The Department of Computer Science at Louisiana State University (LSU) has been involved in robotics research since 1992 when the Robotics Research Laboratory (RRL) was established as a research and teaching program specializing in autonomous mobile robots (AMRS). Researchers at RRL are conducting high-quality research in amrs with the goal of identifying the computational problems and the types of knowledge that are fundamental to the design and implementation of autonomous mobile robotic systems. In this article, we overview the projects that are currently under way at LSU's RRL.

The workshop "Advances in Interfacing Production Systems with the Real World" was designed to bring together researchers from around the world to focus on the problem of integrating production systems into industrial environments. It was held on 25 August 1991 in Sydney, Australia, in conjunction with the Twelfth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI-91). Nine papers were accepted for the proceedings, and six of them were discussed at the workshop.

The Sixth Annual Knowledge-Based Software Engineering Conference (KBSE-91) was held at the Sheraton University Inn and Conference Center in Syracuse, New York, from Sunday afternoon, 22 September, through midday Wednesday, 25 September. The KBSE field is concerned with applying knowledge-based AI techniques to the problems of creating, understanding, and maintaining very large software systems.

General Electric's Research and Elscint (Hackensack, NJ), a manufacturer Johnson Controls (Milwaukee, WI) Development Center (Schenectady, of medical imaging systems, has has begun deployment of a knowledge-based NY) has developed an expert system begun offering its customers a service engineering application which is being used to increase the option based on expert systems. The to increase the productivity of the speed of design of new jet engines, MasterMind system delivers troubleshooting engineering design function. The system, called Engineous, on laptop or desktop computers. The General (Menlo Park, CA), is conveyor for further processing. It problems and recommends solutions objects have become rotated.

The International Workshop on Processing Declarative Knowledge was held in Kaiserslautern, Germany, from 1 to 3 July 1991. The workshop was intended as a forum for the presentation of new approaches to processing declarative knowledge, the discussion of procedural versus alternative paradigms, and the issues concerned with efficient processing of realistic knowledge bases. Demonstrations of implemented systems were also announced.

Human error is an Criticism should not be querulous, and umes of fast-changing increasingly important wasting, all knife and root puller, but guiding, sensory data that and addressable instructive, inspiring, a South wind, one needs to process concern in modernday not an East wind. Most institutions), and the automation that technology represents accidents waiting to surrounds us (for example, unfriendly computers happen. For example, in the Challenger explosion, We get by because humans excel at coping. the shortcomings of the O-rings had been High-technology accidents occur because known for several years. What feedback hundreds of alarms simultaneously all contributed strategy (for example, story telling, first-principle to the disaster. Likewise, when the lecturing) will most constructively correct British fleet was sent to defend the Falkland the human error? It was at this differences. However, there are no point that the Argentines released their missile models there or in the AI literature of errors and sank an unsuspecting British ship. The operator had The errors result from proficient task performers no inkling of the ramifications of the system practicing in a natural environment; they designs under the current operating conditions. New error and critiquing models operator has virtually no way out. The remarkable need to capture and reflect this difference. We computer-aided design (ICAD) to mitigate begin by examining the design process and such problems. Specifically, we examine the the cognitive difficulties it poses. The designer uses a interference problems are also increasingly variety of cognitive operators to generate a evident on civilian automobiles, airplanes, design, test it under various conditions, refine and ships that cram telephones, radios, computers, it until a stopping rule is reached, and then radar devices, and other electromagnetically store the design as a prototype or analog to incompatible devices into close help start a new process for the next design proximity. The design process is sufficiently complex domain are relevant to all engineering design that a correct and complete design applications that must factor any operational simply cannot be deduced from starting conditions (or manufacturability, sales, or other downstream) or simulation model results.

Integrated Language and Vision Systems, Scholarship Travel Program If you are interested in assisting AAAI at the national conference, New Mexico State University, Continued please contact AAAI at volunteer Dec. 1991 AAAI announces the continuation of @aaai.org. All inquiries should 1991 IFIP/KR Workshop its scholarship travel program for students include your name, address, telephone, Eleventh International Workshop on who want to attend the National advisor's name, and email Distributed Artificial Intelligence, Conference on Artificial Intelligence address. All requests to volunteer at Glen Arbor, Michigan, February 1992 in San Jose, California, 12-17 July AAAI-92 must be received by the 1992. First International Conference on and (2) are members of April 3 AAAI-92 Scholarship AI Planning Systems, University of AAAI. In addition, repeat scholarship Application Deadline Maryland, June 1992 applicants must have fulfilled the April 29 Al Magazine Summer Issue The Third International Conference volunteer and reporting requirements Calendar Deadline on Principles of Knowledge Representation for previous awards.

The Fredkin Challenge in AI Research and Applications at Chandrasekaran, B. see nlso Hendler, Match, 2(2): Summer 1981, 30-33.

The workshop "Advances in Interfacing Production Systems with the Real World" was designed to bring together researchers from around the world to focus on the problem of integrating production systems into industrial environments. It was held on 25 August 1991 in Sydney, Australia, in conjunction with the Twelfth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI-91). Nine papers were accepted for the proceedings, and six of them were discussed at the workshop.

The Sixth Annual Knowledge-Based Software Engineering Conference (KBSE-91) was held at the Sheraton University Inn and Conference Center in Syracuse, New York, from Sunday afternoon, 22 September, through midday Wednesday, 25 September. The KBSE field is concerned with applying knowledge-based AI techniques to the problems of creating, understanding, and maintaining very large software systems.