REASONING WITH UNCERTAINTY IN ROBOTICS
International workshop
University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
December 4-6, 1995.
AIM: Interaction between research on uncertainty in AI and robotics.
BACKGROUND
In the field of artificial intelligence, a lot of effort is spent on the
problem how to deal with information which is uncertain, incomplete,
inconsistent, or otherwise deficient. This research has led to a large
number of new theories and new techniques. In particular, in the area of
numeric uncertainty, one can mention the certainty factor model,
Dempster-Shafer theory, interval probability theory, probabilistic
networks, probability logic, possibility theory, et cetera.
In robotics, uncertainty plays an important role at many levels, such
as image interpretation, sensor fusion, navigation, path planning, and
control. Therefore, this field seems to be particularly well suited to test
and apply the new theories and techniques mentioned above. However,
uncertainty in robotics is typically approached by more or less traditional
statistical methods. On the other hand, research on uncertainty in AI is
rather focused on theoretical work or on applications in the area of
diagnosis.
The workshop is intended to bring together researchers in the fields
of uncertainty in AI and robotics in order to clarify the relation between
the two research fields, to find out what the research in the two fields
can mean for each other, and to identify the most urgent problems that have
to be attacked.
PROGRAMME
The programme of the workshop includes tutorial lectures, invited talks,
the presentation of accepted papers, and a forum discussion.
1. TUTORIAL LECTURES
o tutorial on robotics (Crowley)
o tutorial on uncertainty in AI (Voorbraak)
2. INVITED TALKS
o navigation (Elfes)
o sensor fusion (Durrant-Whyte)
o map learning (Kaelbling)
o image interpretation (Hummel)
3. PRESENTATION OF ACCEPTED PAPERS
Papers are welcome in the whole field of reasoning with uncertainty in
robotics, but papers discussing (either abstractly or by means of a
concrete application) the relevance for robotics of the above mentioned AI
approaches to uncertainty are preferred. In the papers, special attention
has to be given to the informal underlying motivations and to the possible
general conclusions that can be drawn from the work reported on. (How
essential is the choice for some particular formalism? What are the
conditions under which the formalism is applicable? On which points is
there still room for improvement? Et cetera.)
Possible topics include
o sensor fusion
- How to combine several (possibly conflicting) readings of a sensor?
- How to aggregate evidence obtained from different types of sensors?
o interpretation of uncertain geometric data
- How to obtain 3D models from 2D images?
- How to reduce or eliminate uncertainty in sensor data?
o map learning
- How to learn the spatial layout of the environment?
- How to extract the relevant spatial structure?
o navigation and path planning under uncertainty
- How to navigate, given a map of the environment, sensor data,
and the uncertainty in control?
- How to navigate with limited prior knowledge of the environment?
o decision under uncertainty
- How to decide between action and the reduction of uncertainty?
- How to formulate a decision theory for resource-bounded agents?
4. FORUM DISCUSSION
"Towards the formulation of benchmark problems in the field of uncertainty
in robotics"
Ideally, the forum discussion will result in the formulation of one or two
benchmark problems that can (and will) be used to compare different
approaches to uncertainty in robotics and to measure progess in the field.
Some relevant questions are
- What are the bottlenecks for handling uncertainty in robotics?
- What are the most urgent problems in the field?
- Which of these problems can be attacked today or in the near future?
- How can these problems be formulated as benchmark problems?
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Authors are asked to submit four (4) copies of their papers to the
submission address given below by July 1st, 1995. Papers should have a
front page containing: title, name, full address, email address and fax #
(if available) for all authors, a list of keywords identifying the subject
area of the paper, and a 100-200 word abstract. Papers should be a maximum
of 15 pages (excluding front page) and printed on A4 paper in 12 point type
with a maximum of 38 lines per page and 75 characters per line
(corresponding to LaTeX article style, 12 pt). Submission of hard copies is
strongly preferred. Electronic submission is acceptable, provided standard
LaTeX is used.
Notification of acceptance/rejection will be mailed to the first (or
designated) author of each paper by September 1st, 1995. Accepted papers
will be included in the informal proceedings distributed at the workshop.
Accepted papers must be presented at the workshop, in English, by one of
the authors. A commercial publisher is contacted to publish the final
versions of the presented papers, which are due at February 1st, 1996, so
they can benefit from the interaction at the workshop.
ATTENDANCE
The workshop will be limited to at most hundred participants. The
registration fee is Dfl 400 for early registration (before November 1st,
1995) and Dfl 500 for late registration. The registration fee includes
lunches, refreshments, conference dinner, and workshop proceedings. A
limited budget will be available for the support of participants which are
faced with financial problems such as serious difficulties with exchanging
currency. The workshop will take place in Amsterdam, close to the city
center. Detailed registration information will be available no later than
July 1995. One can
consult the WWW. If you are
interested in attending, please send an email to rur@fwi.uva.nl, then you
will be kept informed automatically.
TIMETABLE
- submission deadline: July 1st, 1995
- notification of acceptance/rejection: September 1st, 1995
- deadline for early registration: November 1st, 1995
- workshop: December 4-6, 1995
- final version of papers: February 1st, 1996
SUBMISSION ADDRESS
Michiel van Lambalgen
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Amsterdam
Plantage Muidergracht 24, 1018 TV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tel: +31 20 525 6060, Fax: +31 20 525 5206, Email: rur@fwi.uva.nl
PROGRAMME COMMITTEE
James L. Crowley (IMAG-LIFIA, Grenoble, France)
Leo Dorst (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Hugh Durrant-Whyte (University of Sydney, Australia.)
Alberto Elfes (Automation and Software Systems Institute, Campinas, Brazil)
Robert Hummel (Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York, USA)
Leslie Pack Kaelbling (Brown University, Providence, USA)
Michiel van Lambalgen (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Frans Voorbraak (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
PROGRAMME CHAIR
Frans Groen (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Leo Dorst, Michiel van Lambalgen, and Frans Voorbraak
(University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
LOCAL ARRANGEMENTS
Marco de Vries
Plantage Muidergracht 24, 1018 TV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tel: +31 20 525 6051, Fax: +31 20 525 5206, Email: rur@fwi.uva.nl
SPONSORED BY
PIONIER project Reasoning with Uncertainty, of the Netherlands Organization
for Scientific Research (NWO)
Institute for Logic, Language, and Computation (ILLC)