- Important Dates	August 1, 2004 Abstracts Due August 15, 2004 Authors Notified of Acceptance September 1, 2004 Papers Due September 20, 2004 Presentations Due September 25-26, 2004       Robothon 2004
- Topics	The following are ideas for topic areas, and is not intended to be a complete or comprehensive list. We will entertain any robotic/microcontroller related topic that follows the theory/research with applied demonstration format. Example topic areas: Software - Real-time architectures, subjunctive architectures, software building blocks, environment mapping, robot memory techniques. Artificial Intelligence - Neural networks, genetic algorithms and programming, robot-learning techniques, adaptive environment mapping. Hardware - Techniques for building miniature robots, sticky-wheel construction and testing, power management, multiple-processor system design, wheel design for rough terrain. Swarm Behavior - Multiple robots cooperating, robot-team techniques and strategies, emergent behavior from swarms. Walking Robots - Gait comparisons, balancing techniques, mechanical designs for controlling legs, turning techniques, weight considerations, leg and foot sensors. Sensors - IR, sonar, vision, gyros, GPS, realtime feature recognition, computer power required for different sensors, using multiple sensors. Considerations for Non-traditional robots - Handicap-assistance robots, underwater robots, robots in space, robots in hazardous environments, robots interacting with the general public. Example Robothon 2003 Papers
- Non-topics	The following are topics for papers/presentations that are not within the scope of the Robothon papers forum, and will not be accepted. Vendor demos (we have vendor exhibits for our great vendors). Demonstration of a Robot without theory/research focus. Theory-only topics without a working physical demonstration. Implementation of a kit without substantial additions.
- Proceedings	The SRS plans to publish all of the Robothon papers and presentations on CD, and will have these available to order during Robothon (to be delivered after all of the materials are collected and processed). We are looking into including video files of all of the presentations on the CD, and are also looking into offering a bound hard copy of the papers presented at Robothon.
- Acceptance Criteria	The following criteria will be used to judge the proposed papers for publication at Robothon: Following the theory/research with physical demonstration format. Originality of the topic (don't propose something that has been written up before). Importance and applicability of the work to the robotics community (make it easier for others to design and build robots). Agreement to come to Robothon to present your work. Authors must provide their own transportation and housing.
- Author Information	Authors will produce 3 separate documents: an abstract, the paper, and a presentation of their work. Below are short descriptions of each of these documents, plus links to examples and templates of the required format. Please follow the formatting guidelines in the templates so all of the papers and presentations have a similar look and feel to them as they are compiled into the proceedings. The examples are a paper and presentation I prepared on the topic of generating random numbers on the 68HC11 microcontroller, which addresses the software building-blocks topic by providing the background, research, and usable 68HC11 subroutine for generating a "good" 64K-long sequence of pseudo random numbers using a minimum of code space. Abstract: 1 to 3 pages outlining the theory/research and the physical project to demonstrate the thoery/research. See example and template. Paper: 8 to 20 pages including text, images, code, graphs, etc. See link for detailed formatting requirements and template. See example and template. Presentation: 20 minute oral presentation with Powerpoint slides, plus 5 minutes of questions/answers. See example and template. Demonstration: Space will be provided during Robothon for your physical demonstrations. Formats: Abstract and paper are to be done in Microsoft Word following the required formatting guidelines. Presentations are done in Microsoft Powerpoint. See the examples and templates above. Style and Grammar References: For my college classes I have put together a web-page that is a list of items which are common problems and confusions with writing technical papers, such as the proper use of commas, acronyms, hyphens, etc. It may be a good reference for you too; I learned a lot gathering and researching the information.  Language: All papers and presentations are to be in English.
- Submission	All submissions (abstracts, papers, and presentations) should be e-mailed to the Robothon chair of technical papers. Your e-mail will be replied to to confirm receipt and readability of the attached files. Authors will be notified of the acceptance of their papers by August 1. All submissions and questions sent by e-mail should have their subjects start with ROBOTHON_PAPERS to help identify and direct the e-mails.
- Copyright Requirements	The papers and presentations must not have been published before, and must be the sole work of the author(s). The authors grant the SRS the right to publish the papers and presentations for Robothon 2004 and possible future SRS publications, while the author(s) retain full usage rights of the papers and presentations.
- Contacts	Robothon Technical Papers Chair: Tom Dickens thomas.p.dickens@boeing.com  Contact Robothon