Connectionists: Living Machines 2012: 2nd CfP and revised deadline 20th Feb

[Tony Prescott]

______________________________________________________________
2nd Call for Papers for
LIVING MACHINES 2012:
The First International Conference on Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems
9th-12th July 2012
La Pedrera, Barcelona, Spain
http://csnetwork.eu/conf2012

**Latest news: Proceedings to be published by Springer LNCS
Revised submission deadline for paper submissions: 20th February 2012
(12th March for Workshop proposals)
______________________________________________________________
 
ABOUT LIVING MACHINES 2012
The development of future real-world technologies will depend strongly on
our understanding and harnessing of the principles underlying living systems
and the flow of communication signals between living and artificial systems.

Biomimetics is the development of novel technologies through the
distillation of principles from the study of biological systems. The
investigation of biomimetic systems can serve two complementary goals.
First, a suitably designed and configured biomimetic artefact can be used to
test theories about the natural system of interest. Second, biomimetic
technologies can provide useful, elegant and efficient solutions to unsolved
challenges in science and engineering. Biohybrid systems are formed by
combining at least one biological component‹an existing living system‹and at
least one artificial, newly-engineered component. By passing information in
one or both directions, such a system forms a new hybrid bio-artificial
entity. 
 
The development of either biomimetic or biohybrid systems requires a deep
understanding of the operation of living systems, and the two fields are
united under the theme of ³living machines²‹the idea that we can construct
artefacts, such as robots, that not only mimic life but share the same
fundamental principles; or build technologies that can be combined with a
living body to restore or extend its functional capabilities.
 
Biomimetic and biohybrid technologies, from nano- to macro-scale, are
expected to produce major societal and economical impacts in quality of life
and health, information and communication technologies, robotics,
prosthetics, brain-machine interfacing and nanotechnology. Such systems
should also lead to significant advances in the biological and brain
sciences that will help us to better understand ourselves and the natural
world. The following are some examples:
€      Biomimetic robots and their component technologies (sensors,
actuators, processors) that can intelligently interact with their
environments.
€      Active biomimetic materials and structures that self-organize and
self-repair.
€      Biomimetic computers‹neuromimetic emulations of the physiological
basis for intelligent behaviour.
€      Biohybrid brain-machine interfaces and neural implants.
€      Artificial organs and body-parts including sensory organ-chip hybrids
and intelligent prostheses.
€     Organism-level biohybrids such as robot-animal or robot-human systems.
 
ACTIVITIES
The main conference, 10th­12th July, will take the form of a three-day
single-track oral and poster presentation programme that will include six
plenary lectures from leading international researchers in biomimetic and
biohybrid systems. 
The proceedings of the conference will be published in the Springer Lecture
Notes in Computer Science (LNCS). Submissions will be in the form of full
papers or extended abstracts.
Submissions are also invited for an exhibition to feature working biomimetic
or biohybrid systems and biomimetic/biohybrid art.
Active researchers in biomimetic and biohybrid systems are also invited to
propose topics for 1-day tutorials or workshops on related themes, to be
held on the 9th July.
Plenary speakers are: Joseph Ayers (Northeastern University) on synthetic
neuroethology; Dieter Braun (Ludwig Maximilians University) on synthetic
life, Peter Fromherz (Max Plank Institute) on neuroelectronic hybrids;
Toshio Fukuda (Nagoya University) on micro-nano biomimetic and biohybrid
devices; David Lentink (Wageningen University)  on fluid dynamics of flight;
and Barry Trimmer (Tufts University) on soft, invertebrate-inspired robots.
 
ABOUT THE VENUE
The organisers are delighted to have secured La Pedrera
(www.lapedreraeducacio.org/ <http://www.lapedreraeducacio.org/> ) as the
venue for our conference.  La Pedrera, designed by the modernist,
nature-inspired Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi, is a world heritage site,
and one of the best known buildings in Barcelona.  The conference will make
use of the modern conference facilities provided by the La Pedrera
Auditorium, whilst the exhibition will take place in the adjacent Gaudi
Hall.  La Pedrera is located within the fashionable Eixample district and
within walking distance of Barcelona¹s old city, including the Gotic
quarter, the cathedral, and the Playa Catalunya. The workshops/tutorial day
will be hosted at the University Pompeu Fabra, Campus Poblenou.
 
