Christian Laugier - Böcker

Geometry is a powerful tool to solve a great number ofproblems in robotics and computer vision. Impressive resultshave been obtained in these fields in the last decade. It isa new challenge to solve problems of the actual world whichrequire the ability to reason about uncertainty and complexmotion constraints by combining geometric, kinematic, anddynamic characteristics. A necessary step is to developappropriate geometric reasoning techniques with reasonablecomputational complexity. This volume is based on a workshop held in Grenoble,France,in September 1991. It contains selectedcontributions on several important areas in the field ofrobotics and computer vision. The four chapters cover thefollowing areas:- motion planning with kinematic and dynamic constraints,- motion planning and control in the presence ofuncertainty,- geometric problems related to visual perception,-numerical problems linked to the implementation ofpractical algorithms for visual perception.

At the dawn of the new millennium, robotics is undergoing a major transformation in scope and dimension. From a largely dominant industrial focus, robotics is rapidly expanding into the challenges of unstructured environments. Interacting with, assi- ing, serving, and exploring with humans, the emerging robots will increasingly touch people and their lives. The goal of the new series of Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics (STAR) is to bring, in a timely fashion, the latest advances and developments in robotics on the basis of their significance and quality. It is our hope that the wider dissemination of research developments will stimulate more exchanges and collaborations among the research community and contribute to further advancement of this rapidly growing field. The collection edited by Christian Laugier and Raja Chatila is the third one in the series on mapping and navigation, and is focused on the problem of autonomous navigation in dynamic environments. The state of the art is surveyed, a number of challenging technical aspects are discussed and upcoming technologies are addressed. The ambitious goal is to lay down the foundation for a broad class of robot m- ping and navigation methodologies for indoors, outdoors, and even exploratory m- sions. Future service robots and intelligent vehicles are waiting for effective solutions to such kind of problems.

Probabilistic Reasoning and Decision Making in Sensory-Motor Systems by Pierre Bessiere, Christian Laugier and Roland Siegwart provides a unique collection of a sizable segment of the cognitive systems research community in Europe. It reports on contributions from leading academic institutions brought together within the European projects Bayesian Inspired Brain and Artifact (BIBA) and Bayesian Approach to Cognitive Systems (BACS). This fourteen-chapter volume covers important research along two main lines: new probabilistic models and algorithms for perception and action, new probabilistic methodology and techniques for artefact conception and development. The work addresses key issues concerned with Bayesian programming, navigation, filtering, modelling and mapping, with applications in a number of different contexts.

At the dawn of the new millennium, robotics is undergoing a major transformation in scope and dimension. From a largely dominant industrial focus, robotics is rapidly expanding into the challenges of unstructured environments. Interacting with, assi- ing, serving, and exploring with humans, the emerging robots will increasingly touch people and their lives. The goal of the new series of Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics (STAR) is to bring, in a timely fashion, the latest advances and developments in robotics on the basis of their significance and quality. It is our hope that the wider dissemination of research developments will stimulate more exchanges and collaborations among the research community and contribute to further advancement of this rapidly growing field. The collection edited by Christian Laugier and Raja Chatila is the third one in the series on mapping and navigation, and is focused on the problem of autonomous navigation in dynamic environments. The state of the art is surveyed, a number of challenging technical aspects are discussed and upcoming technologies are addressed. The ambitious goal is to lay down the foundation for a broad class of robot m- ping and navigation methodologies for indoors, outdoors, and even exploratory m- sions. Future service robots and intelligent vehicles are waiting for effective solutions to such kind of problems.

FSR, the “International Conference on Field and Service Robotics”, is a robotics Symposium which has established over the past ten years the latest research and practical results towards the use of field and service robotics in the community with particular focus on proven technology. The first meeting was held in Canberra, Australia, in 1997. Since then the meeting has been held every two years in the pattern Asia, America, Europe. This books presents the results of the sixth edition of "Field and Service Robotics" FSR03, held in Chamonix, France, on 9th - 12th July 2003. The conference provided a forum for researchers, professionals and robot manufacturers to exchange up-to-date technical knowledge and experience. Field robots are non-factory robots, typically mobile, that operate in complex, and dynamic environments: on the ground (of Earth or planets), under the ground, underwater, in the air or in space. Service robots are those that work closely with humans to help them with their lives. This book offers a collection of a broad range of topics including: Underwater Robots and Systems, Autonomous Navigation for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Simultaneous Localization and Mapping, Climbing Robotics, Sensor Fusion.