Connectionists: First CfP Autonomous Robots: Special Issue on Unconventional Sensors in Robotics

[Inaki Rano]

 [with apologies for cross-posting]

We believe this CfP might be of interest for some of the members of this
community.

*Autonomous Robots: Special Issue on Unconventional Sensors in Robotics*

Endowing robots with range, visual and propioceptive sensing capabilities
has enabled huge scientific progress in many of their fundamental skills
such as mapping, navigation and interaction. These conventional modalities,
however, are limited in many aspects and do not fit all of the potential
spectrum of robots, tasks and scenarios. Passive visual sensing, for
instance, requires significant computational resources that might not be
available in all platforms. In addition to a similarly high computational
footprint, active range sensing has also a significant power consumption.
None of these sensing technologies is a good fit for underwater,
micro/nano-, or soft robots, to name a few. Moreover, these perceptual
abilities might be insufficient or inadequate to address some
robotic challenges, like fine-grained/high-speed/accurate
manipulation, chemical source localisation, high-speed tracking, avoidance
of highly dynamic obstacles, autonomy in extreme/hazardous environments
or natural human-robot interaction.

The limitations of conventional sensors stem from different factors, such
as the different capabilities of existing technologies, their inability to
measure certain variables of interest, or an insufficient accuracy or
robustness in certain conditions. For instance, visual sensors are strongly
constrained by the illumination and transmission media and, in particular,
strongly limited in the dark or in turbid waters. In other cases, the
response time of the sensors puts strict limits to the dynamics of the
robot and the scene. In these cases and many others, research on
unconventional sensing modalities can equip robots with new capabilities
and improve their fundamental ones, contributing to address many relevant
challenges and broadening the tasks and scenarios where robots can be
deployed.

This special issue will focus on the use of unconventional sensors to
address robotic challenges where standard vision, range and proprioception
are not sufficient, dealing with both the scientific foundations of novel
unconventional sensors and their use and applications on real robots.

*Topics of interest* include, but are not necessarily limited to:

   - Unconventional visual sensors
   - Sound perception
   - Tactile sensing
   - Olfactory sensing
   - Applications of unconventional sensors in robotics
   - Learning and cognition using unconventional sensing
   - Semantic perception using unconventional sensors
   - Localization and mapping using unconventional sensors
   - Sensor fusion using unconventional sensors for navigation, mapping,
   obstacle avoidance and object manipulation
   - Sensory feedback in prosthetic devices using unconventional sensors
   - Unconventional sensing for feedback control
   - Motion planning and re-planning using unconventional sensor
   measurements
   - Design and development of novel unconventional sensors
   - Deep learning-based approaches to unconventional sensor data

*Important dates*

   - June 1st 2021 - Manuscript submission deadline
   - August 31st 2021 - Decisions and author notification
   - November 15th 2021 - Final decisions and author notification
   - December 31st 2021 - Camera ready manuscript submission

*Submission guidelines*
Manuscript submission guidelines can be found at:
https://www.springer.com/journal/10514/updates/18498580

*Guest Editors*
For inquiries do not hesitate to contact the guest editors:

   - Iñaki Rañó, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark (igra at mmmi.sdu.dk)
   - Augusto Gomez Eguiluz, University of Seville, Spain (ageguiluz at us.es)
   - Javier Civera, University of Zaragoza, Spain (jcivera at unizar.es)

Kind regards,

Inaki, Augusto & Javier.
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