Terramechanics Events Updates

ISTVS holds a number of international conferences.

Dr Roy Arvidson presents St. Christopher Lecture

At the 17th International Conference of the ISTVS, held in September in Blacksburg, Virginia, Dr. Roy Arvidson of Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S., presented the 2011 St. Christopher Lecture on his amazing work with the Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity.

You can view his full presentation slidedeck here, complete with many wonderful Mars images from the work of the rovers or download the presentation as a PDF (3MB).

Ray Arvidson is James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and chair of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Washington University, St. Louis.

He is Deputy Principal Investigator for the science payload on NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers. In addition, Arvidson serves as an interdisciplinary scientist on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor, head of NASA's Planetary Data System Geosciences Node and a director of NASA's Regional Planetary Image Center.

He has more than 100 publications dealing with remote sensing of Earth, Mars and Venus. He was science team leader for the imaging system on NASA's Viking Landers from 1977 to 1982.

Arvidson attended high school in Williamstown, N.J., then earned a bachelor's degree in geology from Temple University, Philadelphia, and a doctorate in geological sciences from Brown University, Providence.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/news/telecon/bios20091110.html

http://eps.wustl.edu/people/Raymond_Arvidson

Since 1966, ISTVS has honored distinguished workers in the field of terrain-vehicle interaction by offering them the opportunity to deliver the St. Christopher Lecture at an international ISTVS conference, held every three years.

Named for the patron saint of travelers, this is the highest award offered by the society. The recipient need not be an ISTVS member. Selection and invitation of recipients is the responsibility of the conference organizing committee.

Previous recipients of the St Christopher Lecture award include the inaugural 1969 presentation by Dr. Walter Söhne, the 1981 presentation by Professor Walter Jurecka, Professor Masanori Kitano in 1984, Professor Iwan Wästerlund in 1999, and Dr. Ronald A. Liston in 2002.

18th International ISTVS Conference in Seoul, Korea, 2014

The ISTVS 2011 Board of Directors Meeting held in conjunction with the 17th International COnfernece in Blacksburg, Virginia, agreed to hold the next International ISTVS Conference at Seoul, Korea, in 2014.

Prof. Kyeong Uk Kim of Seoul National University agreed to host as Conference Chairman. Conference preparation started earlier this year and the conference website will be launched later this fall.

It will be the 18th ISTVS International Conference and the second time a ISTVS conference will be held in Seoul: the first was the 5th Asian and Pacific Regional Conference held in 1998.

Prof. Kim has prepared a slidedeck of conference highlights that we've posted online for you to see:

Conference highlights

When: 4th week of September 2014

Where: Hoam Faculty House of Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

What: Plenary sessions, technical sessions, poster sessions, technical tour, social opportunities.

Call for Papers

In the areas of:

  • Tires, wheels, and tracks
  • Soil and terrain
  • Operations on snow and ice
  • Vehicle mobility and safety
  • Agricultural and forestry machinery
  • Mining, earthmoving and construction machinery
  • Military vehicles
  • Performance assessment
  • Planetary rovers and mobile robotics
  • Education in soil-machine system

12th European Conference Update

​Conference Chair Schalk Els reports that both the program and the abstracts (47 K PDF) for the 12th European Conference of the ISTVS are set for the September conference.

Highlights include demonstrations at the test tracks at Gerotek and a tour of the laboratories at the University of Pretoria. The conference schedule will allow ample time for informal connections with your fellow attendees, along with formal scheduled time for ISTVS Working Groups.

Cultural opportunities include the African Aerospace and Defence show and short Pretoria city tour, a visit to a rhino and lion park, dinner at the famous Carnivore Restaurant, a trip on the Gautrain to Sandton City, and a trip to the Lesedi African Lodge and Cultural Village.

See link below for the abstracts PDF, and visit the conference website for full details and to register!

Call for Papers: 12th European ISTVS Conference, Pretoria, South Africa, Sept 2012

​Conference venue:
​Gerotek Test Facilities, South Africa

The 12th European Regional Conference of the ISTVS will be hosted in Pretoria, South Africa from 24 to 28 September 2012. Pretoria, the capital of South Africa, was founded in 1855. It is a large African city with around 3.2 million people and spans 3200 square kilometers in area.

The University of Pretoria, founded in 1908, is the biggest residential university in South Africa with around 50 000 students and 9 faculties.

The conference venue is the Gerotek Test Facilities, 25km west of Pretoria. Gerotek is an all-encompassing test facility, with a wide variety of test tracks and terrains, at which vehicle development and evaluation tests can be performed in a typical South African environment. Hosting the conference at this facility creates exciting opportunities for some hands-on vehicle experience.

ESTEQ is hosting the conference website and handle the registration and paper submission process:

Conference site
Call for papers

Conference themes include the following:

  • Soil and terrain modeling and characterisation
  • Planetary rovers and mobile robotics
  • Tires, wheels and tracks modeling
  • Agricultural and earth moving equipment
  • Operation on snow and ice
  • Vehicle dynamics, mobility and safety
  • Terramechanics
  • Test and measurement

All papers will be peer-reviewed, and those accepted will be included in the conference proceedings. We strongly encourage all authors to submit full papers, but will also accept oral presentations and posters, for which only an abstract needs to be submitted. To facilitate the communication and the exchange of ideas at the conference, all authors are also strongly encouraged to prepare a poster for each paper they present.

Abstract submissions are open now and abstracts will be accepted until 18 May [deadline extended].

Full papers, based on accepted abstracts will be accepted up to 2 July.

The Conference Chair is Schalk Els, Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Pretoria. Contact information:

Professor Schalk Els
Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering
Private Bag X20
Hatfield
0028
SOUTH AFRICA

Phone: (+27-12) 420-2045
Fax: (+27-12) 362-5087

Email: schalk.els(at)up.ac.za

Deadline Extended to 5/18: Call for Papers, 12th European Conference

​Conference Chair Professor Schalk has extended the deadline for abstract submissions to May 18, 2012. Full papers, based on accepted abstracts will be accepted up to 2 July. The 12th European Regional Conference of the ISTVS will be hosted in Pretoria, South Africa from 24 to 28 September 2012.

Conference themes include the following:

  • Soil and terrain modeling and characterisation
  • Planetary rovers and mobile robotics
  • Tires, wheels and tracks modeling
  • Agricultural and earth moving equipment
  • Operation on snow and ice
  • Vehicle dynamics, mobility and safety
  • Terramechanics
  • Test and measurement

All papers will be peer-reviewed, and those accepted will be included in the conference proceedings. We strongly encourage all authors to submit full papers, but will also accept oral presentations and posters, for which only an abstract needs to be submitted. To facilitate the communication and the exchange of ideas at the conference, all authors are also strongly encouraged to prepare a poster for each paper they present.

Contact information:

Professor Schalk Els
Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering
Private Bag X20
Hatfield
0028
SOUTH AFRICA

Phone: (+27-12) 420-2045
Fax: (+27-12) 362-5087


Email: schalk.els@up.ac.za