Learning: Leveraging Communication and Explanations

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B19 H1

Featured Sessions
Multi-Robot Learning: Leveraging Communication and Explanations Abstract Effective communication is key to successful coordination. Yet, it is far from obvious what information is crucial to the task at hand, and how and when it must be shared among agents. In this talk, I first discuss how we leverage machine learning methods to generate effective communication strategies to solve hard coordination tasks. I present some pioneering real-robot experiments that demonstrate the transfer of our methods to the physical world. The learning process itself, however, remains challenging, especially in

Prof. Low: Learning with Less Data: Automated Machine Learning and Bayesian Optimization

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B19 H1

Featured Sessions
Learning with Less Data: Automated Machine Learning and Bayesian Optimization Abstract In this talk, I will briefly describe our research efforts on learning with less data and automated machine learning. Then, I will discuss in greater detail on one of such efforts: Bayesian optimization (BO), specifically, in how we have progressed from tackling some of the fundamental challenges/issues in BO to applying BO to more complex blackbox optimization problems such as in robotics. Biography Dr. Bryan Low is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at the National University of Singapore and the

Prof. Khamvilai: Towards intelligent middleware for more resilient robots

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B19 H1

Featured Sessions
Towards intelligent middleware for more resilient robots Abstract Integrated modular avionics is the primary system architecture used in modern aircraft. It is designed upon a strict principle of fixed and static allocation of redundant tasks on redundant hardware for safety assurance. However, in the event of hardware or communication failures, the safety can be improved if the reallocation of tasks to another hardware is allowed, leading to a concept of reconfigurable integrated modular avionics. One of the challenges for the reconfiguration problem is the way to ensure the feasibility of

Prof. Koubaa: Aerial Systems for Delivery and Surveillance: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities

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B19 H1

Featured Sessions
Aerial Systems for Delivery and Surveillance: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities Abstract The development of aerial systems is nowadays a significant trend in the industry. Delivery and surveillance applications are among the most important in drones' business. However, the development of drones applications encompasses several technical challenges, both from hardware and software perspectives. In this talk, I present the benefits of delivery and surveillance applications using aerial vehicles and discuss the main challenges from different perspectives, including technical, regulatory, and

Dr. Gariel: Xwing: the journey to deploying autonomous cargo aircraft

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B19 H1

Featured Sessions
Xwing: the journey to deploying autonomous cargo aircraft Abstract Xwing is on a mission to build the world’s smartest, cleanest and most advanced aviation system. We're transforming the way airplanes fly— so regional air mobility will be radically safer, more efficient, more accessible and more sustainable than it’s ever been. Our work begins with converting today’s cargo aircraft into remotely-operated self-flying airplanes so every regional route can be serviced frequently and reliably— so every person in every corner of the world can have improved access to all the goods and supplies that

Dr. Kartci: Agile Control of Underwater Robots

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B19 H1

Featured Sessions
Agile Control of Underwater Robots Abstract Underwater Robots have a large area of application – environmental monitoring, an inspection of naval structures, underwater welding, ocean production, object location and recovery, and security. Since over 70% of the Earth's surface is covered by the ocean, and yet a very small percentage has been explored by scientists, high agile maneuver driving and high-performance controllers have become a necessity. To achieve such performance, two challenges must be solved considering unpredictable external disturbances caused by underwater currents, tether

Campbell: Using drones to monitor Algae patches on reefs in the Red Sea

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B19 H1

Featured Sessions
Using drones to monitor Algae patches on reefs in the Red Sea Abstract Algae is very important to the health of the coral reef system. In the Red Sea there are over 500 species of algae, with many species beneficial to coral reef health. Many fish feed on algae and use it as breeding territories. The spread of some kinds of turf algae can be an indicator of a decline in coral health and early intervention could help save the reef before too much coral is lost. Even though it is vital to the coral reef system, algae patches are difficult to determine extent with in situ surveys. Furthermore

Abdel-Aal: Using Drones and Autonomous Vehicles for Delivery - Practical Insights from KAUST Living Lab

Mohamed Abdel-Aal, Director, KAUST Smart, KSA

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B19 H1

Featured Sessions
Abstract KAUST presents a unique campus with unique opportunities. It's a "city" with limitless boundaries for experimentation and a culture that pushes the boundaries of innovation. "KAUST Smart" is the brand that represents this living lab and it's the enabler for testing and evaluation of emerging technologies. By applying an experience-focused design methodology, KAUST Smart is able to deliver rapid experimentations that engage the community, industry, and government in a reiterative approach. In this talk, we will look into the outcomes from two recent experiments that were conducted at

Alabdulkarim: Industrial Robot Applications: from Challenges to Safety

Arwa M Alabdulkarim, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, KSA

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B19 H1

Featured Sessions
Abstract Advance robot industrial applications require robots to become aware of their environments and surroundings. Many advances in research made collaborative robots able to interact with other robots or humans; interactions involve robots that work together with other robots or humans, or are aware of their existence in the environment, as well as their actions. This talk focuses on Mobile-Manipulator robots, and their safety constraints and considerations. In addition, the talk covers solutions that could be implemented to tackle logistic and industrial problems Biography Arwa

Prof. de Sousa: Maritime operations with multi-domain robotic vehicles: current trends and future developments

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B19 H1

Featured Sessions
Maritime operations with multi-domain robotic vehicles: current trends and future developments Abstract Underwater, surface, air, and space robotic vehicles are already revolutionizing maritime operations. But this is just the beginning. Vehicle systems are reaching unprecedented levels of maturity and reliability, thus enabling persistent operations in remote areas. However, a significant number of COTS vehicles have not been designed for interactions and are not interoperable with other systems. But this will change, mainly because of demand in maritime operations. This talk discusses

Prof. Pettersen: Bioinspiration gives snake robots moving on land and exploring the oceans

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B19 H1

Featured Sessions
Bioinspiration gives snake robots moving on land and exploring the oceans Abstract Snake robots are motivated by the long, slender and flexible body of biological snakes, which allows them to move in virtually any environment on land and in water. Since the snake robot is essentially a manipulator arm that can move by itself, it has a number of interesting applications including firefighting applications and search and rescue operations. In water, the robot is a highly flexible and dexterous manipulator arm that can swim by itself like a sea snake. This highly flexible snake-like mechanism has
<> machine learning (22)

Yimeng Chen

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Computer Science
Yimeng Chen is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Prof. Jürgen Schmidhuber's research group at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

Nanbo Li

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Computer Science
Nanbo Li is a Postdoctoral Fellow working in Prof. Jürgen Schmidhuber research group at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Center of Excellence for Generative AI.

Omar Ahmed

M.S. Student, Bioengineering
Omar Ahmed is an MS student in the Bioengineering department at KAUST. His research explores the mechanisms that enable brain signal generalisability across individuals, addressing how neural activity patterns can be reliably interpreted despite significant inter-subject and temporal variability. A major challenge in neuroscience is that brain activity varies substantially between people and even within the same person over time, which limits the development of universal diagnostic and therapeutic tools. Towards this goal, Omar is developing deep learning models that can identify consistent
KAUST-CEMSE-CS-VISION-CAIR-Dalal-Aldossary

Dalal E. Aldossary

M.S. Student, Computer Science
Dalal is a Master’s student in Computer Science at KAUST. She is part of the VISION-CAIR and the Neuroscience & AI Lab (NAIL), where she works on developing machine learning models that interpret and learn EEG representations and behavior.

Zakaria El Kassimi

KAUST offers a unique environment where applied mathematics and data science meet real-world impact, with exceptional resources and a supportive community for ambitious research.

Jonathan Klein

Research Scientist, Computer Science
My fields of research interests include computational simulation, plant simulation and modeling, synthetic training data, machine learning architectures, none-line-of-sight imaging, and computational photography.

Yibin Wang

Keep Moving forward

Andrea Vanessa Rocha

Research Specialist, Statistics
Chengjie zhao

Chengjie Zhao

Visiting Researcher, Information Science Lab
Visiting Student, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Mohamed Ads

Visiting Student, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Hayssam Dahrouj

Senior Research Scientist at KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)

Karen Sanchez

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Karen Sanchez is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the IVUL lab at KAUST, specializing in deep learning, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) for healthcare applications. Her research focuses on video understanding, domain adaptation, generative AI, and methods for preserving patient privacy.

Hani A. Al Majed

M.S. Student
Electrical and Computer Engineering Master's student at KAUST under the supervision of Professor Bernard Ghanem, with expertise in machine learning workflow automation, physics-informed neural operators, and AI for Science, particularly in chemistry applications. Passionate about leveraging AI to solve complex scientific problems.

