Overview of “Future of AI in Robotics Workshop”
As computer and mechatronic technologies continue to evolve, human capacity to build ever more complex robots has increased tremendously. The robots are then designed for correspondingly more complicated applications, including many that require robust interaction with humans and even some safety-critical applications. Recent Japanese robots have been designed for nursing care, medical surgery, safety and security work, disaster relief, agricultural and forestry work and scientific investigations such as oceanographic monitoring.
Robots designed for such applications require flexibility in irregular situations that have not been foreseen by the designer and immensely sophisticated social behaviors. By giving the robot cognitive abilities, the robot design strives to meet stringent requirements for human-like performance: the ability to recognize a situation, judge what to do, act autonomously, communicate with humans, learn from experiences and act as part of a team. Such abilities are much more complex than the control-level intelligence that drives a robot’s sensing and motive functions. Recent robotics research has shown promising results in enhancing the cognitive capabilities, by allowing RoboCup soccer robots to collaborate in a team, for instance. In order to move to the next level of genuinely cognitive robots, the integration of artificial intelligence research and the technology of robots is essential.
To promote such integration, we wish to gather experts in both fields ? artificial intelligence and robotics. Sharing ideas and discussing their latest research results, we aim to assist these experts to discover new ways to collaborate in a multi-disciplinary fashion that will lead to the next generation of cognitive robots.
Edward A Feigenbaum (Stanford Univ.)
Atsuo Takanishi (Waseda Univ.)
Hiroshi Motoda (AOARD)
Koji
Sasaki (AdIn Research, Inc.)
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