SUBMITTING TO LIVING MACHINES 2012
We invite both full papers (12 pages, LNCS format) and extended abstracts (2
pages, LNCS format). All contributions will be refereed. Full papers are
invited from researchers at any stage in their career but should present
significant findings and advances in biomimetic or biohybid research; more
preliminary work would be better suited to extended abstract submission.
Full papers will be accepted for either oral presentation (single track) or
poster presentation. Extended abstracts will be accepted for poster
presentation only.  All submissions must be formatted according to Springer
LNCS guidelines 
(http://www.springer.com/computer/lncs?SGWID=0-164-6-793341-0).
Submissions of papers are invited in, but not limited to, the following
topics and related areas.
Biomimetics can, in principle, extend to all fields of biological research
from physiology and molecular biology to ecology, and from zoology to
botany. Promising research areas include system design and structure,
self-organization and co-operativity, new biologically active materials,
self-assembly and self-repair, learning, memory, control architectures and
self-regulation, movement and locomotion, sensory systems, perception, and
communication. Biomimetic research, particularly at the nano-scale, should
also lead to important advances in component miniaturisation,
self-configuration, and energy-efficiency.  A key focus of the conference
will be on complete behaving systems in the form of biomimetic robots that
can operate on different substrates on sea, on land, or in the air. A
further central theme will be the physiological basis for intelligent
behaviour as explored through neuromimetics‹the modelling of neural systems.
Exciting emerging topics within this field include the embodiment of
neuromimetic controllers in hardware, termed neuromorphics, and within the
control architectures of robots, sometimes termed neurorobotics.
Biohybrid systems usually involve structures from the nano-scale (molecular)
through to the macro-scale (entire organs or body parts). Important
implementation examples are: Brain-machine interfaces where neurons and
their molecular machineries are connected to microscopic sensors and
actuators by means of electrical or chemical communication, either in vitro
or in the living organism. Intelligent prostheses such as artificial limbs,
wearable exoskeletons, or sensory organ-chip hybrids (such cochlear
implants, and artificial retina devices) designed to assist the disabled or
elderly, or to aid in rehabilitation from illness. Implantable or portable
devices that have been fabricated for monitoring health care or for
therapeutic purposes such as artificial implants to control insulin release.
Biohybrid systems at the organism level such as robot-animal or robot-human
communities.
Contributions from biologists, neuroscientists, and theoreticians, that are
of direct relevance to the development of future biomimetic or biohybrid
devices are also welcome, as are papers considering ethical issues and/or
societal impacts arising from the advances made in this field.
 
DEADLINES
February 20th 2012. Paper submission deadline
March 12th  2012. Workshop and tutorial proposals (but please contact us
sooner if possible)
April 16th 2012. Notification of acceptance
April 30th 2012. Camera ready copy
July 9-12th 2012. Conference (9th July is workshops/tutorials)
 
SPONSORSHIP
Living Machines 2012 is sponsored by the Convergent Science Network (CSN)
for Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems which is an EU FP7 Future Emerging
Technologies Co-ordination Activity (FP7-ICT-CSN-248986). CSN currently
organises two highly successful workshop series: the Barcelona Summer School
on Brain, Technology and Cognition (http://bcbt.upf.edu/bcbt11/) and the
Capoccaccia Neuromorphic Cognitive Engineering Workshop
(http://capocaccia.ethz.ch/capo/wiki/2011).  The conference is delighted to
be associated with the Institute of Physics journal Biomimetics &
Bioinspiration who will have a stand at meeting.
Other organisations wishing to sponsor the conference in any way and gain
the corresponding benefits by promoting themselves and their products to
through conference publications, the conference web-site, and conference
publicity are encouraged to contact the conference organisers to discuss the
terms of sponsorship and necessary arrangements.
 