Ahmad Sait

M.S. Student, Computer Science
Ahmad Sait is a Master's student in the Computer Science program at KAUST. Before joining KAUST, Ahmad obtained his Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. Ahmad is also a KAUST Academy graduate from the AI track, having been under the supervision of Prof. Naeemullah Khan. The Academy provided him with seven opportunities to assist in teaching students enrolled in subsequent cohorts.

Saleh AlJazzar

Research Fellow at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) .

Muhammad Esmat

Visiting student at, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

Yasser Jaber

Visiting Student Researcher ,Machine Learning Engineer at KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology).
Syed Abidullah Fareed

Syed Abidullah Fareed

Visiting Student (former), Information Science Lab

Ahsan Mehmood

Intern (former), Information Science Lab
Visiting student at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

Abdulkarem Badiea Alshaibani

Visiting Student at the Information Science Lab at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

Challenges in Marine Autonomy

Stefan B. Williams, Head of School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Sydney

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KAUST

Featured Sessions
For more information please visit the website

Scaling up reef ecosystem monitoring using underwater robots

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract The current approach to exploring and monitoring complex underwater ecosystems, such as coral reefs, is to conduct surveys using diver-held or static cameras, or deploying sensor buoys. These approaches often fail to capture the full variation and complexity of interactions between different reef organisms and their habitat. The CUREE AUV platform provides a unique set of capabilities in the form of robot behaviors and perception algorithms to enable scientists to explore different aspects of an ecosystem. Examples of these capabilities include low-altitude visual surveys, soundscape
<> Marine Robotics (16)

Developing Marine Robotics for the Western Indian Ocean - Needs, designs and applications

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract The Western Indian Ocean (WIO) is one of the fastest warming parts of the global ocean. There is no doubt that this is due to Climate Change. Model projections indicate Sea Surface Temperature (SST) in the tropical WIO will rise some 5°C by 2100 with drastic destructive changes in the marine ecosystems and fisheries, impacting food security for the 60 M people who are dependent on this ocean. Inland droughts will accentuate this problem. By 2035 emergency food relief will be need in Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Comoros, and Somalia (already happening). Emergency mitigation

The future of coral reef monitoring

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Saudi Arabia is undertaking an unprecedented development along its Red Sea coast, including launching multiple "GigaProjects", with ambitions to be a major ecotourism destination. At the same time, the country has committed to the highest levels of protection for the natural environment and 'regenerative tourism' approaches that will improve the quality of the targeted habitats. Of particular focus are the Kingdom's numerous coral reefs, renowned for their biodiversity. Traditional approaches for monitoring the health of coral reefs are difficult to scale up sufficiently to meet the

Underwater Robot for Shallow Water Pipeline Inspection & Monitoring

Hassane Trigui, Research & Development Center, Aramco

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Remotely operated Vehicles (ROVs) are widely used in deep water to perform various types of activities in the Oil and Gas sector and beyond. However, for extreme shallow waters, that is less than 10 meters in depth, the ROV market is severely underserved. In addition, ROV operations in shallow waters are more challenging than deeper waters due to the difficulty in accessing shallow sites with large vessels that can support divers and ROVs in their operations. Robotics Engineers from Aramco have developed a unique underwater robot specifically designed to operate in shallow waters area

Neuromorphic Computing Architectures for Robot Vision in Marine Harsh Environments

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract The design of robots that interact autonomously with the environment and exhibit complex behaviors is an open challenge that can benefit from understanding what makes living beings fit to act in the world. Neuromorphic engineering studies neural computational principles to develop technologies that can provide a computing substrate for building compact and low-power processing systems. In this talk shows why the robots with neuromorphic technologies - from perception to motor control - represents a promising approach for the creation of robots which can be more intelligent and

Autonomous marine mapping, current situation and future possibilities

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract In the last decade marine robotics and autonomous research has started to grow in the Red Sea, led by KAUST researchers, marine startup companies and now with the various new Giga Projects. In the early days this work often had a heavy human component for the launch, recovery and control. New emerging technologies for remotely telemetry are helping to solve this, as are combined autonomous survey solutions. Using multiple autonomous systems, on the sea surface, underwater and airborne in a single survey campaign is proving to be extremely efficient with significantly more data being

Frontiers in Marine Research Robotics

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Marine robotics have evolved substantially since the early days of autonomous underwater vehicles which meant a multimillion-dollar vehicle always accompanied by a surface vehicle. An early step forward in scientific vehicles was the development of the buoyancy-driven autonomous underwater vehicles which could stay at sea for months and traverse large distances and depths down to 1000m, albeit slowly. Critical needs exist for vehicles that can map, image and characterize the sea bottom, and for intelligent fleet management schemes. The mesophotic (below diver accessible depths) and

KAUST Reefscape Restoration Initiative

Dr. Maram Abadi, KAUST Reefscape Restoration Initiative, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract KAUST Reefscape Restoration Initiative is the world's largest coral reef restoration initiative. The initiative will begin with a 100-hectare reef restoration project at Shushah Island in the Red Sea. This will be a global demonstration of coral restoration that integrates innovative, in-Saudi Arabia, and internationally developed technologies, pioneering propagation, planting, and monitoring approaches, and international expertise to accelerate solutions for reef ecosystems at a time of unprecedented environmental change. The effort will be a mix of coral conservation protection

From ROV's to Smart Reefs: CMR's Journey supporting Marine Research

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract This presentation explores the contributions, future capabilities, and advocacy of the KAUST CMR Core Lab in supporting marine research activities in the Red Sea since 2008 and into the future. The CMR team has employed a variety of technologies to collect data and samples from the seabed and water column using various tools and robots. The use of ROVs has enabled the collection of deep-sea corals, exploration of hydrothermal areas, and observation of brine pools. AUVs and USVs, such as the Seaglider, Ocean Aero's Triton, and the Otter from Maritime Robotics, have been utilized for

At the Limits of the Red Sea - challenges of deep marine sciences

Prof. Froukje M. van der Zwan, Physical Science and Engineering, Earth Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract The Red Sea is a unique marine environment where we can study the formation of a new ocean basin, which is host to rare ecosystems due to its young and enclosed character and special environmental conditions. The deep Red Sea Rift is particularly interesting as the new oceanic crust is formed by volcanic activity along the entire basin, which, together with hydrothermal activity and the occurrence of brine pools, provides unique habitats. The Red Sea Rift is >1,000 m deep, far past the limits of scuba diving, and reaches almost 3,000 m in some areas. Salinity is >40 PSU, and the

Exploring the Blue Frontier with Cooperative Marine Robots

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract The last decade has witnessed tremendous progress in the development of marine technologies that are steadily affording scientists advanced equipment and methods for ocean exploration and exploitation. Recent advances in marine robotics, sensors, computers, communications, and information systems are being applied to the development of sophisticated technologies that will lead to safer, faster, and far more efficient ways of exploring the ocean frontier, especially in hazardous conditions. As part of this trend, there has been a surge of interest worldwide in the development of

Harnessing the potential for robotics and automation for restoring the worlds coral reefs

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Restoration of Earth's ecosystems has accelerated as a critical management tool in the past decade, particularly for coral reefs where stakeholders have adopted restoration to offset continued declines in reef health. Most coral reef restoration programs remain locally targeted and sub-hectare, where scalability is generated through people networks. Of the few programs that are now beginning to operate at the largest multi-hectare scales - including the KAUST Reefscape Restoration Initiative (KRRI) - implementation of innovative robotics and automation is seen as key to deliver more

Deep benthic environments: an endless (but stimulating) challenge for marine robotics

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract In the past 50 years, marine robotics had a huge impact on marine sciences, providing countless support tools for a better understanding of the benthic environments. The endless need for a higher level of resolution in our maps, the application of specific protocols for monitoring programs, measuring the different components of the water column, and collecting the smallest or most delicate biological samples have pushed the technology always over its limits. Finally, the introduction of AI in acoustic and underwater video technologies is bringing now the analyses to a higher level of

Robotic Customized Medicine for Corals

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Most microbiomes of marine ecosystems and marine organisms are being impacted by anthropogenic action and can no longer be considered pristine. These microbiomes are usually enriched with pathogens, especially in areas in need of restoration, and constitute one of the key points to be considered for conservation purposes. Here, I will show how corals respond to the probiotic application in field trials, the robotic improvements we have been testing for the automated inoculation, and whether non-target hosts (e.g., sponges, fish, and algae) can also be affected by such microbial

