This book discusses systematic designs of stable adaptive fuzzy logic controllers employing hybridizations of Lyapunov strategy-based approaches/H∞ theory-based approaches and contemporary stochastic optimization techniques. The text demonstrates how candidate stochastic optimization techniques like Particle swarm optimization (PSO), harmony search (HS) algorithms, covariance matrix adaptation (CMA) etc. can be utilized in conjunction with the Lyapunov theory/H∞ theory to develop such hybrid control strategies. The goal of developing a series of such hybridization processes is to combine the strengths of both Lyapunov theory/H∞ theory-based local search methods and stochastic optimization-based global search methods, so as to attain superior control algorithms that can simultaneously achieve desired asymptotic performance and provide improved transient responses. The book also demonstrates how these intelligent adaptive control algorithms can be effectively utilized in real-life applications such as in temperature control for air heater systems with transportation delay, vision-based navigation of mobile robots, intelligent control of robot manipulators etc.

What is intelligence? Are truly intelligent machines a practical reality? If so, can they work in harmony with human beings and improve the quality of our lives? How are they designed, built, and controlled? The fact is that machines with brains are no longer the stuff of science fiction. Research focused on developing smarter, more flexible

Ten years ago, the inaugural European Conference on Computer Vision was held in Antibes, France. Since then, ECCV has been held biennially under the auspices of the European Vision Society at venues around Europe. This year, the privilege of organizing ECCV 2000 falls to Ireland and it is a signal honour for us to host what has become one of the most important events in the calendar of the computer vision community. ECCV is a single-track conference comprising the highest quality, previously unpublished, contributed papers on new and original research in computer vision. This year, 266 papers were submitted and, following a rigorous double-blind review process, with each paper being reviewed by three referees, 116 papers were selected by the Programme Committee for presentation at the conference. The venue for ECCV 2000 is the University of Dublin, Trinity College. - unded in 1592, it is Ireland’s oldest university and has a proud tradition of scholarship in the Arts, Humanities, and Sciences, alike. The Trinity campus, set in the heart of Dublin, is an oasis of tranquility and its beautiful squares, elegant buildings, and tree-lined playing- elds provide the perfect setting for any conference.