I am explaining the details on the poster to another conference participant, pointing out specific elements.

Author:  Taisei Hanyu | Major: Computer Science | Semester: Spring 2024

My name is Taisei Hanyu, I am a computer science major with a specialization in computer vision. In the Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision (AICV) lab of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, under the supervision of Dr. Ngan Le and together with Research Associate Kashu Yamazaki, we focus on enabling robots to interact with the real world. Our research aims to develop systems that allow robots to create and understand 3D spaces quickly enough to be useful in real-time applications, such as navigation based on natural language.

This May, I had the great chance to attend the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Yokohama, Japan. ICRA is a premier event in the field of robotics and automation, bringing together researchers, innovators, and educators from around the world to share their latest discoveries and insights.

Attending ICRA has been crucial for both my development and research. As a young researcher, attending such a distinguished conference not only validated our hard work, but also allowed us to gain cutting-edge knowledge from researchers. The main reason for my trip was to present our accepted paper on real-time 3D semantic reconstruction that enables us to understand the real world. This project illustrates how to mimic our environment in real-time 3D reconstruction with semantics and demonstrate its capability of robot interaction with it.

Presenting our work at ICRA provided a platform to receive direct feedback from peers and leaders in the field. The questions and insights from experienced researchers helped me to see our project from a new perspective, identifying both strengths and areas for improvement. Their feedback was much more positive than we had originally thought and indicated that our research was on the right track.

One of the most exciting aspects of the conference was the networking. I met and discussed with many colleagues and experts whose work I have followed and admired. The challenging ideas are beneficial and expand my research thoughts. Meeting face-to-face with other researchers provided a connection.  In fact, one of the researchers I met for the first time at the ICRA conference gave me the opportunity to visit his laboratory, and I was able to establish stronger ties with him.

Presenting at ICRA was both exciting and daunting. As the second author, I was responsible for presenting our work in a poster session. It was my first experience discussing our research and I had pointed questions. Although I had spent a lot of time and was well prepared for the presentation, it was not easy to answer questions that required a broad and deep understanding of our research. This experience honed my impromptu communication skills and professionalism.

For students considering attending or presenting at conferences like ICRA, my advice is to embrace the opportunity wholeheartedly. Students like me may feel less experienced than other graduate students and intimidated by the idea of speaking or presenting at conferences, but other researchers will gently accept you. This opportunity is not only about presenting your work, but also about learning from others, making connections, and stepping out of your comfort zone.

The insights and connections I made at ICRA are already shaping the next steps in my research. Inspired by the discussions and recent research at the conference, we are now exploring a robotic manipulation capability. I also plan to collaborate with some of the researchers I met to refine our current projects and explore new possibilities. If you are interested in collaborating with us, please check our lab website!