Two-day IFRoS workshop in Budapest

The third cohort of the Erasmus Mundus master’s program Intelligent Field Robotic Systems (IFRoS) are currently divided into the University of Zagreb (UNIZG) and Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) for their third semester. After the DroneDays conference in Zagreb, IFRoS 3 students had the opportunity to reunite again in Budapest during a two-day workshop organized by ELTE.

Held between December 5th and 6th, 2024, the tightly packed schedule of the event included a series of presentations and demonstrations by researchers of the ELTE Faculty of Informatics. IFRoS students had the chance to learn about PhD research at ELTE, the use of drones in cartography and geoinformatics, as well as the ongoing research projects at the Department of Artificial Intelligence. They were also introduced to etho-robotics through an agility competition between dogs and etho-robots organized at the faculty (in case you were wondering, the dogs easily surpassed the robots’ performance). Later, ELTE students presented their projects with the ELTE field robots, Pomona and Silvanus.

Beyond the university, students had the chance to tour two research labs and learn about the activities of Euroknows (EKC), a company specializing in robotics and artificial intelligence, as well as HUN-REN Sztaki, the largest IT research company in Hungary. In addition, the group spent a morning at the Bosch Hungary site where researchers introduced them to the different robotics and AI projects conducted by the company. They attended a measurement demonstration, visited the application center, and participated in interactive presentations. Last but not least, Mika Vainio from the Finnish GIM Robotics held a presentation about the company’s activities in sensor fusion, real time 3D localization and mapping, traversability analysis, computer vision systems and dynamic object tracking.

ELTE also wanted to give visiting students a taste of their gorgeous city, so they incorporated a unique sightseeing tour into the programme. Cruising down the Danube in the evening, the group had a stunning view of the city’s iconic buildings like the Parliament, the Buda Castle and the Chain Bridge. Students also had some free time to visit the Christmas Markets in the city, which, combined with a heavy snowfall on Friday, hopefully gave them a lasting impression of Budapest in December.

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to not only ELTE researchers and industry partners who donated their time and resources to welcome IFRoS students, but to the students as well for their active participation and open-mindedness. We feel certain that the workshop contributed to their professional and academic development, and introduced them to the possibilities of further education and career opportunities in Hungary. We hope this occasion marks the beginning of a new tradition within the IFRoS programme.

 

Leave a Reply