Why Participate
You are cordially invited to the 2015 International Conference on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Geomatics UAV-g 2015. This is the third event of the series of UAV-g Conferences following the very successful meetings in 2011 in Zurich, Switzerland and in 2013 in Rostock, Germany.
The aim of UAV-g 2015 is to bring together experts in photogrammetry and remote sensing, surveying, robotic mapping, computer vision, artificial intelligence, aerospace engineering, geosciences and various users’ communities.
Using small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) as data acquisition platforms and measurement instruments has become attractive for many emerging applications.
It is a great opportunity to learn about the most recent developments and to exchange views on the future directions of UAV in geomatics research, applications and services.
Researchers, developers, service and systems providers as well as users are invited to contribute with presentations, posters, exhibitions, live demonstrations and discussions to create synergies between research and applications using UAV in Geomatics
News
UAV-g 2015 Proceedings
Both Volumes (Archives and Annals) are now online available on the ISPRS webpage.
UAV-g 2015 Conference Program has been posted
Link to Conference Program
Preliminary Program (19-AUG-2015) has been posted
Link to preliminary program
Instructions for the sUAS technology demonstration at Markham Airport
Link to Instructions
Guidelines for oral presentations and sessions chairs
Link to Guidelines
Instructions for Exhibitors at the York University venue
Link to Instructions
Guidelines for poster presentations has been posted.
View document here
A detailed Program Overview has been posted
Early bird registration registration extension
12 July 2015 (new date)
Final full papers due
5 July 2015 (new date)
Final full papers due
25 June 2015 (new date)
Notification of acceptance
18 May 2015 (new date)
Tutorials / Workshops decision
Extended to May 31, 2015
Tutorials / Workshops submission deadline
Extended to May 15, 2015
Abstract Submission deadline
Extended to April 15, 2015
Full papers (for ISPRS annals)
15 March, 2015 (extended to 31 March 2015)
First Call for Papers and important dates
5 December 2014
Call for Tutorials / Workshops
20 November 2015
Announcement of the UAV-g 2015 International Conference
20 June 2014
Past Events
UAV-g 2011, Zurich, Switzerland

UAV-g 2013, Rostock, Germany

Important Dates
Final full papers due
25 June, 2015 (extended to 5 July 2015)
Full papers (for ISPRS annals)
15 March, 2015 (extended to 31 March 2015)
Abstracts (for ISPRS archives)
31 March, 2015 (extended to 15 April 2015)
Notification of acceptance
18 May, 2015
Final full papers due
25 June, 2015 (extended to 5 July 2015)
Early-bird registration by
30 June, 2015 (Extended to 12 July 2015)
Call for Papers
The aim of UAV-g 2015: sUAS: a disruptive technology for geomatics is to bring together experts in photogrammetry and remote sensing, surveying, robotic mapping, computer vision, artificial intelligence, aerospace engineering, geosciences and various users’ communities. Researchers, developers, service and systems providers as well as users are invited to contribute with presentations, posters, exhibitions, live demonstrations and discussions to create synergies between research and applications using UAV in Geomatics.
Prospective authors are encouraged to submit their paper contributions on the following topics:
Platforms, payloads and instruments for photogrammetry and remote sensing | Navigation and position/orientation determination |
Dense image matching and surface reconstruction | 3D reconstruction from oblique images |
3D reconstruction from range sensors | Simultaneous localization and mapping |
Cooperative UAV/UAV and UAV/UGV systems | Low altitude thematic remote sensing and environmental mapping |
Obstacle sense and avoidance | On-line and real-time processing |
Sensor and data fusion | Monitoring, tracking and change detection |
Technology challenges and applications | Regulations |
Abstract / Paper Submissions
The conference papers will be accepted based on either extended abstract or full paper submissions.
Full Paper Submission
Authors may submit a full paper of maximum 8 pages. The paper will undergo a double blind peer review process. Accepted papers will be recommended for oral presentation and will be published in the ISPRS Annals of Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences. Rejected papers will be considered based on the abstract review process.