Robotics and Automation in Coral Monitoring and Restoration

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Monitoring and preservation of coral reefs are critical for marine biology research, economic development, and environmental protection. Given that long-term survey of marine environments and restoring bleached coral reefs are extremely labor-intensive, autonomous robots are emerging as one of the key solutions to address such challenge. In this talk, we present on-going projects at KAUST Robotics group in conceiving autonomous underwater robots for swift and safe navigation in complex environments to collect high-resolution coral images. We also discuss challenges and opportunities

Estimation and control of underwater optical wireless communication systems

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Underwater optical wireless communication (UOWC) technologies are essential for the growth of future underwater communication applications. As the demand for capacity increases, UOWC is considered an emerging alternative technology in the underwater communication area. However, maintaining a controlled line-of-sight link between transmitter and receiver is a significant challenge because the alignment angle required for trajectory tracking control is not directly measured and has to be estimated. In this talk, I will present our recent works on estimating the alignment angle between

The need for robotics and automatization to meet our global coral restoration goals

Dr. Sebastian Schmidt-Roach, BESE/Red Sea Research Center, KAUST

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Coral reefs are vital to a vast number of human livelihoods depending on them for fisheries, tourism and coastal protection. Facing dramatic global declines in coral cover and reef habitat degradation due to climate change and other anthropogenic impacts, coral reef restoration has become imperative to maintain their ecosystem services. In the Kunming-Montreal biodiversity framework the international community set ambitious goals, such as restoring, or being on the way to restore, 30% of degraded habitats by 2030. However, meeting these goals is currently constrained by the high
<> artificial intelligence (11)

Omar Ahmed

M.S. Student, Bioengineering
Omar Ahmed is an MS student in the Bioengineering department at KAUST. His research explores the mechanisms that enable brain signal generalisability across individuals, addressing how neural activity patterns can be reliably interpreted despite significant inter-subject and temporal variability. A major challenge in neuroscience is that brain activity varies substantially between people and even within the same person over time, which limits the development of universal diagnostic and therapeutic tools. Towards this goal, Omar is developing deep learning models that can identify consistent
Salem Alsaqaf

Salem Al-saqaf

Salem Al-Saqaf is an Electrical and Computer Engineer specializing in semiconductors, electronics and AI. He combines strong academic training with practical industry experience in AI-driven solutions, data science, and system optimization. His work spans applied research and real-world innovation, aiming to advance intelligent systems, enhance semiconductor applications, and develop technologies that bridge academic discovery with industrial impact.
Najmeddine Dhieb

Najmeddine Dhieb

Mohamed Ads

Visiting Student, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Yasmeen Alsaedy

M.S. Student, Computer Science
She is an AI researcher specializing in generative AI and deep learning. With a strong academic foundation and hands-on experience in machine learning, data science and artificial intelligence, she is passionate about advancing AI applications in real-world scenarios. She has contributed to cutting-edge projects, published research, and collaborated on innovative solutions that bridge the gap between AI theory and practice. Her expertise includes designing and implementing advanced data models, AI-driven visual/text computing, and deep learning architectures.

Yasser Jaber

Visiting Student Researcher ,Machine Learning Engineer at KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology).
Syed Abidullah Fareed

Syed Abidullah Fareed

Visiting Student (former), Information Science Lab

Ahmed Youssef Ragab Radwan

Visiting Student (former), Information Science Lab
Visiting student at the Information Science Lab, in the Electrical Engineering Department, CEMSE, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)

The Robots are Coming – to your Farm

Girish Chowdhary, Associate Professor, UIUC

-

KAUST

Featured Sessions
For more information please visit the website

Bioinspired Subsea Robots and Underwater Networks

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Advanced subsea robots and monitoring networks have become increasingly important for subsea exploration, environmental observation, industrial control, and maritime security. These systems face challenges ranging from shallow water to deep-sea applications. To overcome these challenges, engineers can draw inspiration from nature. Studies on the bio-sonar of dolphins provide a clue for reliable underwater communication and positioning, which is the basis for modern subsea networks and collaborative underwater robots. Pressure-resistant electronic design enables devices to operate at

Marine Autonomy: Research and Applications

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Marine autonomy does not have as many constraints as there are on land but there are still challenges that need to be overcome to make the most of current and future opportunities. My talk will concentrate on the research works done in the marine autonomous systems research group at Plymouth where the focus of the research group has been towards application of AI techniques to the navigation, guidance and control of autonomous marine vehicles. The talk will also discuss future challenges in the marine autonomy areas and their likely solutions. Biography Dr Sanjay Sharma, Associate
<> Computer Vision (10)

Nanbo Li

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Computer Science
Nanbo Li is a Postdoctoral Fellow working in Prof. Jürgen Schmidhuber research group at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Center of Excellence for Generative AI.

Omar Ahmed

M.S. Student, Bioengineering
Omar Ahmed is an MS student in the Bioengineering department at KAUST. His research explores the mechanisms that enable brain signal generalisability across individuals, addressing how neural activity patterns can be reliably interpreted despite significant inter-subject and temporal variability. A major challenge in neuroscience is that brain activity varies substantially between people and even within the same person over time, which limits the development of universal diagnostic and therapeutic tools. Towards this goal, Omar is developing deep learning models that can identify consistent
KAUST-CEMSE-CS-VISION-CAIR-Dalal-Aldossary

Dalal E. Aldossary

M.S. Student, Computer Science
Dalal is a Master’s student in Computer Science at KAUST. She is part of the VISION-CAIR and the Neuroscience & AI Lab (NAIL), where she works on developing machine learning models that interpret and learn EEG representations and behavior.

Adonai Vera

Machine Learning Engineer with 6+ years of experience specializing in computer vision, deep learning, and robotics. Led AI solutions for retail analytics, UAV systems, and edge devices. Author, educator, and TensorFlow Google Developer Expert.

Abdelrahman Eldesokey

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Abdelrahman Eldesokey is a Postdoctoral Fellow at KAUST, working on Generative AI and Computer Vision. His research focuses on diffusion models, multimodal large language models, and vision foundation models, aiming to make generative systems more controllable, interpretable, and reliable.
Najmeddine Dhieb

Najmeddine Dhieb

Karen Sanchez

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Karen Sanchez is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the IVUL lab at KAUST, specializing in deep learning, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) for healthcare applications. Her research focuses on video understanding, domain adaptation, generative AI, and methods for preserving patient privacy.

Aznaur Aliev

M.S. Student

Hani A. Al Majed

M.S. Student
Electrical and Computer Engineering Master's student at KAUST under the supervision of Professor Bernard Ghanem, with expertise in machine learning workflow automation, physics-informed neural operators, and AI for Science, particularly in chemistry applications. Passionate about leveraging AI to solve complex scientific problems.

Ahmad Sait

M.S. Student, Computer Science
Ahmad Sait is a Master's student in the Computer Science program at KAUST. Before joining KAUST, Ahmad obtained his Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. Ahmad is also a KAUST Academy graduate from the AI track, having been under the supervision of Prof. Naeemullah Khan. The Academy provided him with seven opportunities to assist in teaching students enrolled in subsequent cohorts.
<> deep learning (10)

Yimeng Chen

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Computer Science
Yimeng Chen is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Prof. Jürgen Schmidhuber's research group at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

Zakaria El Kassimi

KAUST offers a unique environment where applied mathematics and data science meet real-world impact, with exceptional resources and a supportive community for ambitious research.

Adonai Vera

Machine Learning Engineer with 6+ years of experience specializing in computer vision, deep learning, and robotics. Led AI solutions for retail analytics, UAV systems, and edge devices. Author, educator, and TensorFlow Google Developer Expert.

Juan Pablo Muñoz Díaz

Karen Sanchez

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Karen Sanchez is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the IVUL lab at KAUST, specializing in deep learning, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) for healthcare applications. Her research focuses on video understanding, domain adaptation, generative AI, and methods for preserving patient privacy.