We are looking forwards to seeing you in Barcelona.
 
Conference Secretariat:
info.csnetwork at upf.edu <mailto:info.csnetwork at upf.edu>
Laboratory Of Synthetic Perceptive, Emotive And Cognitive Systems - SPECS
Institute Of Audio-Visual Studies (IUA)
Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Communication-Poblenou Campus (La Nau Building)
Postal address: Roc Boronat, 138. 08018 Barcelona
Phone: (34) 93 542 22 01
Fax: (34) 93 542 22 02
 
 
Organising Committee:
Tony Prescott (co-chair)
Paul Verschure (co-chair)
Giacomo Indiveri
Stefano Vassanelli
Ian Gwilt
Carme Buisan
Nathan Lepora
Anna Mura

Programme Committee
Andy Adamatzky, Bristol Robotics Lab, UK
Robert Allan, Southampton University. UK
Joseph Ayers, Northeastern University, USA
Yoseph Bar-Cohen, Jet Propulsion Lab, USA
Jennifer Basil, Brooklyn College, CUNY, USA
Frederic Boyer, Ecole des Mines de Nantes, France
Dieter Braun, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany
Darwin Caldwell, Italian Institute of Technology, Italy
Frederico Carpi, University of Pisa, Italy
Maria Chiara Carrozza, Scuola Superiore Sant' Anna, Italy
Hillel Chiel, Case Western Reserve University, USA
Paul Cisek, University of Montreal, Canada
Anders Lyhne Christensen, Instituto Universitario de Lisboa, Portugal
Roberto Cingolani, Italian Institute of Technology, Italy
Fred Claeyssens, University of Sheffield, UK
Noah Cowan, Johns Hopkins University, USA
Holk Cruse, University of Bielefeld, Germany
Mark Cutkosky, Stanford University, CA, USA
Paolo Dario, Scuola Superiore Sant' Anna, Italy
Danilo de Rossi, University of Pisa, Italy
Mathew Diamond, International School of Advanced Studies, Italy
Stephane Doncieux, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, France
Marco Dorigo, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Volker Durr, University of Bielefeld, Germany
Charles Fox, University of Sheffield, UK
Michele Giugliano, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Frank Grasso, Brooklyn College, CUNY, USA
Roderich Gross, University of Sheffield, UK
John Hallam, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
Jose Halloy, Université Diderot Paris VII, France
Huosheng Hu, University of Essex, UK
Auke Ijspeert. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne,Switzerland
Akio Ishiguro, Tohoku University, Japan
Serge Kernbach, Universität Stuttgart, Germany
Holger Krapp, Imperial College, London, UK
Jeff Krichmar, University of California, Irvine, USA
Maarja Kruusmaa, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia
David Lane, Heriot Watt University, Scotland
Andres Diaz Lantada, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain
Cecilia Laschi, Scuola Superiore Sant' Anna, Italy
David Lentink, Wageningen University, Belgium
Nathan Lepora, University of Sheffield, UK
Giorgio Metta, Università degli Studi di Genova, Italy
Ben Mitchinson, University of Sheffield, UK
Jiro Okada, Nagasaki University, Japan
Tim Pearce, University of Leicester, UK
Martin Pearson, Bristol Robotics Lab, UK
Rolf Pfeifer, Universität Zürich, Switzerland
Andy Phillipides, University of Sussex, UK
Tony Pipe, Bristol Robotics Lab, UK
Roger Quinn, Case Western Reserve University, USA
Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena, Imperial College London, UK
Jonathan Rossiter, University of Bristol, UK
Giulio Sandini, Italian Institute of Technology, Italy
Thomas Schmickl, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Austria
Andre Seyfarth, University of Jena, Germany
Scott Simon, University of California, Davis, USA
Mototaka Suzuki, Columbia University, USA
Roland Thewes, Technical University of Berlin, Germany
Jon Timmis, University of York, UK
Julian Vincent, University of Bath, UK
Barbara Webb, University of Edinburgh, UK
Hartmut Witte, Technische Universität Ilmenau, Germany
 
 

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