Rodrigo Verschae

• Associate Professor, Institute of Engineering Sciences, Universidad de O’Higgins, Chile
• Director, Robotics and Intelligent Systems Lab, Universidad de O’Higgins, Chile
• Principal Researcher, AI & Robotics Group, Universidad de O’Higgins, Chile

Contact

• Email: rodrigo [at] verschae [dot] org
• Web: http://rodrigo.verschae.org

Publications

See my Google Scholar profile for updated information. Also Web of Science profile and Scopus profile.

Main Research Projects

• Director(alternate), Technological Research 2023 - IT23I0012 “Pedagogical management system for the mathematics classroom based on intelligent games and recommendations”, Universidad de O’Higgins, Chile
• Director(alternate), FIC Project “Technologies for risk management in cherry production”, Universidad de O’Higgins, Chile

Main Research Lines

Smart Agriculture

• Fruit Detection, Tracking, Counting & Monitoring
• Wireless Sensor Networks, Telemetry & Modelling
• Field Robotics

Event-Based Vision

• Gesture and Expression Recognition
• Motion Analisis
• Robot Vision

Computer Vision & Pattern Recognition Applications

• Machine Learning for Education
• Machine Learning for Health
• Machine Learning for Bioinformatics

News

2024

• [New Event] during December 2024 we are organizing the LACORO Summer School on Robotics in Chile. Come join us!
• [New Paper] on “Cherry CO Dataset: a dataset for cherry detection, segmentation and maturity recognition” with Luis Cossio and Javier Ruiz-del-Solar, Accepted at IEEE RA-L.
• [Postdoctoral Fondecyt Advisor] Since March 2024 I am Sponsoring researcher for the Postdoctoral Fondecyt project of Robert Guaman, who will be working on Visual servoing, digital twins and event-based vision in Construction
• [New Paper] on “Active Learning for Image Classification: A Comprehensive Analysis in Agriculture” with Christopher Flores to be presented at ICICT 2024, London, UK.
• [New Paper] on “A Hybrid Method for Clinical Text Classification Based on Confident Predictions and Regular Expressions” with Christopher Flores to be presented at ICAIIC 2024, Osaka, Japan.
• [New Paper] on “A Color Event-Based Camera Emulator for Robot Vision” with Ignacio Bugueno-Cordova, Robert Guaman and Miguel Campusano, to be presented at RoboVis 2024, Roma, Italy.

2023

• [New Paper] on “Event-based Gesture and Facial Expression Recognition: A Comparative Analysis” with Ignacio Bugueno-Cordova, available at IEEE Access, 2023.
• [October 2023] We are looking for a Postdoc / Research Engineer to work on Machine Learning applied to bio-engineering problems, particularly cancer-related. More details here
• [ICCV23 - LAXAI] Ignacio Bugueno will be presenting our work on “Event-based Facial Expression Recognition and Learning Framework”, at ICCV23 - LAXAI workshop, Paris 2023.
• [New Paper] on “Combining Regular Expressions and Supervised Algorithms for Clinical Text Classification” with Christopher Flores, accepted at IDEAL, Portugal 2023
• Alternate Director, [FONDEF IT23i0012 ANID Project] “Pedagogical management system for the mathematics classroom based on intelligent games and recommendations”, Chile
• Director (2023-2024) of PAR Explora O’Higgins, Science Dissemination program of the Ministry of Science & Technology, Chile
• Director (2023) of Science Festival O’Higgins, Science Festival; Outreach program of the Ministry of Science & Technology, Chile
• [New Book Chapter] “Smart Technologies in Agriculture”. In: Zhang, Q. (eds) Encyclopedia of Smart Agriculture Technologies. Springer Cham.
• 2020 - 2023, Director Institute of Engineering Sciences, Universidad de O’Higgins, Chile
• [New Paper] “An Automated Assessment of Early Math Abilities Based on Digital Games” at the 2023 11th International Conference on Information and Education Technology (ICIET 2023) Fujisawa, Japan
• [Invited Speaker] at the Biobio IA Robotics Summit, January 2023, Concepcion, Chile.
• [New paper], “Why the low adoption of robotics in the farms? Challenges for the establishment of commercial agricultural robots”, G Gil, D Casagrande, LP Cortés, R Verschae, Smart Agricultural Technology 3, 100069

2022

• [EMBC’22], New paper on “A Generic Semi-Supervised and Active Learning Framework for Biomedical Text Classification” presented at the International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC’22). Join work with Christopher Flores.
• [IMPRESS, Feb 2022], Research visit at ENS Paris-Saclay, France (Gabriele Facciolo) as part of the STIC AmSud collaboration project IMPRESS (Image Modeling and Process for Remote SenSing in agriculture). Join Project with Gabriele Facciolo (ENS Paris-Saclay, France), Javier Preciozzi (Universidad de la Republica, Uruguay).
• [Postdoctoral Fondecyt Advisor] Since Abril 2022 I am Sponsor of Postdoctoral Fondecyt project of Christopher Flores, who is working on active and semi-supervised learning.