Mhd. Emad Alolaby

Sixiu Liu

Ph.D. degree in Earth science and engineering with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)

Ahmed Youssef Ragab Radwan

Visiting Student (former), Information Science Lab
Visiting student at the Information Science Lab, in the Electrical Engineering Department, CEMSE, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
<> Autonomous Vehicle Navigation (8)

Developing Marine Robotics for the Western Indian Ocean - Needs, designs and applications

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract The Western Indian Ocean (WIO) is one of the fastest warming parts of the global ocean. There is no doubt that this is due to Climate Change. Model projections indicate Sea Surface Temperature (SST) in the tropical WIO will rise some 5°C by 2100 with drastic destructive changes in the marine ecosystems and fisheries, impacting food security for the 60 M people who are dependent on this ocean. Inland droughts will accentuate this problem. By 2035 emergency food relief will be need in Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Comoros, and Somalia (already happening). Emergency mitigation

Underwater Robot for Shallow Water Pipeline Inspection & Monitoring

Hassane Trigui, Research & Development Center, Aramco

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Remotely operated Vehicles (ROVs) are widely used in deep water to perform various types of activities in the Oil and Gas sector and beyond. However, for extreme shallow waters, that is less than 10 meters in depth, the ROV market is severely underserved. In addition, ROV operations in shallow waters are more challenging than deeper waters due to the difficulty in accessing shallow sites with large vessels that can support divers and ROVs in their operations. Robotics Engineers from Aramco have developed a unique underwater robot specifically designed to operate in shallow waters area

Autonomous marine mapping, current situation and future possibilities

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract In the last decade marine robotics and autonomous research has started to grow in the Red Sea, led by KAUST researchers, marine startup companies and now with the various new Giga Projects. In the early days this work often had a heavy human component for the launch, recovery and control. New emerging technologies for remotely telemetry are helping to solve this, as are combined autonomous survey solutions. Using multiple autonomous systems, on the sea surface, underwater and airborne in a single survey campaign is proving to be extremely efficient with significantly more data being

Frontiers in Marine Research Robotics

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Marine robotics have evolved substantially since the early days of autonomous underwater vehicles which meant a multimillion-dollar vehicle always accompanied by a surface vehicle. An early step forward in scientific vehicles was the development of the buoyancy-driven autonomous underwater vehicles which could stay at sea for months and traverse large distances and depths down to 1000m, albeit slowly. Critical needs exist for vehicles that can map, image and characterize the sea bottom, and for intelligent fleet management schemes. The mesophotic (below diver accessible depths) and

At the Limits of the Red Sea - challenges of deep marine sciences

Prof. Froukje M. van der Zwan, Physical Science and Engineering, Earth Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract The Red Sea is a unique marine environment where we can study the formation of a new ocean basin, which is host to rare ecosystems due to its young and enclosed character and special environmental conditions. The deep Red Sea Rift is particularly interesting as the new oceanic crust is formed by volcanic activity along the entire basin, which, together with hydrothermal activity and the occurrence of brine pools, provides unique habitats. The Red Sea Rift is >1,000 m deep, far past the limits of scuba diving, and reaches almost 3,000 m in some areas. Salinity is >40 PSU, and the

Harnessing the potential for robotics and automation for restoring the worlds coral reefs

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Restoration of Earth's ecosystems has accelerated as a critical management tool in the past decade, particularly for coral reefs where stakeholders have adopted restoration to offset continued declines in reef health. Most coral reef restoration programs remain locally targeted and sub-hectare, where scalability is generated through people networks. Of the few programs that are now beginning to operate at the largest multi-hectare scales - including the KAUST Reefscape Restoration Initiative (KRRI) - implementation of innovative robotics and automation is seen as key to deliver more

Deep benthic environments: an endless (but stimulating) challenge for marine robotics

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract In the past 50 years, marine robotics had a huge impact on marine sciences, providing countless support tools for a better understanding of the benthic environments. The endless need for a higher level of resolution in our maps, the application of specific protocols for monitoring programs, measuring the different components of the water column, and collecting the smallest or most delicate biological samples have pushed the technology always over its limits. Finally, the introduction of AI in acoustic and underwater video technologies is bringing now the analyses to a higher level of

Robotics and Automation in Coral Monitoring and Restoration

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Monitoring and preservation of coral reefs are critical for marine biology research, economic development, and environmental protection. Given that long-term survey of marine environments and restoring bleached coral reefs are extremely labor-intensive, autonomous robots are emerging as one of the key solutions to address such challenge. In this talk, we present on-going projects at KAUST Robotics group in conceiving autonomous underwater robots for swift and safe navigation in complex environments to collect high-resolution coral images. We also discuss challenges and opportunities
<> cybersecurity (8) <> IoT (8)
Salem Alsaqaf

Salem Al-saqaf

Salem Al-Saqaf is an Electrical and Computer Engineer specializing in semiconductors, electronics and AI. He combines strong academic training with practical industry experience in AI-driven solutions, data science, and system optimization. His work spans applied research and real-world innovation, aiming to advance intelligent systems, enhance semiconductor applications, and develop technologies that bridge academic discovery with industrial impact.

Serine Medjber

Visiting student at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) under the supervision of Mr. Tareq Al-Naffouri

Mohammed Amine Labbas

Visiting student at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) under the supervision of Mr. Tareq Al-Naffouri
Ruochen Zhu

Ruochen Zhu

Mohamed Ads

Visiting Student, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Syed Abidullah Fareed

Syed Abidullah Fareed

Visiting Student (former), Information Science Lab

Ahsan Mehmood

Intern (former), Information Science Lab
Visiting student at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

Flying LoRA IoT Gateway for Agricultural Applications

Prof. Samsuzana Abd Aziz, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Low-Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technologies like LoRa have become prominent for IoT deployments in large agricultural areas due to their low-power and long-range transmission. However, data transmission in large farms with diverse landscapes suffers from obstructions or occlusions, and wired gateways are still difficult to cover the whole agricultural areas without proper network or power infrastructures. This study integrates LoRa gateways with a flying drone to enhance the connectivity to sensor nodes deployed in an oil palm plantation. The LoRa gateway was mounted on a multi
<> Signal processing (8)

Serine Medjber

Visiting student at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) under the supervision of Mr. Tareq Al-Naffouri

Mohammed Amine Labbas

Visiting student at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) under the supervision of Mr. Tareq Al-Naffouri
Chengjie zhao

Chengjie Zhao

Visiting Researcher, Information Science Lab
Visiting Student, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Almutasem Bellah Enad

Almutasem Bellah Enad

Visiting Researcher (former), Information Science Lab
Visiting Student, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Present M.Eng in Electrical and Computer Engineering, American University of Beirut, Lebanon
Ahmad Dkhan

Ahmad Dkhan

Visiting Scholar (former), Information Science Lab
Visiting Student, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Present -Master's in Electrical and Computer Engineering, American University of Beirut, Lebanon

Saleh AlJazzar

Research Fellow at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) .

Alaa Alameer Ahmad

Research visit to communication theory lab in computer, electrical and mathematical sciences and engineering. KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) ,Worked with research groups supervised by Prof. Mohamed-Slim Alouini and Prof. Tareq AL-Naffouri.

Abdullatif Al-Rabah

MS Degree, Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
<> Field Robots (7)

Developing Marine Robotics for the Western Indian Ocean - Needs, designs and applications

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract The Western Indian Ocean (WIO) is one of the fastest warming parts of the global ocean. There is no doubt that this is due to Climate Change. Model projections indicate Sea Surface Temperature (SST) in the tropical WIO will rise some 5°C by 2100 with drastic destructive changes in the marine ecosystems and fisheries, impacting food security for the 60 M people who are dependent on this ocean. Inland droughts will accentuate this problem. By 2035 emergency food relief will be need in Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Comoros, and Somalia (already happening). Emergency mitigation

Underwater Robot for Shallow Water Pipeline Inspection & Monitoring

Hassane Trigui, Research & Development Center, Aramco

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Remotely operated Vehicles (ROVs) are widely used in deep water to perform various types of activities in the Oil and Gas sector and beyond. However, for extreme shallow waters, that is less than 10 meters in depth, the ROV market is severely underserved. In addition, ROV operations in shallow waters are more challenging than deeper waters due to the difficulty in accessing shallow sites with large vessels that can support divers and ROVs in their operations. Robotics Engineers from Aramco have developed a unique underwater robot specifically designed to operate in shallow waters area

At the Limits of the Red Sea - challenges of deep marine sciences

Prof. Froukje M. van der Zwan, Physical Science and Engineering, Earth Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract The Red Sea is a unique marine environment where we can study the formation of a new ocean basin, which is host to rare ecosystems due to its young and enclosed character and special environmental conditions. The deep Red Sea Rift is particularly interesting as the new oceanic crust is formed by volcanic activity along the entire basin, which, together with hydrothermal activity and the occurrence of brine pools, provides unique habitats. The Red Sea Rift is >1,000 m deep, far past the limits of scuba diving, and reaches almost 3,000 m in some areas. Salinity is >40 PSU, and the