Note: Accepted papers will be included in the conference program, the conference proceedings and be considered for the post-conference publication only if at least one author per accepted paper is registered for the conference. A registered author can present up to two papers. Additional papers required additional registrations
Extended Abstract Submission
Authors may submit an extended abstract of about 1000 words. All abstracts will be reviewed by the program Committee. The authors of accepted abstracts are invited to submit a full paper in accordance with the ISPRS guidelines. These papers will be recommended for oral or poster presentation based on the suitability of the contribution. Final papers will be published in The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences.
Post-conference publication opportunity
A special theme issue on sUAS in geomatics is planned for the Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems, the official journal of Unmanned Systems Canada. Authors of the conference papers are invited to consider submitting an extended and revised version of their papers for this special publication.
For more details, please contact David Bird, Editor, Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems, at david.bird@mcgill.ca nrcresearchpress.com/journal/juvs
Program

Keynote Speakers

University of Denver
Autonomy and Integration into the National Airspace
Dr. Kimon P. Valavanis, Fellow, AAAS
John Evans Professor and Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Director, DU Unmanned Systems Research Institute (DU2SRI)
Daniel Felix Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science
University of Denver, Denver, CO 80208
Kimon.Valavanis@du.edu
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) have seen unprecedented levels of growth during the last decade, with even more expectations for future utilization in a very wide spectrum of applications, both military and civilian. However, focusing on the civilian use of UAS, and before ‘our pizzas are delivered from the sky’ and ‘our packages are dropped in our front door from quadrotors’ it is essential that R&D; at least in the areas of design for autonomy, navigation, robust and fault-tolerant control, sense-detect-and-avoid/see-and-avoid systems for mid-air collision avoidance, UAV safety and reliability, reaches levels that are ‘acceptable’ by the civilian authorities (i.e., FAA, ICAO, etc.) before complete UAS integration into the national airspace system occurs. This talk focuses at first on the design for autonomy, the transition from the ‘human-in-the-loop’ to the ‘human-on-the-loop’ concept that is coupled with the much needed reduced operator workload, followed by a comprehensive and modular UAS control architecture aiming at facilitating software developments regardless of specific hardware. This is followed by a generalized framework for (nonlinear, linearized and linear) controller design for unmanned rotorcraft – extendable to fixed wing UAVs – including a methodology to accommodate in real- time rotorcraft main/tail rotor failures resulting in helicopter safe landing. A scalable sense-detect-and-avoid system (SDAA) is also presented based on a combination of long- / short- range radar sensors, which is capable of simultaneously detecting and identifying multiple threats. This is patented technology that has been licensed for evaluation purposes. The presentation concludes with steps to integrate UAVs into the national airspace system and offers a wide spectrum of (potential) civilian applications.

York University
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s) share many of the same problems and solutions as those encountered with unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV’s): they operate at some distance from human command and control, they operate in a complex six degree of freedom environment, and small errors in hardware, software or control can result in catastrophic failure of the vehicle. This talk describes AQUA, an autonomous amphibious robot developed through a collaboration between York and McGill. A swimming hexapod, this robot is self-contained for power and control, utilizes onboard inertial measurement and vision for sensing, and is capable of extended operations to 30m of depth and is also capable of the transition from aquatic operation to operating on land. Current solutions to a range of technical problems related to visual odometry, environmental modelling, gait synthesis and overall vehicle control will be presented.