2021

• [IMPRESS, December 2021], Research visit at ENS Paris-Saclay, France (Gabriele Facciolo) as part of the STIC AmSud collaboration project IMPRESS (Image Modeling and Process for Remote SenSing in agriculture). Join Project with Gabriele Facciolo (ENS Paris-Saclay, France), Javier Preciozzi (Universidad de la Republica, Uruguay).
• [International Workshop on Innovative Robotics], Invited Speaker. Event organized by The University of Salento in collaboration with the Kyushu Institute of Technology, October 2021
• [Webinar on Innovation and Technology applied to Fruit Growing and Horticulture], Invited Speaker. Event organized by Embassy of Chile in Japan, September 2021
• [ISICS 2022], I am part ot the Scientific Advisory Committee of the International Symposium on Intelligent Computing Systems - ISICS, Chile – March 2022
• [First Japan-Chile Symposium on Field Robotics], Event sponsored by The Japan Foundation. Chile – March 2021

2020

• [FG 2020] TUTORIAL: Introduction to face and gesture recognition using event-based cameras given at the 15th IEEE International Conference on Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition
• [ICI UOH] Since September 2020 I am an Director of the Institute of Engineering Sciences, Universidad de O’Higgins, Chile.
• [IEEE RAS Education Committee] Since July 2020 I am a Co-Chair of the IEEE RAS Education Committee.
• [CEINE] Since March 2020 I am an associate researcher of the Business Intelligence Center (CEINE), Universidad de Chile, Chile.
• [IMPRESS], International Coordinator of the STIC AmSud collaboration project IMPRESS (Image Modeling and Process for Remote SenSing in agriculture). Join Project with Gabriele Facciolo (ENS Paris-Saclay, France), Javier Preciozzi (Universidad de la Republica, Uruguay).

2019

• IEEE RAS Summer School on Deep Learning for Robot Vision, in Santiago Chile, December 2019. General Chair (together with J. Ruiz-del-Solar of Univ. de Chile)
• [September 2019] Inverview (in Spanish) at the Library of the Chilean Congress regarding the importance of the collaboration between Industry and Academy for the development of Robotics.
• [July 2019] Inverview (in Spanish) at the Library of the Chilean Congress regarding the First Japan-Chile Symposium on Field Robotics I am organizing.
• [Since July, 2019] Member of the Academic Council of the Universidad de O’Higgins, Chile
• [July 2019] Research Visit, Computer Vision Laboratory, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
• [June 2019] Visit, Vehicles Robotics Lab, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Spain
• [April 2019] I was promoted to Associate Professor at the Universidad de O’Higgins, Chile
• [PAR Explora O’Higgins CONICYT], From April 2019 I am director of the PAR Explora O’Higgins Project, CONICYT, for the promotion of Science in the O’Higgins Region, Chile. Two year project (renewable for two more years); Granted funding: 350.000 USD per year.
• Visiting Fellow (Feb 2019), Computer Vision Laboratory, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
• Dec. 2018 - Jan 2019. I am doing a Research Visit, Awarded by a Santander Universidades grant, at the Vehicles Robotics Lab, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Spain

2018

• [IEEE RAS Summer School] I am co-organizing (General Chair) the IEEE RAS Summer School on Deep Learning for Robot Vision, Santiago & Rancagua, Chile, December, 2019
• [Solar Energy] New paper on Image-based Photovoltaic Energy Generation Prediction: Jinsong Zhang, Rodrigo Verschae, Shohei Nobuhara and Jean-Francois Lalonde, “Deep photovoltaic nowcasting”, Solar Energy, Vol. 176, PP. 267-276, Dec 2018.
• [Chile-Japan Academic Forum] I will participate in the Chile-Japan Academic Forum, 25-29 Sept, 2018, Nikko, Japan. In the event, I am will present at the Workshop “Sensors, Robotics, Automation & ICT in Mining, AgroSciences & Natural Resources, Smart Cities”.
• [CMM] Since August 2018 I am an associate researcher of the Center for Mathematical Modeling (CMM), Universidad de Chile, Chile.
• [SCI] Since August 2018 I am in the Advisory Board of the MDIP SCI Journal.
• [ML Meetup] I presented my work on “Sky image based solar energy prediction”, at the Santiago Machine Learning Meetup, Santiago, Chile.
• [New Affiliation] Since 2018 I am with the Institute of Engineering Sciences, Universidad de O’Higgins, Chile

2017

• [MIRU 2017] I will presenting our work on “Daytime Sky Image Model and Prediction” at MIRU 2017, Hiroshima, Japan.
• [Information, 2017] Since June 2017 I am part of the Editorial Board of the MDPI journal Information.
• [OCEANS MTS/IEEE, 2017] I will be attending the Oceans Conference in Anchorage, Alaska, to present our work on fish tracking.
• [Energy7, 2017] I will be attending the Energy 7 symposium, in Manchester, UK, to present my work on coordinated energy management.
• [IEEE PVSC, 2017] I will be attending the IEEE PVSC in WASHINGTON, D.C., USA, to present our work on image-based PV estimation and prediction.

