[alife] 2nd CFP: Special Session on Evolutionary Robotics - IEEE CEC 2009

[Sabine Hauert]

* Apologies for multiple postings *

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2ND CALL FOR PAPERS

IEEE CEC 2009 - Special Session on "Evolutionary Robotics"
Trondheim, Norway, 18th-21st of May, 2009

http://lis.epfl.ch/specialsessions/CEC09/
http://lis.epfl.ch/specialsessions/CEC09/CFP.pdf

Paper submission deadline: 1st of November 2008
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ORGANISERS

Patricia A. Vargas (Heriot-Watt University)
Sabine Hauert (EPFL-Lausanne)
Dario Floreano (EPFL-Lausanne)
Phil Husbands (University of Sussex)

DESCRIPTION

Evolutionary Robotics (ER) aims to apply evolutionary computation
techniques, inspired by Darwin's principle of selective reproduction
of the fittest, to automatically design the control and/or hardware of
both real and simulated autonomous robots.

Having an intrinsic interdisciplinary character, ER is being employed
towards the development of many fields of research, among which we can
highlight neuroscience, cognitive science, evolutionary biology and
robotics. Hence the objective of this special session is to assemble a
set of high-quality original contributions that reflect and advance
the state-of-the-art in the area of Evolutionary Robotics, with an
emphasis on the cross-fertilization between ER and the aforementioned
research areas, ranging from theoretical analysis to real-life
applications.

Topics of interest include (but are are not restricted to):

* Evolution of robots which display minimal cognitive behaviour,
learning, memory, spatial cognition, adaptation or homeostasis.

* Evolution of neural controllers for robots, aimed at giving an
insight to neuroscientists or advancing control structures.

* Evolution of communication, cooperation and competition, using
robots as a research platform.

* Co-evolution and the evolution of collective behaviour.

* Evolution of morphology in close interaction with the environment,
giving rise to self-reconfigurable, self-designing, self-healing and
self-reproducing robots or humanoid and walking robots.

* Evolution of robot systems aimed at real-world applications as in
aerial robotics, space exploration, industry, search and rescue, robot
companions, entertainment and games.

* Evolution of controllers on board real robots or the real-time
evolution of robot hardware.

* Novel or improved algorithms for the evolution or robot systems.

* The use of evolution for the artistic exploration of robot design.

POST CONFERENCE BOOK PUBLICATION

Authors of the best selected paper from among those accepted for the
"Evolutionary Robotics" session will be invited to submit an extended
version for review for possible publication as a chapter in the
forthcoming book "The Horizons of Evolutionary Robotics" edited by
Patricia A. Vargas, Ezequiel Di Paolo, Inman Harvey and Phil Husbands
(target publisher MIT Press).

PAPER SUBMISSION

Submissions should follow the guidance given on the IEEE CEC 2009
conference website: http://www.cec-2009.org/submission.shtml. When
submitting, please select the special session on "Evolutionary
Robotics". All submissions will be peer-reviewed with the same
criteria used for other contributed papers. All accepted papers will
be included in the published conference proceedings.

IMPORTANT DATES

Paper Submission:.........................November 01, 2008
Notification of Acceptance:...........January 16, 2009
Camera-Ready Submission:........February 16, 2009

CONTACTS

Dr. Patricia A. Vargas
Research Fellow
School of Maths and Computer Science
Heriot-Watt University, UK
Phone: +44 (0)7798 645 621
Email: p.a.vargas at hw.ac.uk

Sabine Hauert
Laboratory of Intelligent Systems
EPFL, Switzerland
Phone: +41 (0)21 693 77 59
Email: sabine.hauert at epfl.ch