This Proceedings contains the papers presented at the IFAC Symposium on Automated systems based on human skill held in Aachen, Germany on 15 - 17 June, 2000. Following the previous six Symposia of the same name, the 7th Symposium brought together researchers, developers and users of control and information systems. The areas of discussion were: -the role of the individual human operator at the work place (human-machine interaction and mental models, skills, motivation, health and satisfaction, creativity in problem-solving and design, quality of working life, safety, responsibility and blame -work-groups supported by technology (human communication and co-operation, participation in decision processes, decision-support systems) -networks of groups and enterprises, (supporting networks of information, control and transportation systems, computer-supported co-operative work, modelling of enterprises) -the impact of control and information technology on society and the natural environment (issues of national strategies, employment and qualification, change, education and re-learning, the roles of trade unions, gender issues, medicine, culture, conviviality and ethics) -the Control Challenge in the 21st Century Emphasis of several discussions was on regional development in view of the global challenges. Furthermore the symbiosis of automation and information technology with art and craft enriched the symposium through the contributions of different artists.

Paperback. These proceedings contain the papers presented at the 6th IFAC Symposium on Automated Systems Based on Human Skill (Joint Design of Technology and Organisation) held in Kranjska gora, Slovenia. The symposium theme was split into two different industry-oriented workshops. Production 2000 was an international event with the emphasis on the most recent developments in German industry. East meets West was an international gathering exchanging experiences among the different countries from Eastern Europe and the Western countries.

These proceedings contain the papers presented at the 5th IFAC Symposium on Automated Systems Based on Human Skill, held in Berlin, Germany, 26-28 September 1995. The symposium, like previous ones in the series, brought together researchers, developers and users of complex human-machine systems. Discussions covered manufacturing, process control, aircraft and air traffic control, and administrative processes with an emphasis on how to design such systems and integrate both developers and users into the design process. The main issues addressed, therefore, were the joint engineering of production processes, information technology and work organisation and the possibility that this may lead to the re-definition of human operators in process automation.

Rapid One-of-a-kind Product Development discusses research in the development of new enabling technologies for small and medium companies. Scientific advancements presented include a novel product data modelling scheme to model product design, manufacturability and knowledge under a common data object; customised product development in a distributed environment; and new adaptive scheduling methods for the optimal production of a wide variety of customised products, taking into consideration all of the possible changes from customers and the uncertainties in manufacturing. The book also includes research towards a computer aided customer interface, which allows customer requirements and changes to be processed and integrated with technical designs in real time; adaptive and concurrent CAD methods and algorithms; and product modelling and system integration technologies. The reader will learn how to: • translate customer requirements to technical attributes; • develop new and innovative products to meet customer requirements and expectations; • evaluate and optimise a project design; • design production systems and use them efficiently; and • manage a variety of customised products. Rapid One-of-a-kind Product Development demonstrates how to develop new methods, tools and algorithms to address the problems in a mass customisation environment. It is a valuable source of information for researchers and engineers in the fields of design and manufacturing.

Focusing the impact of automation on the human, this symposium aims to arrange a solution-oriented meeting between international scientists, application specialists, and industrial experts. The topics include: Human-centred and participatory design; Adaptive and dynamic automation; levels of automation; automation in working life; and others.

The following are the proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Human and Machine Perception held in Palermo, Italy, on June 20 -23, 2000, under the auspices of three Institutions: the Cybernetic and Biophysics Group (GNCB) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) and the two Inter-Department Centers of Cognitive Sciences of Palermo and Pavia University respectively. A broad spectrum of topics are covered in this series, ranging from computer perception to psychology and physiology of perception. The theme of this workshop on Human and Machine Perception was focused on Thinking, Deciding, and Acting. As in the past editions the final goal has been the analysis and the comparison of biological and artificial solutions. The focus of the lectures has been on presenting the state-of-the-art and outlining open questions. In particular, they sought to stress links, suggesting possible synergies between the different cultural areas. The panel discussion has been conceived as a forum for an open debate, briefly introduced by each panelist, and mainly aimed at deeper investigation of the different approaches to perception and strictly related topics. The panelists were asked to prepare a few statements on hot-points as a guide for discussion. These statements were delivered to the participants together with the final program, for a more qualified discussion.

I*PROMS 2005 is an online web-based conference. It provides a platform for presenting, discussing, and disseminating research results contributed by scientists and industrial practitioners active in the area of intelligent systems and soft computing techniques (such as fuzzy logic, neural networks, evolutionary algorithms, and knowledge-based systems) and their application in different areas of manufacturing. Comprised of 100 peer-reviewed articles, this important resource provides tools to help enterprises achieve goals critical to the future of manufacturing.I*PROMS is an European Union-funded network that involves 30 partner organizations and more than 130 researchers from universities, research organizations, and corporations.* State-of-the-art research results * Leading European researchers and industrial practitioners * Comprehensive collection of indexed and peer-reviewed articles in book format supported by a user-friendly full-text CD-ROM with search functionality