Exploring the Blue Frontier with Cooperative Marine Robots

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract The last decade has witnessed tremendous progress in the development of marine technologies that are steadily affording scientists advanced equipment and methods for ocean exploration and exploitation. Recent advances in marine robotics, sensors, computers, communications, and information systems are being applied to the development of sophisticated technologies that will lead to safer, faster, and far more efficient ways of exploring the ocean frontier, especially in hazardous conditions. As part of this trend, there has been a surge of interest worldwide in the development of

Deep benthic environments: an endless (but stimulating) challenge for marine robotics

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract In the past 50 years, marine robotics had a huge impact on marine sciences, providing countless support tools for a better understanding of the benthic environments. The endless need for a higher level of resolution in our maps, the application of specific protocols for monitoring programs, measuring the different components of the water column, and collecting the smallest or most delicate biological samples have pushed the technology always over its limits. Finally, the introduction of AI in acoustic and underwater video technologies is bringing now the analyses to a higher level of

Semi-autonomous systems enable advances in Earth Observation

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract The description and characterization of the Earth system is a field that routinely leverages technological advances to improve our understanding of diverse ecosystems. One of the most promising areas of application is the use of autonomous and semi-autonomous platforms in precision agriculture. Such systems are capable of performing data collection, analysis, and decision-making tasks with minimal human intervention. The Hydrology, Agriculture, and Land Observation (HALO) laboratory at KAUST is at the forefront of this technology, employing a combination of satellites, UAVs and most

Smart Agricultural Robotics for Monitoring Coral Reefs and Plants: A vertical farming perspective

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Aquaponics is a vertical farming technique and an integrated production of fish and hydroponic crops with recirculation of the aquaculture effluent used by the plant as fertilizer. This technique offers high water efficiency, a faster growth rate, and high crop yields. Despite all the advantages offered by this technology, its implementation on a commercial scale is hindered by many technical and economic factors, which can be addressed by integrating smart technologies, automation, and control. Together with the landmark technologies of Industry 4.0, such as robotics, artificial
<> robotics (6)

The Robots are Coming – to your Farm

Girish Chowdhary, Associate Professor, UIUC

-

KAUST

Featured Sessions
For more information please visit the website

Recordings of the talks are available!

-

KAUST

#RobotoKAUST21. The recordings of the talks from the KAUST Research Conference on Robotics and Autonomy 2021 are available! Please check our website https://cemse.kaust.edu.sa/risc/robotokaust21. To subscribe to RISC Lab YouTube Channel, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/c/KAUSTRISCLab

The KAUST Research Conference on Robotics and Autonomy 2022

-

B19 H1

KAUST Robotics, Intelligent Systems and Control Lab (RISC Lab) will host the KAUST Research Conference on Robotics and Autonomy 2022 (#RobotoKAUST) from February 28 until March 2, 2022. The conference will address the most recent trends of robotics application in a range of disciplines. To attend RobotoKAUST Gala, please, read more about the event and follow the event registration instructions.

The KAUST Research Conference on Robotics and Autonomy 2022 #RobotoKAUST

1 min read ·
Building upon our successful online conference in spring 2021, the KAUST Robotics, Intelligent Systems, and Control Lab (RISC Lab) will host the KAUST Research Conference on Robotics and Autonomy 2022 (#RobotoKAUST2022) from February 28 until March 2, 2022. The conference will address the most recent trends of robotics application in a range of disciplines.

Shinkyu Park

Professor Park advances robotic science by building on individual robots’ core sensing, actuation and communication capabilities in distributed information processing, decision-making and manipulation.

Eric Feron

With 31 years of teaching and research experience, Professor Feron’s work utilizes elementary concepts of control systems, optimization and computer science to address critical issues in modern aerospace engineering and robotics.
<> Cyber Security (5) <> integrated photonics (5)

Naiqin Bu

KAUST-CEMSE-ECE-IPL-Nikita-Kondratyev

Nikita Kondratyev

Mikhail Mishevskii

Mikhail received the B.S. degree in applied mathematics and physics from Novosibirsk State, Novosibirsk, Russia and received a master's degree with honors from the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech). His research interests include: nonlinear optics, integrated photonics, ultrafast lasers, frequency comb generation. During his time at Skoltech participated in the Skoltech Translational Research and Innovation Program industrial project to create a pulsed submicron laser for pumping a single-photon quantum light source. Mikhail awarded with Scholarship of the President of

Aleksandr Movsisian

Aleksandr received his bachelor’s degree in 2023 in Physics from Moscow State University (MSU, ranked first in Russia) and completed a master’s degree in Physics with honors at the same institution. He has over two years of research experience in quantum optics, optomechanics, and quantum measurement theory as part of the LIGO group at MSU. His work has focused on squeezed states of light, measurement topologies, and methods to overcome the Standard Quantum Limit, resulting in two first-author publications in JOSA B and Optics Letters. Aleksandr also gained hands-on experimental experience at

Aram Mkrtchyan

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Electrical and Computer Engineering
<> ISAC (5)
kaust-cemse-ece-ccsl-changhao-he

Changhao He

kaust-cemse-ece-ccsl-yousef-awad

Yousef Awad

kaust-cemse-ece-ccsl-bumin-kagan-yildirim

Bumin Kagan Yildirim

Bang Huang

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Bang Huang works as a postdoctoral fellow at the Computer Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering Division (CEMSE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), under the supervision of Prof. Mohamed-Slim Alouini in the Communication Theory Lab (CTL). Education and Early Career Bang Huang received the M.S. degree (with honors) in electrical engineering and Ph.D degree in information and communication engineering from the School of Information and Communication Engineering (SICE), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), Chengdu, China, in

Xiaowei Pang

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Xiaowei Pang is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Computer Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering Division (CEMSE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), working with Professor Mohamed-Slim Alouini in the Communication Theory Lab (CTL). Education and Early Career Xiaowei Pang received her B.S. degree in Telecommunication Engineering from Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China, in 2018, and her Ph.D. degree in Information and Communication Engineering from Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China, in 2024. From 2021 to 2022
<> Agricultural Automation (4)

Harnessing the potential for robotics and automation for restoring the worlds coral reefs

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Restoration of Earth's ecosystems has accelerated as a critical management tool in the past decade, particularly for coral reefs where stakeholders have adopted restoration to offset continued declines in reef health. Most coral reef restoration programs remain locally targeted and sub-hectare, where scalability is generated through people networks. Of the few programs that are now beginning to operate at the largest multi-hectare scales - including the KAUST Reefscape Restoration Initiative (KRRI) - implementation of innovative robotics and automation is seen as key to deliver more

Semi-autonomous systems enable advances in Earth Observation

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract The description and characterization of the Earth system is a field that routinely leverages technological advances to improve our understanding of diverse ecosystems. One of the most promising areas of application is the use of autonomous and semi-autonomous platforms in precision agriculture. Such systems are capable of performing data collection, analysis, and decision-making tasks with minimal human intervention. The Hydrology, Agriculture, and Land Observation (HALO) laboratory at KAUST is at the forefront of this technology, employing a combination of satellites, UAVs and most

Optimal Design of Agricultural Walking Robot

Prof. Sayat Ibrayev, Institute of Mechanics and Engineering

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Legged machines that can adapt to off-road conditions and irregular terrain, have a number of advantages over traditional wheeled and tracked vehicles. In particular, in agriculture, they cause the least damage to the soil, in comparison with wheeled and tracked vehicles, due to the discrete track on the ground. Meanwhile, attaining to increase productivity of agricultural machines leads to an increase of machine weight that cause increased soil pressure and unfavorable conditions for plant growth. Various designing concepts of legged robots have been proposed by research teams by now

Smart Agricultural Robotics for Monitoring Coral Reefs and Plants: A vertical farming perspective

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Aquaponics is a vertical farming technique and an integrated production of fish and hydroponic crops with recirculation of the aquaculture effluent used by the plant as fertilizer. This technique offers high water efficiency, a faster growth rate, and high crop yields. Despite all the advantages offered by this technology, its implementation on a commercial scale is hindered by many technical and economic factors, which can be addressed by integrating smart technologies, automation, and control. Together with the landmark technologies of Industry 4.0, such as robotics, artificial
<> AI (4) <> autonomy (4) <> Mapping (4)