2016

• [AVW, 2016] I will be presenting our work on real-time 3D fish detection and tracking at the “Aqua Vision Workshop”, at Kyoto University, Japan.
• [Energies, July 2016] Paper on “Energy Management in Prosumer Communities: A Coordinated Approach” at Energies’ (MDPI) special issue on Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives on Energy and Sustainable Development.
• [MIRU 2016] I will presenting my work on “Real-time 3D fish detection and tracking” at MIRU 2016, Japan.
• [July 2016] I was awarded a Highly Skilled Foreign Professional visa (Japan).
• [Co-editor of research topic] on Human safety and comfort in human-robot shared workspaces: from sensing and perception to motion planning and control at Frontiers in Robotics and AI. Submissions open until September 2016.
• [Invited Speaker, February 2016] Invited panelist at the “Future of the Electricity Utilities Project”, Asian Stakeholder Meeting, Organized by the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Hong Kong, March 3-4th 2016.

2015

• [New paper, June 2015] paper on Coordinated Energy Management for Inter-Community Imbalance Minimization now available at RENE (Renewable Energy journal, Elsevier; Impact factor 3.476). PDF available here.
• [ASN 2015] work on Coordinated Energy Management presented at the Singapore-Japan Joint Workshop on ASN (Ambient Intelligence and Sensor Networks), in Singapore, December 2015.
• New paper, Nov. 2015 co-authored paper on Object Detection: Current and Future Directions is now available at Frontiers in Robotics and AI.
• New paper, Nov. 2015 co-authored paper on A Realistic Virtual Environment for Evaluating Face Analysis Systems under Dynamic Conditions Pattern Recognition has been accepted for publication at PR (Pattern Recognition, Elsevier; Impact Factor 3.096).
• [New position, April 2015], I am a program-specific Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University
• Since 2015, I am an Associate Editor of the Journal Frontiers in Robotics and AI (specialty section on Vision Systems Theory, Tools and Applications).

2014

• [SmartGridComm, 2014] Paper on “A Distributed Hierarchical Architecture for Community-based Power Balancing” to be presented at the IEEE SmartGridComm’2014 conference. PDF presentation
• [ECC, 2014] Paper on a “Distributed coordination framework for on-line scheduling and power demand balancing of household communities” presented at the European control conference, Strasbourg, France.

2013

• [New affiliation, 2013] I am with the Matsuyama Lab, working on distributed coordination and mode scheduling within the context of the i-Energy project.
• [Book chapter, 2013] The book chapter I co-authored (titled “Thermal Face Recognition in Unconstrained Environments using histograms of LBP Features”) is now available as part of the Springer book Local Binary Patterns: New Variants and Applications (also at Amazon).
• I presented my work on “Multiclass Weak Classifiers in Boosted-Cascade Based Object Detection” at the ICML workshop on Learning with Test-Time Budgets
• [ICML 2013] I attended the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML’13)
• Invited talk, 2013 at SCIAN-lab ( Laboratory for Scientific Image Analysis) at Medical School of the University of Chile, Santiago, Chile

---

About

I am an associate professor at the Institute of Engineering Sciences, Universidad de O’Higgins, Chile. Before that (2015-2018), I was an assistant professor at the Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University, Japan.

My research interests include computer and robot vision, machine learning, and intelligent and robot systems with various applications (energy, agriculture, etc.).

I received a Doctoral degree in Electrical Engineering (Universidad de Chile, 2010), a M.Sc. in Applied Mathematics (Ecole Normale Superieure (ENS) de Cachan, France, 2006), an Electrical Engineering degree (Universidad de Chile, 2003), and a Bachelor in Computer Engineering degree (Universidad de Chile, 2002).

From 2020 to 2023, I was director of the Institute of Engineering Sciences, Universidad de O’Higgins, Chile. I have been a Postdoctoral Researcher (principal researcher of the FONDECYT Grant N. 3120218) at the Advanced Mining Technology Center (AMTC), Universidad de Chile, (2011-2013), a visiting foreign researcher (7 months, BecasChile Grant) at the Kyushu Institute of Technology, Fukuoka, Japan (2011), a research fellow at the Network Design Research Center, at the Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan (2009-2010), an associated researcher at the Fraunhofer IPK-Institute, Berlin, Germany (2004-2005), and a research collaborator of the Center for Web Research at Universidad de Chile (2004).

I have participated in international projects and developed algorithms for large-scale industrial systems, and at age 46 (2024), I am an active researcher with over 60 publications in international conferences and journals.

---