BrIAS Forum: War, Peace & Robotics

General Chairs : Emanuele Garone (ULB), Mauro Birattari (ULB) Program Chair: Geert De Cubber (RMA)
Logistics Chair: Anja Garone (VUB)
Members of the Program Committee : A. Vande Wouver (UMons), A. Cotorruelo (ULB), J. Thumfart (VUB).

Description

The first day will focus on “Peace” and in particular how robotics can help to “clear up” remnants of war and ensure a safe restart of life at peace. The first half day will be focusing on the theme “A safer sea” and will mostly deal with marine demining, with a special attention to the innovation surrounding the Belgian Mine Counter Measures program. The second part of the day will deal with land demining.

The second day will focus on “War”, and in particular on the Historical, Ethical, Legal, and Geopolitical aspects of Robotics at War. The goal of this second day is to inform the public about the current policies as well as the various different perspectives and positions on the matter, so as to stimulate an informed debate. Polemics for the sake of polemics and uninformed/acritical political statements should stay out of this day.

Speakers

Welcome and Initial Remarks

• Emanuele Garone, BrIAS Program Director (Université Libre
  de Bruxelles, Belgium)
• Serge Jaumain, BrIAS Co-Director (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium)
• Frank Deconinck, BrIAS Co-Director (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium)
• Yves Dupont (Rector of the Royal Military Academy, Belgium)

The Belgian Navy’s Vision on Naval Mine Countermeasures: innovative and revolutionary

• Nicolas Van Damme (Belgian Navy)

Toward the mine countermeasures of tomorrow

• Elmar Recker (Belgian Ministry of Defence)

Data Fusion and Computer vision challenges in Mine Countermeasures

• Hiep Luong (Universiteit Gent, Belgium)

Maritime Robotic Demining: the rMCM toolbox and its future

• Jeroen Debonnet (Exail Robotics, Belgium)

Data Management in the context of MCM operation

• Emma Claeys (Dot.Ocean, Belgium)

Mission Planning for multi-robot cooperative teams – Challenges and solutions for MCM operations

• Emanuele Garone, BrIAS Programme Director (Université Libre
  de Bruxelles, Belgium)

Robotics Networks for Maritime Surveillance: challenges and opportunities

• Gabriele Ferri (NATO Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation, Italy)

The European Defence Fund – Multi-annual planning: opportunities for underwater warfare and mine counter measures

• Inge Ceuppens (European Defence Fund, Belgium)

Robotic Demining: case studies and objectives

• Luigi Fasano (European Defence Agency, Belgium)
• Juan Jesús Diaz Hernández (European Defence Agency, Belgium)

Experiences from Military Demining Research Projects

• Emile Le Flecher (Royal Military Academy, Belgium)

Humanitarian Demining Innovation Landscape: A needs-based approach

• Pedro Basto (Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining, Switzerland)

Remote-controlled multi-purpose platforms in the field of explosive threat mitigation

• Dominic Graser (Global Clearing Solutions GCS, Switzerland)

Robotic Demining, research experiences and challenges

• Koen Struyven (Space Application Services, Belgium)

The use of robotics within the Belgian EOD group

• Davy Aendekerk (DOVO – EOD Unit of the Belgian Army)

Current Situation and how current wars are affecting the programs on Autonomous Weapon Systems

• Mirko Campochiari (ParabellumStori, Italy)

Robotic warfare: an evolution in military affairs

• Andrea Gilli (University of St Andrews, UK)

Concept of the land component concerning robotics & autonomous systems

• Koen Ceulemans (Belgian Army)

The ethics review of the proposals and the ethics requirements during the implementation

• Inge Ceuppens (European Defence Fund, Belgium)

How we dealt with Ethical issues in EU Projects

• Geert De Cubber (Royal Military Academy, Belgium)

On the discourse on Autonomous Weapon Systems and Robots at War

• Gregory Reichberg (Peace Research Institute Oslo, Norway)

Autonomous systems for legal and ethical control – The next best solution if an universal prohibition of LAWS fails?

• Johannes Thumfart (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium)

Autonomous Weapons Systems and Responsibility Gaps

• Borja Montes Toscano (NATO ACO Office of Legal Affairs, Belgium)

The legal discussion on Autonomous Weapon Systems: a
search of the humans in IHL?

• Anna Greipl (Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, Switzerland)

The clash of today’s tech culture and designer values

• AJung Moon, BrIAS Fellow (McGill University, Canada)

Automatomachia: science fiction and the future of war

• Pierdomenico Memeo (Independent writer, Italy)