The future of coral reef monitoring

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Saudi Arabia is undertaking an unprecedented development along its Red Sea coast, including launching multiple "GigaProjects", with ambitions to be a major ecotourism destination. At the same time, the country has committed to the highest levels of protection for the natural environment and 'regenerative tourism' approaches that will improve the quality of the targeted habitats. Of particular focus are the Kingdom's numerous coral reefs, renowned for their biodiversity. Traditional approaches for monitoring the health of coral reefs are difficult to scale up sufficiently to meet the

Autonomous marine mapping, current situation and future possibilities

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract In the last decade marine robotics and autonomous research has started to grow in the Red Sea, led by KAUST researchers, marine startup companies and now with the various new Giga Projects. In the early days this work often had a heavy human component for the launch, recovery and control. New emerging technologies for remotely telemetry are helping to solve this, as are combined autonomous survey solutions. Using multiple autonomous systems, on the sea surface, underwater and airborne in a single survey campaign is proving to be extremely efficient with significantly more data being

Deep benthic environments: an endless (but stimulating) challenge for marine robotics

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract In the past 50 years, marine robotics had a huge impact on marine sciences, providing countless support tools for a better understanding of the benthic environments. The endless need for a higher level of resolution in our maps, the application of specific protocols for monitoring programs, measuring the different components of the water column, and collecting the smallest or most delicate biological samples have pushed the technology always over its limits. Finally, the introduction of AI in acoustic and underwater video technologies is bringing now the analyses to a higher level of

Semi-autonomous systems enable advances in Earth Observation

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract The description and characterization of the Earth system is a field that routinely leverages technological advances to improve our understanding of diverse ecosystems. One of the most promising areas of application is the use of autonomous and semi-autonomous platforms in precision agriculture. Such systems are capable of performing data collection, analysis, and decision-making tasks with minimal human intervention. The Hydrology, Agriculture, and Land Observation (HALO) laboratory at KAUST is at the forefront of this technology, employing a combination of satellites, UAVs and most
<> optimization (4) <> Photonics and optoelectronics (4)
Mohammed Alotaibi

Mohammed Obidallah Alotaibi

Ph.D. Student, Photonics Laboratory
I am Mohammed Obidallah Alotaibi, joining the KAUST Photonics Lab. I hold an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Central Florida and a B.S. from Umm Al-Qura University. Previously, I served as an Instrument Engineer at Aramco and currently lecture at Taibah University. I am passionate about advancing photonic technologies in energy and sustainability applications, and I look forward to contributing to the lab’s research in optoelectronics and integrated photonic systems. Previous Work Experience: Instrument Engineer, Saudi Aramco (2010–2012) Teaching Assistant & Lecturer

Yan Wang

Ph.D. Student, Photonics Laboratory
M.S./Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia, Aug. 2024- present BEng. in Communication Engineering at University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), Chengdu, China, Sept. 2019 - Jun. 2024​
Jiahoa Wei profile picture

Jiahao Wei

M.S. Student, Photonics Laboratory
Education Jan 2025 - present, M.S./Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at KAUST, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. Sep 2020 - Jun 2024, B.S. in Optoelectronic Information Science and Engineering at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen, China.
Zinan Xiao profile picture

Zinan Xiao

Ph.D. Student, Photonics Laboratory
Education Aug 2024 - present, Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at KAUST, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. Oct 2020 - Oct 2021, M.S. in Optics and photonics at Imperial College London, London, UK. Sep 2016 - Jun 2020, B.S. in Optoelectronic information engineering at Chongqing University, Chongqing, China.
<> Python (4) <> Aerial Robotics (3)

Mohammed Alwagait

Mohammed is a PhD Student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering program (ECE) at KAUST. He focuses on Reinforcement Learning Based Energy Saving Path Planning and Control for UAVs.

Autonomous marine mapping, current situation and future possibilities

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract In the last decade marine robotics and autonomous research has started to grow in the Red Sea, led by KAUST researchers, marine startup companies and now with the various new Giga Projects. In the early days this work often had a heavy human component for the launch, recovery and control. New emerging technologies for remotely telemetry are helping to solve this, as are combined autonomous survey solutions. Using multiple autonomous systems, on the sea surface, underwater and airborne in a single survey campaign is proving to be extremely efficient with significantly more data being

Harnessing the potential for robotics and automation for restoring the worlds coral reefs

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Restoration of Earth's ecosystems has accelerated as a critical management tool in the past decade, particularly for coral reefs where stakeholders have adopted restoration to offset continued declines in reef health. Most coral reef restoration programs remain locally targeted and sub-hectare, where scalability is generated through people networks. Of the few programs that are now beginning to operate at the largest multi-hectare scales - including the KAUST Reefscape Restoration Initiative (KRRI) - implementation of innovative robotics and automation is seen as key to deliver more
<> Computer Vision for Automation (3)

The future of coral reef monitoring

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Saudi Arabia is undertaking an unprecedented development along its Red Sea coast, including launching multiple "GigaProjects", with ambitions to be a major ecotourism destination. At the same time, the country has committed to the highest levels of protection for the natural environment and 'regenerative tourism' approaches that will improve the quality of the targeted habitats. Of particular focus are the Kingdom's numerous coral reefs, renowned for their biodiversity. Traditional approaches for monitoring the health of coral reefs are difficult to scale up sufficiently to meet the

KAUST Reefscape Restoration Initiative

Dr. Maram Abadi, KAUST Reefscape Restoration Initiative, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract KAUST Reefscape Restoration Initiative is the world's largest coral reef restoration initiative. The initiative will begin with a 100-hectare reef restoration project at Shushah Island in the Red Sea. This will be a global demonstration of coral restoration that integrates innovative, in-Saudi Arabia, and internationally developed technologies, pioneering propagation, planting, and monitoring approaches, and international expertise to accelerate solutions for reef ecosystems at a time of unprecedented environmental change. The effort will be a mix of coral conservation protection

Smart Agricultural Robotics for Monitoring Coral Reefs and Plants: A vertical farming perspective

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Aquaponics is a vertical farming technique and an integrated production of fish and hydroponic crops with recirculation of the aquaculture effluent used by the plant as fertilizer. This technique offers high water efficiency, a faster growth rate, and high crop yields. Despite all the advantages offered by this technology, its implementation on a commercial scale is hindered by many technical and economic factors, which can be addressed by integrating smart technologies, automation, and control. Together with the landmark technologies of Industry 4.0, such as robotics, artificial
<> Distributed Robot Systems (3)

The future of coral reef monitoring

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Saudi Arabia is undertaking an unprecedented development along its Red Sea coast, including launching multiple "GigaProjects", with ambitions to be a major ecotourism destination. At the same time, the country has committed to the highest levels of protection for the natural environment and 'regenerative tourism' approaches that will improve the quality of the targeted habitats. Of particular focus are the Kingdom's numerous coral reefs, renowned for their biodiversity. Traditional approaches for monitoring the health of coral reefs are difficult to scale up sufficiently to meet the

Frontiers in Marine Research Robotics

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Marine robotics have evolved substantially since the early days of autonomous underwater vehicles which meant a multimillion-dollar vehicle always accompanied by a surface vehicle. An early step forward in scientific vehicles was the development of the buoyancy-driven autonomous underwater vehicles which could stay at sea for months and traverse large distances and depths down to 1000m, albeit slowly. Critical needs exist for vehicles that can map, image and characterize the sea bottom, and for intelligent fleet management schemes. The mesophotic (below diver accessible depths) and

Estimation and control of underwater optical wireless communication systems

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Underwater optical wireless communication (UOWC) technologies are essential for the growth of future underwater communication applications. As the demand for capacity increases, UOWC is considered an emerging alternative technology in the underwater communication area. However, maintaining a controlled line-of-sight link between transmitter and receiver is a significant challenge because the alignment angle required for trajectory tracking control is not directly measured and has to be estimated. In this talk, I will present our recent works on estimating the alignment angle between
<> embedded systems (3) <> haps (3)

Bang Huang

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Bang Huang works as a postdoctoral fellow at the Computer Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering Division (CEMSE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), under the supervision of Prof. Mohamed-Slim Alouini in the Communication Theory Lab (CTL). Education and Early Career Bang Huang received the M.S. degree (with honors) in electrical engineering and Ph.D degree in information and communication engineering from the School of Information and Communication Engineering (SICE), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), Chengdu, China, in

Xiaowei Pang

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Xiaowei Pang is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Computer Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering Division (CEMSE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), working with Professor Mohamed-Slim Alouini in the Communication Theory Lab (CTL). Education and Early Career Xiaowei Pang received her B.S. degree in Telecommunication Engineering from Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China, in 2018, and her Ph.D. degree in Information and Communication Engineering from Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China, in 2024. From 2021 to 2022
H

Hussein Al-Shatri

I chose KAUST because of its reputation for excellence in research and its recent emphasis on applied research. With my extensive background in both academic research and industrial development, I am excited to contribute my experience and ambition. My goal is to foster new ideas and develop innovative prototypes in the field of wireless communications, which will undoubtedly enhance people's lives.
<> LiDAR (3) <> Localization (3)

Muhanned Alsaif

Young professional with a robust background in research and engineering, specializing in communication and signal processing applications for estimation. Previous experience: positioning using GNSS. Current experience: subsurface formation estimation using downhole and surface logs.

