Call for Papers: IEEE RA-L Special Issue on Learning and Control for Autonomous Manipulation Systems

We are pleased to announce an IEEE Robotics and Autonomous Letters (IEEE RA-L) Special Issue on “Learning and Control for Autonomous Manipulation Systems: the Role of Dimensionality Reduction”
Please, visit the official webpage of the Special Issue at
http://www.ieee-ras.org/publications/ra-l/special-issues/learning-and-control-for-autonomous-manipulation-systems-the-role-of-dimensionality-reduction

SUMMARY

The special issue presents a hot topic in robotic manipulation that is how to merge learning and control strategies to provide autonomy to robotic systems. This is a fundamental problem for robotic manipulation and it touches different functional system levels based on both visual and tactile perception and also affects the mechanical design of the robot parts that move and interact with the environment. The anthropomorphism contemplated in the mechanical design encourages the inspiration of learning techniques and control from the functioning of the human being. This implies the involvement of a large research community not only in the field of robotics but also the community of neuroscientists. The problem is highly multi-disciplinary, and different approaches from control theory, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, will be compared and possibly combined.

MOTIVATION

The topic of this Special Issue was the subject of a full-day workshop “Learning and control for autonomous manipulation systems: the role of dimensionality reduction”, organized at ICRA 2017 by the guest editors. The large attendance (among 80-100 participants), the quality of the speakers, and the relevance of the addressed topics of research have been key elements for the success of the workshop. The Special Issue wants to collect an even broader scope of contributions, and make them available in archival format.

TOPICS OF INTEREST

Dimensionality reduction in anthropomorphic design
Mechanical and motor synergies
Perceptual and sensorimotor synergies
The role of dimensionality reduction in learning strategies
The role of dimensionality reduction in control strategies

GUEST EDITORS

Fanny Ficuciello(University of Naples Federico II)
Pietro Falco (Technical University of Munich)
Sylvain Calinon (Idiap Research Institute)

TIMELINE

Special Issue Call Publication: 1 August 2017
Special Issue Submission Opens: 5 October 2017
Special Issue Submission Closes: 15 October 2017
First Decision Communicated to Authors: 9 January 2018
Final Decision Communicated to Authors: 15 March 2018
Accepted RAL Papers appear on Xplore: 3 April 2018