David Bird
WILDLIFE RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT IN THE 21ST CENTURY
David M. Bird, Avian Science and Conservation Centre, McGill University, 21,111 Lakeshore Road, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec H9X 3V9 david.bird@mcgill.ca
Small unmanned vehicle systems (UVS), formerly exclusive to militaries, are rapidly advancing in sophistication and availability to civilians. Ranging from hand-launched autonomous airplanes to terrestrial robots to underwater machines, they are increasingly being employed in such areas as agriculture, emergency services, meteorology, oceanography, geophysics and film-making. Another area that shows great potential for the applications of UVS and associated markets is wildlife research and management. Applications being carried out in various regions of the world today include monitoring breeding, wintering and migrating populations of colonially nesting birds, spawning salmon and orangutans, mapping breeding habitat of endangered species, tracking threatened caribou and polar bears in the far north, examining nest contents of raptorial birds breeding in inaccessible locations, and deterring poachers in Africa. As technology and industry continue to develop and the regulatory procedures begin to loosen, we anticipate an ever-widening range of applications to surface in this field. Some examples include underwater tracking of foraging aquatic birds, detecting signals from songbirds bearing radio-transmitters, surveying nest contents of underground burrows of birds and mammals, and dispersing nuisance birds. This presentation will attempt to explore possible applications of UVS of all types and sizes to help meet the needs of today’s wildlife biologists and managers and to delve into the limitations faced by those wishing to utilize UVS in terms of costs, size, practicality in the field, regulations, etc.
Image Gallery
Demonstration day
Outdoor technical exhibition and demonstrations of small UAV systems are scheduled for Tuesday September 1, 2015 at Markham Airport located approximately 30 km north east of York University. This is a great opportunity for live flight demonstrations of the UAV platforms to the participants of the conference.
The live flight demonstration day event guidelines and parameters have been approved by Transport Canada. Participants are required to have a valid Special Flight Operations Certificate (SFOC) for this event obtained from Transport Canada. The SFOC should incorporate the approved by Transport Canada UAV-g 2015 demonstration event guidelines and parameters document.
For further information and details for the live demonstrations please contact Costas Armenakis, Conference Chair (uavg2015@yorku.ca)
For exhibition details and packages please see at: Exhibit Prospectus. Consult the conference exhibition web page and contact the conference organizers.
Registration
Before 31 July 2015
After 12 July 2015
Participants:
$500
Participants:
$650
Full time students and seniors*:
$300
Full time students and seniors*:
$300
CIG Members:
$400
CIG Members:
$500
Conference dinner:
$50
Conference dinner:
$50
Demonstration day daily passes*
Tutorials / Workshops
Regular daily pass:
$100
Full day:
$200
Full time students and seniors*:
$50
Full day student:
$150
Half day:
$150
Half day student:
$100
Committees
Conference Chair
Costas Armenakis
York University, Canada
Programme Committee
Babak Ameri
Geosys Technology Solutions, Canada
Goetz Bramesfeld
Ryerson University, Canada
Ismael Colomina
GeoNumerics S.L., Spain
Christoph Eck
Hochschule Luzern, Switzerland
Henri Eisenbeiss
City of Winterthur, Switzerland
Naser El-Sheimy
University of Calgary, Canada
Görres Grenzdörffer
Rostock University, Germany
Norbert Haala
Stuttgart University, Germany
Ayman Habib
Purdue University, USA
Christian Heipke
Hannovery University, Germany
Franceso Nex
Fondatione Bruno Kessler, Italy
Petros Patias
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Bruce Quirk
US Geological Survey, USA
Fabio Remondino
Fondatione Bruno Kessler, Italy
Ahmed Shaker
Ryerson University, Canada
Jan Skaloud
EPF Lausanne, Switzerland
Gunho Sohn
York University, Canada
Rune Storvold
Norut, Norway
Charles K. Toth
The Ohio State University, USA
Jinling Wang
University of New South Wales, Australia
Patrick Ménard
Centre de géomatique du Québec, Canada
Taejung Kim
Inha University, South Korea
Jiann-Yeou Rau
National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
Sylvie Daniel
Université Laval, Canada
YangQuan Chen
University of California, Merced, USA
Ou Ma
New Mexico State University, USA
Xianfeng Huang
Wuhan University, PR China
Xiangyun Hu
Wuhan University, PR China
Jerome Theau
Université de Sherbrooke, Canada
Local Organizing Committee
Sunil Bisnath
York University, Canada
Kim Flear
York University, Canada
Baoxin Hu
York University, Canada
Lucie Lebrun-Ginn
Canadian Institute of Geomatics
Julien Li-Chee Ming
York University, Canada
Ravi Persad
York University, Canada
Gunho Sohn
York University, Canada
Florin Savopol
Natural Resources Canada
Mojgan Jadidi
York University, Canada
Dennis Sherman
York University, Canada
Connie Ko
York University, Canada
Miguel Ocampo-Gooding
Webmaster
Sponsorships
The aim of UAV-g 2015: sUAS: A Disruptive Technology for Geomatics is to bring together experts in photogrammetry and remote sensing, surveying, robotic mapping, computer vision,artificial intelligence, aerospace engineering, geosciences and various users’ communities.