Abdulkarem Badiea Alshaibani

Visiting Student at the Information Science Lab at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

Estimation and control of underwater optical wireless communication systems

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Underwater optical wireless communication (UOWC) technologies are essential for the growth of future underwater communication applications. As the demand for capacity increases, UOWC is considered an emerging alternative technology in the underwater communication area. However, maintaining a controlled line-of-sight link between transmitter and receiver is a significant challenge because the alignment angle required for trajectory tracking control is not directly measured and has to be estimated. In this talk, I will present our recent works on estimating the alignment angle between
<> MATLAB (3) <> Networked Robots (3)

Frontiers in Marine Research Robotics

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Marine robotics have evolved substantially since the early days of autonomous underwater vehicles which meant a multimillion-dollar vehicle always accompanied by a surface vehicle. An early step forward in scientific vehicles was the development of the buoyancy-driven autonomous underwater vehicles which could stay at sea for months and traverse large distances and depths down to 1000m, albeit slowly. Critical needs exist for vehicles that can map, image and characterize the sea bottom, and for intelligent fleet management schemes. The mesophotic (below diver accessible depths) and

Exploring the Blue Frontier with Cooperative Marine Robots

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract The last decade has witnessed tremendous progress in the development of marine technologies that are steadily affording scientists advanced equipment and methods for ocean exploration and exploitation. Recent advances in marine robotics, sensors, computers, communications, and information systems are being applied to the development of sophisticated technologies that will lead to safer, faster, and far more efficient ways of exploring the ocean frontier, especially in hazardous conditions. As part of this trend, there has been a surge of interest worldwide in the development of

Estimation and control of underwater optical wireless communication systems

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Underwater optical wireless communication (UOWC) technologies are essential for the growth of future underwater communication applications. As the demand for capacity increases, UOWC is considered an emerging alternative technology in the underwater communication area. However, maintaining a controlled line-of-sight link between transmitter and receiver is a significant challenge because the alignment angle required for trajectory tracking control is not directly measured and has to be estimated. In this talk, I will present our recent works on estimating the alignment angle between
<> Nonlinear Optics (3) <> Reinforcement Learning (3) <> Advanced Perception (2) <> AI4Science (2) <> applied mathematics (2) <> Automous Vehicles (2) <> biomedical devices (2) <> bioscience (2) <> communication (2) <> Computational Neuroscience (2) <> control systems (2) <> data analysis (2) <> Deep generative models (2) <> Digital signal processing (2) <> Dynamical Systems (2) <> Electroencephalograms (2) <> Factory Automation (2)

Harnessing the potential for robotics and automation for restoring the worlds coral reefs

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Restoration of Earth's ecosystems has accelerated as a critical management tool in the past decade, particularly for coral reefs where stakeholders have adopted restoration to offset continued declines in reef health. Most coral reef restoration programs remain locally targeted and sub-hectare, where scalability is generated through people networks. Of the few programs that are now beginning to operate at the largest multi-hectare scales - including the KAUST Reefscape Restoration Initiative (KRRI) - implementation of innovative robotics and automation is seen as key to deliver more

The need for robotics and automatization to meet our global coral restoration goals

Dr. Sebastian Schmidt-Roach, BESE/Red Sea Research Center, KAUST

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Coral reefs are vital to a vast number of human livelihoods depending on them for fisheries, tourism and coastal protection. Facing dramatic global declines in coral cover and reef habitat degradation due to climate change and other anthropogenic impacts, coral reef restoration has become imperative to maintain their ecosystem services. In the Kunming-Montreal biodiversity framework the international community set ambitious goals, such as restoring, or being on the way to restore, 30% of degraded habitats by 2030. However, meeting these goals is currently constrained by the high
<> FPGA (2) <> Generative AI and LLMs (2) <> healthcare (2) <> HPC (2) <> human-robot interactions (2)

Core Challenges in Navigation in Human Environments

Jean Oh, Senior Systems Scientist, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University

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KAUST

Featured Sessions
For more information please visit the website

Safe, Interaction-Aware Decision Making and Control for Robot Autonomy

Marco Pavone, Associate Professor, Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University

-

KAUST

Featured Sessions
For more information please visit the website
<> Industrial Robots (2)

Optimal Design of Agricultural Walking Robot

Prof. Sayat Ibrayev, Institute of Mechanics and Engineering

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Legged machines that can adapt to off-road conditions and irregular terrain, have a number of advantages over traditional wheeled and tracked vehicles. In particular, in agriculture, they cause the least damage to the soil, in comparison with wheeled and tracked vehicles, due to the discrete track on the ground. Meanwhile, attaining to increase productivity of agricultural machines leads to an increase of machine weight that cause increased soil pressure and unfavorable conditions for plant growth. Various designing concepts of legged robots have been proposed by research teams by now

Smart Agricultural Robotics for Monitoring Coral Reefs and Plants: A vertical farming perspective

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Aquaponics is a vertical farming technique and an integrated production of fish and hydroponic crops with recirculation of the aquaculture effluent used by the plant as fertilizer. This technique offers high water efficiency, a faster growth rate, and high crop yields. Despite all the advantages offered by this technology, its implementation on a commercial scale is hindered by many technical and economic factors, which can be addressed by integrating smart technologies, automation, and control. Together with the landmark technologies of Industry 4.0, such as robotics, artificial
<> intelligent systems (2) <> invariance (2)

Safe autonomy with imperfect information

Necmiye Ozay, Associate Professor, University of Michigan

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KAUST

Featured Sessions
For more information please visit the website

Efficient Reachability for Safe Autonomous Systems: A Mixed Monotone Approach

Sam Coogan, Assistant Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology

-

KAUST

Featured Sessions
For more information please visit the website
<> Large Language Models (2) <> LLM (2) <> LoRAWAN (2)

Kaiqiang Lin

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Kaiqiang Lin is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Computer Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering Division (CEMSE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), working with Professor Mohamed-Slim Alouini in the Communication Theory Lab (CTL). Education and Early Career Kaiqiang Lin received his B.Eng. degree in Electronic and Information Engineering from Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China, in 2018, and his Ph.D. degree with the College of Surveying and Geo-Informatics Tongji University, Shanghai, China, in 2024. From 2021 to

Flying LoRA IoT Gateway for Agricultural Applications

Prof. Samsuzana Abd Aziz, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Low-Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technologies like LoRa have become prominent for IoT deployments in large agricultural areas due to their low-power and long-range transmission. However, data transmission in large farms with diverse landscapes suffers from obstructions or occlusions, and wired gateways are still difficult to cover the whole agricultural areas without proper network or power infrastructures. This study integrates LoRa gateways with a flying drone to enhance the connectivity to sensor nodes deployed in an oil palm plantation. The LoRa gateway was mounted on a multi
<> machine learning for wireless communication (2) <> multimodal sensing (2) <> nanomaterials (2) <> Network Design (2) <> Non-Terrestrial Networks (2) <> Object detection (2)

From ROV's to Smart Reefs: CMR's Journey supporting Marine Research

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract This presentation explores the contributions, future capabilities, and advocacy of the KAUST CMR Core Lab in supporting marine research activities in the Red Sea since 2008 and into the future. The CMR team has employed a variety of technologies to collect data and samples from the seabed and water column using various tools and robots. The use of ROVs has enabled the collection of deep-sea corals, exploration of hydrothermal areas, and observation of brine pools. AUVs and USVs, such as the Seaglider, Ocean Aero's Triton, and the Otter from Maritime Robotics, have been utilized for

