th This volume is an edition of the papers selected from the 12 FIRA RoboWorld C- gress, held in Incheon, Korea, August 16–18, 2009. The Federation of International Robosoccer Association (FIRA – www. fira. net) is a non-profit organization, which organizes robotic competitions and meetings around the globe annually. The RoboSoccer competitions started in 1996 and FIRA was - tablished on June 5, 1997. The Robot Soccer competitions are aimed at promoting the spirit of science and technology to the younger generation. The congress is a forum in which to share ideas and future directions of technologies, and to enlarge the human networks in robotics area. The objectives of the FIRA Cup and Congress are to explore the technical dev- opment and achievement in the field of robotics, and provide participants with a robot festival including technical presentations, robot soccer competitions and exhibits - der the theme “Where Theory and Practice Meet. ” th Under the umbrella of the 12 FIRA RoboWorld Incheon Congress 2009, six int- national conferences were held for greater impact and scientific exchange: th • 6 International Conference on Computational Intelligence, Robotics and Autonomous Systems (CIRAS) th • 5 International Symposium on Autonomous Minirobots for Research and Edutainment (AMiRE) • International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR) • International Conference on Advanced Humanoid Robotics Research (ICAHRR) • International Conference on Entertainment Robotics (ICER) • International Robotics Education Forum (IREF) This volume consists of selected quality papers from the six conferences.

A broadly accessible introduction to robotics that spans the most basic concepts and the most novel applications; for students, teachers, and hobbyists. The Robotics Primer offers a broadly accessible introduction to robotics for students at pre-university and university levels, robot hobbyists, and anyone interested in this burgeoning field. The text takes the reader from the most basic concepts (including perception and movement) to the most novel and sophisticated applications and topics (humanoids, shape-shifting robots, space robotics), with an emphasis on what it takes to create autonomous intelligent robot behavior. The core concepts of robotics are carried through from fundamental definitions to more complex explanations, all presented in an engaging, conversational style that will appeal to readers of different backgrounds. The Robotics Primer covers such topics as the definition of robotics, the history of robotics (“Where do Robots Come From?”), robot components, locomotion, manipulation, sensors, control, control architectures, representation, behavior (“Making Your Robot Behave”), navigation, group robotics, learning, and the future of robotics (and its ethical implications). To encourage further engagement, experimentation, and course and lesson design, The Robotics Primer is accompanied by a free robot programming exercise workbook that implements many of the ideas on the book on iRobot platforms. The Robotics Primer is unique as a principled, pedagogical treatment of the topic that is accessible to a broad audience; the only prerequisites are curiosity and attention. It can be used effectively in an educational setting or more informally for self-instruction. The Robotics Primer is a springboard for readers of all backgrounds—including students taking robotics as an elective outside the major, graduate students preparing to specialize in robotics, and K-12 teachers who bring robotics into their classrooms.

AI is poised to disrupt our work and our lives. We can harness these technologies rather than fall captive to them—but only through wise regulation. Too many CEOs tell a simple story about the future of work: if a machine can do what you do, your job will be automated. They envision everyone from doctors to soldiers rendered superfluous by ever-more-powerful AI. They offer stark alternatives: make robots or be replaced by them. Another story is possible. In virtually every walk of life, robotic systems can make labor more valuable, not less. Frank Pasquale tells the story of nurses, teachers, designers, and others who partner with technologists, rather than meekly serving as data sources for their computerized replacements. This cooperation reveals the kind of technological advance that could bring us all better health care, education, and more, while maintaining meaningful work. These partnerships also show how law and regulation can promote prosperity for all, rather than a zero-sum race of humans against machines. How far should AI be entrusted to assume tasks once performed by humans? What is gained and lost when it does? What is the optimal mix of robotic and human interaction? New Laws of Robotics makes the case that policymakers must not allow corporations or engineers to answer these questions alone. The kind of automation we get—and who it benefits—will depend on myriad small decisions about how to develop AI. Pasquale proposes ways to democratize that decision making, rather than centralize it in unaccountable firms. Sober yet optimistic, New Laws of Robotics offers an inspiring vision of technological progress, in which human capacities and expertise are the irreplaceable center of an inclusive economy.

This two-volume set LNCS 6691 and 6692 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 11th International Work-Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, IWANN 2011, held in Torremolinos-Málaga, Spain, in June 2011. The 154 revised papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 202 submissions for presentation in two volumes. The first volume includes 69 papers organized in topical sections on mathematical and theoretical methods in computational intelligence; learning and adaptation; bio-inspired systems and neuro-engineering; hybrid intelligent systems; applications of computational intelligence; new applications of brain-computer interfaces; optimization algorithms in graphic processing units; computing languages with bio-inspired devices and multi-agent systems; computational intelligence in multimedia processing; and biologically plausible spiking neural processing.

This book provides current research on robotics. The first chapter focuses on robot visual perception for object detection and recognition. Chapter Two discusses recent progress in vision-based robotics. Chapter Three examines portrait vision fusion. Chapter Four presents a preliminary design and experimental results of sex recognition. Chapter Five introduces the significance and application of health monitoring methods, and some of the traditional health monitoring methods are introduced. Chapter Six presents a systematic review of upper arm exoskeletons to find out under what clinical conditions use of such devices may be beneficial, what could be the technical requirements and what user interface must be provided to enhance their acceptability.

This book presents the technological basics and applications of small-scale (mm to sub-mm in length-scales) soft robots and devices, written for researchers in both academia and industry. Author Jaeyoun Kim presents technological motivations, enabling factors, and examples in an inter-linked fashion, making it easy for readers to understand and explore how microscale soft robots are a solution to researchers in search of technological platforms for safe, human-friendly biomedical devices. A compact and timely introduction, this book summarizes not only the enabling factors for soft robots and MEMS devices, but also provides a survey of progress in the field and looks to the future in terms of the material, design, and application aspects this technology demonstrates.