Researchers, developers, service and systems providers as well as users are invited to contribute with presentations, posters, exhibitions, live demonstrations and discussions to create synergies between research and applications using UAV in Geomatics
Various sponsorship packages are available that will provide excellent opportunities to promote your company and organization and ensure a high degree of exposure to the conference delegates.
Exhibition
The aim of UAV-g 2015: sUAS: A Disruptive Technology for Geomatics is to bring together experts in photogrammetry and remote sensing, surveying, robotic mapping, computer vision, artificial intelligence, aerospace engineering, geosciences and various users’ communities. Researchers, developers, service and systems providers as well as users are invited to contribute with presentations, posters, exhibitions, live demonstrations and discussions to create synergies between research and applications using UAV in Geomatics.
The Exhibition will provide an opportunity for companies and organisations to highlight their products and services, and promote their interest to professional delegates.
The exhibition will open on Monday August 31, 2015 at 10:30 and will be closed on Wednesday September 2, 2015 at 16:30. The exhibition during the demonstration date at the airfield on Tuesday September 1, 2015 will open at 10:00 and close at 15:00.
Exhibitor’s benefits
Welcome reception, lunches and morning and afternoon health breaks will be held in the exhibition area. This will enable better interaction between the exhibitors and the conference delegates.
Exhibition rental fees include:
- 3 Complimentary Guest passes to the Exhibit areas.
- 2 Exhibitors’ registrations, which include lunches and health breaks.
- For the York U venue: One 1.83 m x 0.76 m (6’ x 30”) skirted table, two chairs, wireless internet access and access to power outlet(s).
- For the airfield venue: One 1.83 m x 0.76 m (6’ x 30”) table, tent canopy and demonstration time. For the demonstration the proper permission(s) must have been obtained from Transport Canada.
Special exhibition rates will be considered for educational institutions and non-for-profit organizations. Please contact us if your institution or organization wishes to exhibit.
Venue
Venue
The conference will be held in the Life Sciences Building, building #90 in the YorkU Keele Campus map.
The on-campus accommodation Executive Learning Centre is building #94 in the YorkU Keele Campus map
Accomodation
On Campus Accommodation
York University Keele Campus
Executive Learning Centre
Schulich School of Business
York University
http://elc.schulich.yorku.ca
Guests can make room reservations via email (reservations@schulich.yorku.ca) or by phone (416-650-8300), unfortunately, there is no online booking option. When booking, please mention the UAV-g 2015 Conference, and use the booking confirmation number 601809. The rate is $149.00 CDN plus 13% HST tax per night, and includes an upscale continental breakfast.
Off Campus Accommodation
Downtown Toronto
Travel to York University from Toronto downtown
From Toronto downtown locations take Subway Line 1 (Yonge-University) to Downsview Station.
At the Downsview Station transfer (same ticket) to Bus 196 York University Rocket Express to York University.
Approximate travel time from Toronto downtown to York University: about 40-45 minutes.
Toronto Transportation Maps and Information