CIRA2005 special session

Ontogenetic Robotics
Special Session at IEEE CIRA 2005
6th IEEE International Symposium on Computational Intelligence in Robotics and Automation - Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo, Finland - June 27-30, 2005
Chairs: Giorgio Metta (University of Genoa, Italy) and Chrystopher L. Nehaniv (University of Hertfordshire, UK)

Scientific interest in artificial agents and robots that can grow up and learn has been increasing rapidly in the last few years. The field of ontogenetic robotics (sometimes called developmental robotics or epigenetic robotics) has attracted numerous researchers and interest in embodied agents that develop and learn, develop sophisticated perceputal systems, acquire sensorimotor maps and control of their own bodies, master the affordances provided objects in the environment, interact with the environment and social partners. Key issues include the design of ontogenetic robotic platforms, embodied and social interaction, implementing development processes, development of individuality and capabilities contigent upon interaction history, the scaffolding of cognitive capabilities, and the expanding zone of proximal development.

Ontogenetic robotic systems provide models and test-beds for theories in developmental psychology and cognitive science. At the same time, they present a fertile research field for the methods and applications of computational intelligence in robotics and automation.

Submissions Short abstracts (max. 1 page in plain text format), including author affiliation and presentation title, proposing papers for the special session should be sent to the C.L.Nehaniv@herts.ac.uk by 25 January 2005.

All papers will be refereed according to IEEE conference standards and published in the proceedings of IEEE CIRA 2005.

This special session is supported in part by EU Project RobotCub, the Adaptive Systems Research Group University of Hertfordshire, U.K. and LIRA-Lab, University of Genoa, Italy.

http://www.control.hut.fi/cira2005/