Semi-autonomous systems enable advances in Earth Observation

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract The description and characterization of the Earth system is a field that routinely leverages technological advances to improve our understanding of diverse ecosystems. One of the most promising areas of application is the use of autonomous and semi-autonomous platforms in precision agriculture. Such systems are capable of performing data collection, analysis, and decision-making tasks with minimal human intervention. The Hydrology, Agriculture, and Land Observation (HALO) laboratory at KAUST is at the forefront of this technology, employing a combination of satellites, UAVs and most
<> optical computing (2) <> photonic integrated circuits (2) <> planning (2)

Robotics and Automation in Coral Monitoring and Restoration

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Monitoring and preservation of coral reefs are critical for marine biology research, economic development, and environmental protection. Given that long-term survey of marine environments and restoring bleached coral reefs are extremely labor-intensive, autonomous robots are emerging as one of the key solutions to address such challenge. In this talk, we present on-going projects at KAUST Robotics group in conceiving autonomous underwater robots for swift and safe navigation in complex environments to collect high-resolution coral images. We also discuss challenges and opportunities

The need for robotics and automatization to meet our global coral restoration goals

Dr. Sebastian Schmidt-Roach, BESE/Red Sea Research Center, KAUST

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Coral reefs are vital to a vast number of human livelihoods depending on them for fisheries, tourism and coastal protection. Facing dramatic global declines in coral cover and reef habitat degradation due to climate change and other anthropogenic impacts, coral reef restoration has become imperative to maintain their ecosystem services. In the Kunming-Montreal biodiversity framework the international community set ambitious goals, such as restoring, or being on the way to restore, 30% of degraded habitats by 2030. However, meeting these goals is currently constrained by the high
<> Programming language (2) <> quantum communication (2) <> remote sensing (2) <> Robotics in Agriculture and Forestry (2)

Optimal Design of Agricultural Walking Robot

Prof. Sayat Ibrayev, Institute of Mechanics and Engineering

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Legged machines that can adapt to off-road conditions and irregular terrain, have a number of advantages over traditional wheeled and tracked vehicles. In particular, in agriculture, they cause the least damage to the soil, in comparison with wheeled and tracked vehicles, due to the discrete track on the ground. Meanwhile, attaining to increase productivity of agricultural machines leads to an increase of machine weight that cause increased soil pressure and unfavorable conditions for plant growth. Various designing concepts of legged robots have been proposed by research teams by now

Smart Agricultural Robotics for Monitoring Coral Reefs and Plants: A vertical farming perspective

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Aquaponics is a vertical farming technique and an integrated production of fish and hydroponic crops with recirculation of the aquaculture effluent used by the plant as fertilizer. This technique offers high water efficiency, a faster growth rate, and high crop yields. Despite all the advantages offered by this technology, its implementation on a commercial scale is hindered by many technical and economic factors, which can be addressed by integrating smart technologies, automation, and control. Together with the landmark technologies of Industry 4.0, such as robotics, artificial
<> robotokids2021 (2) <> safe autonomy (2)

Safe autonomy with imperfect information

Necmiye Ozay, Associate Professor, University of Michigan

-

KAUST

Featured Sessions
For more information please visit the website

Efficient Reachability for Safe Autonomous Systems: A Mixed Monotone Approach

Sam Coogan, Assistant Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology

-

KAUST

Featured Sessions
For more information please visit the website
<> Scheduling and Coordination (2)

Robotics and Automation in Coral Monitoring and Restoration

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Monitoring and preservation of coral reefs are critical for marine biology research, economic development, and environmental protection. Given that long-term survey of marine environments and restoring bleached coral reefs are extremely labor-intensive, autonomous robots are emerging as one of the key solutions to address such challenge. In this talk, we present on-going projects at KAUST Robotics group in conceiving autonomous underwater robots for swift and safe navigation in complex environments to collect high-resolution coral images. We also discuss challenges and opportunities

The need for robotics and automatization to meet our global coral restoration goals

Dr. Sebastian Schmidt-Roach, BESE/Red Sea Research Center, KAUST

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Coral reefs are vital to a vast number of human livelihoods depending on them for fisheries, tourism and coastal protection. Facing dramatic global declines in coral cover and reef habitat degradation due to climate change and other anthropogenic impacts, coral reef restoration has become imperative to maintain their ecosystem services. In the Kunming-Montreal biodiversity framework the international community set ambitious goals, such as restoring, or being on the way to restore, 30% of degraded habitats by 2030. However, meeting these goals is currently constrained by the high
<> Sensor Fusion (2)

Semi-autonomous systems enable advances in Earth Observation

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract The description and characterization of the Earth system is a field that routinely leverages technological advances to improve our understanding of diverse ecosystems. One of the most promising areas of application is the use of autonomous and semi-autonomous platforms in precision agriculture. Such systems are capable of performing data collection, analysis, and decision-making tasks with minimal human intervention. The Hydrology, Agriculture, and Land Observation (HALO) laboratory at KAUST is at the forefront of this technology, employing a combination of satellites, UAVs and most

Situational Awareness System for Autonomous Surface Vehicles

Dr. Hyun Taek Choi, Advanced intelligent Ship Research Division, Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Recent advancements in robotics algorithms have been made possible by combining probabilistic-based methods with various artificial intelligence technologies. With the support of hardware technologies such as computing power and batteries, autonomous mobility technology has been rapidly advancing across all fields, including land, air, and sea. While marine robots have been somewhat slower to adopt these technologies due to the wide area, various ocean environmental conditions, and their unique characteristics, they have achieved significant advancements in recent years. This
<> statistics (2) <> UAV (2) <> ultrafast fiber lasers (2) <> Underwater robotics (2)

Intelligent swarm underwater robotics for coastal and shallow water applications

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract The underwater or marine environment has always been a challenging environment for robots due to the difficulties that arise when placing a robot such robust and dynamic condition. However, recent advancements in technology have seen the use of a swarm of robots that are affordable but yet are of better quality than traditional robots in certain applications. This shift has opened up new possibilities for exploring the underwater world. Intelligent swarm underwater robotics is an emerging topic that has gained significant attention in recent years. The use of swarm robotics has been

Autonomous platform systems for underwater exploration: Light for the sea, adventures for the robots!

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B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract Autonomous marine platforms such as Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and Autonomous Surface Vehicles (ASVs) have a large potential to realize much more efficient ocean observation compared with ship based methodology. Our group pursue the possibility of such autonomous systems by means of the latest robotics, information processing technologies, artificial intelligence, and sensing technologies. These systems will realize wide-area, high-accuracy, and long-term observation through collaboration of multiple autonomous agents such as AUVs. In this talk, some of our latest
<> Visual Tracking (2)

KAUST Reefscape Restoration Initiative

Dr. Maram Abadi, KAUST Reefscape Restoration Initiative, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract KAUST Reefscape Restoration Initiative is the world's largest coral reef restoration initiative. The initiative will begin with a 100-hectare reef restoration project at Shushah Island in the Red Sea. This will be a global demonstration of coral restoration that integrates innovative, in-Saudi Arabia, and internationally developed technologies, pioneering propagation, planting, and monitoring approaches, and international expertise to accelerate solutions for reef ecosystems at a time of unprecedented environmental change. The effort will be a mix of coral conservation protection

From ROV's to Smart Reefs: CMR's Journey supporting Marine Research

-

B18 Fellowship Hall

Featured Sessions
Abstract This presentation explores the contributions, future capabilities, and advocacy of the KAUST CMR Core Lab in supporting marine research activities in the Red Sea since 2008 and into the future. The CMR team has employed a variety of technologies to collect data and samples from the seabed and water column using various tools and robots. The use of ROVs has enabled the collection of deep-sea corals, exploration of hydrothermal areas, and observation of brine pools. AUVs and USVs, such as the Seaglider, Ocean Aero's Triton, and the Otter from Maritime Robotics, have been utilized for
<> wireless communication (2) <> Wireless Communications (2) <> 2D materials (1) <> 5G and beyond (1) <> 5G networks (1) <> 6G (1) <> 6G On-chip reconfigurable intelligent surface (1) <> 6G On-chip reconfigurable transmitarray and phased array (1) <> 6g wireless systems (1) <> Action Recognition (1) <> Action understanding (1) <> adaptive control (1) <> Adaptive Optics (1) <> Advanced control systems engineering (1) <> Aerospace (1)

Certification of Autonomous Vehicles: A Regulator-Oriented Approach

Huan Xu, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland

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KAUST

Featured Sessions
For more information please visit the website
<> aerospace design (1) <> aerospace software system (1) <> Affective AI (1) <> agriculture (1)

The Robots are Coming – to your Farm

Girish Chowdhary, Associate Professor, UIUC

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KAUST

Featured Sessions
For more information please visit the website