Journal of Autonomous Robots

Announcing:
Special Issue on "Internet and Online Robots"

Remote-controlled robots were developed in the 1940s and were used by trained experts in space, undersea and in nuclear cleanup operations. A new class of remotely controlled robots are now accessible on the Internet. These "Online Robots" allow users from all over the world to visit museums, tend gardens, navigate undersea, float in blimps, or handle protein crystals. Online Robots have great potential for industry, education, entertainment, and security by making valuable robot hardware accessible to a broad audience.

Online robots pose a number of technical challenges. In addition to the problems associated with time delay, supervisory control, and stability, online robots must be designed to be operated by non-specialists through intuitive user interfaces and to be accessible 24 hours a day. New methods are needed for coordinating simultaneous users, coping with large variations in demand and time delay, and for detecting and recovering from unsupervised errors. New capabilities arise frequently with the introduction of new hardware and Internet standards such as wireless protocols, java, and streaming audio/video broadcasting.

The aim of this special issue is to collect important new theory, applications, metrics, models, surveys, and systems that provide innovative solutions to these challenging problems.

For more information and examples, see the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Technical Committee on Online Robots: www.ieor.berkeley.edu/~goldberg/tc/

Possible Topics:

Applications:
  • Medical, educational, industrial
  • Space, remote science and exploration
  • Laboratory assistants, search and rescue, environment monitoring and protection.
  • Systems components, technology and integration.
  • Networking, multimedia and visualisation methods and tools.
  • Networks and protocols for Internet Robots.
  • Component and multiagent technologies and systems.
  • Visualisation and modelling of the remote environment.
  • Online Robot laboratories.
  • Robot architectures for Online Robots.
   
  • Man-machine interfaces, devices and environments.
  • Multi-user applications and human-robot systems.
  • User models and application views.
  • Adapting/accommodating novice and expert users.
  • Acquiring user profiles.
  • Access methods and controls, guarded command and control.
  • Internet robots in computer supported cooperative working.
  • Quality of service guarantees.
  • Safety and security.
  • User experience, benefits and quality of life.
  • How can Autonomy be built into Online robot systems and how should it integrate with user controls? What models can be employed for shared control? How can autonomy be used to insure system safety?
  • What new applications are appropriate for Internet Robots?
  • What robotics and networking technologies should be integrated to create useful and usable systems?
  • What types of interfaces are required for Online Robot systems? What form and degree of visualisation of the remote task environment should these interfaces provide? What are the best multimedia technologies and devices to employ in creating these interfaces? How can these interfaces be designed to be intuitive?
  • What service models are most suited to Online Robot applications? How can a defined level of service be maintained in the light of uncertainties in bandwidth limitations and network delays? What requirements do these technologies need to satisfy if they are to support these applications?
  • How do we evaluate the user experience? How do we integrate Online Robot systems into workplace settings and practices, both at the remote and the user site?

Paper Submission:

  • Deadline for paper submission: 1 October 2002
  • Paper reviews returned to authors: 15 April 2003
  • Deadline for camera ready papers: 15 May 2003
  • Expected journal publication date: September 2003
Authors should submit an electronic copy of their paper (in PDF format only) by email. Papers should be no more than 11 pages in length, including figures and references, and use single line spacing with a 10pt font.

Please send inquiries and submissions to:

Gerard McKee , g.t.mckee@reading.ac.uk

Autonomous Robots Journal information, formats, templates, and links:
www-robotics.usc.edu/auro

Special Issue Editors:
  • Wolfram Burgard, University of Freiburg, Germany
  • Ken Goldberg, UC Berkeley, USA
  • Gerard McKee, University of Reading, UK